The Simulacrum

Chapter 89

Once I had posed the question of why the island had so many underground lairs and facilities. In a similar vein, now I had to ask how such a seemingly booming first world island nation had so many abandoned office buildings where various disreputable elements could set up shop. Though on second thought, the vast, vast majority of the population consisted of placeholders who were still sticking to their daily routines like automatons, so these buildings getting completely deserted after work hours wasn't that surprising. Who knows? Maybe they were even acting so punctual just to make sure they vacated the premises in time so that they wouldn't get in the way of the shady conspiratorial meetings after-hours.

Like the one in front of me. Segue!

Seriously though, I was looking at a classic scene. A small room? Check. Dimly lit by a single conical fixture hanging from the ceiling? Check. Drab grey walls with a series of abstract black-and-white pictures hanging on them, and no furniture other than a single conference table in the middle? Check. Shady people doing shady business around said table? Check, check, and check.

As tempted as I felt to wonder just what the heck this weird room's original purpose was supposed to be, I forced my attention to remain on the people present in the room. Try as I might, it was hard to get a good angle on them at the moment, since my anchor point was standing guard well outside the room. Actually, let's start there.

So, just outside the conference room... Wait, was it a conference room? Wasn't it too small for that? Didn't matter. People were talking about stuff in there, so it was that for now. Anyhow, there were about ten tense guards idling around in the ground floor hallways. One side was familiar in appearance; squires decked out from head to toe in medieval armor and wielding swords and maces. The other side looked slightly more peculiar, as it consisted of guards dressed in black martial artist tunics wearing bright red snarling Chinese dragon masks. These masks were more or less uniform, save for a few green or yellow highlights, and they completely concealed the wearers' identities, same as the squires' helmets.

Did I even need to spell out who these people were? I mean, it was obviously the local renaissance fair re-enactors meeting up with the organizers of the Chinese New Year festival to discuss the allocation of the town's cultural diversity funds. It was only logical.

Jokes aside, the nature of the participants was quite evident, if hard to believe at face value. This was already quite intriguing, but not nearly as much as the things going on inside the ad hoc meeting room. Currently, there were six people present, though it was hard to tell for sure due to my limited vision; two negotiators sitting at the table, and four bodyguards. One of each was standing behind the seats of the VIPs, while the remaining two guarded the only door leading into the room.

"What are you getting out of this?"

I focused my attention on the voice breaking the silence. It came from the Knight wearing a full set of Gothic plate armor, and while it was hard to say due to the lighting conditions, it appeared to be a shade of really dark purple. Maybe maroon? Either way, its wearer was sitting with their back to me, more or less, and by the sound of it, she was an older woman, middle-aged at best.

"My reasons are my own," the man sitting across her answered with a flat, nasal voice I didn't recognize. That was... odd. While he sounded old, I was familiar enough with the grand elder's voice to recognize it, and he didn't sound anything like him. That wouldn't have been weird if not for the fact that, aside from the dragon mask on his face, he dressed exactly the same way as the old man.

"True. Your internal machinations are none of my concern," the armored woman stated dryly. I tried to shift my point of view to get a better view of her, but I was already at the edge of my movement range, and having my point of view accidentally enter into a wall gave me claustrophobic shivers.

"This is but an agreement of convenience," the masked old man remarked just as plainly. "It's better not to get involved in one another's business more than strictly necessary."

"I concur."

With that, the room fell silent, but just as I was getting afraid that I took too long to get ready and missed all the juicy details, the Knight placed her gauntleted hand onto the table and tapped on it in a steady, unnerving rhythm.

"Let me ask you one last time: are you certain the Dracises captured my brothers?"

"Yes, we are certain."

The non-grand elder's response made the armored woman let out a soft hum and resume her tapping.

"Do you have any proof of this?" Seeing that the masked man wasn't about to respond, she balled her fingers, and her last tap turned into a soft yet firm slam on the desk. "Recovering our brothers may be our foremost priority, but you should not think we're desperate, or indeed, stupid enough to believe everything you say without any evidence."

Still silent, the old man subtly glanced at the only exit, then back at the Knight. Finally, he straightened his back and told her, "I assure you, our most trustworthy informants have testified that your 'brothers' were held captive within their residence until very recently."

"Yet you can't tell me where they are now," she followed him up with a hiss, and he glanced at the door again. Was he planning to escape, I wondered?

"I'm afraid we can't ascertain that. I can, at most, provide you with the opportunity to force the hand of the Dracis clan."

The Knight remained silent, tension mounting in the room with every passing second, and... seriously, why did this man keep glancing at the door? This time I took a closer look, and... suddenly I felt a little annoyed. Not too much, just a little tinge of irritation.

Okay, let's be empirical with this one. Back to the old man. No irritation. Back to the door. Irritation. Focus on the squire. No irritation. Focus on the masked bodyguard. Lots of irritation.

Q.E.D.: Wow, the grand elder was playing around, hiding in plain sight and all! I seriously didn't expect that. Nor had I ever imagined that my instinctive reaction could be used like this. Though on second thought, most of my other marks rarely gave me such strong feedback through Far Sight, with maybe the exception of Crowey. So... that meant my irritability-rankings, as of this moment, when Crowey, then the grand elder, then lord grandpa, followed by Naoren, and then Sebastian. Oh, and there was the Kage clan elder too, but he was barely a blip on my radar at this point.

There was a certain pattern here, but this wasn't the time to analyze that. Focusing on the table again, nothing seemed to have changed, except for the Knight resuming her finger-tapping.

"And how can we be certain this isn't a trap, using our brothers as bait?"

"You can't. You have to put your trust in me, just as how I put my trust in you and came to this meeting in person."

"Trust, you say? Not a word I ever associated with wyrmbloods."

"As you can imagine, I had my own reservations as well, but when in dire circumstances, one can scarcely pick and choose their bedfellows."

"True. Common enemies create the strangest of allies," the Knight mused. "Such alliances never last."

"I doubt either of us minds that fact."

"True. Allies of convenience only support one another while"

Oh, for the love of god! Stop going in circles and talk about what you're planning already!

My silent cries fell on deaf ears, as the two continued to vomit platitudes about the nature of political alliances and wild dogs and the sun and moon rising at each other, without touching on the actual details of the agreement between the two sides. So far I'd gathered that it had to do with forcing the Dracis family to release the Knights, and it somehow involved these two working together, but that's about it.

"Trust is a two-way street."

"One with cloaks and daggers in every corner."

"As they say, sometimes a single knife in the dark can achieve more than a thousand troops."

"True. Men's lives are fragile, be they the lowest of the low or the highest of the high."

"It's why one should never turn their back on his foes. Or his allies."

"I would say that someone turning their back on their allies does deserve to be stabbed, as it is"

Seriously, how long were they planning to do this? Was this some kind of code? Or were they talking in circles just to tick me off? Maybe the dreaded Narrative was keeping them off track so that I couldn't learn anything new from them? I mean, I don't like to jump the Narrative-gun like that, but do I even have a plausible Watsonian explanation for this?

On second thought, maybe I do. Sure, this whole back-and-forth is a waste of time, but maybe that's the point. They could be doing it on purpose. Were they waiting for someone, or maybe some kind of signal? And if so, why? Could it be that they were in fact trying to betray each other? That would explain why the annoying grand elder was disguised as a bodyguard, but it would also make all the talk about betrayal a bit too on the nose.

" because betrayal and revenge are just two snakes biting the tails of one another."

"Snakes and betrayers have a lot in common, as well as"

Okay, that's it. I couldn't take this anymore. If they refused to get to a bloody point, I had no choice but to get involved. As they say, if the mountain doesn't go to the prophet, then the prophet must go to the mountain. In other words, it's show time.

"By 'snake', she means 'dragon'," I spoke up casually, already leaning against the wall with my arms crossed after Phasing in.

Everyone in the room turned to me at once, and the Knight even reached to her side, even though she didn't have a sword. Must have been a reflex. Anyhow, I let the silence linger for a while, then unfurled an arm and pointed a finger-gun at the old man at the table.

"You could say it's a sneaky insult! Ha!"

"Who is that?" the armored woman hissed without taking her eyes off me for a second.

"Oh, right. We've yet to make acquaintance."

I tried to sound as jolly and relaxed as possible, and after a beat I Phased right next to the table, causing everyone to jolt in surprise and the woman to outright jump to her feet. Ignoring their reaction, I did a well-practiced scraping bow.

"Some call me Bel of the Abyss."

"Bel?" The old man at the table muttered and glanced at the door again.

I disregarded him for the time being and focused on the Knight woman. She was fairly tall and imposing, but that was all I could say about her physique, as her armor hid the contours of her body. At the very least her helmet was unique. It was round, and the visor was decorated with thin silver filigree in the shape of small feathers. So probably bird-themed?

In contrast with that, the main body of the helmet was darker and had two wide and sharp protrusions on the side, pointing upwards, kind of like ears. There were a pair of relatively large, oval openings on the front, but strangely enough, I couldn't see her eyes behind them. Probably the lighting, I concluded, and I scanned her from head to toe again. Regrettably, I couldn't find a hint of exposed skin. That meant I probably wasn't going to be able to mark her today. Bummer.

While I inspected her, she did the same to me, but with my full Bel outfit on and the freshly improved mask, I wasn't worried she'd recognize, considering even Penny failed to do so. On the other hand, I had a good idea of who she could be, so I grabbed my chin with one hand and made a show out of closely observing her before snapping my fingers, causing her to take half a step back.

"Let me guess! There aren't exactly a lot of women in your little club, and I already met dame Unicorn, so you must be dame Morgana, right?"

She didn't respond, or even move a finger so I shrugged and Phased over to the other side of the room. I casually draped my arm around the shoulder of the dragon-masked man by the door, making sure to brush against his exposed neck, and leaned over to whisper, "Rude, isn't she? Or maybe just shy?"

After the first shock, the man forcefully threw me off, but by then I was already at the other end of the room, with one new mark already showing on my Far Sight radar. With that, my primary goal was accomplished, if a little more forcefully than usual.

"Sheesh. Why is everybody so rude tonight?" Following that, I theatrically straightened my costume and opened my arms wide in a show of non-aggression. I still wanted to mark at least one of the squires, if the Entitled Knight was out of the question, so it was best to lower their guard by de-escalating things. "Things looked interesting, so I figured I'd pay you a visit, and you didn't even introduce yourself. Isn't that common courtesy?"

"Nobody in their right mind would show courtesy to an uninvited visitor like you," the Knight told me with one hand placed on the chair in front of her, no doubt planning to use it as an improvised weapon in case the situation required it. "How much have you heard?"

"Oh, not much. In fact, I'm feeling a little disappointed. I was expecting something really exciting, but you guys are just sooo boring. I even got the popcorn ready and everything, and it's all gone to waste."

"We cannot let him leave this room," the man sitting at the table declared, earning him a wry look I had to play into by tilting my head to the side.

"I don't think anyone was talking to you, so please stay out of the conversation."

"What? You're courting death!" the man suddenly exclaimed, and it threw me on a loop for a moment, followed by rolling my eyes and circling my head for extra emphasis.

"Wow! That just does not sound right coming from an impostor." I glanced over my shoulder at the real grand elder, currently frozen in a martial arts stance by the door, and used a thumb to point at the table. "You should've really used a better body double. He doesn't look or sound anything"

Before I could finish my sentence, my danger sense blared at me, even before my ears picked up on the sound of furniture getting kicked over. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't the Knight who took a potshot at me, but it was the masked man who leaped over, his fingers curled into glowing claws aimed at my throat. I couldn't decide whether he was slow, or just my standards were too high, but I sidestepped his charge without even bothering to Phase away.

Normally that would've been the end of it, but at the moment I was Bel of the Abyss. So, how would an inscrutable trickster archetype react to this situation? Several non-lethal ideas flashed through my head, and I settled on one of the more irreverent ones by reaching out and grabbing onto the startled body double's face before Phasing to the other end of the room.

"like you," I finished my previous sentence, then once I commanded the whole room's attention again, I uttered a disinterested, 'Zoink' and placed the mask on top of my head like a fancy hat. "There, take a look yourself."

The unremarkable middle-aged man, still halted in the middle of the motion he was performing, had a blank expression on his face, made even funnier by the grey wig on his head getting thrown off-center and limply hanging off the side of his face.

"What is the meaning of this?" the armor-clad woman hissed out a reasonable question, and a long beat later the man by the door exhaled a long sigh.

"A simple precautionary measure."

Walking forward, he casually removed the black wig from his head, but not the mask, and threw it at the stupefied body double. He caught in and hurriedly moved next to him, followed by the other bodyguard, and by the time the incognito grand elder stood beside the Knight, even the squires formed up to create a united front.

"It's hardly more inappropriate than your fellow Entitled Knight standing outside in disguise. For now, let us put our pretenses aside and focus on the common threat."

"Threat? I'm not a threat," I objected in face of the duo concentrating their attention on me.

"You interrupted our negotiations," the old man stated dryly. "You cannot be allowed to leave."

"Oh? Heh. Hehehe!"

My sudden burst of laughter made them raise their guard, but they didn't move a muscle until I finished with a few forced heaves.

"Wow! It's true! Old men really do have the best jokes!" I paused here for a beat and then added, in a more contemplative tone, "Well, 'old' is relative in this case, but it's hilarious all the same."

"I wasn't joking."

"And that just makes it all the funnier! Ah, my sides! They're hurting!"

I pretended to go into another fit of chuckles, but then abruptly Phased over to the table and sit down right on top of it, crossing my legs in the process. By the time they turned around, I already assumed a relaxed pose and steepled my fingers in front of my chest.

"All right children, let's clear up a few misunderstandings." I purposefully dropped my voice by an octave, and once I had everyone's attention, I began with, "I do not pose a threat to you right now."

"Why would we believe your words?" the Knight woman asked in a slightly calmer voice than before, yet obviously feeling unbalanced by the situation.

"You're alive, aren't you?" I shot back with a cocky grin that was unfortunately invisible due to my mask, but I hoped it would come across in my voice. "I simply came by because I was curious, and who can blame me? Just how often do you see the bucketheads and the dragonspawn talk things out like this? And in the open! How was I supposed to ignore something so exotic and entertaining?"

"We are hardly in the open."

"But you are!" I insisted. "You didn't even bother to put up a purple space thing? What are those called again?" They probably weren't going to answer, but I didn't wait for them in any case and snapped my fingers again. "Oh, right! Completely irrelevant! So long as you're on my island, it doesn't make much of a difference, but you guys could've at least tried."

"Your island," the old man repeated after me and stroked his currently nonexistent beard, probably forgetting it was hidden from sight under his mask. "Are you the arch-mage?"

Once again, I let the beat linger for a while, then burst out laughing.

"Me? A ley-leach? Bwahahaha! Please, stop! You're killing me!" They didn't give me much of a reaction this time, so I cut my laughter short and straightened my coat before reassuming my finger-tent pose. "No, my funny friend. I'm obviously not the youngster leading the local nest of ley-line leeches. How could you ever mistake this handsome face for him?"

"Then who are you?"

I gave a disparaging glance at the impatient Knight and answered, "I believe I'd already introduced myself. It's you two who still haven't done so. I mean, sure, I know who you are, but it's just common courtesy, dammit."

They remained unmoved, so I exhaled a dramatic sigh and jumped off the table, causing the mooks to instinctively take a step back.

"Fine, if you don't want to play nice, I won't even bother with the small talk."

The grand elder instantly shifted his posture into a defensive one, but I ignored him for the time being and began pacing up and down in front of their confused eyes.

"You gaggle of idiots gathered here to hatch some kind of plan, I'd reckon. If I was a betting guy, I'd guess it's about this big tournament thing everyone is buzzing about. Am I in the right ballpark?"

This time I waited out however long it took for them to respond, and it was the Knight who cracked first.

"Yes."

The old man sent a scathing glance her way, obvious even through his mask, but his attention quickly returned to me when I clapped my hands.

"Neat! That means maybe I won't have to kill anyone tonight after all!" Pretending to take a step, I Phased behind them and continued on, completely ignoring the way the mooks stumbled over each other to reposition themselves around the two VIPs. "You see, call me an old-fashioned guy if you like, but I don't really enjoy watching toddlers beating each other up. It's just not stimulating at all. Throw in a few hundred Chimeras, with no way to escape, and maybe a time limit, and then we're talking, but on its own? Nah. In short, I don't give a single damn about what you guys want to do there. Go nuts. However!"

Once again I remained silent with a finger raised, waiting for them to prompt me. Maybe because of the last exchange, but the Knight remained quiet, and since I stuck to my guns, we remained in a stalemate. At least, until the old man let out a groan.

"However?"

"That you for asking! Here's the thing: while I might not be invested in this tournament of yours, I do have a vested interest in the upcoming auction. As such, here are the rules: you conspire whatever nefarious plots you want, but the moment they get anywhere close to affecting the auction, I'm going to pay you another visit. And trust me; I won't be nearly as friendly as I am now."

Silence fell once again, and I was seriously getting tired of this. Maybe because they were on guard against each other as well, but I just wasn't getting any proper reactions, and having to pry every single word out from them was just a pain in the neck. Apparently, my Bel-tactics didn't work all that well in this situation, but considering I'd already marked the grand elder, at least this wasn't a wasted trip, and I could probably glean more concrete information from observing him in the future. As such, I decided to cut my losses, and slowly shook my head in preparation for my departure.

"You people are boring. Occasionally hilarious, but mostly boring. Oh well, I delivered my warning, and I've got to be at other, more important places with more entertaining people, so ta-tah!"

I planned to cap my exit with a jolly little wave, only to freeze mid-motion. I mean, literally. My hand didn't budge and was stuck raised up to my chest level. Not only that, but my whole body was wreathed in ethereal light, a thick stream of bright particles connecting me to the glowing violet eyes behind the armored woman's faceplate.

More alarmingly, the old man next to her let out a spirited yell and the whole room shook as he planted his feet in a horse stance, fists extended. He forcefully drew them back to his abdomen and let out a deep roar that shattered his dragon mask, revealing a glowing red ball in front of his open jaws.

Oh. I was about to be on the receiving end of dragon fire. Well, crap.

I had to admit, the Knight's unexpected ability and the two's inexplicable teamwork caught me off guard, but I still had some leeway to maneuver. As Bel of the Abyss, I had a certain appearance to maintain, and while Phasing away was my safest option, it wasn't the only one. First, I got rid of whatever was holding me in place by severing the tether connecting me with the Entitled Knight using my phantom limb. It was as simple as usual, and she staggered back in surprise, finally allowing me to raise my hand.

Now, as for the other attacker, I took a closer look at the rapidly swelling ball of light in front of his face and noted, with some relief, that it remained an angry shade of crimson. That meant it wasn't the building-melting true dragonfire Elly could fire off in an emergency, but the 'false' kind that could still melt a building, now that I thought about it.

Anyhow, I've never faced off against the former, but I've asked my girlfriend to let me experiment on the latter, and while powerful, it could still be affected by my magic-disrupting abilities. I've never tried taking one head-on, mainly because I couldn't convince my girlfriends to let me, but I was fairly confident I could do it, and my danger-sense was only warning me of medium-tier bloodcurdling danger, so I figured I might as well give it a try.

Just in case, I primed myself ready to Phase, and only then did I extend my already raised hand, pointing a palm overlaid with all three of my Phantom Limbs. Again, just in case.

It was just in time, as the ball of light erupted into a red beam that hit my palm. I have no idea how it looked from the outside, but on my end, it felt like I was holding back a stream of hot water fired at me from a garden hose. The whole ordeal only lasted for a second to two, and once the light cleared, I was met with the wide-open eyes of the unmasked grand elder staring at me. More importantly, I wiggled my fingers and noted that aside from a small tingle, my hand was no worse for wear. Considering the beam didn't even touch my skin, it was to be expected, but I still let out a soft sigh of relief. Hopefully, I looked cool enough to etch myself into their memories as someone not to be messed with.

"Wow. You people are rude!" I exclaimed with as much over-the-top indignation as I could muster, then lowered my voice and added, "Can you give me one single reason why I shouldn't just rip you apart where you stand?"

It was at this moment that the only door of the door was thrown open with an unexpectedly lean squire at the front, obstructed by the other mooks clustered around the entrance.

"Morgana!"

"Agravain! My sword, now!"

Hearing the woman's command, the newcomer reached down to his waist and Whoa! He pulled a giant two-handed sword out of thin air! This This guy had an inventory! Whatever part of his gear had that enchantment, I wanted it!

Embarrassing as it was to admit it, excitement got the better of me, and I momentarily hesitated over whether to just kidnap him and strip him of all his gear. In the end, I discarded the idea. I would've had to take him to the base to get the Fauns' help in subduing him, and if the other Knights found him, it would be impossible to explain things without revealing that I was Bel. If only he was wearing proper Entitled Knight armor; then I could just paralyze him the same way I did to Roland and then carry him off somewhere else without having to worry about subduing him. Damn.

If not that, could I at least mark him? Well, that idea also went out the window when I took a closer look at his armor, and realized he had no obvious gaps where I could make skin contact. Not only that, all the other squires I could see were fully armored as well, gorgets and all. Double damn.

Anyhow, things were still unfolding, and the new Knight underhand threw the huge sword, a full-size flamberge by the looks of it, to his comrade. Which meant

"Zoink!"

What can I say? Force of habit.

The Knight woman's still glowing purple eyes blinked in surprise as I appeared in front of her and snatched her sword right out of the air before Phasing to the corner of the room to inspect my spoils.

"Wow, this is much lighter than I expected!" I exclaimed with giddiness I didn't even have to force, only to pause when I glanced up and realized that the area where I stood before looked like it was hollowed out, with part of the floor and the walls missing in a sphere. Probably the effect of some kind of discharge I caused by stopping the dragon fire, I guessed, and put all of it aside for the moment as I returned to theatrically inspecting the sword.

"A long hilt, a spike a third of the way up from the crossguard, and a fancy, wavy blade. Yep, this is a flamberge all right! And a fine one at that!"

I glanced back at the stunned onlookers, including the mooks in the door, and shrugged.

"Oh, fine. I'll take this as a token of your apology and won't pursue your discourteous behavior any further." I paused to inspect the blade again, and added, "I have to admit, you bucketheads give the best gifts. Grandpa Bel is truly touched in his heart of hearts. Also, late. Those pretender clans are not going to destroy themselves, so Bye!"

And just like that, before they could get up to anything else, I Phased out of the room and popped into existence inside the Fauns' barracks, surrounded by Brang, Karukk, and Hrul. I told them to be on standby, just in case, and the tension drained from their shoulders when they realized I was alone.

"[Has thine excursion proved bountiful?]" Brang inquired, and I shrugged.

"[In higher or lower amount,]" I answered, feeling a little conflicted. I couldn't learn half as much as I wanted, and I really wanted to get my hands on whatever enchantment was used to give someone an inventory pocket space, but I did get some useful tidbits, and at the very least I managed to mark the grand elder, so it wasn't a complete waste of time.

In the meantime, I held my newly acquired weapon out to Karukk, and he gingerly took it from my fingers, followed by an impressed grunt.

"[A beauty. Was this also from one of the Knights?]"

"[I repossessed from one of their kin, indeed.]"

"[Then I suppose I should hide it along with the other great sword,]" he noted and walked to the back of the room to cover it up with a spare bed sheet.

Meanwhile, Hrul cleared his throat to get my attention.

"[What about your other item?]"

For a moment I wanted to ask what he was talking about, but then as I lifted my Bel mask, something fell off, and he barely managed to catch it before it hit the ground. I blinked at the angry dragon mask, which somehow remained on the top of my head during the whole incident, and said, "[Store it away in safety as well. Mayhap it could prove beneficial in the future.]"

Brang stifled a chuckle, and when I sent him a curious glance, he told me, "[Thine smile is the perfect image of a true Lord of the Abyss.]"

" Was that a compliment?" I blurted out in English, and when he nodded, I couldn't help but mutter, "Maybe Bel of the Abyss really is rubbing off on me after all"

"I'm still not sure this is a good idea."

"You worry too much, Dormouse. It's going to be fine," I told my dear assistant while lacing my shoes.

"I wouldn't be worrying so much if you didn't keep getting into hairy situations," she shot back, and I couldn't really say anything to that.

I shared the events of my little jaunt as Bel last night with her, with certain parts naturally omitted, and while she applauded me for managing to mark the grand elder, she was still torn on certain details.

"I still think it would've been better if you hadn't played the Bel card yet," she whispered to me, mindful of the others also changing their footwear in the hall at the end of the school day. "By directly antagonizing them, you might've created a brand new future incident."

"Maybe, but this way at least we know it would happen, and roughly when and where. That's way more than the vague conjectures we could draw yesterday," I pointed out, and my girlfriend fell silent. I interpreted that as tacit agreement and closed my shoe locker, only to notice the sound of someone running in the background.

When I poked my head out to take a look, I nearly collided with a rushing Mountain Girl, but she managed to come to a literally screeching halt at the last millisecond. Huh. I thought only car tires made that noise.

In any case, she was still heaving, but gave me a Faun-style salute nevertheless, which apparently became the standard form of greeting between my associates. Even the Research Society guys started doing it, which was a little odd but mostly harmless, so I let them be.

But back to Rinne. She was wearing a darker colored pantsuit, with Onikiri slung over her shoulder, which was fairly odd. Not the sword; she was carrying that around in its wraps everywhere. No, it was the clothes. While she still preferred masculine clothing at school, thanks to my girlfriends' help, she now had a full set of casual and semi-formal outfits for everyday use. In fact, I hadn't seen her wear her 'creepy huntress' outfit outside the base, so...

"Did you seriously run over to the base to change?"

"N...No?" she answered a touch hesitantly, only to turn on a dime in record time and admit, "Yes."

It's been less than a quarter of an hour since she one-sidedly declared she would accompany me today, and considering the school's distance from the secret base's main entrance... Holy moly! I knew she could jump great distances, but I didn't think she could move around thatfast. More importantly though...

"Did anyone see you?"

"Of course not," she declared with an offended huff. "Rinne is the second-in-command of the Kage clan! If Rinne doesn't wish to be seen, Rinne shall remain unseen."

"Yes, yes, you are a very sneaky ninja," I told her a touch flatly, but she took it as a straight compliment and let out a content hum.

In the meantime, the others also finished changing, and Elly came over to our side, closely followed by the childhood friend duo.

"I'll take your bag," she declared and made good on it, prompting me to raise a baffled brow. She shortly explained, "You cannot go to an official meeting with a school bag."

"It's not really official, more of an informal discussion," I pointed out, and she shook her head at once, making her thick twin-tails flop around. She changed up her hair-style in preparation for the concert, thought it was still a project in progress. I hoped that with some luck, we might even get to see her ringlets again. Not that she wasn't pretty as is, but that hair style held a special place in my heart.

"There's no such thing as an informal discussion among rivals," she emphasized, and while I wanted to point out that we were 'rivals' in a very loose sense of the word, Rinne backed her up.

"Precisely. It's imperator that Leonard-dono would not show weakness, therefore Rinne must accompany Leonard-dono as his bodyguard."

"I think you meant 'imperative', but more importantly..." I tried to object, but seeing that she already got her gear and everything, I could only say, "Well, fine. Having you around shouldn't hurt, so long as you don't provoke anyone."

As for exactly what we've been talking about, it all had to do with a phone call in the morning. Dad-in-law informed me that Naoren reached out to him, and he relayed a message saying that the bespectacled Draconian wanted to continue our previous discussion where we left off. I wasn't entirely against the idea, but the timing wasn't the best, since I was still in the process of digesting last night's events.

Unfortunately, if I missed this opportunity to talk with the guy, there was a good chance I wouldn't get another one until the tournament. Or rather, while technically I could Phase over any time I wanted, using the auxiliary marks around him, showing up uninvited could've hampered future negotiations. Not to mention, the school festival and, more importantly, the Christmas ball was quite literally around the corner, so it was best to get this done ASAP before I'd get buried under all that.

"Just remember: never cower before Naoren," my Draconian girlfriend emphasized while fixing my collar, which was odd, since Judy already did that before we came out the classroom. Maybe it was a nervous tic? In any case, she firmly stated, "If you feel like it's necessary, never be afraid to punch him in the nose! No matter what happens, remember that you have the whole family behind your back."

"Please don't encourage him," Judy whispered in exasperation, and I raised my hands.

"I'm not planning to punch anyone today, don't worry. Everything's going to be fine."

"Hey, Josh? Care for another bet?" our friendly neighborhood Celestial poked her friend with her elbow, and the guy promptly rolled his eyes.

"Thanks, but no thanks. Let's just go and figure out how to put the stage together and leave Leo to his business."

"Right, we still have to do that today," Elly commented and gestured for the others to follow after her. "Come on guys, I'll show you how it's done!"

I waved the group goodbye, and they soon left in the direction of the gymnasium, leaving me alone with a silent yet attentive Mountain Girl. After a beat, I gestured towards the main entrance.

"Let's get going."

"Are we walking?"

The weather was fairly mild, especially considering we were in the middle of December, so I figured going by foot would be fine.

"Yes. Let's discuss a few things on the way," I proposed, and she nodded with entirely undue solemnity.

Even though I just said that, we remained silent until we left the school grounds, and while the way Rinne was sticking to me have turned a few heads, I doubted the placeholders would even remember the event a few minutes from now. At worst, the four creepy amigos might pester me a bit about it, but by this point I was used to their antics.

Anyhow, once we were on the streets, I waved for her to walk next to me.

"Have you managed to track down the new Knights?"

"Rinne's afraid we couldn't. By the time we found the building based on Leonard-dono's instructions, their trail was already gone."

"That's a shame, but I expected as much. I wish I could've given more accurate directions."

"It wasn't Leonard-dono's fault!" After vehemently stating that, Mountain Girl took a deep breath and continued in a more level voice. "Brand-sama recommended that our Kage ninjas form squads with his subordinates and patrol the city and try to catch them while on the move."

"If they're following in the same footsteps as Penny's group, it's likely they're holed up outside of the city. Tell them to make sure they're careful nobody notices them. Tensions are a little high because of the Draconian conference, and the last thing we need is some kind of contrived misunderstanding."

"Understood!"

After that exchange, we walked in silence for a while. I dictated a fast pace, and I didn't have to worry about her not being able to keep up, so I figured it would take about half an hour to get to the hotel where the Chinese Draconians set down their headquarters on the island. As such, I decided I might as well broach another subject I had on my mind for a while.

"Say, Rinne?"

"Yes, Leonard-dono!"

She responded more vigorously than expected, grabbed hold of her sword, and her eyes scanned the streets around us. There didn't seem to be anything suspicious going on in the vicinity, so I had no idea why she was so high-strung.

"Easy there. I just wanted to ask something." I waited for her to stop fretting and have her full attention. "The Kage clan specializes in hunting supernatural nasties, right?"

"Yes, we track and spill the lifeblood of malevolent youkai," she stated with a puffed-up chest.

"You haven't done anything of the sort lately, have you?" It was just an innocent question, but she reeled back like I just punched her in the gut. "Hey, don't misunderstand. I'm just saying because I'm worried the rest of the Kage clan would complain that I'm keeping you from your job."

"We would never!" she proclaimed with an increasingly uncommon 'Is this guy pulling my leg or just a natural airhead?' kind of frown on her brows. "Leonard-dono is the chief of the clan, therefore the clan does what Leonard-dono says."

"I'm sure that makes sense on paper, but I'm only the clan head due to a technicality, and the very first thing I did was to pivot the clan's core activities from monster-hunting to espionage and logistics support, and I'm a little worried about how they feel about that."

"The clan is, and always will be, loyal to Leonard-dono, so don't worry about such things," Mountain Girl emphasized with what felt like an undue amount of confidence. "Everyone knows that if they do not follow Leonard-dono's orders, Rinne shall cut them down where they stand!"

"That's not loyalty. That's fear," I pointed out while channeling my inner Judy, and she looked at me like I just repeated the same word twice. "Remind me to put together a supervision session one of these days."

"Rinne won't forget!"

I figured that was about as far as this conversation would go, but just out of courtesy I asked, "Do you have anything else to report?"

To my surprise, she had. A lot. Let's skip over the small talk, and summarize the main points, shall we?

First off, the 'senior staff', which included her, Brang, Arnwald, and Fred finished discussing their plans for the next expansion of the base. I never got around to talk to her about it last night due to the whole kerfuffle with the grand elder and the new batch of Knights, so this time I listened to her attentively. They apparently decided on the layout of the new training rooms, plural, but I'd have to approve of them in person the next time I was in the base.

The side-project to try and utilize the mini-shoggoths and their various abilities as camouflaged deployable anchors for my Far Sight and Phasing capabilities were progressing surprisingly smoothly. Ichiko had a good rapport with the creature or creatures or what have you (I was still unsure how to address a hive-mind), and she'd been teaching various tricks and 'ninja arts' to the little menace... menaces? In any case, so long as they remained docile, the day could come when I could finally upgrade my ability so that I would no longer be anchored to people.

Last, and most certainly least, she attempted to update me on the progress of the organization of our internal tournament, but I naturally shut the topic down with extreme prejudice.

Like that, we reached our destination in Timaeus's... well, I called it Chinatown in the past, but that wasn't quite accurate. Oriental district? Asian district? I had no idea which was the proper term for it, but this was definitely in that ballpark, from the neon signs tightly packed with Chinese letters to a frankly ridiculous number of noodle restaurants and laundromats. That was kind of stereotypical, and potentially bit iffy if you asked me, and but Rinne didn't seem to mind, so maybe it wasn't that big of a deal. But then again, she was Japanese, so maybe I was stereotyping her by even associating her with this place? Damn, I was really bad with these 'ism' things.

So, I stopped thinking about all that and led Mountain Girl up the stairs leading to the high-rise hotel shaped like a pagoda smack dab in the middle of the district. Naoren and his company (in this case meaning an actual company, apparently operating in the tech-sector) reserved more or less the whole building for the duration of their stay, and security was obviously tighter than the skin of an especially ripe gooseberry. Case in point, before I could even reach the door, a pair of suits built like brick shithouses stopped us on our tracks.

"Entry is restricted, please move along."

"I'm here to visit Naoren. I should be expected."

The two security guards shared a glance, and this time the other one spoke up.

"Master Naoren didn't mention any visitors."

"You might be out of the loop then. Could you check?"

My polite suggestion was met with guarded looks, and it was only at this point that I noticed they were looking behind me. I followed their example, and found Rinne giving the duo a blood-curdling glare.

"Mountain Girl, stay," I warned her, and her expression turned on a dime as she directed a hurt puppy look at me.

"But they were disrespectful to Leonard-dono! Allow Rinne to discipline them!"

"... You see? This is exactly the reason why I didn't want to take you along at first," I grumbled before turning back and flashing a reassuring smile at the security personnel, who in the meantime grew to four members. Where the other two materialized from while I wasn't looking, I had no idea.

However, before I could even attempt to salvage the situation, a new voice joined the fray behind us.

"What's the meaning of this?"

Turning around again, I found myself locking eyes with a petite girl walking up the stairs behind us. She was wearing a fiery red Chinese dress that seemed entirely too light, mild winter weather or not, and by eye I'd have said she was just about as tall as Ichiko. Meaning short. As for looks, she was naturally pretty, but she still had a bit of a puppy fat on her, so she was more cute than attractive. She also had her hair in two buns, which meant...

"Stay back, princess Xiao! These ruffians are!"

"How dare you call Leonard-dono and Rinne ruffians! I shall turn you into rust on Onikiri's blade!"

"Look out, she has a weapon!" one of the guards exclaimed and, with a flick of his wrist, produced one of those telescopic batons from somewhere.

"Ah! Evildoers!" the young girl exclaimed and assumed some kind of pose, where she was standing on one foot, with her other leg raised till her knee almost touched her abdomen and she spread her arms wide. "I'm not afraid of you! I'll show you the power of the Feilong clan! Our kung-fu is the strongest there is!"

"Okay, that's about enough!" I yelled out to get everyone's attention, then reached out to flick Mountain Girl's forehead.

"Ow!"

"You, behave yourself." After that, I turned back and pointed at one of the guards. "You, go get Naoren, or failing that, talk to someone who can contact him. As for you..." This time I turned to the young girl on the stairs, and sternly told her, "You're on a set of stairs, so stop balancing on one leg before you slip and hurt yourself."

"I won't slip!" she objected, but at the same time she obediently planted both feet on the ground. "Who are you to address brother Naoren so flagrantly anyway?"

"Right, we never actually got to the point where we could introduce ourselves, did we? I'm Leonard Dunning, and this is my bodyguard, Rinne..." I paused here and turned to my current companion. "Do you still not have a surname?"

Before she could tell me, if she even wanted to, we were interrupted by the young girl scampering up to us and exclaiming, "Wait! Wait! Are you really Leonard? Leonard Blackcloak?"

Weird as it might sound, I was feeling a little intimidated by the way her eyes were sparkling, so I modestly answered, "Some... or rather, lots of people call me that, yes."

"You fools!" Hearing her suddenly lash out at them made the three security guards (one of them already left to look for Naoren, as per my instructions) shudder and shrink back. "How could you not recognize the esteemed Leonard Blackcloak Dunning? You bring shame to our ancestors!" I momentarily debated whether or not I should point out that she didn't recognize me either, but before I could come to a decision, she turned back to me and did a martial arts salute, with one tiny fist against an open palm in front of her chest. "Xiao Feilong greets senior."

For a moment I didn't know how to react to that. Was I supposed to return the gesture? Or do something else entirely? I was pretty sure I wasn't supposed to bow, but at this point, who the hell knew what the etiquette in this context was supposed to be. In the, I settled on my practiced Big Brotherly Smile.

"You must be grand elder Xinji's granddaughter."

"Ah?" The little girl's eyes opened wide and looked at me as if mesmerized. "Has senior heard of Xiao?"

"Yes. You're going to participate in the upcoming tournament, aren't you?"

"Y-Yes! This insignificant junior will try not to embarrass herself!"

She looked oddly tense, so I reapplied my smile and gently told her, "Now, now. Don't put yourself down. I'm sure you're going to do great."

"Does senior Blackcloak really think so?" she beamed me, and I nodded.

I wasn't just randomly flattering her either. She was obviously a major player and part of the annoying grand elder's plan, so I'd bet my hat she was going to reach at least the semi-finals, potentially even further. In any case, the girl in front of me was giving me a worshipful look that uncannily reminded me of Ichiko when I first met her. Was I popular with mini-moes, I wondered?

In any case, I was afraid she would be annoying, but she turned out to be surprisingly agreeable. More importantly, she was a prime candidate to mark for future Far Sight application, but before I could get around to figuring out how to do it, the large door leading into the reception room opened without a sound, and a familiar bespectacled young man walked out, with a mortified security guard behind him.

"Good afternoon, Leonard. I expected you would arrive later in the evening."

"I figured I'd strike the iron while it's hot," I answered with a smirk, doing my best to keep the wave of irritation washing over me show up in my voice, and he returned the gesture.

"I see you've met Xiao Xiao," he noted as he glanced at the girl at next to me, and a moment later she was already by his side.

"Brother Naoren! Senior Blackcloak said I was going to do great in the tournament!"

"He has discerning eyes," he responded with just the hint of a smile and rubbed the girl's head before his attention returned to us. "And who might the lady be?"

"I'm Onikiri no Tsukaite Rinne, Leonard-dono's retainer," Mountain Girl answered before I could, and the young clan head let out a satisfied hum as if that explained everything.

"I see. Please come in and make yourselves at home."

"Don't mind if we do then," I told him in return, and our small group finally entered the pagoda hotel.

Once we were out of the cold and the door closer behind us, Naoren turned to me and uttered a single word.

"Tea?"

It took me a second to process that simple question, and responded with, "Always," drawing a small chuckle out of the odango girl frolicking around us, and making me once again revise the bespectacled man's placing in my annoyance-o-rankings. After all, hopeless theoretical love-rival or not, anyone who realizes that a warm cup of tea is an absolute necessity for a productive meeting can't be that bad, right?

Naoren's temporary office was situated on the top floor of the building, and it was about as unnecessarily spacious as expected. By the looks of it, it must've used to be the penthouse suite of the hotel, but it was thoroughly remodeled to serve its new purpose. That said, the room itself was fairly bare, with a large hardwood desk dominating the place, sitting on a raised platform in front of the huge windows overlooking the city, with a simple glass-top coffee table and several carved chairs in front of and beneath it.

I imagined things had been arranged this way so that the people sitting by the table had to look up at the clan head behind his desk. Probably some kind of power display or what have you. That said, while the place was unexpectedly utilitarian, it also had a few interesting decorations I didn't notice when I was observing the place through the guy's aide. Such as the huge, floral-printed folding screen in the corner. Or the very, very expensive-looking vase right next to the door. Or the huge, mossy stones arranged in front of us.

"Is there a problem?" our host inquired, and it took me a second to realize he was addressing me.

"No, not a problem per se," I responded a touch ambivalently, and he raised his brow in return.

"Just?" he prompted me, and after some vacillation, I shrugged.

"Just that I didn't picture you as a zen garden kind of person," I noted and pointed to my right. "I didn't even know you could have one of those indoors."

"It was a gift from the Ryu clan head," Naoren explained as he slowly looked over the rectangular area filled with large natural rocks and carefully raked gravel. "Personally, I could never find the time, patience, or motivation to care for one, but I admit it's aesthetically pleasing."

"Wait, hold on. Let's roll that back," I cut in with a palm raised. "It was a gift?"

"Yes," the bespectacled Draconian answered with just a hint of amusement.

"How does someone even gift a whole zen garden?"

"Very persistently," he answered without actually giving me an answer and gestured for us to follow after him to the sitting area.

The 'us' in this context referred to me, Mountain Girl, and oddly enough, the small odango girl as well. She's been following us like it was the most natural thing to do, and since this was her home turf, I couldn't exactly tell her to go away.

Anyhow, I sat down, and Naoren took a seat on the other side of the coffee table so that we would face each other. The arrangement closely resembled our last meeting, except for Rinne standing ramrod straight behind my chair, and a little girl helping herself to a seat on our left.

As if waiting for this exact moment, a tall man dressed in a plain white tunic entered, pushing a simple food cart with a porcelain tea set and various, bite-sized pastries on it. By the way he dressed and carried himself, I figured he was part of Naoren's retinue. At this point, my brain went on a small tangent about whether the Chinese Draconians had servants like the Dracis did, and if so, whether there were any maids or equivalents among them, but I quickly shook it out of my head.

"Shall we continue our discussion from last time?"

"That's the plan."

Hearing my response, our host let out a thoughtful hum and picked up one of the cups.

"Our last talk was unfortunately interrupted, so I can't quite recall where we stopped." While I was torn on whether to tell him or not while odango girl was still around, the man abruptly raised a finger, making the whole dilemma moot. "Before that though, I believe I've yet to apologize for the incident my brother caused during the banquet. I assure you that he received a fitting punishment for his behavior."

"To be fair, my friend wasn't entirely innocent in the matter either," I tried to deflect the issue, but Naoren continued on like I didn't say a word.

"The truth is that what happened that night was, at least, partially my fault. My brother only recently achieved a breakthrough in his cultivation, and his mind was unstable due to its lingering aftereffects. I knew of this, and should've forbidden him to participate in the event, but he was looking forward to the banquet for a long time."

"So you're saying you knew he would cause an incident, but let him attend anyway."

"Knew is a strong word. I simply predicted, knowing Zihao's personality and the instability caused by our cultivation technique. I should've known better, but he was too excited, and brotherly love blinded me. For this, I sincerely apologize."

I eyed the man elegantly sipping his tea for a while, and a resigned sigh later I decided to just bite the bait and ask, "What exactly is this 'cultivating technique' you're talking about?"

Naoren smiled like he'd been waiting for me to ask, and explained, "The main branch of our family cultivates our bloodline using the Crimson Emperor Mantra. It's a powerful technique that allows us to maintain our position of power, but it's also an overbearing one. Its tenets revolve around strength, supremacy, and dominance. It requires a firm mind and strong will to cultivate, otherwise, one may risk deviation, and being swallowed up by their base impulses. I'm afraid Zihao's mind was still unstable after his breakthrough, and it's why he got into conflict with your companion."

"So his Yang was unbalanced, yet he still attended the gathering," Rinne noted behind me with just a hint of disapproval.

"Shameful, right?" odango girl chimed in, giving my self-appointment bodyguard an approving look. "Balance is the most important! That's why I practice the Thousand Years Old Willow technique instead!"

"A most imposing name. It must be a truly profound technique," Mountain Girl nodded along.

"It is! It really is!"

"Only the main branch is allowed to cultivate the Crimson Emperor Mantra," Naoren noted on the side, most likely trying to explain why she was using a different one.

"I like Thousand Years Old Willow better anyway!" the little girl insisted with puffed-up cheeks, looking pretty darn cute in the process. I'd give her about 0.6 on the Snowy-scale, which might sound low, but I'd consider it high praise.

"Rinne agrees. A balance of Yin and Yang is the most important."

"That's right! Are you also a cultivator, miss bodyguard?"

"No. Rinne follows the internal purification teachings of the sages."

"Oooh! That sounds interesting! Can you tell me more?" the kid asked with practically sparkling eyes, and I could practically see a bond forming between the two kindred spirits in real-time.

"Maybe later," Naoren cut in, and odango girl puffed up her cheeks again in protest.

In the meantime, I used this intermezzo to grab my own cup, and after taking a couple of sips, I summarized the point he tried to get across.

"So what you're trying to tell me is that, due to the thing you cultivate, your brother wasn't in his right mind at the time, and that's why he was rearing for a fight."

"I don't believe he was looking for one," Naoren corrected me. "It would be more accurate to say that Zihao's eagerness to find a bride was amplified by his breakthrough, and so he"

"Wait, halt," I stopped him in his tracks with a raised palm again. "Did you say 'bride' just now?"

Naoren flashed an amused smile and explained, "Why, yes. It's a rare occasion for so many youngsters of our bloodlines to gather in one place, so he had been looking forward to the opportunity to meet girls of his age."

"Ew. Gross," the little girl commented on the side but was mostly ignored.

Meanwhile, I graciously overlooked the bespectacled Draconian's usage of the word 'youngsters', and focused on the big picture. In short, this Zihao guy probably was hitting on Angie after all, and that's why the whole incident happened. That meant it wasn't just a random 'event' on the road of the childhood friend duo's slow progression towards dating, and it probably didn't require any narrative meddling to set it up. Well, aside from getting all the pieces onto the same game board in the first place, but still. Refreshingly Watsonian.

"The side effects of this technique of yours definitely sound annoying. Are you also practicing it?" I asked just to keep the conversation rolling, and our host flashed a smile that didn't quite touch his eyes.

"Indeed I do."

"Does that mean you're also affected by it?"

"Occasionally," he admitted with a shrug. "In my case, I've focused on the 'domination' aspect of the Crimson Emperor Mantra ever since I was a child. It allowed me to reach my current position in the clan, but as a result, I suffer a constant urge to find and fight powerful opponents." He paused, and I swear to god, I could totally see that cheesy thing when someone's glasses glinted before they said something dramatic. "Why, in fact, I have to constantly suppress my urge to challenge you to a duel even now. I would greatly appreciate it if you could help me deal with it one of these days."

Odango girl, currently nibbling at a tea biscuit, perked up at once, but quickly deflated when I responded with, "Sorry, but I don't really have the time today."

"A shame." Naoren shrugged and took another sip from his cup. "In any case, I believe the topic of my brother's unsavory behavior has been sufficiently explained."

"Yes. In arguably unnecessary detail. As far as I'm concerned, it's water under the bridge, and he and my friend can work the rest out between each other during the tournament."

"Then let's discuss the main topic. I believe it was something related to the safety of our clan, wasn't it?"

"Yes, but before that..."

I repeatedly glanced between him and the little girl, and it only took him a second to get my message.

"Xiao Xiao? I'm afraid our discussion might be a little dry for you. Why don't you discuss cultivation with Leonard's vassal in the next room over?"

"Rinne must stay by Leonard-dono's side," Mountain Girl responded by reflex, only to then notice the pointed look I was giving her and amend, "However, if it is only the neighboring room, Rinne will oblige."

Now it was the little girl's turn, and she sulkily averted her eyes.

"I wanted to ask senior to give me some pointers..."

"Maybe after we're finished here. What do you say?" Naoren put me on the spot, and while I had no idea what kind of 'pointers' I was supposed to give, I had no choice but to nod along.

"Sure, if we have the time."

The girl immediately perked up like her previous sulkiness was a lie (in fact, I had a sneaking suspicion she played her disappointment up for effect), and jumped to her feet.

"Thank you, senior!" She gave me another martial artist salute and beamed at me. "I'll lead your vassal to the dueling chamber! Let's meet there!"

I very nearly asked why a hotel would have a dueling room, but then I remembered who I was talking to, and I wisely remained silent. Rinne sent me a conflicted glance, but under my urging, she followed after the energetic child, and they left the room the way we originally came.

"It seems Xiao Xiao took a liking to your vassal," Naoren noted with a good-natured yet strangely irritating smile. "Though not as much as she did to you."

"Apparently, though I can't say I know why," I responded a tad begrudgingly, and this time the guy outright chuckled at my expense.

"I find it natural. Girls her age tend to have their idols, and considering your meteoric rise to fame, it's not at all surprising she looks up to you. It's no wonder..." His words slowly trailed off as a frown settled on his brows, then he set his cup onto the table and solemnly added, "Just to be sure, do not mistake her interest for affection. If I were to find that you had plans to make her your concubine, I would have to kill you, and that would be a shame."

"Considering she's, what, eleven? Yeah, I probably won't misunderstand anything, and the less said about this whole 'concubine' business, the better," I answered a touch flatly.

"Good. She might only be my second cousin, but I view her as a younger sibling, and will act in her defense as such."

"So you're saying you're the protective older brother type. Got it."

My comment made his brows descend even further, though this time he appeared more troubled than anything.

"I don't believe I'm particularly overprotective." He paused and abruptly threw the ball in my court by asking, "What about you? I've heard you have two younger sisters."

"Yes, I do, and I don't think I'm overprotective either."

"So you're the same as me."

"I suppose."

That seemed to be the end of the topic, but I waited a few seconds to see if he wanted to say anything else before I broached the main topic.

"All right then. Should we get started on this discussion in earnest?"

"It would be about time, wouldn't it?"

Naoren crossed his hands in his lap and his body language indicated that he wanted me to speak up. Maybe he really didn't remember the exact note where we left the last time? Anyhow, I cleared my throat.

"Long story short, we were talking about my proposal to permanently remove the Knights as a threat."

"Yes, I do remember that part. I believe you proposed a cease-fire."

"Among other things. However, things have taken an odd turn since then."

Naoren raised a curious brow and uttered a guarded, "How so?"

For a moment or five I hesitated, but ultimately decided not to beat around the bush.

"Listen, Naoren. I want you to hear me out, from beginning to end, and only make a judgment after I'm finished."

"I can promise that much."

"Good. Now, here's the current situation: I'm planning to dismantle the Knights as an organization, and reform them."

" Excuse me?"

Over the span of about a quarter of an hour, I proceeded to explain our plans for the Knights, the formation of a united Draconian council overseeing the activities of all clans, and the integration of the former into the latter as a sort of police force. Some parts I only explained in broad strokes, others in more meticulous detail, and my host carefully listened to every single one of my words.

At last, I reached the end of my explanation, and concluded with a frank, "So, that's the long and short of it."

Naoren remained quiet, probably to see if I had anything else to add anyway, but in the end he let out a shallow sigh and removed his glasses so that he could massage his eyes.

"When you originally talked about reining in the illegal activities of our kin to avoid conflict with the Brotherhood of the Most Noble Bloodlines, this wasn't what I had in mind." One more sigh later, he replaced his glasses and continued in a sterner tone. "Before we continue, explain to me why the Knights would ever follow this arrangement."

"Because I say so," I answered a touch mischievously, but my host didn't seem to appreciate the jest, so I clarified, "I suppose I should properly introduce myself again. You know me as Leonard 'Blackcloak' Dunning, Chimera slayer and the fianc of Eleanor Dracis, when in reality... I'm all that, plus the Lion Knight."

"You're what?" the bespectacled draconian uttered flatly, and I couldn't really blame him.

"Well, I suppose 'the former Lion Knight' would be more accurate, as I don't plan on using the moniker anymore."

"So you're a renegade Knight?"

"No? Quite the opposite, actually. You see, I also happen to be the current King of the Knights, meaning I'm their leader, and I already made sure that all the other Knights I could get my hands on would cease any and all hostilities."

Naoren stared at me like he wasn't sure I was joking, then he removed his glasses to massage his eyes again. I waited for him to finish, feeling a little less tense than before. Just a few short seconds ago my danger sense was giving me a soft warning, but I barreled on, and by now it was completely gone, meaning he was probably on the cusp of attacking me but thought better of it.

"Why are you telling me this?" Naoren asked, and after a bit of thinking, I just shrugged.

"Because you have to know. I mean, I'm going to enact this plan one way or another, and your support would be much appreciated. It's not like I could keep it a secret for long, and I figured it was better that you learned of it now than if it happened during a more dangerous situation."

The Draconian clan head continued to eye me suspiciously.

"Does clan head Abram know about any of this?"

"Of course. The whole family does. It's not something I would keep a secret from my in-laws."

There was another long beat of silence in the room, and just as it was about to get awkward, Naoren exhaled a long sigh and slouched his shoulders.

"So let me see if I understand this right. You are the leader of the Brotherhood of the Most Noble Bloodlines. You came to this island where you met Lenore, and you fell in love, so you decided to dissolve your organization, unify the bloodlines, and merge the two into a new establishment."

"There were a couple of more steps and missteps on the way, but that's the gist of it."

"Do you truly believe it's possible to set aside centuries of conflict and hatred just like that?"

"Of course. I mean, what is the alternative? Keep killing each other? Not exactly a desirable prospect if you ask me."

"That sounds very optimistic of you."

"Oh, don't get us started on that topic again," I grumbled while rolling my eyes, and my response drained some of the tension from Naoren's shoulders. "Anyhow, that's the plan. Take it or leave it."

"And you want my help in achieving it."

"I'd already laid most of the groundwork, so I mainly need you to use your influence over the Eastern Draconian families to make the transition smooth and painless for everyone involved."

He tapped his finger against his thigh a couple of times while thinking, then suddenly asked, "This new organization of unified bloodlines you envision. Who is going to lead it?"

"I have no idea," I admitted, and he once again stared at me like I was the weirdest thing he'd ever seen. "Look, I already have way more on my plate than what I'm comfortable with. I just want to get this stupid feud between what's essentially two branches of my family to be finally over. I leave sorting out the internal politics of the clans to people qualified for that."

"Meaning?"

"Abram and you, I suppose."

"... So you are saying that after the merge, you would relinquish any claim of leadership."

"Do I even have any of that?" That comment got me another weird look, so I hastily added, "Never mind. The question is, can I have your support?"

The bespectacled Draconian shifted in his seat and seriously considered my question.

"I'm afraid that's not something I can decide on my own. As the clan head, it's my duty to look after the interests of the Feilong clan and all of its vassals. This is a decision that would affect all of us, so I can't afford to be hasty. That said, if what you say is true... I have to admit, the prospect of being remembered as the clan head who resolved the centuries-old conflict that shaped us into what we are today... it's certainly tempting."

"Well, there are certainly worse things to be remembered for."

"Indeed." My host readjusted his glasses, and stated, "In any case, at the very least I must discuss this proposal with grand elder Xinji before I could give you an ans"

I reflexively clicked my tongue and pointed at him, cutting Naoren off mid-word.

"Actually, there was another reason why I wanted to talk with you ASAP." He waited for me to continue, so I used my most diplomatic tone to tell him, "You probably don't want to share any of this with the grand elder."

"And why's that?"

"Because he's conspiring with the Knights."

My flat answer gave him a pause, then he tentatively asked, "Isn't that what I'm doing right now?"

"On a technical level, I suppose?"

"So you're saying you're negotiating with him separately."

"No, that's not what I..." I started, then exhaled a soft groan. "Okay, let's start from the top. I told you I'm the leader of the Knights. I have about two-thirds of the Entitled Knights under my command. The problem is, I have no way to contact the rest, so they have no idea what's going on, and they struck up a deal with your grand elder to do something during the upcoming tournament, meaning he's conspiring to do something potentially nasty, and I don't want any rogue elements like him involved in our negotiations."

"That is a serious accusation," my host told me a touch pensively. "Do you have any proof of it?"

"Not really, no. I simply got the tip from a trusted source."

"So it's secondhand information then."

"Technically yes, but I can one hundred percent guarantee its authenticity."

"Then this discussion is entirely predicated on whether or not I trust your word over the grand elder's," he concluded, yet after only a short few seconds, he sighed in resignation again. "Very well. I will keep your offer to myself for the time being."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, I guess."

"You have unconditionally shared your secret with me, so I believe it's only natural." I flashed the man an appreciative smile, and he accepted it with a shallow nod. "But assuming your information is accurate and grand elder Xinji is truly attempting to cause 'something potentially nasty', as you put it... Should we cancel the competition?"

"As tempting as that sounds, no. As the saying goes it's better the devil you know than the devil you don't. At least this way, we know when and where they'd strike, so we can work around their plans and use them to our advantage." Naoren didn't exactly look convinced, so I flashed a winning smile and added, "Trust me, I have experience with these kinds of things."

"Using other people's plans against them?"

"Yeah. My life is kind of crazy like that," I admitted, then shook my head and made a tent with my fingers. "You can say I'm something of an expert when it comes to derailing even the most well-laid-out plans."

I didn't mean that to be ominous, yet Naoren looked at me like I was some kind of wicked mastermind. That wasn't the impression I was going for, so I cleared my throat and tried again.

"What I'm trying to say is that when people say 'No plan survives contact with the enemy', they're talking about me."

Shit, that only made my impression even worse, didn't it? It sounded much less nefarious in my head, but it just came out weird. I guess I'll really have to retire the Bel persona one of these days, before it completely rubs off on me.

Oh, who am I kidding? Playing Bel was waaay too therapeutic for me to stop any time soon.