"Sure why not? This seems like volunteer work where I offer services and get paid. I can live with that" Hal said.

Tanya nodded and Hal thought he saw a look of relief pass over her face as she looked over to the elder before saying,

"That's good. This..." She pointed at the tall and muscular man "...is Ehrlich and he will be your supervisor and in charge of telling you what your initiation task will be."

"Initiation task?" Hal asked in a mildly confused expression.

Tanya nodded with a smile,

"You can call it mission if you wish but yes, initiation. As I said, I have many other recruits and I need to be sure you are actually capable and for that, you need to perform an initiation task.

On that note, the initiation task is to be done alone and you are not to bring anyone along with you.

Since I only came here in person as a show of good faith, I will be returning to the Imperial city soon after this and will either contact you directly or through Ehrlich."

Hal frowned slightly but nodded, all the same, to show that he understood.

He left the room soon after with Karmen behind him and eyeing all those in the room with a gaze that showed just how much she disliked them.

Once Hal was out of the room, Ehrlich left as well and only the Elder and Tanya were left in the room.

"Um, your highness?" He called.

"Yes?" Tanya replied.

"Is there some reason why you told that impetuous young man that he was one of many recruits when the truth is he is the first you have ever made this proposition to?" He asked with his brow furrowed in confusion.

Tanya sighed,

"Worth control. I can't have him thinking he's special just because he happens to be the only one I feel I can trust and the reason why he is the only one I feel I can trust lies in the fact that I can't sense loyalty towards anyone other than himself within him.

I prefer that to blind loyalty which is quite usually blind.

Let's just see how he does in initiation."

The Elder nodded,

"Should I prepare for our return to the Imperial City?" He asked.

"Why would you consider that?" Tanya asked.

"Well, you said we would be returning" the Elder said.

Tanya nodded. She had of course not forgotten what she had said at all,

"We're not leaving. I saw no reason to let him know of my plans. So I made a statement that made me seem inaccessible. We will stay in Silva for a while."

"As you wish Princess"

...

Upon leaving Rose petal restaurant, Hal made his way to another one of his hidden spots and retrieved his carriage which he then boarded and rode off towards the hotel he was staying.

On the way, he summoned Arya out of the Harem space,

"I just met your cousin" was the first thing he said to the Alchemist whose eyes widened.

"Which of them?" She asked.

"Tanya" he told her in an almost offhand tone while looking out of the carriage at the locations they passed.

Arya's widened green eyes slowly narrowed,

"What did she want with you?" She asked and Hal turned towards her with a smile which alerted her that she had been a tad bit disrespectful.

She bowed,

"If you don't mind me asking. I'm sorry if I was impudent." She said.

Hal waved it off,

"It's fine" he told her and explained a part of what Tanya had wanted with him while Arya's frown continued to deepen.

The more she thought of the whole thing, the shadier she found it and Hal shared her sentiment but he still wished to go through with it all the same.

This was a clear-cut opportunity for him to travel the continent and maybe form connections if possible and he wished to ride the wave. At the very least for now.

"Anyway, since I will likely be leaving for the initiation task soon, it might be better we take care of some of the things we had planned before. One of them being a visit to the Alchemist organization." Hal said and had Arya take over steering the carriage towards the Alchemist Organization.

She was familiar with the Silva Duchy capital enough to know her way around.

In fact, it could be argued that she knew her way around all the Duchys on the Haron continent.

With Arya at that wheel (so to speak) the journey was quick and before long they had traversed far from the restaurant right to the very front of the Alchemist Organization in the Silva Duchy which was actually a branch. The true Headquarters was in the Imperial city.

That said, this branch was the center for all alchemists in the Silva Duchy and even had small sub-branches across the Duchy to improve outreach.

Arya retrieved her identity token which had the guards at the association falling over themselves to tend to her needs.

Clearly, a Rank 6 Alchemist was a big deal.

She had them take the carriage and take good care of it while she led the way into the Organization's large building with Hal and Karmen at her heels.

Truth be told, when Hal began to consider joining organizations, he planned to join Rune Castle which was what the Runemastering organization was called but he thought better of it.

Or more accurately, he decided to have the best of both worlds.

Since he could also refine, then why not become a registered Alchemist as well.

Not to mention that the requirements to join Rune Castle were very high.

He needed to join a sect or academy that would guarantee he had been tutored in the ways of Runemastering.

This requirement did not come out of nowhere of course since, unlike Alchemy, Runemastering had way more branches and was much more difficult to advance.

The quickest and safest way to advance was to join those same sects and upon honorable exits out of said sects, induction into Rune castle followed, hence the requirements.

However, should the Runemaster be adamant about not joining a sect for the sake of remaining independent, then he or she could choose to self-study and learn all the guidelines as well as other basics of the art and then take a test divided into written and practical components.

Anyway,

Arya walked into the Organization building with unhurried steps before she came face to face with a clerk and introduced herself as 'Alchemist Nadia' which was the alias she used in the hope to avoid the ones her father had sent out to search for her.

All these years later, she felt it was safer to simply keep using that name.

While she conversed with the clerk and made preparations to lead Hal inside, he walked about the reception with a gaze of appreciation.

Karmen stuck close to him but she appreciated the architecture as well.

And then they both heard the click-clack sound of feminine footsteps followed by a lady in a long silver gown and a veil that covered all of her face except her pale eyes.

The veil was now making Hal consider if this was a common begavior of ladies in the capital.

The Silver hair, the pale eyes...

This lady had features resembling Pierre. She had to be a Silva.

And then...

*Whoosh*

... There was a large battle-ax at his neck and it was held there by the silver-haired lady.

Hal could not help but roll his eyes just as the lady spoke,

"How dare you ogle me with your eyes?" She asked with gritted teeth.

Hal was about to reply when he recognized the distinct sound of another Cosmic Armament being summoned.

Karmen's eyes flashed crimson,

"Drop... your... weapon"