"Your father had last contacted me a month ago asking if I had any updates on your situation…. I am sure he has been looking for you….. Do you want to cont-"

"I will leave it to you then…." Max said calmly.

Stark looked at him with a worried face.

"I will do it then…" Stark replied as he took out a pouch.

"I had prepared it as a birthday present for you….even though it's too late….. Happy Birthday…" Stark said with a smile.

Max realised that his birthday had passed away in the trial.

He smiled as he took the present from Stark's hands.

"Thank You, Master"

"Open it….tell me if you like it or not…." Stark asked with a slight smile and Max nodded.

When the gift was unwrapped, Max found a wooden case inside it.

He opened the case and there was a dagger beautiful black dagger in it. The black blade shined with a chilling glow. Max could feel that the weapon was not an ordinary one.

"The first thing you made was a dagger. This time, I made one for you." Stark said as he remembered Max's first crafted item.

"Well...now that I am done, I should get going. We will be moving towards the capital tomorrow." Stark said as he got up from his seat but his steps suddenly halted as he remembered something.

"Do you want to meet my family, Lord? He seems to be very excited to meet you." Stark said with a laugh.

"Master, I trust you and your family lord too…..but I am not strong enough. I will avoid the Ancient families until I resolve this issue…." Max said with an honest face.

Stark looked at him and nodded with a smile before leaving.

Max closed his eyes and got the unnecessary thoughts out of his mind.

"I can't get involved with the Ancient families now. I don't even know how they will react to our existence…" Max mumbled.

"As for Ovens House, I will ask Master to help. We need to gather evidence. The last thing we need now is an unnecessary misunderstanding. Besides, getting the Ovens House will be the beginning of the war. It's better if we slow down this process."

"Bahamut was right, building a force to depend on should be our primary goal. I don't think there should be much of a problem with funds. Bahamut and I am Mr. Cool both are from Noble Houses and so is Lear. We can depend on them…."

"What else can be done to make the situation favorable for us…."

Max kept mumbling as he slowly lost himself in his thoughts.

….

The Next morning arrived….

Max walked out of the pleasure tower along with his Master and Lear.

They would be leaving for capital while Anna would be staying by Ethena's side for a while. Derek was also made to forcefully accompany Ethena since the idiot wanted to accompany Stark or leave alone to find his master.

Lear still shivered as he remembered Derek getting K-oed for irritating Ethena too much.

"Let's get to the vehicle…" Stark spoke and began to walk. Max and Lear followed behind.

People were looking at them with odd expressions. They had seen many people coming out of the pleasure tower. But a group of three guys.

What the heck were they doing?!

People's imagination began to run wild.

The group ignored their gazes and began to walk towards their vehicle.

"Did you hear the news? I heard that a guy died last night in the tower. People are saying that he couldn't handle the pleasure and ended up having a heart attack. Well he deserved it for cheating on his wife…." Lear said with a laugh.

"So shameful ….what is happening to upper-class people." Lear sighed.

"When did you get your stuff from the home?" Max asked as he looked at his luggage.

"I did early in the morning. I settled everything." Lear replied calmly.

"Settled everything?" Max asked as he gave him a look.

"I have got a few loyal people too…" Lear replied with a smirk.

"Did you get permission to go to the capital?" Max asked.

"Well….I will ask once I get there…" Lear replied calmly.

"You sure about it?" Max asked with a laugh.

"Do you think I will get permission if I ask? I don't even dare to make eye contact with my father…..you are asking too much from me…."Lear shook his head.

The group entered the vehicle and it began to sped off towards the express station. Capital Orca was a pretty far from Ishtar. It would take them more than a month on roadways even if they used the Association's routes.

The express car would be much faster and would take approximately 2 to 3 days.

After an hour, they finally reached the express station.

" Hmmn...It seems seats are in different cabins…. I will take the single seat. You two can take the one together." Stark said and left them.

Max and Lear got onto the express car and the staff brought them to their seats after checking their boarding passes.

"How do you plan to live there then?" Max suddenly asked.

"Well I will feed off of you… you have taken money from me too" Lear replied.

"Well, I will feed you off for the amount of money you paid as for everything else….." Max said with a smirk.

"Huh? Do you think I will have problems? Let me tell you this, even if my father doesn't send me money. My handsome face is enough. I will bewitch some wealthy girl to pay for my bills…" Lear said with pride on his face.

"Pfft!"

"Did you just laugh at it!" Lear looked at Max who was still finding it hard to control his laughter.

"No…"

"It doesn't sound convincing when you can't even shut your mouth up." Lear said as lines appeared on his face.

"No...don't get me wrong. I just have never seen someone bewitching people with their faces. Why don't you show me?" Max asked with a smile.

"Now?!" Lear's expression froze.

"Yes! Why? You should be able to, right? You only need your face and you have it. Go ahead and do it, unless you were lying." Max said with a smug face.

Lear felt his face twitch. This had now come down to his pride. He couldn't back down. Even if it was just said as a joke in the beginning, the look on Max's face made Lear irritated enough to go through hell instead of letting this guy make fun of him.

He immediately got on his feet and scanned the cabin. People were still flowing in as the time of departure had yet to arrive.

Lear looked around and finally saw a girl four seats ahead of them. The back of her head was visible to him. Lear could tell that she was around his age.

A good target.

'She seems young? I could give it a try. Besides, I am not that bad. Getting a girl crazy wouldn't be trouble. My face and my title should be enough.'

As the thought appeared in his mind, Lear became even more confident. He could even imagine Max on his knees when he would succeed.

Max looked at Lear grinning from ear to ear and spoke with a frown, "Are you going to stand there the whole day?"

"I am going already! Just watch me…." Lear said as he began to walk towards her.

Max looked at the scene with a smile on his face.

"Excuse me…." Lear spoke with his best tone and showed a smile on his face.

The girl turned her head after hearing a person behind.

The moment she turned around, Max's smile froze.

'Sh*t!'