“That was fast.” Ira examined a cylindrical metal rod while speaking to a haggard man.

“Yes, well. I wanted to get back to my research.” The bearded man with unkempt hair coughed while slightly twitching.

Ira narrowed his eyes, “Charles you should go take a bath or something at least. You smell terrible.”

The brilliant alchemist who was known for his tendency to solely focus on research was a shell of his former self, well, only in appearance. In Charles’ point of view, his mind was sharper than ever as he walked down the road to discovery.

“Before I return to my studies, I must ask, why is it you need a lightning rod?” Charles already guessed it was because of the Black Book in Ira’s possession but he had to be sure.

“Whenever I bother you for something it’s always the same thing, right?” Ira confirmed his theory while storing away the lightning rod.

“That’s true, now if that’s all you needed for me I’ll be returning to my experiments.” Charles was about retreat back into the darkened room, but Ira placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Experiments about what?” Ira asked with interest.

“It isn’t about the bloodline formula as we agreed so there is no need to threaten me. My main experiment is pulling out the latent potential that exists in everyone’s bloodline. I theorize before the collapse that average people were more resilient than the common populace of today. The second one is detailing the infusement of magic arrays into the body of living beings. So far the only solution is to inscribe them into the skeleton, but even with an unconscious specimen it usually leads to death. I tried to inscribe a low-level heat array onto the skin of a rodent, but as expected it malfunctioned so that means–” Charles was about to continue when Ira held his hand up.

“I have a question Charles,” Ira smiled.

“...Yes?” Charles answered cautiously.

“How do you feel about the Dark Elf Empire?” Ira’s smile grew a little bit brighter.

...

Rhys approached the guest room and hesitated before knocking. A pair of footsteps moved in response so she waited.

Unfortunately, the one she was expecting didn’t appear and it was instead Harper.

“What?” Harper asked as she yawned.

Rhys grabbed her notepad and wrote one word, “Ira?”

“He’s not here,” Harper answered as she opened the door and walked back to the bed.

Rhys entered and looked around the room she wasn’t familiar with.

“Do you like Ira?” Harper asked with curious eyes.

Rhys became flustered at the random question but calmed herself as she scribbled on her notepad, [I do.]

Harper laughed as she climbed on the bed and began to jump, “I knew it!”

Rhys smiled wryly as the little girl celebrated for some odd reason.

Harper stopped and contemplated before speaking, “Do you want me to tell him?”

Rhys hurriedly shook her head and Harper frowned as if she was disappointed.

“If you like him why’d you make him sad yesterday?” Harper questioned.

Rhys wrote on her notepad in response, [He was sad?]

“No...Not sad, something else.” Harper held her head as she thought back to Ira’s emotionless expression at that time. It made her sad just to look at and Rhys felt similar in that regard.

Suddenly, the person in question appeared with a black book in one hand and a pastry in the other. Whenever Ira had free time he would take a peek into the book in order to search for something.

“Hmm?” Ira tossed the pastry into his mouth and stored the black book away before smiling, “I was just coming to look for you, Rhys.”

Looking at Rhys’ expression, Ira guessed what she was thinking, “For what? Didn’t I say was going to help you? After its done, your lightning should be controllable.”

Rhys’ eyes widened as the only thing she wanted was control over her powers. She couldn’t help but smile as she looked at him. She moved to bow, but a firm hand land on her shoulder.

“It’s no problem at all so don’t worry. I have enough people who bow to me already and it gets a bit old,” Ira said with a laugh.

“I know something you don’t Ira.” Harper puffed her chest out proudly before nodding to Rhys.

“Oh?” Ira laughed as he looked at her.

“Yup! I’m not telling either!” It appeared that Harper was mad at Ira for letting her sleep while going off to do whatever it is he did.

“Well, at least you can keep a secret.” Ira shrugged without much worry. If it was something that demanded his immediate attention Harper would tell him.

“So, Rhys. Do you want to start now or should we get breakfast first?” Ira asked.

Rhys shook her head with a reluctant expression and he seemed to understand her choice. In addition, he could hear her stomach slightly rumble.

“I could go for a bit of food and your brother did want that interview right?” Ira patted his abdomen before gesturing for Rhys to lead them.

She nodded once before stepping out of the room with the two following behind her.

…

After having a meal that could serve at least five other people, Ira stretched. Piers, Cecelia, Jonah, Rhys, and Ophelia looked at him in awe, wondering where all the food went. It was clear that Ira wasn’t filled, but he didn’t ask for any more in order to be polite.

“So...Ira...Would it be alright if we did the interview today?” Jonah asked meekly. It was strange to see a man with a full-grown beard and a tall stature seem so withdrawn when speaking to someone younger than him.

Piers and Cecelia gave him a shared look that expressed their wishes for him to reign in his excitement but Ira didn’t mind.

“Sure, I was just about to ask you.” Ira shrugged.

“Great! I’ll get the parchment!” Jonah didn’t even excuse himself as he ran out of the dining room.

Piers shook his head with an apologetic expression, but even he had to admit he was keen on learning more about Ira. Still, his son was older than Ira yet he showed the eyes of a boy meeting his hero. It was something he worried Ira would dislike but he was surprised when he saw no hint of annoyance appearing on his face.

“Ira about yesterday...I wanted to apologize if I said something to upset you.” Cecelia spoke with a sincere expression.

“It’s fine.” Ira smiled as he waved it off.

Ophelia who was watching from the side pouted as she looked at Rhys who couldn’t take her eyes off Ira who sat across from them. She continued observing them and when Ira raised his head and made eye contact with Rhys, the latter would hurriedly look away.

Ophelia sighed before whispering in Rhys’ ear, “Rhys you have to seize the initiative.”

Of course, in such close proximity, Ira heard them perfectly fine, “I don’t mean to eavesdrop, but I can hear you.”

Ophelia was taken off guard and closed her mouth immediately with an embarrassed expression. She viewed Ira and Rhys’ relationship or lack of one as the perfect opportunity to create something. Even with the scars trailing down her face, Rhys still was appealing in Ophelia’s opinion. It may have been due to her being the younger sister, but she projected her own desires of romance onto Rhys.

“It’s not polite to whisper at the table, Ophelia.” Cecelia frowned.

“I know, I know.” Ophelia waved her hand.

Rhys, on the other hand, took her younger sisters words to heart. Maybe if she was more direct she could communicate her feelings more effectively. Rhys looked even more determined as she removed any doubt from her mind.

“Everything's in order if you wish to come up, Ira!” Jonah yelled from upstairs.

“First whispering, now yelling. These kids…” Piers shook his head.

“Well, I’ll be back in a few moments. You should be ready by then right, Rhys?” Ira asked as he stood up.

…

*Jonah Pov

I adjusted my stationary, while he showed no sign of impatience. He maintained a faint grin that never really faded while waiting for me to finish. The one sitting in front of me was Ira, one of the strongest people in the Grenitian Kingdom who had recently become a leading figure in the Kingdom.

The rumors didn’t do any justice to the young man with black hair and yellow eyes. From a glance, I could see a well-trained physique that would put even the greatest warrior to shame. His outfit was oddly simple for someone who should have been able to buy a portion of land and create his own territory. A black shirt rolled up to his elbows, black pants, and a pair of simple leather black boots. On his finger was a wedding band that was made from some type of special metal and on his hand was an insignia of a wolf. He looked more like the handsome young master of a noble house, but he had an air of wildness about him that didn’t allow one to mistake him for one.

How long have you been a Mercenary?

He took a few seconds to think before answering, “A bit over a year maybe?”

I admit I was taken aback, but there was no way he would lie. The Mercenaries Union would have that information readily available.

A lot of people are curious about your rate of growth and there have been rumors that you were hiding your power the entire time. In order to dispel them would you like to illustrate a timetable for your growth?

He nodded his head before answering without any sign of nervousness or hesitation, “When I first started I was B+. I grew to A shortly after and in half a year I ended up as S+. As of right now, I’m SS.”

I was speechless. Even writing the words now, I still struggled to gather my thoughts. As he watched me, he flicked his hand and a status card appeared in his hands which he showed me. The combination of letters stood without a hint for doubt. My eyes couldn’t help but to wonder about the rest of his abilities, but he flicked his hand and the status card vanished.

“It’s probably better if you don’t write about those abilities.” He chuckled a few times, but he didn’t seem serious about it. I guess his motive of concealing the details of his abilities was for my own safety.

The Dark Elf Empire is said to have a vested interest in you, with that I was wondering what your reaction to that was?

“I’m honestly thinking of moving to the Dark Elf Empire.” He answered simply.

Is the Kingdom lacking to you?

“Well, the Dark Elves are more agreeable. I don’t know if you knew, but politics and things like that are really fucking annoying.” He certainly didn’t mince his words as he spoke bluntly.

While on the topic of the Dark Elves, what is the reason for their interest in you?

He shifted his position in the chair and smiled wryly, “If you were a bit quicker when looking at my status card you would’ve noticed I have a blessing called ‘Keeper of the Red Moon’. The Dark Elves seem to love the Moon so you can see the connection. I don’t plan on posing as a Religious Figure but they don’t ever take my words to heart.”

...What does that mean? When the Red Moon appeared with the Golden Aurora did that mean it was summoned because of you?

His expression shifted as he looked to be immersed in some unpleasant memory, but his smile reappeared as quickly as it left. “Something like that.” His ambiguous answer indicated he was unwilling to speak on the topic anymore so I moved on to my next question.

I’ve done some investigating of my own and found out that a lot people in the Capital call you Yellow Eyes. How do you feel about your nickname?

“I’ve been called worse. It’s not a name I’m too keen on seeing as ‘Ira’ is only three letters, but it doesn’t matter.” He shrugged in a nonchalant manner.

I felt as if I took up enough of his time so I moved on to my final question.

You’re arguably one of the strongest people on the continent. You’ve bested three of the strongest warriors our neighboring countries had to offer and you’ve grown tremendously in the short time span of a year. What are your plans for the future?

At my question, his smile brightened. “I’m going to retire as a Mercenary and raise my daughter somewhere nice.”

In my opinion, he wanted a simple thing, it was a plan even the common man could agree with. He didn’t speak of prestige, fame, influence, and money, just something mundane that was unbefitting of his current accolades.

After hearing him speak, I can honestly say I hope he achieves his goal.

…

Jonah finished writing and looked at Ira with admiration.

Ira nodded after realizing they were finished before standing up and leaving. At the moment, there were dozens of people investigating Ira’s history, but no one would’ve guessed that the easiest answers would come from a small town’s paper. After it spread every ruler would realize how much of a massive problem Ira’s existence was.