Within Tyson’s office, stood the entirety of the Cole family. That included: Tyson himself, Vermalaen, Sula, Elisha and Gareth. These were the most important personnel in the family. Normally, Tyson would not involve the young Elisha in such matters but he felt that it was time for her to grow up.

There were two matters up for discussion. One was the debacle with Bastian and co, and the other was the matter of what they were hiding underneath the house.

After revealing what was below the household to Gareth and Elisha, Tyson called for silence in order to get his thoughts straight. Due to previous events he felt that his meticulously planned future was in jeopardy. Gareth was a vassal so he had no authority to question his Master’s decisions. Although he was a bit disappointed that he was not told about what was underground, he believed in his heart that Tyson always had a plan.

Elisha was more concerned about Bastian himself. She cared little about what their family was planning and merely snorted a bit after Tyson explained the bigger picture to them. After getting his thoughts in order Tyson finally spoke.

“Anyone have any thoughts on what occurred today?”

The first to speak was Vermalaen: “How were our shields broken by the Blind Swordsman? What means did he use?”

“He…cut it.” replied Gareth with a pale expression.

“Cut? What do you mean cut? Be more specific Gareth.” said an unhappy Sula.

Gareth gulped and nervously scratched his head, “ I am sorry Lady Sula, but he really did cut the shields. All he did was swing one of his swords and sword light was produced. And the rest you already know.”

Gareth’s words made the room become silent once more. After a while, Tyson broke the silence. “We have to re-evaluate their strength. It seems there is more than meets the eye, perhaps it might be worth it to deal with them.”

“Brother, surely you can’t seriously be thinking of-“

“Sula, I have already made my choice. Although I am sure that our backing is strong, there is we have no way of knowing what behemoth lies behind those people. Sir Tempest has agreed to us working together to take this city. In such a situation, it is better to anger a lion than to enrage a dragon.”

…

Back at Shasha’s estate, within the living room.

Kai, Tino, Guy, and Shasha were being introduced to the new members of their little council.

“Guys let me introduce Ben, my servant, V, my bodyguard, and… Lang, a friend of a friend.” said Bastian.

Ben nodded, V grunted and Lang bowed. These three different greetings immedialtely allowed the others to get an inkling of what these other people were like.

“Bastian, we understand that they are your friends, but bringing them here is a bit inappropriate don’t you think? The matters we deal with are very sensitive... we can’t allow just anyone to come here.” Kai said with an unsatisfied tone.

Shasha wanted to rebuke Kai for being unwelcoming, but Bastian beat him to the punch.

“Kai is right, then let me re-introduce them. Ben is my soul sword, V is an assassin whom has made an oath to the heavens, binding her life to mine, and Lang is one of the commanders of an army that will become mine, once I kill a certain group of people, an army that will no doubt prove useful to our endeavors.”

Bastian second round of introductions completely shut down and sort of rebuttals Kai could have thought of. He was worried about secrecy, but V and Ben were guaranteed to be secretive as Ben was a Soul Sworn and V was bound to Bastian. Lang however was the most interesting guest. An army was something they desperately needed, and Kai was eager to learn more about this information, but Guy was more curious about other things.

“So, if I am not mistaken, these 3 came from the Western Desserts and were willingly given to you by the Cole family due to the multiple favors they owe you? And using these favours you were able to establish ties between us and the Cole family, and from now on we are in an alliance to take the city together? Did I miss anything?”

Bastian shook his head, “Noipe, that’s about it.”

“Hahahaha! I knew working with you would be fun, well done Bastian!”

Humans often had moments when they said something unintentional or when they were off guard, and this was one of those moments. Others shrugged off what guy had said, but Bastian did not, being the shrewd man he was.

Knew that working with me would be fun? What on earth is that supposed to mean?

With that, Bastian made a mental note to be more careful around Guy: this seemingly happy go-lucky prince charming was definitely not simple.

“Bastian, I don’t know if you haven’t realized yet, but we have a problem. You made an oath to General Moto that you would kill Vermalaen, Frinz and Isaacs. Isaacs was killed by Vermalaen as I told you before, but the other two still remain. Now that we have an Alliance with the Cole family, it will not be easy for us to dispatch of Vermalaen, especially since she is of such high value to them, unless you want to break this alliance.”

V’s words caught the attention of those who knew the whole picture such as Kenshin, Ben and Lang.

“Actaully, V my dear, you are mistaken about one thing: now that we are in an alliance, Tyson wouyld be more than happy to allow me to dispatch Vermalane... he would actually even thank me for it.”

V frowned, “And why would he do that?”

“Because Vermalaen is a spy, and Tyson knows it.”