A party thrown by a king. As anyone would expect, it was a great and fantastic event, with people coming from far and wide. Of course, with very few exceptions, only nobles would come to suh an event and those they brought with them, but it was still a wonderous and exciting period. After all, every noble had their guards, entourages, servants and the like.

They also were dressed in very fancible outfits, and had quite a bit of ornaments and jewlery. Many of them were wearing nice shirts and vests, but also fancy robes with their family crests upon it. A few people were also wearing very fancy dresses, and every child under the age of eight was wearing a pure white dress that was also fancy, regardless if they were a boy or girl. It appeared to be some sort of cultural thing.

There was also a wide spread of food available, with all sorts of delicious dishes. This attracted those who loved food the most, and there were many nobles already enjoying the delicacies.

This included Vartan, the lord of Tyrla, where they had pulled off the heist. They had used Herra's skill to obscure their identities, but as expected, seeing the noble they had robbed made a few of them feel uneasy. Not only that, but Herra practically turned the other way and avoided looking at them all together.

"Herra, you okay?"

"The guys with him? They were a part of the orginazation I worked for...the guys who killed me to keep a secret, and resulted in me regaining my memories".

Herra had been wary about them up until they left the city, since she didn't expect to run into them anywhere else. But there they were, with the noble in question.

Incidentally, Herra and Arila were not wearing dresses, but they were wearing nice clothing. There were plenty of women and girls also not wearing dresses but still wearing rather fancy and noble clothing. That said, although certainly there was an ambudence of gemstones on display right now, it did not look as gaudy as Rikuo had expected.

"Anyone react yet?"

Rikuo asked that, as they scanned the crowd.

"No, but the second prince, who is the same age as us and apparently suffered from some sort of incident, is not here yet. And this party is taking place across several halls and floors in the castle, so we have yet to see anyone. So far, its mainly adults in here".

At the moment, they were keeping watch for other Reincarnators. They figured that if any of them were reincarnated as nobles, they would probably be here, but so far no one.

Arila though was not doing that, and just ate the food normally as she heard what was going on. She had nearly cleaned off one tray of food completely.

"Excuse me" a servant boy said, as he restocked the tray. He seemed rather young, or short, and innocent.

"Hey hey, tell me some gossip...ummm".

"Haru".

"Haru! My name is Arila. Come on, tell me some gossip".

"Sorry, but I am not one to give out information about my masters or the guests to others" he said, as she poked his cheek repeatedly. "No means no".

"No fun" she said with a pout, as the boy walked off to do more duties. As he did, he nearly walked right into another boy who came in, with two other girls on his left. The two moved out of each other's way, and he left as the other two looked down questioningly.

"Kotori? What is it, you want to hold my hand?"

"No, I was just making way...you were staring at the food again weren't you?"

"Actually, the skylight this time. Its kind of interesting. I wonder if we can open it and go onto the roof to relax".

"...please dont".

"Awww".

As they entered, Kotori looked ahead, and saw Arila. Immediately, he got the impression that there was something strange or different with her. His eyes saw her future, a future full of potential. She was destined to be someone important...

However, as he turned around, he saw something. Or rather, someone. Someone from a vision he already had. A girl with two daggers, only she didn't appear armed right now. She was the one, who in the future would fight alongside himself, Yulari, and another boy against an enemy. At least, that was meant to happen. He could not be sure if the future he saw was ironclad, he had already seen some possibility to change it. And he saw that he could overlook things.

"Hey, Kotori. Don't tell me you found a cute girl, or boy, that caught your...fancy..."

As Rayheart said that, she looked over at the others, at the same time that Rikuo's group looked at them. And then, they were hit by it. The pangs of familiarity, resonating deep within their cores. Souls recognizing one another.

Rikuo's group and Rayheart's group had finally seen each other, and made contact. Rikuo and Rayheart stared at each other, as the two groups walked towards each other, zeroing in. There was a bit of tension in the air, but also of shock.

"Nice to meet you again...who are you?"

"Its me, the class president!" she declared, as if it was meant to strengthen them in a positive way.

"...oh, so your useless" Rikuo replied, giving her a glare of disgust and disinterest. Yulari who saw this, and the bits of hostility he had, realized it instantly.

"Ah...I see now. You were the one bullied by the brute, the shortest kid in the class...in which case, the girl and the spear with you, those were your two best friends who were in the class with us, right?"

"You got me right, but Ruuruu is someone else. Well, he still joined us, and is welcome to stay with us" Herra corrected.

Now that I think about it, He was probably the inspiration for Rikuo's choice on who to summon in the Hero Summoning Ritual.

"Who are you anyways?" Ruuruu asked, still in spear form as he directed it at Yulari.

"Ah, I was the kendo club president. In this world, I am known as Yulari, and she is known as Rayheart. The cute boy here is her little brother, Kotori, who loves my big chest and..."

"What the hell are you saying! I don't care about that stuff!" Kotori complained.

"And, he knows?"

"Its easier to move around, and he seemed to understand naturally. He is quite the perceptive and innocent little boy, although...you are an even littler boy".

"Shut up...I got reincarnated as a human who was turned into an Ancient Vampire, and was not fed or treated properly so the growth got stuned before it got stopped all together".

"Ah, sounds tough".

"...I assume you dont just plan on teasing Rikuo, unless you want to die?" Herra said, clearly in a bad mood her classmates were teasing her best friend in such a way.

"Sorry, sorry...Rayheart, anything to...say..."

The group looked at her, and finally realized she was still recovering from the emotional shock of when Rikuo called her useless.

"Come now, you cant blame him for that. In our first life, you didn't have the strength or power to assert your will well, but you did your best".

"...dont think I will forgive her so easily though" Rikuo said in a bitter tone, his words as sharp as ice. There was some obvious straight up hostility there, though he seemed like he was actually keeping it reined in.

I always expected him to explode when this issue came to a discussion between the two, but surprisingly, he seems to be staying calm...well, calmer then I expected.

While thinking that, Yulari looked over at Ruuruu.

"So...you reincarnated as a Spear?"

"I got reincarnated as a Angelic Spirit, but then some asshole Otherworlder known as Darius, who seems to have secretly become one of the Great Thirteen Demon Lords, captured me, and fused me with a spear created from a Divine Shard. I can only take my human form for a limited number of hours a day, unless special magic gets used".

"I see, sounds rough".

"It is. Oh by the way, we have no evidence, and Darius has tons of influence and noble status...and he will be here, so be careful, and dont trust him at all. Just...try not to tip him off or become a target for him either".

"What? But he has to be brought down right now!"

Rayheart said such a thing, but everyone else immediately tried to dissuade her. Especially since they didn't want to cause trouble here and become wanted for crimes against the kingdom or such.

"But...but, he hurt a classmate. He is still hurting people right? How can we just leave him be?"

"Because we have no evidence. We will be seen as the villains. Even if we have witness testimony, we have no way to prove it. Unless we trick him into confessing, which is absurd and impossible, or if he acts against us here, we can't take him down. And I dont think he will do that".

As they were discussing this, perhaps as if on cue, a man entered the room, as his arrival was introduced.

"Arriving now is one of the heroes of this world, an Otherworlder who has gained noble rank and peerage, Darius Black!"

At that moment, a large, muscular caucasian man entered. He looked like he was european, British maybe, even moreso then all the others. His clothes were beautifully crafted though, with intricate detail and exquisite taste. He had a handsome and charming face with features that were refined, and yet clearly was also a great warrior who held mighty power. He possessed a sharp gaze, and his mere pressence sent shivers down some of their spines.

And shortly upon entering, he locked eyes with Rikuo. Rikuo didn't back down either, and the two walked towards each other. Drawing towards each other, they walked and walked until they stood apart. Darius was a tall and muscular man, while Rikuo was malnourished as a child and then age-stopped. Let alone one head of difference, Rikuo barely made it to Darius' waist, if he did at all, as he was standing on the tips of his toes.

Still, that could not stop the tension between them. No one else took any mind to it, and as such, no one noticed that the sound from those two seemed to lower.

"So you are the little shota boy who managed to claim my old spear. I am interested to see if you can become big in name, since you are an eternal shota" he said, refering to Rikuo in such a way to see how it irritated him. Rikuo was definently irritated, but he didn't lose his cool or drop his poker face.

"And you must be the great hero, Darius. Its a pleasure to meet you" Rikuo said, doing a bit of a cursy with his shirt. That was something both boys and girls did as a respectful greeting sometimes in this world.

The way Darius talked down to him was not terribly odd for one of higher rank to a commoner. He mentioned some anticipation of the future, but...as they stared into each others eyes, they could feel it already.

He knows.

Both had the exact same thought, at the exact same time.

Darius continued to blatently provoke him though, seeing past Rikuo's act despite Rikuo himself showing no signs, or at least overt ones.

"Such a little shota boy pulling out such a spear though, I guess you can only be an Otherworlder. Tell me, as a baby, do you enjoy still having your diaper changed?"

Rikuo had some patience and tolerance, but without a doubt this was wearing on him quite fast. In his previous world he had also been short, so being short twice now, especially shorter...he certainly had a complex regarding his height, not to mention being seen as a little boy.

"Oh Darius, what silly jokes you have. I dont mind such things, after all its better then being some idiot musclebrain who clearly has an inferiority complex, right?"

This time, it was Darius who was secretly pissed off now.

"After all, there is still the Great Thirteen right? All more highly evolved then us, including the oldest of them right?"

Darius wanted to throttle Rikuo right here and now if possible.

"It must be nice, being satisfied with being so short, and having such a short sword" Darius said, using metaphor to really insult Rikuo. "Tell me, do you even get any excitement at all from being bathed by all those beautiful older women, or is it just pure embarrassment?"

"Now now, if you say things like that, some people might react by calling you a dead piece of bastard trash. Or they might say you are one to talk, since you were intimidated by having a spear that was longer and better then yours by so much".

The conversation between the two had ended up devolving into not so cleverly hidden pot shots at each other. Perhaps they both realized this, but they calmed themselves down.

"Well, its pointless comparing with such a cute, small, adorable little shota boy...that said, I really dont think you are mature enough to handle that spear, so perhaps I should take it back?"

"You threw it away. Ruuruu is mine now" Rikuo told him, slapping his hand away when he tried to reach for Ruuruu. Rikuo could see a telepathic projection of Ruuruu's human form in his head, gripping onto Rikuo from behind as he trumbled. Perhaps it was the emotion, but Rikuo could see his full human form, well his feet, legs, hands, arms, and upper torso, since Ruuruu was behind him.

"Ah, but you see...that spear knows its master. All I would need to do was say something like...'Ruuruu, stab him through the heart fifty times'".

As he said that, Rikuo could tell that a command was given. He was commanding Ruuruu, the spear he created, to do such a thing. If that happened, he could easily say that Rikuo was just forcibly dominating the spear with magic or such, or some flaw with its crafting method which was why he sealed it in the first place.

However, Ruuruu did not react, which brought some surprise to him.

"Like I said Darius, you threw him away. He is mine now, and you have no authority over him".

Rikuo had now fully switched from acting like Ruuruu was just a spear, and had begun calling him as a person as well. Darius did not miss this, and didn't like such a change being sprung on him.

"Such a rebellious little shota. That collar looks good on you, little shota vampire boy. Like any little shota boy, you should be someone's pet, maybe mine, or one of the big chested women who work for me...someone who would be able to satisfy her desires using your little shota boy body".

Rikuo felt a shiver from that threat, but he did not back down.

"You know Darius, you sure do mention height a lot. By any chance, do you hold a grudge maybe against short people? Perhaps, there is some weakness or fear to them? Or perhaps, you just understand already. That you are inferior to me?"

The two stared at each other with a full on glare now, as the two mortal enemies locked eyes once more.

"We will see if you can even survive a week, runt".

"We will see if you are even competent to begin with, trash".

And like that, the sound barrier dissolved, and the two walked in seperate directions. That said, suddenly Rikuo tripped and fell to the ground, even though it didn't look like he tripped on anything.

"Petty asshole" he muttered, when suddenly someone came and picked him up. He looked, and he was now being carried Princess Style by the Crown Princess.

"Tell me everything".

"...isnt this a bit conspicious?"

"You, a little boy who is the guest of the royal family, just tripped and fell on nothing. We can do this for a few minutes before I put you down" she mentioned, as Rikuo blushed. This treatment was especially embarrassing after the verbal spar that he just had.

"Very well, but I think we need to move up the timetable a little".

And meanwhile, at that time, Margrave Cromley, his son, and his son's attendent arrived at the party. Iosi had to dress as a maid again, so it was quite embarrassing especially with the frilly outfit, but he actually looked like a girl.

Besides, Duke Elgram was there, and they agreed it was best not to confront him yet either.

"I will go meet King Edolus now, and talk about Aer. For now, how about you mingle, try to get more information, and maybe see if there are allies or friends to be made".

"Sounds good...good luck, father".

"You too, son".

And so, the father son pair each went and began their own work to do.