Chairman Johannes brought the three hunters inside a huge house at the top of the mountain. It took a hundred steps to reach the peak and see the view of the city from the sky. Kino was exhausted, hands flying to Pierre’s shoulders for support as he was about to lose his balance. The older man scoffed in annoyance. “Get your hands off me, devil!” He gritted his teeth.

“S-Sorry!”

“Let’s go in.” The chairman proceeded inside.

The huge double doors opened, and they were welcomed by thousands of books displayed nicely on the shelves of the large two-story library. They were greeted politely by the housemaids scattered around as they moved through the main floor. Kino couldn’t help his astonishment. The Panelle clan must love reading books. The library looked huge on the outside but it looks larger on the inside with its dome ceilings made with glass that shows the purple skies. He cannot help but think about how tall the mountain was. They left Solar’s family house by day and reached the library at the top by sunset. Recalling what’d happened, he remembered the other smaller building at the left corner of the library. From its design, it must be the chapel of the clan.

The three hunters quietly followed the chairman until the second-floor balcony. He strummed through the books on a specific shelf. “I know I put it here… right there.” His hand pulled a thick, black book. It looked older compared to the others.

“Is that…”

“My father’s book about wraiths. Yes.” The old man opened the yellow pages for Kino to see.

“Chairman, do we really have to know the contents of that?” Pierre asked as he sat on a wooden table.

“Mr. Rosen has the right to.” The president replied.

“Miss President, not you too, please. You’re the wraith hunter president, you shouldn’t take pity on him!”

“I don’t pity Mr. Rosen. As I said, I’m only interested in the truth. Who knows if we killed wraiths with a similar case before, but he’s the only one we’ve heard about now. Perhaps we could do something with this knowledge, right?”

Kino didn’t take long to find the specific line he remembered too well. There was a picture supporting the line. A monster-looking humanoid figure struck what seems a human figure’s heart. It was exactly what’d happened to him.

Can this information really save me?

“I was cursed by an H-type wraith and ever since my life has changed. This is exactly what that devil did to me.” He showed the picture to everyone. Pierre Yue raised an eyebrow.

“Chairman, how do we know he’s telling the truth? What if he already knew this fact and used it to lie to save himself?”

“This is open knowledge only among ergo-herald clans but the masses don’t know about this. Mr. Rosen, how did you stumble upon this information? Did you come from a family of ergo-heralds?” The chairman looked at Kino.

Kino scratched his head. “I researched it myself. I think I learned about your family website and a bot answered my question about my case. It cited this book.”

The chairman scratched his chin. But then a housemaid appeared to clean the second-floor shelves and the chairman called for the girl.

“Is my grandson in the computer room?”

“I remembered he hadn't come out since morning, Sir.”

The chairman looked at the three. “All of you, come with me.” The four walked in the hallway of the second floor heading to a door in a dark corner.

“Chairman, what is this again?” Pierre groaned.

“Mr. VP, we’re going to find out the truth.” The chairman smiled nicely.

“The truth? Where I’ll be proven wrong all over again? It’s getting embarrassing on my part.” He glanced at Kino menacingly. “This is all because of this devil.”

Kino shrugged his shoulders and followed the chairman quietly. The president smirked. Pierre Yue’s eyes boggled. “Are you seriously smiling because of a devil?” He hissed. The two high officials walked side by side.

“The child was funny. Get over it.”

“He’s a devil! The one we should be slaughtering!”

“A devil can be funny and be disposed of after. There’s no law on what I should find funny or not.”

“So we are going to kill him?”

“Who knows.”

“That’s not the answer I want to hear, Miss President.”

“Look, Mr. Yue. If he was once human and he didn’t like what happened to him, that means he’s on our side.”

“But we don’t know that!”

“That’s why we are here to find out. If he is on our side, he can work with us against the wraiths. We’ll be at an advantage with him as our secret weapon. Who knows, we can find others with a similar dilemma until we can form an army of cursed human H-types. That could wipe out the entire wraith species spawning in the republic in the next few years.”

“That’s impossible. The H-types will only make a fool out of us. Besides, I don’t want to work with monsters.”

“Don’t worry. You won’t even see them. They’ll be on the front lines while you’ll be slacking in the office as usual.”

“You know I’m not slacking! I’m working my ass off in the Innovators Team!”

Kino gasped from the things he heard. If he manages to convince them about the truth, he’ll be spared and can even return as a hunter without having to keep his identity a secret. That would at least minimize his worry for his life.

The chairman knocked on the metal door covered by shelves from the dim light of the whole library. It opened in a slit and a pair of golden eyes with dark circles peeked out.

“What do you want, old man?”

“O-Old man? That’s your grandpa!”

The man behind the door glared at the vice president behind Kino, ignoring his presence. “You have no right to tell me what I should say, Yue. You want to be part of this family so bad.”

“W-What?!”

“Enough with the chit-chat. Your old man is here for your help, Stellar.”

The man named Stellar opened the door. Kino was stunned by how his features looked exactly like Solar. It was like looking at her male counterpart but the difference was obvious. His hair was black and it seemed he didn’t smile much. Quite the opposite of his teammate. “Now? You never asked for my help, ever. This is the first time. You’re interested in computers now?”

The small room was dark and gloomy. The only light source comes from the screens on one part of the wall showing every corner of the Panelle territory. It was a CCTV room, with a bunk bed, a TV and a small fridge.

The guy named Stellar sat on his bed and opened his 5th can of soda. Slices of pizza were scattered on the floor. The guy looked at the TV as if he didn’t just let a group of people enter his little haven.

The chairman sighed as if he was embarrassed about how unclean the place was for having visitors. “This is my grandson, Stellar. Solar’s twin brother.”