"And that's what happened before I climbed the tree and fell off!" Reivan recounted over dinner. "Lady Isadora talked our ear off! Ahahaha!"

"This is no laughing matter, young man." Vianna lightly pinched his cheek as she shook her head in exasperation.

Roland clutched his stomach while laughing at his younger brother's antics, his steak growing cold from neglect.

The royal family, together with the three Mercers were currently enjoying dinner on a covered balcony overlooking the capital. Unfortunately, Viktor was busy with something, so he couldn't join them.

Although the castle had a great hall, which Reivan judged as four times as big as the one in Hogwarts, the royal family didn't eat there most of the time. They would normally dine on one balcony or the other, or perhaps in a garden. Sometimes, they would do it in a smaller hall when they wanted to eat together with a few of their knights.

In fact, Reivan had never even eaten in the Great Hall. At most, he'd ran around inside when he was bored, but his stamina at the time couldn't support a single circuit around the place. The Hall was just that large.

His story finished, Reivan took a break by shoving a piece of steak into his mouth after he'd freed himself of his mother's fingers. Rich, flavorful juices flooded his mouth as he chewed, making him hum in delight. The taste wasn't the only thing he enjoyed, however, since the meat's fragrance was a pleasure for his sensitive nose as well. Steaks were a favorite for the Warbeast trio, so it was served quite often, much to Reivan's satisfaction.

"It's fine, Vianna. Weren't the knights there to catch him anyway?" Rodin said placatingly, as he ate with the elegance expected of a king. "By the way, something about what Rein just said caught my attention..."

Reivan, Vianna, and Viktor's shoulders twitched.

"Well, right before he started climbing, he said 'It won't be like earlier!', yes?" the king wiped his mouth with a napkin before eyeing Vianna coldly. "What did he mean by that?"

"Oh, th-that...? Well... uh." Vianna's tail stood upright as she furiously racked her brain for a reason.

'Should I save her here....?'

Reivan cleared his throat to get everyone's attention before saying, "I tried to climb up a tree earlier in the morning, but couldn't do it so I fell. Fortunately, Mother caught me just in time."

You have used [Essence of Falsehood]

"I see..." Rodin's suspicious look didn't vanish, but he still nodded in acceptance. Then he sent a Vianna a glance. "Is that true, my love?"

"Of course!" Vianna chirped as she gave her son a thumbs-up under the table. "Why would Rein lie?"

Looking away from his obviously relieved wife, he closed his eyes and resumed working on his food. Right before the meat reached his lips, however, he said matter-of-factly, "You ears still twitch when you lie."

[Lie Detection] has activated!

'Hm?' Reivan's eyes widened.

"What!?" Vianna exclaimed before her hands turned into a blur as they reached for her wolf ears. "They do!?"

Rodin calmly chewed his mouthful of meat before cleansing his palate with some water. Once he was done, he looked up to meet Vianna's eyes and said, "I lied."

"..." Vianna's mouth gaped in confusion as her arms fell to her sides.

"But judging from your reaction, you did lie to me, hm? Spill it." the nation's father demanded.

Inwardly shaking his head at his parents, Reivan turned away to observe the other people he was eating with.

'Well, I tried to help her out, but she dug her own grave. Nothing I can do about that!'

"I-I c-can't believe you threw dirt on His Highness' face, Helen! What were you thinking!?"

As the royal family had their little conversation, Stella was absolutely livid at Helen's actions.

"?" Helen tilted her head as she chewed on her steak, seemingly not understanding what she had done wrong. She gulped, then replied, "But, we always do that."

"That's cuz we're related!" Stella humphed, though it barely got any reaction from the younger girl.

Hector looked anxious as he tried to come up with something to help his twin sister, but could only open and close his mouth like a goldfish after failing.

*Nom* *Nom*

Helen, on the other hand, pretty much ignored the older girl's nagging, continuing to stuff food through her tiny lips.

'Holy crap... she can really pack those in, huh.' Reivan inwardly remarked in wonder at Helen's bottomless stomach. He saw the girl eat three whole steaks in the time he was giving his recount of the earlier events. 'Where does it all go...?'

Helen's stomach didn't look bloated at all, and yet, the little glutton looked like she could still eat a few more. The other two Mercers didn't seem to think this was a strange occurrence at all.

"It's fine, Stella." Roland voiced in to defend the quiet girl. "That's how the game's supposed to be played. Besides, weren't you way worse to me? You threw rocks and spat in my eye!"

'Wow, so this children's game really was supposed to be played in such a dirty way. I like it though.'

"Wah, you did? Big Sis?!" Hector exclaimed in shock and excitement. "I've never thought of doing that! Rocks aren't okay though, they seem like they would really hurt."

"Yeah, rocks are a bit too much." Roland sent Stella a pointed glare. "I had a real rough time playing with her."

"Hifforkrit," Helen mumbled as she chewed, earning a pinch to the nose from the older girl.

"Don't talk when your mouth's full." she scolded. "Also, you mean 'hypocrite'."

"I don't mind at all, Big Sis." Reivan pitched in to save his new friend. "It was fun, and I learned a lot from that game."

'Like how monstrous Helen is.'

He couldn't help but think back to Helen's special abilities, which he was able to investigate after the game.

Name: Helen Mercer Species: Human Realm: Mortal Age: 6 Sex: Female Favor: (Curiosity / Friendship) 48 / 100 Threat Level: B Might: 8 Special Abilities: [Peerless Perfection]

[Overwhelm] Elemental Affinities: [Lightning] [Wind] Extra Skills: [Limit Break] Special Ability:

[Peerless Perfection]

Some people say that nobody is born perfect. They are wrong.

This Special Ability has no actual effect. It exists only to acknowledge a being that possesses the pinnacle of mortal talent, potential, and physical form.

Special Ability:

[Overwhelm]

Increases physical abilities by +150%.

Processing Speed, Kinetic Acuity, Dynamic Acuity, and Reaction Time are adjusted.

While this ability is activated, resource costs are doubled.

Once the ability is deactivated, it cannot be reactivated for 1 minute.

The amount added can increase with every realm advancement.

Mortal = +150%

Ascendant = +200%

Transcendent = +300%

[???] = +???%

[???] = +????%

[???] = +?????%

'Good lord. An ability that exists just to acknowledge someone's talent? Isn't that basically a medal then?'

Reivan felt a bit envious of Helen for having the pinnacle of mortal talent or whatever, but he supposed he had stuff that could cause envy in others as well. Besides, since it was a friend who had that ability, all was well.

'The second one is obviously what she was using earlier. It's great how it also reveals how many realms there are, though I would've liked them to be named...'

At first, he'd thought Helen was using her limit break, but that wouldn't have added up. The extra skill Limit Break multiplied your might by ten, albeit in exchange for a large amount of life force. He didn't know what life force was at the moment, but it was obvious from the name that losing any amount of it was bad news, and the fact that Helen didn't look particularly unhealthy added to the reasons why he could tell that she got her boost from another source.

Well, now he finally knew. It was because of [Overwhelm].

'I gotta treat her really well.'

Of course, he was already planning to do that, but it didn't hurt to go the extra mile to build a positive relationship with such an overpowered-looking girl.

"Mm. Fun." The overpowered-looking girl, Helen, muttered as a small smile crossed her face. "Let's play tomorrow too."

"Sure." Reivan smiled and then sent a look to the other twin. "You too, Hector. Come over to play whenever you want."

"Sounds great!" Hector's lips, stained with sauce, formed a wide smile as he cheered. "Oh, but let's play something else next time. You guys are a little too good! I wanna win too!"

"Nope." Helen immediately rejected the idea. "Knights n' Thieves."

Hector frowned. "Something else!"

"Knights n' Thieves."

"That's boring, let's play something else!"

"Not boring." Helen shook her head and replied, before shoveling another bite of meat into her mouth. "You're just bad."

'Oh, shit. Emotional Damage!' Reivan couldn't help but flinch for Hector when he heard Helen's blunt comment.

Truly, kids did not fuck around. They had no filter for words.

"Guh... I-I'm not bad..." Hector bit his lip in frustration as his eyes began to moisten.

"Bad," Helen repeated in between bites. "Really Bad."

"Grrr... B-Big Sis! Helen's being m-mean again!" Hector tattled, having no other choice but to seek help. He hopped off his seat and ran up to Stella, burying his face in her chest.

"There there..." Stella cooed while stroking her cousin's hair. "Helen's just blunt. You should get used to it since the two of you are together all the time."

Hector sniffed.

"Besides, what she said is true."

"B-Big Sis!" Hector's face scrunched up from her betrayal.

"Ahaha." Stella cackled, as her black eyes lit up in mischief. "I'm just half-joking. Helen's just... well, she's a genius. And Rein is part Warbeast. Both of them are above normal people, don't compare yourself to them too much."

"But still..."

"Goodness gracious, Stella." Roland shook his head in exasperation as he stood from his chair and went over to pick Hector up. "Your playfulness doesn't inspire confidence for when it's time for us to have children of our own..."

"Whu--! That's...!" Stella spluttered in embarrassment, but couldn't say anything in response. In the end, she could only sigh in acceptance of her mistakes. "I'll try to change..."

"That's good enough for now, I suppose." Smirking, Roland then turned his attention to Hector, who was doing his best to hold back the tears threatening to spill from his eyes. "Don't worry about it, Hector. Talent and all those other things can be made up for with enough effort. You just have to work hard, and eventually, you'll catch up to these two."

Hector's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yep." Roland nodded. "Stella could always beat the crap out of me a few years ago, but now?"

"Now...?" Hector echoed inquiringly.

"Now, she can only do it nine out of ten times." Roland snorted with pride.

'That doesn't seem like a lot...' Reivan couldn't help but retort in his head. 'That's actually kind of sad. He's so proud of it too.'

Hector brought his fingers up to his face and started counting to nine. When he was finished, his frown deepened. "That's not a lot."

"Ahaha..." Roland chuckled. "That's true, but it's an improvement from always losing, right?"

The boy thought about it for a bit, and then nodded. "That's right."

Hector regained his usual cheerfulness after that, hopping off of the first prince's arms and running around the balcony as he took in all the sights. Remnants of dried snot and tears remained on his pretty little face, however.

'Come to think of it, I haven't checked Hector's stats. He's Helen's twin, so he can't be that bad, right?'

As he chewed on his final bite of grilled steak, Reivan used [Supreme Insight].

Name: Hector Mercer Species: Human Realm: Mortal Age: +0 Sex: Male Favor: (Curiosity / Friendship) 64 / 100 Threat Level: C Might: 7 Special Abilities: [Persistent Perseverance]

[Underwhelm] Elemental Affinities: [Wind] Extra Skills: None

'Oh?' Reivan's eyes lit up. 'He has two specials too?'

He immediately used insight on the first one.

Special Ability:

[Persistent Perseverance]

There is no merit in being second best.

The frustration of being inferior to those around him fuels this unit's growth. The more this unit desires to catch up to someone around him, the faster this unit will grow.

This Special Ability becomes obsolete when this unit runs out of people to chase after, or if this unit gives up on closing the distance.

'Hoh~ interesting. So it's in his best interest to feel vexed about his deficiencies.' Reivan noted this down in his mind. 'But I guess it shouldn't be taken too far. If he grows too frustrated, then ends up quitting... well anyway, what about the other one?'

Special Ability:

[Underwhelm]

Decreases the physical abilities of a selected target by -150%.

Processing Speed, Kinetic Acuity, Dynamic Acuity, and Reaction Time is adjusted.

While this ability is activated, resource costs for this unit are doubled.

Once the ability is deactivated, it cannot be reactivated for 1 minute.

If the target dies, this special ability can be used on another target immediately after.

This ability does not work on a target of a higher realm.

(This ability is the twin of [Overwhelm]. The two cancel each other's effects, regardless of the units' realms.)

The amount subtracted can increase with every realm advancement.

Mortal = -150%

Ascendant = -200%

Transcendent = -300%

[???] = -???%

[???] = -????%

[???] = -?????%

'Wow, this is actually kinda overpowered too.'

If Hector activated [Underwhelm] when the opponent least expected it, he could potentially use the opening to end the battle in one strike, then keep using it on the next enemy.

'These twins are really...'

One ability allowed one to shoot to the heavens, while the other ability could pull one down to the earth.

Reivan ignored the foreboding feeling of how their special ability sets seemed to be pitting them against each other. Or rather, it was pitting Hector against Helen.

'I'll have to watch out for that too.' he mused while sighing.

First, his older brother's [Alter Ego], and now there were these two. Reivan's problems kept increasing for some reason, even though he just wanted to live peacefully while trying to find a way to achieve his goals.

'Well, it's not that bad.'

Even though the things he had to keep an eye on were increasing, the people that cared for him were increasing as well. In this life, he was blessed with loving parents, a kind elder sibling, a nice(?) future sister-in-law, a cool uncle, and plenty of maids, knights, and other personnel that cared for him in their own ways.

Now, he even had two new friends.

'But still...' he thought, as he felt a sting in his heart.

Logic dictated that Reivan should be extremely happy and content at the moment, and he was happy. Just not content.

There was a Kyouka and Hanzo-shaped hole in his heart that could never be filled by anything and anyone in this world. The constant emptiness he felt in that part of his soul was an eternal reminder of what he had lost.

Was he being greedy? Ungrateful? Perhaps he was. Reivan was aware that he was being unreasonable.

However, he couldn't stop himself from feeling this way. In this new life, he didn't want to lie to himself anymore, so he had to acknowledge his own emotions.

He was happy, but at the same time, he wasn't.

The festive scene in front of him, of his father scolding his mother, of Helen stuffing her face with the umpteenth steak, of his brother shaking his head in exasperation as he teased his lover, and of Hector running around in excitement as he watched the cityscape below, would never fail to put a smile on Reivan's face.

There was just something missing from it all.

Hanzo standing to the side, ready to refill his cup or serve him a second helping of whatever he wanted to eat. Even if he hadn't prepared it in advance, whatever Reivan requested would be Hanzo's top priority. The old butler would scurry off to the kitchen to cook any dish his young master wished for.

Kyouka sitting next to him, pestering him about trying this dish or that one, or thinking what dessert she should get him to feed her. Then she would shamelessly use his shoulder as a pillow while drinking her after-meal tea, telling him all about her day, or a web novel she recently got into.

But those scenes weren't in front of him. A voice at the back — at the very back — of his mind told him that those scenes would never come true; that he would never be able to see them ever again.

It was always like this. Every time he would feel his spirit fill with happiness and warmth, the pain and loneliness would follow soon after.

'It's like a curse.' he mused as he tried to calm himself. All around him were monsters in human form who could probably sense all sorts of things, so he didn't want anyone to notice his current emotional state.

Pain didn't need to be shared.

Sharing it would only make him feel better. But the pain wouldn't disappear, he would just transfer some of it to another person. Then, as the pain latched onto someone else, it would grow, causing the collective amount of pain to increase.

It was pointless to do so. One could even say it was foolish to do so.

'It's not the same as in my past life. This time, I can do something about it. I'm not utterly powerless, nor am I without knowledge.'

He had kept the pain in his heart a secret from those he loved in his time as Ken Kagami, but that was because he couldn't really do much of anything to alleviate that pain.

This time was different. There was hope. The voices telling him to accept his loved ones' deaths might be entirely wrong. And it wasn't like Reivan's only option was to lay down and let fate decide his destiny.

Now, he could do things to push for a favorable future. With his own actions. With his own power.

"...?" Reivan was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt someone pull on his sleeve. "What's wrong, Helen?"

Helen had walked over to him without his notice. Strangely enough, she was holding a plate with a bite-sized piece of steak on it.

"Are you sad because I ate all the food?" she asked, before pushing the plate to him. "I'm sorry. This is all that's left. You can have it."

Reivan's eyes couldn't help but widen in shock. Partly because of surprise from his emotions being seen through by a six-year-old girl before all the adults with all sorts of abilities could, and partly because he truly didn't expect Helen could be so talkative.

"Uh, I wasn't sad or anything..."

You have used [Essence of Falsehood]

"Really?" Helen's head tilted as she asked. Reivan could swear that she didn't believe him.

'What the hell...? Why is my ability not working on her!?'

Having no other choice, Reivan changed the subject. "Do you want some candy?"

He took out a pink, marble-like candy from Zoro-chan's stomach and waved it in front of the gluttonous girl with hypnotic movements.

"Wah..." Helen's eyes followed Reivan's hand as it moved from side to side, drool starting to drip from her gaping mouth. "I like candy."

"Oh, I know." he chuckled. "But I can't give this to you until after you've finished dinner, so you have to eat all your food first."

Wasting no time, Helen threw the last bite of steak into her mouth, her eyes never leaving the sugary goodness in the youngest prince's hand as she chewed hastily.

"Hey, chew slowly. What if you choke?" Reivan scolded. "Nobody's going to steal your food so you can eat carefully."

"Mm," she grunted, before obediently following his words.

'Pfft. She's so easily distracted. Just like Kyouka...' he thought fondly, only to wince inwardly from remembering his sister.

Once the girl with a blackhole in her stomach finished chewing, she opened her mouth and brought her face closer to Reivan, prompting him to follow his promise.

"I know I know..." Reivan smiled wryly.

Perhaps due to muscle memory from when he gave his dogs a treat, Reivan threw it into the air in her direction instead of giving it to her normally.

'Oh, whoops!'

Just as he was about to test out his new sub-skill — [Formless Will] — to catch it, Helen did a little jump to easily snatch the candy out of the air.

"Mmm~" Helen cupped her cheeks with her hands as she hummed in bliss. Despite her face remaining mostly expressionless, the faint blush on her cheeks and the sparkle in her eyes revealed her happiness.

'I thought you were a monkey, but I guess you're actually a dog?'

Feeling somewhat exasperated, Reivan reached over to pat her on the head.

"Is it good?"

"Mm." the dog — or rather, Helen — nodded. "Thanks."

Favor: (Curiosity / Friendship) 48 / 100 —> 60 / 100 Threat Level: B —> D

'It's that easy to get your favor...? That actually kind of worries me, y'know?'

"If it's good, then great."

Reivan continued to pat the girl's head as he vowed to keep an eye on her in case she was lured away by a strange person.

'You're so cute too. Who knows what kind of sickos will come after you!'

"Mu gof eni morf?" Helen asked something in a language nobody could understand.

"Don't talk when your mouth's full."

Helen's cheeks puffed out as she shifted the candy in her mouth.

"You got any more?" she asked, sticking her hand out like a beggar.

'This girl...'

Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, Reivan took a small pouch full of brightly colored candies out of Zoro-chan's stomach.

The little snake spent most of its time sleeping, due to what seemed like a growth spurt of sorts. Apparently, it had eaten something hard to digest, and sleeping apparently made it go a bit faster. Luckily, Reivan's contract with it allowed him to use parts of Zoro-chan's abilities.

Namely, being able to put things in and out of the snake's stomach.

"Wah..." Helen gaped at the bag of dreams, almost dropping the one in her mouth.

"You can have this." Reivan smiled as he stood up.

"Really?" she asked, looking at him like he was a god.

"Yes, really." he nodded as he pointed at Hector, who was currently being scolded for trying to climb onto the stone railing of the balcony. "Share some with your Hector, okay?"

"Okay." Helen bobbed her head up and down before pattering over to where her twin brother was. Before she got far though, she looked back and said, "Thank you."

Favor: (Curiosity / Friendship) 60 / 100 —> 69 / 100 Threat Level: D —> E

'What is she, a gacha character? Giving her food raises her affinity?'

As he chuckled at the thought, he waved at the adorable girl and called back, "It's cuz we're friends. You're welcome."

Without checking her reaction, Reivan headed for his parents, who seemed to have finished arguing. On his way there, he stored a knife and an empty goblet in Zoro-chan's stomach.

'Well, let's go accelerate my involvement with the nation.'

"C'mon honey, are you still mad?" Vianna cooed as she gently held Rodin's hand under the table.

Rodin sighed before sending her an annoyed look. "I'm not mad. I just feel a little... disappointed. Did you think I was that inflexible? If it was a custom amongst your people I would've understood and adjusted."

"I just didn't want us to argue about it, so I wanted to keep it a secret." she scratched her cheek as her wolf ears drooped. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine, it's fine." Rodin waved it off, albeit he still looked a bit disgruntled. "What's done is done. Let's just move on."

"But you still seem a little mad..." Vianna pouted, but then her ears shot up as her eyes widened. She'd just gotten a great idea. "I guess I'll just have to work hard to make up with you tonight!♥"

"Whu--!" The King of Aizen's shoulder jumped. He anxiously gulped down a mouthful of saliva as cold sweat began to soak his back. Rodin put on a strained smile as he faced his beloved wife. "W-wait... Vianna, I'm really not mad anymore. See this smile, d-do you see it? It means I'm not mad!"

"I'm not too sure about that~ I think I still need to put in some work!" The Queen chirped, her mood was splendid. She sent her husband an alluring gaze.

A chill went up Rodin's spine as his mind hastily began thinking of excuses

"I-I have work tomorrow..."

"Just leave it to the Ministers."

"My work already passed through the Ministers. But I h-have to read every document carefully."

Vianna frowned. "Well, you can just read it a little later than usual. I know there aren't any urgent things at the moment, since Viktor and I just took care of a few."

"That's..."

His mind coming up empty, Rodin looked around for inspiration when his eyes landed upon his son, heading their way.

'That's it!'

"Rein, why don't you sleep with--"

Before he could finish his words, he felt his jaws get locked in ice, preventing him from moving his mouth.

Vianna sneered at him before her expression changed to a motherly one as she turned to face her son.

"Rein, you have to sleep in your room tonight, okay?" she scooped up Reivan and sat him on her lap. "Mom and Dad have to make up since we had a bit of a fight."

"Okay." The boy nodded. "Hey Mom, I wanna show you something."

"What is it?" Vianna nodded with a gentle smile on her face, wondering what her favorite person in the world was going to show her.

"Watch this. Don't stop me." Reivan said as he held out his left arm.

"What do you-- HEY!?"

Just as she was about to ask him what he meant, a knife appeared in his hand, despite his lack of a spacial storage artifact. As Vianna was reeling in shock, coupled with the fact that her guard was down, she was unable to stop her son from slashing himself on the arm.

"What're you doing!?" Rodin jumped out of his seat and dashed to his son's side.

"...Ah! Why'd you do that, you little fool!" Vianna snapped out of the shock of seeing her son get wounded a second later, exclaiming in worried anger.

"It's okay. This is my power." Reivan, the cause of this little commotion (which had already drawn the attention of everybody at the table), eyed the blood running along his arm, letting it drip into an empty goblet.

After a few moments, he tipped the glass, letting its contents spill onto the table. But instead of crimson liquid, what appeared was a round golden pill.

"It's medicine, Mom." Reivan picked up the pill and brought it up to Vianna's mouth. "It's just like what you used on me earlier. But better."

Vianna, still in a state of confusion, unconsciously let her son push the pill into her mouth before she swallowed it.

"Ah!?" she exclaimed as her eyes widened. The pill had a familiar taste and a familiar effect. Vianna's body trembled as she felt the Beast King's energy surge through her body.

Smiling, Reivan turned toward his father.

"I think I can help a lot of people with this power, Father."