“What do you mean father’s gone?” Catherine snapped at Jackson when he informed her the following morning.

“He ditched us,” Jackson said. “I have so many questions for him. I need answers. Do you know where he might be?”

“I don’t know, probably went to murder anyone who might cause the war.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’d do,” Jackson admitted. “How long is that list?”

“Not as long as you might think. A couple of kings, Keller, one or two nobles, Kevin, and the deadbeat.”

“Why do you call Joseph that?” Jackson asked.

“Isn’t it obvious,” Catherine asked in a smug tone. “He abandoned me, didn’t even bother to name me, tried to kill me, and left me with that witch I’m supposed to call a mother. If it wasn’t for you, I’d probably be child one-one-eight or something dumb like that. I’d probably be dead.”

“I name you?” Jackson was taken back by that.

“Yeah, my mother even paid you to take me off her hands right after I was born. I’d hope you’d do it for free, but I can’t complain too much. I did get an amazing father out of it.”

“This is too much,” Jackson took a seat. “When do I become a father?”

“I think in about seven to eight months from now.”

“You’ve already been conceived,” Jackson held his face.

“Yep. The happy little accident has already happened. So, uncle, can I live with you?”

“Uncle?”

“Well. Yeah, you aren’t my father, but you’re like his little brother. Uncle. Time travel is weird.”

“You’re telling me,” Jackson said. “I’d need to clear it with Gypsy and the others. Probably get you your own room at Madame Julia’s. It is a bit weird for my niece to sleep in my bed.”

“Well, I am adopted. And I’m not technically your daughter by any sense of the word. Another me will be born soon, and she’ll be your daughter.”

“My head hurts,” Jackson said. “You can have your own room.”

“Fine,” she snapped. “So, what we are telling the others?”

“I have no idea, we got another ten minutes before they start to wake up, maybe an hour or so before the hangover gives way, and I still got a mountain of people I got to talk with today. Ms. Jinx, both princesses, Joseph and his party, not to mention Edward and the queen wants to see me. I hate being popular. I just know this is going to be horrible.”

“I’m so sorry, uncle.”

“Jackson fine. I guess we haven’t introduced ourselves. Jackson Ripper.”

“Catherine Ripper, daughter of Jackson Ripper, time mage and Holy Knight.”

“Holy Knight? Sounds fancy,” Jackson laughed.

“They are, after you cause them to be founded.”

“I what?”

“You go to war, remember. You made a lot of enemies. The king really wanted your head after what you did to Princess Lili.”

“I killed Princess Lili?”

“Oh, no, much worse. You stopped her wedding, nearly murdered her groom, sadly you failed, and murdered her brother all in one afternoon.”

“This is madness.” Jackson held his head for a few seconds. “I need to go meet the queen, don’t do anything dumb. Hopefully the others don’t kill you or anything.”

“Like they could.”

Jackson did not reply, instead he left the crow’s nest and started for the castle. He was escorted by a few guards to the queen’s private office before being allowed in. Unlike the throne room, which was large, showing off the power of the royals, the office was rather small. The walls were lined with books, there was a dark wood desk covered in several piles of folders and had a small lamp to one side. The room was rather dark, only a few sparks of light leaking in. The queen was seated at the desk, reading an old scroll. Her green eyes snapped up from the parchment and studied him.

“This ancient scroll documents the fall of a great empire. That empire was ruled by my ancestors. My human ancestors. Did you know my kind only exist because of the need to created better soldiers?”

“I’m sorry, I’ve never really looked into this planet’s history. I just assumed beast men were created by the gods or something.”

“Not the gods, the demons combining old magic with human science. They wanted to mass produce a certain warrior. Do you know what they were trying to recreate? Can you guess?”

“Bit on the nose.”

“I still want you to say it.”

“Berserker.”

“My entire race are imitations of that thing. Defective, failings of that thing. I’m not mad of course, I have to thank the Berserker for allowing my kind to even exist. But what is more hilarious is how that civilization I mentioned earlier fell.”

“I’m listening,” Jackson said with a gulp.

“They raised a mighty army of animals, so impressive it attracted the original. In a single night, the Berserker destroyed that kingdom. It killed almost ninety-nine percent of the people. Those few that survived were children, or the sickly. And one princess, who was dragged off by the beast. It abducted the first beast man princess. I’ve always found that strange. Why did it abduct someone? Was that its goal? Did it destroy an entire city because it wanted to take that girl?

“Then I found this document two years ago. It tells things a little different. This scroll was written by the princess a month after she destroyed the kingdom. She was the Berserker. She explains that her mother had been the previous Berserker and was captured, experimented on and tortured. The king couldn’t keep his hands to himself, and a daughter happened. She explained that her blood told her what happened and explained that her mother escaped a few months after she was born. She destroyed that entire civilization because she didn’t like how they treated her predecessor and because the army just looked like so much fun to fight. The natural disaster is a weird thing, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Jackson felt a cold sweat forming. Why was she telling him this?

“I’m a bit of a Berserker fan to be honest. I’ve read the reports from over the generations, studied some of the remaining formulas to create my people and how they were based on the same formula to create a Berserker. I’ve even thought about trying a few times. But I’m not an idiot. This world doesn’t need two Berserkers. Then, I learn that the monster was in my home. I learn that a boy, a hero, fought it for the reported third time, and won. A beast that can destroy countries has been driven away three times by the same boy. It makes me wonder.”

“Your point?” Jackson snapped. He didn’t like how this conversation was going.

“The princess was the Berserker. But all other reports say she was dragged off by it. All reports of your interactions with the beast state you fought it, but what would your statement say?”

“I am not the Berserker,” Jackson said flatly. This was the truth, as his seed was not mature yet. He showed her his missing sides as proof.

“In any case, you are an equal to it.” The queen spoke with an absolute tone. There was no question that she believed every word she was saying. Jackson couldn’t help but laugh. “Did you not survive my daughter’s stupidity? I have the numbers here, explaining in detail how many were hurt, severely injured and killed by her foolishness. You are its equal. I’m going to make this simple: when the war comes, I want to be on your side.”

Jackson noticed the phrasing. She did not want him to join her, but for her to join him. This queen was indeed dangerous.

“I don’t want anything to do with the coming war.”

“You live in this world now; you don’t have that choice. You saw last night what war is like. Or at least an idea of what’s it like.” Jackson shivered. “Imagine what you saw last night, but across the entire continent. Do you think you will be neutral? You will be on a side, and I have chosen to be by your side.”

“I don’t get a say?” Jackson asked.

The queen laughed. “We all have a say. But you’ve already made your move. Now it’s my turn. This is chess after all. When you take Edward, my future son-in-law for training, I want you to take Luna. She’s not well liked at the moment, and I fear for her safety here.”

“I’m not exactly going to the nicest place.”

“Border Town is friendly enough. Much more friendly then here. The cooks have already poisoned her food four times today. That what happens when you set in motion a chain of events that causes your staff’s family to be, um-, lynched. I expect her life here is only going to get more difficult and I got too much on my mind to worry about her safety. With you, she’ll be safe.”

“I’m not exactly a fan of hers.”

“You also could have done a lot worse than give her to Edward.” Jackson couldn’t see how, but he did not think correcting the queen was a smart idea.

“I work in a brothel,” Jackson said quickly. “Do you really want a princess, the future queen in that kind of place.”

“Hopefully she’ll learn something there. And I’m not just talking about sex positions. She’s spent her entire life behind these safe walls. It gone to her head. She’s sheltered. She needs to learn about our enemies, she needs to make allies that aren’t beast men, and she needs to pull her big head out of her ass. A brothel seems like a place to learn all that and more. She’s not happy with my decision, I informed her this morning to start packing and be ready by sundown tomorrow. You will not leave without her, trust me.”

Jackson gulped. He knew as the queen she could make it impossible for the wagon to leave. She could also simply send a letter to the madame and enforce her demands.

“Do I at least get paid for babysitting?”

“Of course. I’ve sent a letter to your boss to help me work out the details. You will have more than enough spending money. Trust me, we aren’t the wealthiest nation for nothing.”

“Then I guess I have no choice. I get a student and a brat.” Jackson made sure to put distain in his tone. To show the queen he was not happy. She only smiled, a devilish smile of a person who knew that she had won.

“I’ve reread this scroll a dozen times, yet I have on question. One question that can never be answered.”

“That is?”

“How did the king rape the previous Berserker? How did a mere man manage such a thing? A beast that can destroy armies could not protect itself again a mere mortal. It even escaped without issue shortly after giving birth. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it wanted to have a child.”