Within one of the few rooms inside a somewhat dilapidated warehouse surrounded by deserted buildings, a handsome youth with hair as dark as the night and sapphire eyes sat on a soft couch and sipped on a cup of cold chocolate milk.

In front of him were two men who looked strangely alike when they stood next to each other.

“Valter.” The young man spoke to the taller of the two while putting his cup down on a low table in front of him.

“Yes, Your Highness.” Valter stepped forward and saluted. His immaculate and knightly clothing could not be more out of place in their current location, but the thousand-year-old warrior acted just as he always did — with an air of unwavering composure.

“What did you think?”

“About what?” Valter almost wanted to ask. After a moment of thought, he spoke. “I believe she won’t betray us, Your Highness.”

“That’s what my eyes told me too.” Reivan nodded with a smile. “But just for reference, how are you so sure?”

“Forgive me, Your Highness. But all I can say is that I just do. Call it intuition if you will.”

“Your intuition’s crazy.” Reivan chuckled and turned toward the other man. “First of all, Xanth— or rather, Sir Xander.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

With a flourish of his hand, Reivan’s disguise fell off to reveal his original appearance. He closed his eyes, stood up, and bowed. “On behalf of the king, I would like to thank you for your outstanding service and patriotism.”

“I am undeserving of such words. Please stand up…”

Just as the somewhat stiff Xander moved to help the prince up, Valter intervened. “Xander, just accept the praise. The prince isn’t one for excessive formalities in private settings like this.”

“Hm.” Xander stopped, not knowing what to do at first. But then he nodded before saluting — an act that he hadn’t done in decades, but never forgot. “Thank you for your kind words, Your Highness.”

With that, Reivan straightened up and with a smile on his face. “We, the royal family, are very pleased by your efforts. And efforts cannot go unpaid! As such, if you have anything in mind, do let me know. We’ll be working together for a very long time, so Father has already placed you under my command for the foreseeable future.”

“I…” Xander hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. “I do not particularly have anything in mind…”

“Lies. Speak honestly.” The prince commanded, his mouth forming a lighthearted grin as he sat back down.

Seeing the troubled look on his descendant’s face, Valter chuckled. “It is impossible to lie to His Highness, so speak freely. I know you have something in mind.”

With a slight grimace, Xander nodded and turned toward Reivan. “As the patriarch mentioned, forgive my insolence for harboring some small desires…”

“Nonsense. There’s nothing wrong with wanting things. Go on. I don’t have a lot of personal funds but I’ll do my best to fulfill your requests. It’s the least I could do for the years you spent as a spy.”

With great hesitation, Xander finally spoke, his head held low. “This humble knight wishes for a vacation…”

“A vacation…?” Reivan seemed shocked for a moment before he chuckled. “That’s it? Just asking, but how much time off do you want?”

“Two— No, a month. Just a month…”

“Done. Two months it is. I’ll do my best to convince Father. I don’t think he would refuse though. Oh, and obviously this vacation will happen after the organization’s takeover has stabilized.”

Xander broke into a smile. “That’s perfectly fine. Thank you, Your Highness.”

Reivan dismissed him with a wave and asked. “Now, we weren’t able to exchange information due to previous circumstances, but kindly give me a summary of what you’ve been doing. From what I’ve been told, spies can only send information to Aizen — never receive it. And it’s only after once after every two years or so too…”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Xander saluted again before starting his report.

Exactly twenty-six years ago, he volunteered to act as a spy based in the Magitechnocratic Republic of Arkhan. The procedure for this was quick and easy, if not bothersome.

Basically, he died.

Not in reality, but as a citizen. His death was faked and most of his mortal acquaintances truly thought that he’d died in some battle somewhere.

Of course, his family and friends knew the truth. But for all extents and purposes, Xander had died the moment he volunteered to be a spy.

And so, a man named Xanthus was born.

He’d infiltrated the republic via land, passing through the wolf’s maw — the mountain range that acted as a border separating Aizen from the rest of the continent — and hiring republican smugglers to enter the foreign nation with ease.

From then on, “Xanthus” started integrating into the republic. At first, he started low, acting as a waiter at a pub or a bouncer at a bar. He was careful to switch locations every few months, not wanting to stay in the same place for too long.

Soon enough, after about a year of job-hopping, Xanthus made contact with the underworld when he encountered someone who tried to trick him into enslavement.

Slaves were technically illegal in Arkhan. Only the state could own them.

But all laws were made to be broken. With the astronomical gap between the rich and the poor in the republic, it was a common occurrence for people to be forced into slavery through insurmountable debts. Since the higher-ups of the government all secretly owned slaves, they naturally turned a blind eye to these issues.

And so, the slave trade actually flourished within the upper crust of the republic’s society.

Xanthus saw great potential in using those slaves for his own endeavors.

That’s why he finally revealed a tiny fraction of his true ability as a mercenary for hire. Xanthus ravenously gathered money to buy slaves, training them and using them as informants.

The best part was that these slaves actually had a history of staying in the Republic. So unlike Xanthus, there were no risks of being linked to Aizen if they were caught. If found out, the authorities would simply think that they were the private army of some bigwig.

After about fifteen years, Xanthus managed to build up quite a formidable network of spies. He funneled a constant stream of information to Aizen by way of a one-way encrypted communication system.

But it wasn’t enough.

He barely got any information of actual significance, and the might of his little troops would not be able to cause meaningful damage to Arkhan should he be ordered to by his king.

That was why when the Silver Cross extended an olive branch to him, Xanthus took it without hesitation. The best part was that the organization itself provided the slaves and the environment to train them as combatants.

Naturally, Xanthus secretly took the ones who had the most potential for himself, using the excuse that they were defective to integrate them into his private forces.

Ten years later he was now the head of security and intelligence, which gave him access to information and a small army under the Silver Cross’s banner. His private forces had grown tremendously to the extent that he had at least a dozen agents in every inhabited Republican settlement.

And he even had a couple of agents posted in the Argonia Empire to inform him about the war front between the empire and the republic.

Xander calmly relayed his accomplishments, but he couldn’t help the way his heart swelled from pride when his ancestor looked increasingly impressed.

“Impressive.” Reivan praised with sincerity. “And how strong are these agents on an individual level…?”

“Not very strong, unfortunately.” Xander shook his head. “I do not have the resources to train them as intensively as I would like. And I could not use the majority of the training methods I knew, since they all came from Aizen.”

“I see. It would’ve risked linking the spies to us.”

“Yes, Your Highness. Only about ten percent of my private forces have unlocked their Qi. The others are just very strong mortals, albeit capable of mana augmentation.”

“Ten percent of…?”

“I have about a thousand agents, with a hundred of them being capable of Qi reinforcement and mana augmentation.”

“That’s pretty good, considering the fact that you basically started from nothing twenty-six years ago! And that’s not even including the Silver Cross forces. How are those forces doing, by the way?”

“The Silver Cross’s combat slaves are all owned by Valmir on paper. But there are multiple command seals for them since Valmir couldn’t be everywhere at once.”

Reivan snickered. “And you have one of them, I assume?”

“Yes. The other command seals have dead owners now.”

“Excellent. So this pretty much means that we own the Silver Cross’ blades.”

“Indeed. However, they’re of even lower quality than my private forces.” Xander scratched his cheek, his brows furrowed. “I admit I didn’t train them as best as I could because I always planned to betray the organization eventually. At the time, I had thought it foolish to increase their strength, despite how little difference it would actually make in the long run.”

“That’s fine. It’s not as if we’ll be fighting Arkhanian battlemages. At most, we’ll just use them for odd jobs and bullying locals.” Reivan lazily spoke as he picked up his cup for a sip. But his eyes widened as if realizing something. He hurriedly slapped his mouth. “I feel like I just raised a flag…”

“Your Highness?” Valter called out, his face marred by confusion.

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Despite the prince’s words though, his brows stayed furrowed. “In any case, there’s great potential in the force you built up, so I’ll invest part of our future profits in developing it further. Oh, and I take it that your agents are severely limited in what they do because they can’t let anyone see the collars around their necks, right?”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Xander nodded, a troubled look on his countenance. “They cannot work normal jobs because of this. As such, I am forced to support them by having them steal or send them money from my own pockets. Obviously, the former risks having law enforcement take an interest in them, so most of the time, I need to resort to the latter option… which costs quite a lot overall due to the sheer amount of agents I have.”

“Huh. I doubt being the head of security and intelligence pays that well. Did you have a separate source of income?”

“Yes. I embezzled some funds from the Silver Cross when nobody was looking. Not that they could find me even if they were. Nobody ever found out about my Darkness affinity after all. I also took on a few high-paying dirty jobs... though I only ever did it using a secret identity.”

“I see. Well, it was dirty money anyway…” Reivan took a sip of chocolate milk, savoring the sweet but slightly bitter flavor. He put it down and said, “Well, I believe we can solve that from now on. I’ll request more of those slave pills. Shove them down all of their throats and throw those collars away.”

The usually stoic Xander's face slackened. “Would that really be okay?”

“Yes. As long as Father agrees to cover this with the national budget, then it’s fine.”

Valter chimed in with a smile. “I’m sure His Majesty would agree. This is something that can only benefit Aizen after all. He’ll understand that it’s not just one of your selfish endeavors.”

“I hope so. Also, don’t say that as if I have a lot of selfish endeavors. Even though it’s true.” Reivan grumbled, his brows furrowed. “Anyway, that’s pretty much it for me. I have to consult a bunch of elderly gentlemen on how best to move forward. I have plans of my own but it can’t hurt to hear input from the wise.”

The prince’s cup disappeared into his spacial storage ring and he stood up.

“If you have any other questions or requests, now’s the time,” he said.

There was a moment of silence before Valter cleared his throat. “I have a question, Your Highness.”

“Oh? This is rare. Go right ahead then.”

“Thank you. Now, the name you used… ‘Ken’ was it? I have a feeling it’s not just some random name you came up with. The same goes for the name you chose for the organization.”

“Ugh…” Reivan grimaced. “So you’re curious about that…”

“Yes. Please indulge my curiosity.”

The prince sighed. Instead of answering the question though, he asked a question of his own. “Names are special, don’t you think?”

Valter seemed confused for a second before he nodded.

“I think so too.” Reivan smiled. “That’s why even a throwaway persona like the one I just used earlier needs a meaningful name.”

“Forgive me, Your Highness. But I don’t quite understand…”

“You don’t have to understand.” The prince smirked and moved to exit the room. “I just thought Ken needed to go out with a bigger bang. He never got to live his life after all. That's why I think he needs a better ending than dying on a couch”

“Are you talking about a story you read?”

“No. It’s a story I watched. Many, many times.”

“Ah, so it was a play. I see.” Valter bobbed his head in understanding.

Reivan did nothing to correct his guardian knight, only smiling to himself. “Anyway, if that’s all, I’ll be leaving. Don’t worry about me, Sir Valter. Mother’s outside waiting for me with my sisters. We’ll be spending a night out for once in a long while.”

“Understood.”

“You should also spend time with your family.”

Reivan gave the two men one last wave of farewell before he transformed into Van, the identity he used whenever he loitered around somewhere in Aizen.

######

The two men watched the prince leave before Valter turned toward his descendant. “Well met, Xander.”

“It has been a long while, Great Patriarch.” Xander bowed, bending his waist at a ninety-degree angle.

“I heard you used your real name as an alias when you crossed the border.”

“Ah… Well, it’s just I hadn’t been called by my name in a while. And the guards stationed at the border were good friends of mine too…”

Valter shook his head in exasperation but said nothing more because he understood the poor boy’s sentiments. Still, his descendant's lack of self-control irked him a little.

Seeking to change the subject, Xander asked, “Is my great-grandmother doing well…?”

“Melinda is fine.” Valter nodded, a warm smile crossing his lips. “She still makes very good stew.”

“Hmm.” Xander's hand unconsciously rubbed his stomach, as if suddenly becoming hungry. A look of longing crossed his face.

Looking at his descendant’s actions, Valter couldn’t help but recall Xander when he was a little boy.

‘He’s grown up well.’

The “boy” was a spitting image of Valter, except Xander now had the pearly white skin that was prevalent in the Aizen Kingdom. After about a dozen generations, Valter’s blood had thinned to the point where nobody would mistake his descendants for foreigners.

It was a fact that made him feel complicated.

On one hand, he wanted to preserve as much of his fallen tribe’s legacy. But on the other, he felt happy to have had his bloodline fully integrated into the nation that had allowed him so much happiness and fulfillment.

‘Well, none of that matters right now.’

Valter shook his head of other thoughts, focusing on Xander. Thinking about how the boy who’d clung to his great-grandmother and cried whenever the other boys bullied him, Valter couldn’t help but marvel at the man that Xander had become.

The boy that had clung to his great-grandmother all the time had volunteered to become a spy, spending more than two decades alone in a foreign nation, with no true allies and surrounded by enemies.

The boy that had cried whenever the other boys called him stupid for being a slow reader had created a formidable and far-reaching force of combatants and informants, even though he’d basically started with nothing but his strength and skills.

The boy who'd left home had finally returned.

“Xander.”

“Yes, Great Patriarch…?”

“You’ve done well.” Valter placed his hand on his descendant’s shoulder. “You’ve done really well. I'm proud of you.”

Xander looked down, unable to meet his ancestor’s gaze. “T-thank you, Great Patriarch. I’ve… I’ve always admired you… always wanted to be like you. Your words… they… they mean a lot to me.”

Valter pulled Xander into a hug, patting the hard-working lad on the back. No words were exchanged, and it was only a short second before they parted, smiles on their faces.

However, that was enough to convey their feelings to each other.

“Well, I believe that’s enough of the mushy stuff.” Valter chuckled, losing his usual seriousness and speaking freely. “Let’s head home.”

“Home…” Xander mulled over the words for a few seconds before nodding. “Yeah... Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Right? Take it from me, home’s the best after being away for so long. The only thing that beats it is sitting down and enjoying a meal with your family… Oh. Reminds me, you must’ve missed your wife and daughter. Rest assured, they’re doing very well for themselves and I’m sure they’d be glad to know you’re back.”

“Ah.” Xander’s complexion visibly paled at his ancestor’s words as beads of sweat started dotting his forehead.

Not one to miss details, Valter smirked and jokingly teased his descendant. “What’s with that face? Did you cheat on her while you were away? That won’t do, that won’t do! She’ll kill you in your sleep!”

The thousand-year-old knight’s jests didn’t land though, as Xander’s complexion grew worse.

‘What…’

This told Valter all he needed to know.

“So you did.” Valter massaged his temples, a furrow in his brows. “How many?”

“J-just…” Xander looked down. “Just one…”

“That’s one too many, boy.”

“Yes of course, Great Patriarch. You're right…”

Previously, Xander averted his gaze because he felt mortified by the proud look he was receiving from his childhood idol. Now, he couldn’t bear to meet that childhood idol’s gaze out of a different kind of embarrassment.

“What about Kids? Did you knock her up?”

“Y-yes…”

“How many?”

“Just three, Great Patriarch…”

“Three!” Valter threw his arms in the air, clearly displaying his exasperation. He roughly grabbed the fool’s shoulder. “I explicitly warned you about this right after you volunteered to be a spy. Did you even listen!?”

“I-I just made a mistake!”

“Mistake!? How could it possibly be a mistake!? You have to make advances or be receptive to the woman’s advances. Then you have to bring her somewhere private. Then you get naked. Then you get her naked. And then you do the deed! There were plenty of opportunities for you to stop! It sure as hell wasn’t just a single mistake!”

“I-I’m very sorry!”

“And it’s not as if women get pregnant just from having intercourse! Couldn’t you have pulled out at some point!?”

Xander groaned, not having the willpower to muster a response.

“And you had three! Three kids, Xander Suprana. Three!” Valter grabbed both of the stupid boy’s shoulders and shook him roughly. “How could you make the same set of mistakes three times!?”

It was a common occurrence among Aizen’s spies.

Whittled down by years of loneliness, they would seek companionship from one of the natives. Even if they initially just wanted something casual and irresponsible, they would eventually fall into the pit, mesmerized by the comfort of another person’s company.

In actuality, there was nothing wrong with starting a relationship with foreigners. In fact, despite being well aware of the frequency of such cases amongst spies, the royal family never forbade it or advised against it.

This was true even when a spy could be compromised precisely because they now had important people behind enemy lines. Luckily, due to their oaths of loyalty, they would never be able to betray the kingdom on the off-chance that they wanted to.

The problem, the spies noticed, came when it was time to return to the motherland. What, then, would happen to the family they’d built?

Naturally, they couldn’t be left behind.

It would also be very difficult to extract them from the nation without expending great effort so the foreign nation doesn’t notice — after all, Aizen didn't want any trouble, and it definitely didn't want to be accused of pilfering citizens from other nations.

It was because of the bothersome dilemma caused by their existence that certain individuals in the knighthood referred to these families as Gift Bombs — because family was a gift from the heavens, but no one ever knew when this “gift” would explode in your face and ruin everything.

The kingdom still expended effort to help the foolish spies who couldn’t control their libidos while on the job. There was even a specialized team of knights whose sole job was to transport the gift bomb families to Aizen — though they usually prioritized the families left behind by spies who’d died on the job.

With all that said, the royal household’s consent did not prevent the creation of gift bomb families from being frowned upon within the knighthood.

Valter had also acted as a spy for the kingdom many centuries ago, and he too had almost fallen prey to the temptation. Luckily, he was overcome with hatred for Argonia at the time, so he managed to push through.

He eventually met Seren — his first and only wife — and lived happily ever after.

This was precisely why he looked down on the spies who failed to resist. He had prevailed over the temptation at a time when Aizen's disciplinary training was still lacking, and yet these newer kids couldn't?

Preposterous!

“You disappoint me, Xander. I feel as if I suddenly don’t know you anymore.”

Hearing his idol’s cold voice, Xander’s knees buckled under his weight, colliding with the floor with a pained look on his face. “P-please don’t say that, Great Patriarch…”

Shaking his head in disgust, Valter clicked his tongue. “Explain everything to your wife by yourself. She’ll be so upset, thinking you don’t love her anymore because she grew old before you…”

“Th-that’s not true!” Xander vehemently denied. “Her looks mean nothing to me! I still love her!”

“Well, why don’t you tell her that after you introduce your mistress to her!”

Xander groaned, defeated.

“Fool.” Valter sighed as he looked on in pity. “Don’t expect to be invited to your daughter’s wedding either.”

“Wedding…?”

“Yes. Sarina’s getting married to her childhood friend. Nice young man, hard-working too. With no help from his parents, he now has a shop near the center of Starwater City. The wedding’s there too, by the way. It can’t hope to match something like Prince Roland’s wedding, but they still planned something quite grand. I couldn’t resist chipping in a few Sun Coins since I didn’t want the lad to go bankrupt right after getting married.”

“My little girl’s getting married…”

“She’s no little girl. You left when she was four, remember? Now, she’s thirty. She actually delayed her marriage because she always hoped you’d return in time… It’s a shame that you actually did return in time, but with stories of your infidelity.”

“N-no…”

“Well, since you’re technically dead, you can’t attend it publicly anyway. But there’s nothing wrong with attending it in secret. Oh, but knowing that she suddenly has three siblings would shock her so much… Maybe it would even ruin the festive mood!”

“Please help me apologize!”

“Take responsibility like a man and do it by yourself.”

“Please don’t say that!” Xander bolted up and tried to grab at Valter’s leg but he was met with a faceful of black smoke. When he looked up, the thousand-year-old knight was gone. “Ancestor! Don’t do this to me!”

Xander kept on shouting, his voice echoing throughout the warehouse. Fortunately, no one was there to hear him since the gang members that lived there were currently being treated to a sumptuous dinner at a restaurant to celebrate their flawless victory over the other gangs in the area.

The run-down buildings all around the warehouse had also been secretly bought out by Reivan, so nobody stayed there either after it was cleared out by his knights — not even squatters.

As such, Xander was well and truly alone to wallow in despair at the results his “youthful indiscretion” would bring.

######

"Fwoo..." Elsamina sighed as she sat on the soft bed in her room at a luxury inn. She'd just finished a hot bath and was only wearing the fluffy white bathrobe provided for her, but since she was alone she didn't care about how it could barely contain her chest.

And besides, she'd gotten used to wearing more daring things.

'Now that I think about it, it's been a long time since I've slept alone...'

Since falling into Ballor's clutches, Elsamina always spent her nights with someone — be it men or her juniors who'd cry themselves to sleep in her arms, Elsamina never slept alone.

'But this is kinda nice.'

Maybe it was the fact that Ballor was dead and that she was effectively a free person again, Elsamina's heart felt light. There was a slight twinge of pain whenever she thought about her little brother, but Elsamina tried her best to resist depression by thinking of her new master.

'He was cute.'

Elsamina had only ever felt this way about the young girls she took care of, so her feelings for Ken were fresh, if not slightly confusing for her. After all, she'd never had a positive impression of a man before.

'Oh, but I suppose he's not a man yet. Just a boy... But maybe that's a good thing?'

Nevertheless, she looked forward to their future interactions and hoped that they would all get what they wanted out of this relationship.

'It's getting late.'

The clock on the wall had struck midnight a long while ago. Elsamina wanted to turn in early to remove the chances of waking up late tomorrow, but the inn's bath, the sauna, and all sorts of other amenities were so enjoyable that time simply flew by.

"Good night..." Elsamina said to no one in particular as she curled up on the bed and stared at the wall, waiting for sleep to take her consciousness away.

'I'm free.'

If she wanted to jump out of bed and head out to the night market for some fun, nobody would stop her. Eating until she couldn't eat anymore was also something she could do. Heck, if she wanted to pick out some guy to share a night of passion with, she could — not that she'd actually do that willingly.

The possibilities were endless and she was starting to grow restless at all the things she could do now.

But in the end, she still decided to head to bed. It wouldn't do if she made a horrible impression by sleeping in on her first day on the job.

'Vice-leader of Ouroboros. That's me. That's who I am, now...'

With a mix of relief, anxiety, unease, and hope, Elsamina fell into slumber's embrace.