“I heard about what happened in the Whitefort household, are you alright?”A couple of hours after the strange occurrence in the Archmage’s home, Zeke returned to the Imperial castle and met with his mother.Since he didn’t have anything important to do, so to speak, he wanted to spend some time with her before she left for the Witch Association.“I’m fine. It was dealt with by the Archmage.”“I see…”Despite his assurance, Jennifer still thoroughly checked his body for any injuries. When she found nothing, she sighed and softly smiled.“It would be for the best if you avoid the politics of the Empire. They are even more messed up than the Nezulian Republic.”“That’s not hard to notice.” Zeke reciprocated with a faint smile.Although he didn’t actively show it, it was very clear that he was in a very good mood. He had cleared up a couple things with his mother and he felt comfortable to be at her side.Each of them had important duties… obligations that bound them to certain places. N
“You are leaving so soon?”Emperor Ascalon, ruler of the Empire, sat on his throne and gazed at the black-haired youth.Zeke Orland came to meet the Emperor for the last time before his departure.Jennifer had departed two days ago and it was also time for him to return to the Nezulian Republic.Sulong was also present, but he behaved awkwardly as he knelt on the ground and kept his head lowered. Despite his earlier claims, he looked quite nervous as soon as he entered the Throne Hall.Archmage Elena Whitefort, who had surprisingly become his bickering partner, was laughing from the side. She was fully enjoying his pitiful sight and sweaty bald head.“Yes, Your Majesty. I have rested for long enough. Thank you for your generous hospitality.”“...”The Emperor frowned and after a momentary silence, he asked,“Have you thought about my proposal? You will be a great boon to the Empire. As the Emperor, I will make sure that you will be given the highest possible status. Those are just the
The Sunken Metropolis,Central CityZeni Street was famous for being where all the wealthy companies build their Headquarters. The place was filled with skyscrapers or buildings seemingly made of glass.It wasn’t an understatement to call this region the heart of the Sunken Metropolis.The security here was top-notch and all corners and alleys were monitored by hundreds if not thousands of CCTVs. Therefore, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that no crimes ever happened in Zeni Street.At the very end of this street, there was a moderately sized building, one that couldn’t be more than 5-story-tall. Compared to the skyscrapers, it was like a minuscule ant, barely noticeable and totally out of place.However, despite its modest appearance, this building was famous across the entire Republic. After all, this was the Headquarters of the Lightning Flame Corporation.Founded five years ago, the Lightning Flame had risen to prominence and quickly became the biggest and strongest mercenary com
It has been a week since Zeke departed from the Serey Zhan Empire. So far, they encountered no attacks, either from beasts or bandits.As they got closer and closer to the territory of the Nezulian Republic, the devastation caused by the war became apparent.The carriage they used was neither too slow nor too fast, so they were expected to reach their destination in two more weeks, approximately.Sulong explained a couple of things about the Lightning Flame Company and how it had risen. Cecilia Eroa mostly maintained silence. After her brief argument with Zeke, she didn’t join their conversation and would simply sleep or absentmindedly look at the terrains they passed.However, considering this was a carriage that clearly belonged to the Empire, it wasn’t so unexpected for their path to be obstructed by agents from the Republic.In fact, Zeke still didn’t know what their response to his recent ‘feats’ would be. They probably think that he had joined hands with the Emperor and was com
“I will only reveal myself when necessary or when you’re alone.”Cecilia bowed and vanished into thin air. Zeke didn’t object, he just nodded and then turned his gaze toward the highway a distance away. They had discarded the carriage to not attract any attention and travelled through the forests instead of the main road.Aside from that one attack, they had not encountered any danger. There was a noticeable lack of monsters or bandits, but that could be attributed to the war.The conflict between the two nations had driven everyone and everything away. “I have a signal. We can wait for someone to pick us up.”Sulong tapped on his cellphone, looking particularly relieved and happy. He had become an influential figure, especially in the Sunken Metropolis. It wasn’t to the degree that everyone would know who he was, nevertheless, it wasn’t good to travel in the open. Zeke was accompanying him, and as someone who caused quite a ruckus five years ago, there were bound to be people that
While walking next to the giddy Celestia, Zeke looked around and was surprised by the interior of the building. It was luxurious, high-end, and sparkly clean. It was far-cry from the place at which they founded the company… that old building in which Sulong and Jack lived in.“Where’s Angel?”In response to his question, Celestia brightly smiled and responded almost immediately,“She has become a student of Erys. She’ll be joining us in the evening.”“Oh…”…Within minutes, they reached the top of the building. Celestia welcomed Zeke into her office before shooting nasty glares at Sulong and his spouse, which were following them.“W-we’ll see you later!”Sulong stopped at the entrance of the office and spat those words before grabbing Signora’s hand and leaving.Young Jeremy, who understood his boss’ intentions, was tactful enough to disappear as soon as they left the elevator.As soon as they were left alone, Zeke was startled to see Celestia turn to face him with red and tearful eye
“Zeke!”In the Evening, not long after Zeke and Celestia’s romantic time, a teenage girl with snow-white hair rushed into the office. She had a slim body, a pair of beautiful bright eyes, a short pointy nose, and an enchanting smile. Angel, who looked like a fairy, jumped into Zeke’s arms and hugged him. She was the same height as he looked older than she actually was.Zeke had already been informed that, due to her unique regenerative ability, her body matured faster than a normal person. Furthermore, she became more social and talkative, opposite to how she had been when they first found her five years ago.“You’re back!”She flashed a pretty smile at him as she giggled.“You’ve grown a lot!”“Yes… hihihi…”She sheepishly nodded and happily spun around. “How are you feeling now? Is everything okay?”Celestia was the one who answered as she approached Angel and caressed her head.“Thanks to Wolf’s treatment, her condition had been cured. She has a monstrous quantity of Aether in h
The next morning, after Angel went to school, the expected visitors knocked on the door.“They’re in a real hurry, huh.”Zeke glanced at the nervous Jack, who was the only one who stayed. He told Sulong, Signora, and Celestia to go to the company and act as usual.The Department of Defense, or General Zhang more specifically, wouldn’t target and attack Zeke, so there was no need to worry about any assassination attempt. Moreover, it wasn’t like Zeke couldn’t defend himself.There was almost no one in the Republic that could match him in raw strength and power. However, the troublesome thing was the abundance of obscure and strong Artifacts at their disposal.Nevertheless, Zeke wasn’t particularly worried despite Celestia’s insistence on tagging along.Jack peeked from the window and saw the military trucks and the dozens of agents standing on the sidewalk, all next to each other and armed with artifacts.“Don’t worry. Enjoy your vacation day and let me handle it.”Jack nodded his head