Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Thankfully, it just so happened that one of the best people to engage Skullius on matters such as these, Silrat, was home right now.

The Hybrid Luman headed to where he was immediately, having been directed to his finer whereabouts in the mansion by maidservants.

In the same study he had last seen Silrat in, the man with the long, crushed garnet hair and grey eyes looked to be engaging himself with the scribbled, subjective ramblings stocked within stacks of papers and old books, his attention absorbed wholly by them.

When the Hybrid Luman walked in, Silrat was genuinely surprised, almost jerking back into his chair.

"You're already back?!"

"Yes. The visit to the Bryne Family Estate wasn't exactly... eventful in the normal way," Skullius said as he sat down.

"Hmm? What happened?"

How eventful could it have been then?

Skullius sighed and explained everything that happened to Silrat right down to the proposal he had made to Stylla.

The former Branch Head had his fair share of surprise when listening to the chaotic events one by one but he didn't react as vibrantly as most would to the finer details, like the attack portion.

What surprised him most was the part about Setkh exclusively.

"So he was in on it? I wouldn't have pinned it on him in my wildest dreams. Even now I can't imagine that he would do that to his own father," he said with a grimace.

"It was a shock to me too but he didn't have a good relationship with these people. He was forced into this, it seems. No that it matters," Skullius said.

The more he thought about Setkh and how he had escaped, the more he thought about how he had gave Stylla assurance that her brother wouldn't escape.

And yet...

Tsk.

It bothered him.

It really bothered him.

Why was he so affected?

It wasn't like he promised or something!

'Argh,' Skullius grunted inwardly.

"Who cares about the details? I'm sure Stylla won't care about the how. Even I'm not sure I do," Silrat said as he sank into his seat and folded his arms.

Some might argue that Setkh had no choice but this whole ordeal brought into question how he had encountered these people to begin with.

Had they already known about the Harmonic Ember or was he the one to tell them?

The answer wouldn't make anyone feel any better.

Stylla's words made it clear that the crystal was a Family secret.

"These men..." Silrat said. "You said it looked he summoned them?"

"Yes. They just spawned from the ring he was wearing."

"I see..."

Silrat went deep into thought, collecting all this information to sew up some form of conclusion.

Opposite him, Skullius wondered about this, debating on whether he should ask or not.

"Do you know about the Severed Union?" he decided to come out with it in the middle of the contemplative silence.

Silrat's eyes dashed to the Hybrid Luman.

"It's hardly a secret. The only problem is that since its existence is mostly held up by claims and words, it's become a myth. Yet only the Deities know how hard the whole of Aigas has tried to find this haven for criminals," Silrat said with a bit of disgruntled visage. "Why do you ask?"

Oh.

Skullius instantly became torn about the subject.

He had wanted to tell Silrat more about his... findings but this reaction discouraged it.

The funny part about this subject was while Skullius had Replicus search for the Severed Union, his memories drawn from many bandits only gave him clues. It was like everyone connected to this organisation had a protective network around their minds that gave as little as possible when probing occurred.

Weird.

Skullius would have wanted to let Silrat on the investigation but...

'Let's hold off on that,' he thought.

Instead, he shifted the topic.

"I was just curious. I extracted a few memories about it but it's hard to make out. Anyway, you said you had strategy about getting me off that thing with the special mountain I blew up?"

Silrat chuckled.

Special mountain, he said.

It was an important tourist site with a town on it that he had blown up!

"Your hearing won't be for another few days. It's been undecided for a while since the Association is planning on hosting some sort of event. The Supervising Overseers are busy with that so they can hardly tolerate having to facilitate your case right now."

"Wait? What event?"

"Don't know. Information hasn't been officially passed to people like me yet. All this to say, I hope you have a few other things to do as you wait for the hearing."

"I do actually. <Sigh>. I have to go see that Sif woman, Darwel. She wants to meet me for whatever reason. I was planning to drop by tomorrow."

"Right, right! Stylla said something about that before you left. What have you been doing to garner so much attention, Festos?! And that woman from the Kinn Family wanted to meet with you too, didn't she?"

"I already met her just now and NO I don't want to talk about it," Skullius said as he extended his palm to Silrat's face.

The recipient of this palm held in a laugh as he shifted the subject back on track.

"Alright, alright. Anyway, about your question on how to deal with the hearing and that pompous Kurtish..." Silrat began to feed Skullius his plan.

***

Next day.

On the way back to Genhuis City, Stylla had taken the few important men with her and left the still undecided members of the workforce that had served her Family for years.

As she had promised, she had paid them coin enough to last them and their families for lifetimes but that wasn't satisfying for those who viewed the Bryne Family estate as their home. They had grown attached.

Stylla saw the dangers they may fall prey to however and decided to let them off. If things went south, she couldn't bear the guilt.

Right now, she had taken all the Family treasures and heirlooms and packed them into multiple secure storage objects secured in one of the two carriages guarded on all sides by the remainder of the guards loyal to the Family.

Additionally, undoubtedly the mist precious cargo that was being transported, was her father.

The carriage he was in was large so as to cater for the bed that was surrounded by the cylindrical glow of protective runes. Stylla had been unwilling to deactivate the bed's function as she wanted her father to remain safe in the event of any mishap.

Though the size of the carriage could garner the attention of curious criminals, she had stationed Ed with him.

If that wasn't enough...

"It's funny you should say that, Miss Stylla. I consider my cape a little overbearing at times but it has a very useful utility."

Stylla smiled with a nod.

"I see."

She along with Head Maid Arisa were seated in the front most carriage with Red Rage, a surprisingly chatty individual!

Admittedly, his stories and tales kept the atmosphere lively and for stretches of time, Stylla had been led to forget the contents of her inner conflict.

There was something about the armoured figure sitting opposite her that made her... smile.

Even Arisa had taken a liking to this person and would freely talk to him, giggling at his words that were meant to ease the air.

"What was that creature that finally put down that man when we were underground, Mr Prisma?" Stylla asked.

This was the name Red Rage had made a formal introduction of himself with.

Prisma Avaris.

He removed the last part of the entire name for convenience and these two seemed to work just fine as a proper name.

A proper, exotic name.

"I am so glad you asked, Miss Stylla! That was one of my children. The beasts I've raised since they hatched a while ago. His name is Killin 0. Hmm. Talented that one. His body managed to learn how to secrete a very deadly poison since he was only days old. Ah, I can't help but be proud," Red Rage answered with a cheery voice.

"You raise beasts? That's uncommon. Most people prefer to only engage with any kind of creatures when their class demands it," Stylla said.

"Not for me. I saw it as a duty. Beasts are no different from man if taught well enough. Oh, should you meet Killin 0 again, don't mind his appearance, he's a sweet boy in conversation."

Red Rage said this but he hid the details of how he had actually tested out a tiny bit of a special poison he had only used once before. That one instance was against the Evenfall cultist Tomin weeks ago.

(A/N: Refer to Ch.286).

He had only decided to risk this so as to create different variants among the young beasts, giving them more options for defending themselves.

Red Rage was careful with the entire process, going step by step and surely, one of the small creatures he had hatched developed a very powerful poison related ability similar to the one he had used.

The procedure he did was carried out after he had done extensive research with the young ones, discovering that their ability to adapt was overwhelming, thus the gamble!

This was all in the name of love.

The subject was entertaining and fascinating for the two ladies and one couldn't help but ask more questions about this 'delicate' man.

Arisa had asked to see one of these creatures but Red Rage politely declined, claiming that they were very shy.

What a pity it was... for it was true.

The laid back chat continued for a while until Stylla no longer participated.

Her mind drifted back into sullen thought.

Her rage and bloodlust for Setkh's head only grew stronger. Facing her father now reconceptualised his condition and served to make her more ambitious towards taking her time to build an image of herself that would suffice for the future, whatever that future was.

Was it one where her goal was for vengeance?

Was it one where she was forced to bury her father and her Family name as well?

Was it of prosperity?

Who knew?

Beyond this, there was the matter of what Skullius had proposed.

If he truly wasn't cursed anymore, maybe they could help each other indeed.

But... there was an issue about Skullius that wasn't yet resolved in Stylla's mind.

The Divination she had heard from that old man, an acquaintance of her father...

What did it mean?

Word for word, the old man had said:

'You.. Oh.. I see you and that man...oh Quintess! I see a... a... magisterial creature behind you...! A...a King... is about to descend! I...I do not understand... but... it is a King... one... with no renown of this world! I see it! Through this man you have invited... a... a King! A king that will descend!'

A king? Who was this so-called king?

Was this good news or bad news?

Skullius was in the centre of it all, that much was an absolute known but the rest?

What did it mean?

This variable is what made her hesitate.