Death... and me

Ophele was Palaris's granddaughter and also Sevinia's daughter. At the moment, she was the daughter of the Soul Rulers Organization's headmaster. That obviously surprised Rean. After all, would such an important person really come to become a teacher in the Formation Guild of Freedom City's branch?

However, Rean understood why the girl came here. Back then, he had noticed the girl's feelings for him. It's just that she had never admitted it out in the open. Well, Rean didn't have any interest in her since he already had Qia. Still, that should have been the only reason for Ophele to come here now. Otherwise, Palaris wouldn't have mentioned it either. 'Hmm...what should I do? Should I just ignore her?'

After pondering a bit, Rean decided to ask Qia's opinion, to which the latter exclaimed, "What?! There was actually such a thing? Wait! Why are you even asking for my opinion? You're not thinking about betraying me or asking me for my permission to take her, right? I'll kill you if you do!"

Rean found Qia's reaction ridiculous. "Where the hell did you get those ideas? Both Sunkan Planet and the planet I reincarnated from are worlds where it is mostly considered wrong to have more than one partner. Even if you told me that I could have more than one woman, I wouldn't do that. The reason I'm asking you is that you're a woman. Or do you think I should ask Roan instead regarding this?"

Qia had to admit he was right. "Hmph! It better be like that." She then pondered a bit before saying, "To be honest, I would prefer you to simply ignore her existence. However, if I was in her place, I would definitely want some kind of closure. She's the daughter of the Soul Rulers Organization's headmaster, but she still came all the way here to take such a lowly position. As a woman, I simply can't ignore her resolve either."

Rean scratched the back of his head in response. "It seems annoying..." Eventually, he decided. "Alright, I'll select the first option. Let's pretend I don't know anything and ignore her."

*Pah!*

*Ouch!*

Rean immediately looked at Qia. "Why did you hit me?"

"Did you hear what I said at all?!" Qia asked in response with a dark expression. "Head there and end this connection properly! She deserves that much, even if she's a Zasfin. No, you know what? I'll head there with you to show that you already have an owner. That's the fastest way."

Rean sighed after hearing that. "Well, if you say so, then so be it."

The couple didn't leave the sect straight away, though. The Freedom City's Formation Guild branch was still under construction, so all the Zasfins who came to build it were quite busy. Instead, they left the sect a few days later when the building was finally done.

Surprisingly, the attendants behind the counters inside the Formation Guild branches weren't only Zasfins. There were a few humans as well. "That's unexpected. I thought the Zasfins would keep every single position."

Qia nodded, saying, "Well, I guess this is what your integration plan is about, right? The Formation Guild might be trying to set an example to gain your trust."

Rean didn't mind that. "In any case, this is a good start. Let me ask the guy in that counter over there."

Rean then approached the attendant, asking, "Hi, are you working here?"

The man nodded in response. He didn't recognize Rean, so he simply thought this was just a curious fellow human. With that, he replied, "Hello. Yes, I am. Could it be that you wish to join the Formation Guild? I'm sorry, but the recruitment period only starts next week. The Zasfin Formations Masters are still busy preparing the building inside for the classes."

Rean shook his head, saying, "Oh, that's not it. This is a Formation Guild branch created by the Zasfins. Are you not against the idea of working here? Also, do you get any payment at all? Or are they forcing you to take this job?"

The man was a little surprised by those questions. However, he had to admit Rean's doubts made sense. Since the branch hadn't started to operate yet, he didn't have much to do, so he decided to answer. "Well, I'll admit I was a little concerned at first. However, I didn't have much choice since I needed to feed my family. I was one of the ex-slaves who didn't have anything when I arrived here, after all. However, it turns out that the payment is quite good, and I'm not really being forced to do anything."

The man then looked around before whispering in Rean's ear, telling him, "It's just that the Zasfin Formations Masters look at us humans with some contempt. I guess that's the only part that bothers me. Fortunately, as long as we do our job, they don't do anything against the other humans or me."

Rean and Qia didn't look too surprised at all. Those were Zasfins Formation Masters from the Formations Guild. It was obvious that they would feel like that about humans. The process of integration between humans and Zasfins needed a tremendously long amount of time. The fact that the humans weren't being mistreated here was already a huge win as far as Rean was concerned. "I see...well, as long as the job is good, I think you should keep working."

Qia then went to the main topic. "By the way, we came here to meet a friend of ours. Could you call Formation Master Ophele? Tell her that Qia and Rean came here to talk. She should know who we are."

The man was surprised to hear that. Nevertheless, he didn't ask anything and simply passed the massage ahead. Rean and Qia then waited a few minutes before the man received an answer. "She will receive you, but she's busy right now. Can you wait?"

Rean and Qia looked at each other for a moment and then nodded. "Sure. Let us know when she's ready."

Rean and Qia... had to wait for three hours before they were finally called in. Rean, of course, immediately recognized Ophele when he saw her. "You sure took your time to receive us. It seems like this guild branch is keeping you very busy."

Ophele shook her head as she replied, "Not really. I just made you wait because I wanted to. Now then, why did you come here?"