After Perfect’s tale was done, Daneel and the other two sovereigns could only stare at him with pity in their eyes, even though they tried not to let that emotion show. After all, no one would like to be shown pity, but in this case, it was just too hard.

It actually hadn’t been that complicated, but often, life was so. All that he had done was listen in, for a moment, on a conversation when he was just 5 years old. At the time, he had apparently had the habit of playing hide and seek with his brothers. They had been engaged in this game on a specific occasion during one of the centennial meetups of their family, and Perfect and his brother had snuck into the walls of a certain room which had been hollow. The children had been the only ones to know of this, and they had been terrified when they suddenly heard all of the elders of their family assembling in that same room. A spell had been cast, but as it worked on just checking that only those who were of a certain Bloodline were present in the room, it had overlooked the children.

In it, they had overheard the proposal, and the decision that was taken. The family would swear allegiance to the Church in return for obtaining resources that would allow certain chosen members of the family to break past the Hero level, and when it was all done, they would also be given a chance to obtain a foothold on the elusive Mainland.

It would remain within the upper echelons, and each and every member who reached the Hero level would be willingly or forcefully made to take a different kind of oath that would bind them to the Church and make them an agent against Angaria, too.

At that time, Perfect’s brother had been a couple of years older than him, and he had explained to little Perfect that he should never, ever repeat what they had heard to anyone.

Perfect had been a smart kid, and he had listened.

As he grew, this information that he had held within himself began to change him in ways no one could expect. Besides that, he began to see many things which looked ordinary to the outside, but which were actually the result of his family’s true allegiance.

Like poison, it started to destroy him from within, leading him to lose all motivation. A certain incident had kickstarted this, and it was...the death of his brother.

That man had apparently been much more talented, and he had vowed to himself that he would change their family after he became a Hero.

Alas, one fine day, Perfect had received a message which had the words ’Never tell anyone’ written in blood, and it had been followed by the news of his brother’s death.

Convinced that it was because someone had found out, he lost all hope, and since then, he had just been treasuring every second and trying to live for as much as possible until his death arrived.

Hearing it all, Daneel and the rest could only wonder how it must have felt.

Having no one to trust, and knowing something that was so important, but could not be told.

It was definitely something that had the potential to devastate one’s psyche, and that had clearly happened.

After telling it all, Percy caught his head in his hands and closed his eyes.

Tears started to drip to the floor, and their pitter-patter echoed in the silent room.

Daneel had no idea that he would stumble onto something like this. Such a major family that had sworn allegiance to the Church secretly? Such a thing was horrifying to even think of, and the fact that they might have calmly backstabbed Angaria in a crucial time...made him shudder with panic.

How many more hidden enemies could be there like this, waiting to reveal themselves and change the course of events in a way that would benefit the Church?

By now, it had become clear that this must be another ’backup plan’ of the Church, as the timeline meant that it was at a time when they hadn’t even stepped foot on Angaria.

He had always known that there would be rotten apples within the hundreds of Heroes of Angaria, but he hadn’t expected to come face to face with one of them so soon.

Taking a deep breath, he said, "Perfect...meeting you is probably one of the luckiest things that has happened to me in my life."

These words which were definitely out of place made Perfect glance up with puzzlement, and seeing this, Daneel continued.

"First, let me ask you this. What sort of relationship do you have with your family? Answer honestly, without fearing that we will judge you."

The eyes of both Elanev and Faxul sharpened as they heard this.

If Perfect still loved his family, and if Daneel decided to kill them all for their crime...what would happen?

They didn’t have to think for the answer long, though, because Perfect answered without even pausing to think.

"I hate them. Most of them, at least. There are very few whom I believe are good at heart, but the top echelons who have sold their souls for longer lives...they deserve to die. But they’re the strongest Heroes on the continent! So how can that even happen? Anyway, I’m an orphan- my parents died of old age soon after I was born. I didn’t have a relationship with them- in our family, because talented scions are valued, couples give birth as much as possible and the children are raised like livestock. Only those with talent are given a better childhood, but if someone is unlucky...they’re resigned to be a servant. Yes, it might sound unbelievable, but apparently, even on the Mainland, the strongest families function like this- they are highly efficient and ruthless, as they need to be to stay on top. Well, that’s what they tell themselves, anyway, but I despise it."

His words were filled with loathing, and the things he had just said caused Daneel and his sovereigns to feel taken aback.

Yet...wasn’t this exactly how it was in the Order, too?

Here, it was talent. There, it was Bloodlines.

historical

Just remembering Cassandra’s words made Daneel tighten his fist, but he controlled himself and moved onto what he had been about to say.

"That’s good, then, because when I’m done with them...I guess I will show that with my actions, rather than my words. Oh, it’s nothing as droll as death- no, I think death is an easy way out. Perfect, its time for the most important question. What...is their name?"

Daneel had expected to find this out long back, so he had been a bit surprised to see that Perfect hadn’t mentioned it yet.

Only...when the man replied, it became clear why that was the case.

Raising his hands in resignation, he said, "I can’t tell you! That’s actually the most infuriating thing about all this!"

With a sigh, he continued.

"All of us who enter the Order are made to swear special oaths that we will not reveal our true identity to anyone without the permission of the elders. I have no idea why that is, but sadly, it is the case. The oaths are special because they will send a message if there is an attempt to bypass them by making one speak in their dreams, too."

Daneel felt like smacking his forehead as he heard this.

It was almost as if the most delectable dessert had been about to enter his mouth to allow him to savor its succulent flavor, but it had suddenly been snatched away, leaving him with naught but the memory of its tantalizing smell.

He should have expected that he would face difficulties, but seeing them appear still sucked.

With this, all the other questions he was going to ask became useless. Also...there was the pressing matter about the intruders into his Kingdom.

Indeed, right after returning to the obelisk, Daneel had received multiple messages regarding why that trigger had been activated.

He had felt relieved that whoever had entered the Kingdom was still acting cautiously, which meant that he had time, so he had decided to handle this first and then leave.

Now, though, although he had received all this information, it looked like he would not be able to pinpoint these long-percieved, yet unidentified threats to the continent right away.

Hence, it was time to shift his priorities.

Getting up, he declared, "Perfect, all I ask right now is that you keep a close eye on their actions, and notify me the moment you feel that they might be up to something in tandem with the Church. Also, if you are in danger, you can contact me with this. You will be surprised just what amount of force someone from the Central Continent can bring forth. We are now comrades, and I trust you. All right?"

Perfect was a bit surprised by the abrupt end to their interview as he caught the trinket that was thrown to him, but he nodded.

Indeed, that was all he knew that he could do.

Still, Daneel decided to speak a bit more to appease the man.

"I have something pressing on the outside to take care of. Meanwhile, I’ll think of a way to overcome your oath. Remember, make sure that there is no change in your attitude. Oh...and one last thing."

...

Outside the quarters, a small crowd had gathered, who were all talking about the blazing superstar in the Order who had already gotten his name on the Board of Achievements twice, even though he still had the tag of ’newbie’ based on the amount of time that had passed since he entered.

Even the topmost seeds and scions of famous families on the continent couldn’t boast of such a feat, and many had even begun to deride these so-called sons and daughters of Heaven.

Some in the crowd were the lackeys of these talented individuals, and others were just curious.

Yet, they all seemed to be waiting for something.

BANG!

With a loud sound that caused no surprise among most, a man flew out of a door that came into being on the large stone wall that was the quarters of the Order.

He coughed blood as soon as he thudded to the ground, and that made it clear that he had had to endure an attack that had still managed to injure him even though his barriers had seemingly managed to do their job

The now-famous Overlord flew out soon after and looked like he was readying a blow, but a thunderous voice boomed in the area.

"HALT!"

This voice was accompanied by overwhelming pressure, as a Hero suddenly descended to protect the one on the ground.

Seeing him spit out more blood, the Hero looked livid, but seeing him appear seemed to have made the Overlord understand that his game was up.

Shooting a murderous glance at both of them, he disappeared.

As the news started to spread like wildfire that the Nightmare Dungeon had caused more life-long enmity to be born, Daneel returned to his quarters in Lanthanor.

He shook his head, as sadly, there was no other way. Many knew about the ’bond’ part, and it was too risky for them to remain normal and show that they had become companions for life, which might put Perfect’s family on edge.

Putting him out of his mind for the moment, though, Daneel focused on the display trinket that was showing the Hero who had snuck into Lanthanor.

The rest of his sovereigns were already gathered, and before they spoke up, he answered the question on their minds.

"Yes, we can get the reward indicated by the Master to find the information regarding who might be in the Overseer’s place, but if we choose it right away, it might tip off the very individual we are targeting. The chances are low, but I want to take no chances. I’ll choose it in a little bit of time, but before that...let’s handle these guests of ours."

It did not look like the intruder’s Hero level power bothered the King, and seeing this, the sovereigns smiled.

Clapping his hands, he declared, "Let’s begin,", and unknown to those who had been daft enough to target the Kingdom of Lanthanor, their fate began to be decided.