"And that's the end of my report."

Alissa said with a clear tone of voice, her posture impossibly precise. As always through her childhood, her manners were elegant. There was not a whiff of slack on her person.

That's how she always made herself to be no matter the circumstances when facing the Lord of Arcelot and Master-stage, Cronus himself.

They stood within the small office that Cronus stayed during his days working as the one in charge. The office wasn't anything fancy, but it was clear that the runes and the mana filling it was borderline massive compared to even a noble's entire mansion. Even more so, the presence of a true Master was always present, forcing the room to be filled with his congealed power.

When one reaches a certain power somewhere between Journeyman and Master, their aura alone becomes a near physical thing. No matter how many years Alissa spent working as Cronus' liaison for many matters, she can never get used to this oppressive atmosphere. Not that Cronus made it hard for her to breathe in or anything.

It was as if she was closing in on someone more divine than herself. It was different from being inside the confines of the church, as she had a tough time truly believing in any real religion. This was, however, pure and simple–the clear truth of power granted to those who have trudged through trial after trial of life and death.

But despite having everything one could have, the expression he wore on was just a simple frustrated look that she herself usually had when she returned home after a bad day.

"...So you're telling me there are more otherworlders? In my own city, no less?"

"Precisely," Alissa nodded. "I don't exactly have proof, but considering that both Zeke and Mikella have requested to go and train them so that they can reach Journeymen quickly even without my input is proof enough. They wouldn't help just anyone, as far as I know."

Zeke and Mikella seemed like the sort to be bleeding hearts, to help those whenever they can. But they also focused on their own improvement. Zeke continuously studied the runic language, and Mikella always kept her body up to the task, practicing her weapon styles every morning and every night.

So if they were willing to offer their valuable time to train others to reach their stage, it was only natural to do so for your fellow kin–especially when that said kin weren't out of their minds and harming anyone, just trying to live in this city as best they could.

"And one of them actually became an assassin?" Cronus added, something that completely stumped the earlier thought of them 'peacefully' living in the city.

"It was the only way to make a living without any clear identities. I made plans to ensure that they can become true citizens of Arcelot, but I needed to run by you first before doing so."

"I understand, I'll get to work on that," Cronus said, putting the matter aside. "On that note, how are those two? Did they show any signs of trouble after clearing the tower?"

"Nothing of note. Hamil, Saang, and Kote all reported back their behavior during the tower run, and in their eyes, they saw children with power unlike anything else they've seen. They act and fight like Journeymen, but their mental state is truly just in their twenties."

When she heard about the girl Amber, she felt sympathetic for Zeke and Mikella. Even though they were only her wards for her job, nobody deserves to see their fellow kin of their old world be subjected to such cruelty. Mikella's breakdown and Zeke's despondency showed that no matter how powerful they are, they are heavily affected by their emotional state.

Whether or not that could become a problem didn't matter. It was no different than rearing children as parents. All she has to do is make sure to not treat them any differently than before. She would always act the way she had with them, and never lie to them to keep them from skirting around dangerous elements of their city.

It is the only way to gain their trust in this world after having such a horrific start. And after finally meeting otherworlders, who they themselves went through trial and error to make a living, it was more apparent to keep them by their side as allies than just to be wary of their actions all the time.

Her duty was to ensure that they are to be kept under watch, but now she felt as though she needed to keep them stable in order to keep the country from falling apart. The tower's destruction made enough of a wave that it caused not just House Corran, but other noble houses to riot at Cronus' doors. Hearing about the bleached land where the tower once floated was shocking to her, especially since the otherworlders didn't even witness that before.

"I believe they will recover in time to face the next tower soon," Alissa explained further. "And I believe their fellow otherworlders may join them. Having more personnel on hand would make their tower-clearing more efficient."

"Unfortunately, that's not within the cards," Cronus said, stomping Alissa's momentum and causing her to pause."

"Pardon, but why?" Ali asked. "Is this not what we took them in for?"

"Trust me, I want nothing more than to get rid of the towers as safely as possible. Even taking into account their explosive result, now that we know that it's possible, we can take countermeasures to defend against that. But unfortunately, I wasn't able to convince that to the noble that resided near the next tower."

"Ah… House Paragle," Ali said, disguising her grimace with an impassive face.

House Paragle was a rather notorious household filled with nobles who had, on more than one occasion, committed acts that bordered on criminal activity. However, the reason why they were never taken down for their charges were due to their excellent maneuvering around the laws that Cronus himself created.

The laws were essential to keep everyone in check, but that didn't mean there weren't any flaws. If he tried to make them more strict and concrete, it would deprive everyone of their freedom. So it was either complete chaos, or people exploiting the laws for their own gains.

However, when the ball was in their court, even Cronus had a hard time establishing authority without giving way to even further cracks in the noble order. Other nobles might notice the rampant weight-throwing, and start making a fuss all over.

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Alissa always imagined the entirety of the noble houses in Arcelot to be annoying flies that just nitpicks every word Cronus spoke to gain as much advantage as possible. Then again, that's mostly how they created their wealth–through good or bad will.

House Paragle wasn't the only noble house that likes to skirt around the laws, but they leaned more on the anti-Cronus faction, believing that his long rule had become overdone and needed to be removed for fresh blood to enter the scene.

By that, they mean someone that they can control with ease. Alissa would bet everything she owned that this was the case. Not that it would ever happen.

All the noble houses needed to do is to produce a single Master-stage heir from their ranks. If even one can manage that, they have the potential to run for the position of Arcelot's Lord. So when one heir of a noble house becomes that much closer to Master stage, they go through a certain 'accident' that breaks their road to Lordship and fall apart.

Those 'accidents' would keep occurring for many decades to come, because why let one of the other noble houses get the Lord position when you can get it yourself? And so the carnage continued on, and so far, not a single one managed to get to Master to go against Cronus.

But they certainly tried as hard as possible to achieve it. Hence the reason why they always keep giving Cronus so much trouble. As a liason, Alissa had her fair share of meetings with the nobles, and even partook in some of the 'accidents' to ensure order. Just because she followed the law doesn't mean she was okay with having some jackass take control. Especially when that jackass committed heinous crimes to reach Master-stage in the first place.

"So what are your plans for them?" Ali asked, remembering the current head of the household and all of the information she gathered over the years on them. "Surely they can't keep insisting to keep the tower around to avoid the explosion after its demise."

"That's what they intend to research on," Cronus added. He dragged his right cheek up with a resting finger as he talked. "In exchange for not clearing the tower quicker, they would find ways to assure that its existence doesn't impact their overall regulation of their domain. If it was the case, then they would find a way to keep the end result in check. If that happened to take a stumble, then they would reach out to the other noble houses for aid as a last result."

"But that would take years!" Ali added. She had enough leeway with the Lord to speak candidly. She always tried to speak professionally, but even a grown Journeywoman had no patience when dealing with noblemen. "They're clearly just stalling! The tower would just keep distorting the ley lines in its existence, and cause further disturbances down the road. The fact that we managed to take one out is a blessing despite the result."

It wasn't as though everyone else was standing still as the towers continued to persist within the pocket dimension. Anyone with eyes can tell that their existence is causing a ruckus throughout every single mana vein and leyline across the pocket dimension. From monsters overflowing to mysterious bursts of energy causing disruptions to the citizen's everyday lives. Each and every day, these occurrences became more regular and kept increasing in potency. According to their estimations, these events would only create a domino-effect, becoming more and more chaotic down the line. It was even possible that these events could even cause the collapse of the entire pocket dimension as a whole.

While such a conclusion would be ridiculous to think about, as the months passed, that estimation was slowly becoming possible. If these nobles had their way, that possibility would turn into an eventuality that couldn't be stopped.

Lives would be lost. Lineages and bloodlines would cease to be. Their entire Arcelot history would burn up to smoke and leave nothing behind. There wouldn't even be pioneers in the future capable of finding their ruins due to the fact that its existence couldn't even be shown in the actual world. It would just be lost in the passages of dimensions, never to be heard from again.

…Perhaps Alissa might be working a little too hard if she had these kinds of thoughts already. The books she's been reading with Zoan had gotten more fantastical as of late.

"Oh, I believe you there," Cronus said. "But unfortunately if we don't do something, that's exactly what would happen. So…"

"So…?" Ali asked, dread filling her chest.

"I expect you to work hard to ensure that doesn't happen."

Cronus flashed a sincere smile, the expression gained after her continuous work as his liaison over the years.

Unfortunately, it didn't fill her with any sort of pride. All she could see in her apparent future is constant paperwork and ego-boosting on her part. She controlled her expression and let off a deep exhale through her nose.

"I expect to be fully compensated," Ali said coldly, staring straight into the Master's eyes with no hesitation.

"Hahaha, of course," Cronus laid back on his chair, his hands raised in defeat.

She knew this slave-driver would push her through this, but the reason she managed to continue working despite all these hardships is that despite the jerk in front of her being who he is, he always pays handsomely when she's done a good job. That was how she managed to reach her state and stayed consistent this whole time.

"I suppose that's that," Cronus said, standing up from his chair. "Is that all for today then?"

"I have one final question," Ali quickly picked back up the conversation. There was something she needed to know. She stared deeper into his eyes, different from earlier. "Why me? Why would you put the otherworlders in my care? I know I take care of your businesses, but you have plenty of other personnel that can take care of them better than I can."

"Indeed, I do," Cronus said, his hands behind his back as he smiled. "So why did I put them under you?"

Ali narrowed her eyes. "Does this have to do with my sister taking care of them before they came here?"

Cronus only smiled, staying silent. Rage rose within her chest just at the mere mention of her twin sister.

Valorie… the constant headache to her and a giant thorn in her family's side. That, along with that bastard of a husband she had with him. The two had made such a troublesome duo that this country still hasn't recovered from their outbursts despite years passing after it occurred.

"You know my history with her," Ali said, her eyes becoming cold and her tone of voice emotionless. "Why would you insist that they stay with me?"

"Because I think it's rather funny. You know, fate," Cronus said. "It has a habit of being ironic at times. And sometimes, following its irony brings certain benefits."

The moment those cryptic words escaped his mouth, Ali knew she would never get a solid answer from him. She could probably guess a million things with those words, but not a single one would please her. If anything, each and every one would piss her off to no end.

She turned around, heading towards the door. The moment she opened it, she turned back around and inclined her head to her superior.

"I shall be off then," She said primly, a touch bit coarse in her tone.

"Good luck," Cronus called out. "And try to have some fun with this. It's not often something this strange and exciting occurs in this boring old country."

"This boring old country is done by your own making," Ali said, her bitter tone etching out before she cut herself off and closed the door, leaving the estate.

At the end of it all, she acted childish the moment her sister was mentioned, and even by her own doing. She chided herself multiple times over in her head, just as she always had during her younger years.

But she can't help it. Her sister had always been the problem child, and had not once learned her lesson. All the while, she had to be the one to clean up her mistakes. And what does she get? A couple of brats to take care of while her sister gets to enjoy an entire biodome by herself.

Truly, nothing is fair in this world.

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