To a handful of the Assembly, they were excited to see Aurumn appear. For others, they audibly scoffed or huffed at the snide remarks veiled under formality, while the rest were simply along for the rollercoaster of events unfolding in this emergency meeting.

Joran stood about as tall as he could under the wide array of leaders looking both between him and Aurumn. Of course, he was meek, and even moreso panicking within himself, realizing how venomous his tongue was with what he had said. Luckily for him, the majority of the Assembly clearly were dissatisfied with Aurumn more than anything else.

Aurumn casually walked down the steps towards the concave, getting closer to the red-haired man who stood up to greet him with a bold, reckless tone, "I see we have an unexpected guest from the Borderlands! Pleasant as it might be, what do we owe the honor of your audience?"

Aurumn chuckled to himself, "Well! I have been hearing about the news of a Joker! As someone who communes with the Metropolis on behalf of the Borderlands, I simply had to meet the legendary figure."

With that, he turned to look at Joran, the warm look he gave to the red-haired man now transformed into an ill-disguised sneer, "And it would appear I have met him at last! Wouldn't you agree, Joker Joran?"

The hair on Joran's back stood up at the question directed at him. He knew just who Aurumn was, but he never anticipated Aurumn to know who he was in such a short time. Given the fact he had not revealed his card to anyone beyond the Divine Eye Sect and the two Swift Clans, Aurumn not even assuming, but knowing exactly who Joran was spoke volumes of this man's reach. Hando had already warned Joran of him, but this imposing nobleman of the Borderlands proved to be far more terrifying than Joran could have prepared for.

Joran kowtowed slightly, stammering slightly as he tried to keep his cool, "I-it would appear that…. Fate, would have us meet on this day, Patriarch Hinoyagi."

Aurumn quietly cackled, "Such a grandeur speech, and yet here you are bowing to me!"

At this Joran's eyebrow twitched dramatically, an audible creaking sound could almost be heard, "I should at least… Respect those who have been around so long. I simply declared I will not be pushed around."

Aurumn's remark was a double-edged sword for Joran. On the one hand, it gave him the out he would gladly take out of the slander he threw on top of the Assembly. But on the other hand, it drove the fact that Joran can't truly stand up on the same level as the rest of the players on this grand stage. In fact, even with his win against Jeremiah, the only remarkable thing Joran had done was wield two Arts for a split second. On even grounds, Jeremiah would probably win another fight.

For now, at least. Or so that's what Joran says to calm his racing thoughts that seem to be skyrocketing through his brain.

Reigan sighed, feeling his aging piling on with every new turn of event unfolding, and stepped forward from the chair he was in, "Aurumn, I appreciate your desire to keep relations as strong as ever between our two regions. However, if you truly came here to fortify said relations, sightseeing for the Joker would be on the bottom of that list of priorities."

Joran had grown accustomed to Reigan over the last month he had been harbored within the Sovereign Palace. But despite that, he could feel the temperature in the room drop slightly at the newfound coldness Reigan produced when addressing Aurumn. Suddenly, Joran realized he never considered the reason why Hando had led him directly to the Realm Monarch.

Of course, Drekor being good friends with Joran was a boon… And the Realm Monarch definitely was the option for finding someplace for Joran to find refuge in as a nobody with limitless potential.

But the most important factor, as clear as day now, is Reigan despised Aurumn, down to the very core of his being. The visibly contorted face from hatred on Reigan displayed this much.

Aurumn on the other hand, kept his cool, and smiled as warmly as formality demanded, "Come now, such a powerful player comes onto the stage right before the moment of crisis! I had to simply confirm that he was in fact, the real deal. And well, despite current abnormalities," he says this with a pause as he does a sidelong glance to Joran before continuing, "He definitely is someone to be considered a 'Joker'."

Joran clenched his fists, but bided himself, letting Reigan take control of this side of the conversation, "Joker or not, Joran has already proven himself against the Young Master of the Gouriki Family. In a Soma Lum, no less. I doubt I need to make a comparison to the Borderlands' 'Esso Lum'?"

"Ah, definitely not. Although miracles are being produced one after another, I do not need your studious explanation of my Borderlands' Esso Lum!"

The sneer didn't pass anyone in the entire Assembly, but a stilled silence pervaded the space for a moment, before Reigan collected himself from the straight insult that was laced into cordiality towards him, as well as the Soma Lum.

"Then that is enough. Joker Joran."

Being addressed so suddenly, Joran snapped straight and looked right at Reigan, the distance between them seemingly dissipating as he focused entirely into his shimmering yellow eyes, fiercely reciprocating Joran.

"Yes, Rei- Realm Monarch?"

Reigan spoke regally, the iciness in his voice replaced by prose, "You spoke of your disdain of the world we live in. But more importantly, you shared disdain in our keeping the Invasion a secret for now. Why is that?"

Joran's breath was cut in half until Reigan directly moved the subject to the crisis at hand. Almost wheezing for air, Joran attempted to speak in prose as well, failing with the pressure snapping his cool, "We must not trivialize the people. We… We need to warn them, they have the right to know about- about the Invasion."

"There would be mayhem and rioting, as much as we value the people, we must recognize that they cannot be trusted with the news until suitable measures are taken to " As Reigan retorts back, both of them, and most likely the entire Assembly couldn't help but notice Aurumn agreeing with that statement.

Joran steeled himself, realizing this was the out he needed, "Maybe so, but the people will also understand the responsibility of coming together for the greater good. Maybe the world does depend on the hierarchy of strength to survive. But even so…"

Joran broke his locked stare with Reigan to look at the Assembly around him, "No, I can promise that even the weakest of us have something to contribute to averting this crisis. We should, no… We must tell the people about the Invasion!"

The leaders who were in attendance were stunned, realizing that the foolhardy Joker had a point. What good is the strongest chain if there is a weak link? Reigan briefly scanned the room, a slight smile growing on his face as he saw the red-haired man nod absentmindedly, as did Vera, Rohi, and a few others. Even Cato appeared moved, albeit for a brief moment.

Reigan spoke again, "Then, Joker Joran, it would appear that your counsel has proven to be invaluable. Very well, we will publicize the news of the impending disaster that looms over Terrene Metro."

Reigan looked again over the other leaders, and nodded his head, "Do we have any Metro leaders who disagree?"

The pointed question would have been redundant, were it not for a cheeky nobleman who protruded into the Assembly on his own. As for the rest of the leaders, there were no verbal dissent, even if there were some mixed emotions within the faces of some of them. Most notably Audra, Herk, who was finally bringing his son over to the ring table in a fireman's carry, and Vera.

Reigan smiled cordially, and waved his hand, "Then this emergency Assembly is dismissed. The two important pieces of business is to announce officially the Invasion and the preparation for it. The other piece also being to announce who the Joker is. Remember all your parts in this, Families. We must tide the coming storm."

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

With a solemn nod from the Assembly, everyone began disserting amongst themselves, and leaving at different intervals on to their newfound tasks. Joran stood blankly in the center of the concave, before he was waved back over by Drekor, who was smiling like an idiot.

"I can NOT believe that even happened! What was that?!"

Once Joran got over the table, and sat in a nondescript chair next to the Idaten duo, he slumped down and visually deflated almost like a balloon, "I dooooooon't knnnowww…" And he covered his face with his hands and muffled his scream.

Reigan clasped his hand onto Joran's shoulder, and laughed heartily, "Well, the Joker most certainly made a grand entrance. I don't think anyone could have expected such a turn of events."

Through his hands, Joran groaned, "Yeaaahhh, I juuuust sorta did it!"

"Taking the sparring practices we did a little too to heart, Joran?" Drekor elbowed Joran's ribs, and guffawed.

Joran feinted a punch at Drekor's face, "I'll end you, Drekor! I can barely stand up after everything, but don't think I won't catch you now!"

"Speaking of, you managed to do something unprecedented! Two Arts!!!" Reigan spoke excitedly, even with his restraints, the glitter of joy was clearly plastered on his face.

Joran lolled his head back, and looked at one of his hands, before clenching it into a fist, "I feel like I can do anything. How far does this go? Is it just two Arts, or can I learn more…?"

Drekor snickered, "Whoa there, buddy, you should uh, settle down before you get too excited. I'm still beating you by 20 wins."

"… Fair. Okay, okay, I get it."

Reigan nodded at the two boys' banter, and looked up towards the direction of the blonde-haired woman named Vera. He fell into a deep thought for a moment before he turned back to Joran.

"Have you talked to Hando, recently?"

"Huh? No, I've been pretty much locked between being in the Sovereign Palace and getting my ass beaten by Drekor in the Sparring Yards. Why?"

Drekor puffed his chest out slightly, only to have Joran lightly backhand and deflate Drekor's chest. Reigan hummed to himself for a second and looked over at Vera.

"Jura, if you could come over for a moment," Once she was looking over, Reigan subtly waved her over, to which she looked confused, but complied immediately.

"How can this Jura be of service to the Realm Monarch?"

Reigan patted Joran's shoulder and smiled, "Not for me. I'm wondering where that fool, Hando went. You didn't banish him again, did you?"

Vera slightly eased up, smiling slightly towards the playful chide, "No, he is happily performing mercantile duties within my Sect's humble Iris Plaza. The place Joran and him first came to when they had returned from the Central Districts."

Joran couldn't help but think to himself for a second. That was a plaza? It looked more like a dome than anything else...

Reigan smiled and nodded, "Ho, that's good. I think it's time for Joran and Hando to get some closure. I think it's also opportune that Joran could use some experience in the rest of the Metro."

Joran frowned, unsure of where this was going. Vera didn't fare much better, with only a faint assumption.

Reigan continued, stroking his chin, "What I mean is, have Hando accompany our Joker here, and be a liaison with Heca and Cael."

Vera's eyes lit up in understanding, nodding, "Of course! Realm Monarch is as always, wise and sage like. I will immediately fetch for Hando to accompany Joker Joran."

Vera bolted off in the other direction, back to her side of the concave, and going up the stairs with her accompaniment, disappearing most likely towards the Iris Plaza. Joran looked over at Reigan with skepticism in his eyes.

"You… want me and Hando to go to Heca… The Warding Blooudhound Clan… Because?"

Reigan chuckled and waved at Joran dismissively, "You've been trapped inside the Sovereign Palace like a caged bird, as you said earlier. It made me realize, now that it's definitely possible for you to use the Realm Arts, you could feasibly defend yourself against anyone. Keep the Dao that Drekor gave you, I planned on gifting you one, but I will give Drekor that one instead. You'll come back to the Palace with us, but Hando will likely be there before the end of the day, and you two can make your way to the Bloodhound Precinct."

Joran thought deeply, and realized that he had no clue who the leader of the Bloodhound Clan seemed to be, until he remembered the redhead that seemed rambunctious. Suddenly, a sinking feeling appeared in his stomach as he looked doubtfully towards Reigan.

"… Surely the redhaired man isn't the leader, right?"

"He is exactly the leader. You'll come around to Ruben, I'm sure of it."

"… Why does he get a vote of confidence, exactly?"

Drekor chimed in, sighing with the faintest of pride of knowing, "It's really straightforward. Ruben, and by latent extent the entire Warding Bloodhound Clan is poised to defend the position of the Realm Monarch, that is, they are a Guardian Family, if you will."

"A Guardian Family, huh? So we really just are okay with how…. Reckless he is?"

"Reckless is a point of perspective. I thought you were reckless within your garden, not attending class."

"What?! How is that even remotely the same?" Drekor offense nearly made Joran smack him upside in the head, except for the fact Drekor was coyly smirking.

"Reckless abandon to do as you please. You two are just different sides of the same coin."

Now Joran assuredly smacked Drekor across the face. Fortunately, by this time, only a few people were still in the concave, while the rest were all but gone or about to leave up on their respective stairs to the outside. It was at this point that Joran noticed, that Aurumn was nowhere to be found.

Reigan noticed too and sighed, pinching his nose, "I really wish that bastard didn't just pop in. It was quite frankly the worst possible time too. Whatever, if he's here, I'm sure he will be sticking around for a week or so before he returns back to the Elemental Borderlands."

"Speaking of," Joran scratched his face, "While I share a similar sentiment with you about Aurumn… Why does the Realm Monarch seem to utterly detest him?"

"It's because he really just likes to grind my gears until they explode. If I had to guess, an Uranaishi was overwhelmed with your card reveal, and talked a little bit about Aurumn?"

"… That's pretty close to what happened, but basically, yeah."

"Aurumn is notorious for being strict about the hierarchy. I'm sure you felt his disrespect as clear as if you were looking at a solid object?"

Joran thought back, realizing the disdain he felt projected towards him, was also towards Reigan, "Yeah… Yeah he definitely didn't like you or me.

"I get me, but you're the…. The Realm Monarch!"

"I told you when we first met, didn't I? I wasn't born into a wealthy or noble stratus of the Swift Clans. I was the lowest of lows. I ended up wasting away my formative years, until I met my mentor…

"Anyways, point is, Aurumn detests the fact that I took the throne. I think he might've thought it would have been him who would subsume the position after the last Realm Monarch passed in the Invasion."

Joran's eyes widened at the new information, "Uh… I didn't realize how big of a deal this Invasion was. And I didn't think Aurumn would be… I don't know, fit enough to even lead?"

"You forget that was 30 years ago. While the Blazing Skies Clan as a whole is somewhat meek, albeit ambitious, Aurumn was on another level and definitely had the qualification to challenge for the throne. And to top it off, the Monarch had passed? I'm sure he was salivating."

"So… What happened?"

"Me, of course."

"… Ah yes, of course. Ahem."

Reigan smiled, and gestured to their stairs going up to their side of the Assembly, "Well. The session is over, and we have plans to enact on. Joran, you will be aiding Heca in the investigation of these goblin occurrences on the outskirts. It will lend you some experience and freedom, especially since you seem to be narrow sighted when it comes to the world. But your Divine Sight Arts will certainly be useful alongside the Blood Gazing Arts."

"Actually, yeah… Why doesn't the Divine Eye Sect deign some duties with policing and investigations like Heca?"

Drekor snickered, patting Joran's back, "Oh, you poor soul…"

"What? I feel like that's a decent question!"

Reigan shook his head, "You're not wrong, but that doesn't mean individuals from the Divine Eye Sect don't occasionally take on the duties of policing themselves. Just because a Sect has an identity and core principle of activity, doesn't mean they are the sole force of that activity. The Divine Eye Sect aren't the only merchants, for example. There are smaller guilds and organizations that do trade as well. It's simply that Jura is the leading entity of trade. And same thing can be said for all the other Families here today. It's as you said, actually; everyone has a part in this world, no matter how small. Some do professions that can't be nailed down to one singular group doing it, like running small businesses, or trades like smithing, minding their own lives not even actively taking part of any larger group. It is just also true that the strongest are the ones who earn the right to determine the fate of Terrene Metro."

Joran hummed to himself as he let Reigan's word sink in. Maybe it isn't so cut and dry. As he already knew, his parents only used some of the most basic Clout Arts abilities to tend to the farm. But other than that, they really only adhered to the menial tasks they sought out to do daily, rather than being a part of the Gouriki Family as a whole.

"So, for all intents and purposes, I'm going to be joining the investigation as my own self… As the Joker?"

"Yes, that's exactly right. I wouldn't consider you a part of my Family, or a part of Vera's. That being said, I figured you'd like to meet back up with Hando."

"I appreciate that greatly. We do need to pay our respects, after all…"

The Idaten duo nodded solemnly, and the three of them went on their way back to the Palace. Meeting back up with Callahan, who seemed to have had a very easy day, Joran talked about everything that had happened until Hando came over, and then Joran retold his story he told Callahan. The three of them chatted the day away, sitting down in Joran's bedroom, the sun setting gently off in the distance over the cascading range that extended north and south.

Joran knew he could wait a little longer before he had to meet up with the rowdy Chief of the Bloodhound Clan. Hando was just glad he could see his young friend again. Eventually, the three split off to sleep, with Hando explicitly being given a guest room for the night.