Snapping out of her trance, Olivia slowly turned to Oliver. He had a worried expression on his face. Putting on a smile, Olivia held his shoulder.

"Oh it's nothing, just thinking about captain Ren"

Resentment grew in Olivia's heart that day.

The ceremony commenced, starting off with a speech from the Director of the F.A.T.E. organisation, Felix Branford. It was actually the first time Oliver had ever seen the director, as he never made any public appearance whether in real life, or on TV. He actually expected a decrepit old man, not a sharply dressed middle aged man!

"Thank you all for coming to this blessed assembly. Today we honour three brave Investigators for their efforts in slaying a disaster class Fester..."

The statement that a disaster class Fester was slain caused the attendees to begin gossiping amongst themselves. Honestly hearing all the chatter about their achievements made Oliver feel extremely giddy. It was the first time so many people were excited and happy over something he did. A smug aura started to surround Oliver, which Katherine and Olivia could clearly feel.

"... These Investigators today come from none other than our first year division. Meaning that not even a year into their employment have they achieved something so tremendous. Although I have to also thank general Sieg for helping them out. Isn't that right?"

The crowd began to clap as all the attention was being funneled to Sieg. He couldn't be more shocked, thinking that it would be a celebration for the three, not him! Grabbing the mic handed to him, he began doing what he did best; bullshitting.

"Yup! Totally! You see I helped deal significant damage to the Fester with my equipment... But it was mostly their efforts you see!" Sieg said, trying to bring the attention back to the other three.

The director turned to the three investigators before nodding.

"I see... Well you're extremely humble then General Sieg. How bout we let them speak a bit? We'll start off with the one who was most useful..." the director began making his way to their seats.

Oliver puffed up his chest, pulling out a script he had written the night before. It was actually the first thing he did after waking up from his accident. Most normal people would wash their bloodied face or get some first aid, but no, Oliver wrote a script. Clearing his throat, he reached his hand out for the mic, finding nothing in front of him. He paused, before slowly turning around to find the mic in Katherine's hand. The look of disappointment on Oliver's face, could rival a father who had just seen his child enter prison. He gave a deadpan stare at Katherine, who started to get embarrassed.

"It's not my fault! Blame this old guy!" Katherine whispered to Oliver.

Oliver swiftly turned his head away from her, like one of those K-drama scenes where that female lead gets hurt by the male lead.

"How could you, oppa?" Oliver said, sniffling

"I'm a woman!!" Katherine yelled.

Sighing and fixing her hair, Katherine began to speak.

"R- right... Well during the battle I did do quite a lot... However I'd like to highlight investigator Rand's efforts as well..." Katherine said, trying to give the mic to Oliver.

Instead, the director snatched the mic and handed it to Olivia, shocking all four Operators.

"Huh why me?!" Olivia asked, panicking.

The director began chuckling as he looked back to the crowd of attendees.

"How humble she is! Even after being praised by General Sieg's daughter, she still wonders why she is given the chance to speak about her greatness!" The director said, laughing loudly.

Sieg, Olivia and Katherine all turn to Oliver, who had a dead expression on his face. After being beaten, almost dying and being hunted down by his own sister; he has somehow not lost any hope. However just this interaction has caused him to completely lose any will to live. All he could do was give a deadpanned expression as the director continued to unknowingly insult him.

"Go on young miss, please tell us how you defeated a monster such as a disaster class Fester!" The director asked, crossing his arms with a big smile on his face.

Olivia's eyebrows twitched, before sitting in an unprofessional manner to show how angry she was.

"Listen here. I know you're probably having a midlife crisis and your wife left you... But I ain't letting you diss my brother. The guy who defeated that Fester was him!" Olivia said, pointing her thumb at him.

The director and attendees went silent. They couldn't believe that Oliver was the one who had defeated the disaster class Fester. The infamous newbie that got kicked out of his squad, him? No way.

Seeing their reactions, the light in Oliver's eyes came back to him. Finally he was being recognised for his efforts! Standing up, he grabbed the mic and was about to tell them all about how he killed the Fester; even planning to expose his secret... However, it seemed like Oliver had the worst luck in the world.

"No way? Really? Him?"

"I heard that he's only here cause he just so happened to be on the mission...."

"Apparently he fainted immediately after getting hit by the game Fester..."

"Geez really? One hit?"

"I can't believe F.A.T.E has come to this... Giving promotions just for participants. Back in my day..."

"He's the worst"

"A fraud"

"Loser..."

"Trash"

"Scum"

Over and over again, Oliver was insulted by these people. From their mouths came out the worst, mouth vile things. Insults about his intelligence, his strength, his honour, even questions on whether or not he should even be a cadet. These words they spoke come out so easily; as if it was natural to speak this way. Right of course. Of course it's natural. It's only natural for people to look down on you when they think they're better than you. If murdering for fun was Fester nature, insulting their own was human nature. Staring at the faces of these people, they all began melting together.

"He's a geezer... she's a bimbo... he's an asshole.. she's definitely a bitch... He's probably cheating on his girlfriend... He's just a dumbass... Trash... Trash.... Trash" Oliver thought as he looked at them.

If they could judge him, he could judge them back right? Gripping the mic tightly, he put it up to his mouth. However after contemplation... he set it down. Sitting back down, Oliver gave the mic back to Sieg. He dusted off his suit before sitting up right and staring off into space. He realised that if he dropped to their level, he'd get nowhere. It'll just be a cycle of insults and insults until everyone is sad and unhappy. After Sieg explained that it was merely a joke from Olivia, the attendees began to calm down. Their sighs of relief filled the room as the director began laughing loudly. Even though it was a lie, to others, believing that trash could actually do something in life, was worse than any lie that they could be told. The three Investigators looked at Oliver with pity, though Oliver couldn't really care. It wasn't worth humouring them, at least that's what he told himself.

The director patted Olivia on the back, causing her to shoot a nasty glare at him.

"What a hilarious joke! Though I do believe there's some truth to it...." the director said, taking the mic from Sieg.

Oliver was shocked by what the director said. Did he actually know what went on during the fight? Though what shocked him even more, was what the director did next. An overwhelming amount of pressure came out from the director as he looked down on Oliver menacingly.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Go on... Tell them the truth" the director said, in a commanding voice.

Oliver felt like vomiting from how much pressure he was exerting, however he managed to pull himself together enough to snatch the mic away.

"Yes! I did it! I killed it! Me! And if you have a problem with it then suck it!" Oliver shouted.

The weight was immediately lifted from him the moment he said that. He breathed a sigh of relief, though felt a bit embarrassed after yelling like that. The director smiled before stepping aside so that Oliver could see the crowd. Looking down from the stage, Oliver noticed the mixed reactions from people. Some were still stubborn in their beliefs, gossiping to one another about how unprofessional Oliver was, or how embarrassing he was being. Although, the overwhelming majority reacted positively.

The number one reason for people's jealousy is the fact that they think the other person doesn't deserve the fortune that they were given.

Before this, Oliver had only presented himself as a wishy-washy coward who wouldn't fight back any criticism laid out to him. However, now that he showed them that he wasn't just going to take their insults anymore, those who were jealous of him started to revere Oliver.

"I thought he was a push over, but he's actually pretty cool!"

"I bet General Sieg did most of the heavy lifting though..."

"Even still if he was able to do even a bit, that's amazing!"

Seeing them cheer him on, made him genuinely smile. After all that happened, he finally got it. The recognition he deserved. The recognition he always wanted. So why was there an overwhelmingly empty feeling behind his smile? Sitting back down, Oliver looked back at the crowd. Once again, their faces started to melt together. Slowly but surely the crowd for Oliver started to die down, and as such the ceremony could continue as planned. A few speeches, some words of praise and most importantly the promotion ceremony.

"Please stand side to side, Miss Katherine Ying and sir Oliver Liam Rand" the director said as he began grabbing badges from a tray.

Hearing the surname "ying" weirded Oliver out. Whispering to Katherine, he asked why it's ying and not Sieg?

"My dad decided it would be better if me and Ren got my mom's family name instead." Katherine explained.

Oliver nodded, not thinking much at the time. However after a few seconds of thinking, he turned to Katherine with a gaping mouth.

"Don't tell me your mom is-"

"Yup, both my parents are generals. Honestly I wished I was put on squadron C instead" Katherine said, curling her hair.

Oliver's gaping mouth became even larger, and some of the attendees could swear that his hair was turning white. Turning to face him, Katherine smiled.

"Told you it was a secret"

Seeing Katherine's smile, caused him to snap out of his shocked state. He smiled as well which turned into a smirk.

"Wanna know a secret too?" Oliver asked.

Katherine immediately became intrigued. Her gentle smile turned into a sly one as her eyes began to narrow.

"Trying to one up me? Fine, go ahead, tell me little crow boy" she said.

Oliver stood up straight before turning to the crowd. In the lowest voice he could make, just loud enough for her to hear; Oliver spoke.

"Oliver isn't my original name. It's..."

Meanwhile, as Katherine and Oliver were given their badges, Olivia was pissed that she didn't get a promotion, but Sieg reminded her that she was basically passed out for half the fight.

"Um Katherine too!" Olivia said defensively.

Sieg sighed before telling her that she'll get something even better soon.

"What's that supposed to mean, General Shorty?" Olivia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What a horrible nickname! What's the deal?!" Sieg asked, tearing up a bit.

Olivia paused for a moment before comparing her height and his.

“I'm a 17 year old girl… and I'm on the taller end. We're the same height…” Olivia remarked.

Sieg turned bright red, crossing his arms as he puffed up his cheeks.

“165 centimeters is a respectable height…” he pouted.

Olivia paused again, before looking away from him and speaking bluntly.

“It's also cause you look like a girl-”

“I don't look like a girl!” Sieg cut her off angrily.

After saying a few motivational speeches, the director bowed before snapping his fingers.

"Now... Party time"

The party was lively to say the least. Everyone was enjoying food, dancing, mingling with their fellow cadets, the whole nine yards. Although some people had a far greater time than the others.

"No, I wanna eat more! Stop!" Sieg said as Ying Yue and Ren began pulling him away. He was tightly holding onto the table sheet, desperately wanting to eat more food.

"Honey, get a hold of yourself!" Yue yelled, trying her best to pull her husband away.

"Father stop acting so childish- ow!" Ren yelled, as Sieg kicked his face.

Where were the other squadron A members, you ask? Well Olivia was too busy complaining to them for them to realise that their squad leader was kicking the squad captain repeatedly.

"Why did that bastard Katherine get a promotion?!!! I did good too!" Olivia said, stuffing her face with ice cream.

"Miss Olivia please don't be too upset..." Vi said, trying to approach her.

Olivia then hissed at him like a snake before continuing her face stuffing.

"Geez I can't believe she's an A tier..." Reiner, the spiky haired investigator, said.

"Well don't be like that, at least she's good at fighting" Alicia, the bunned green haired investigator, replied.

"Either way, us first year divisiones gotta stick together right?" Nigel, the investigator with a scar on his eye, said.

"Yeah then we'll end up like those guys..." Alicia said, looking over at the veteran investigators of squad A.

They all collectively sighted, before hearing a vomiting noise where Olivia was.

At the party, was also Cecilia who was invited by Oliver as thanks for cheering him up that day. The B tier Researcher working in the manufacturing department found herself feeling like an outcast at the party. Everyone was wearing fancy suits and acting all posh, while she was just wearing the best dress she could find, aka the only clean dress she had. Walking around confused, she accidentally bumped into someone.

"Sorry about that, didn't see ya..." Cecilia said, laughing awkwardly.

The man she bumped into clicked his tongue before turning to her with an angry expression.

"You made me spill my drink... This is worth five times your yearly salary!" Sebastian said, sounding pissed.

Cecilia's eye twitched, not knowing how someone could be this rude.

"Listen here kiddo, learn yer damn manners!" Cecilia said, pointing at his chest.

Sebastian clenched his fist as he made an angry expression. He began pointing at her, as he asked her if she knew who he was.

"Who cares? I don't care if yer the king of the world, ya ain't going to treat me like this!" Cecilia said as she crossed her arms.

"Listen old hag! I'm Sebastian Alabaster. That's right, Alabaster. Meaning I'm a part of the three honoured families of Eile!" Sebastian said, furiously.

Cecilia was pissed she was called an old hag, despite being only 28 years of age. Though, hearing his name was Alabaster caused her a bit of worry. From what she knew, the Alabaster family were known as the cruelest out of the honoured families. Cruelest not to others, but to their own. Apparently those born in the Alabaster family, have to lead a very strict life. At the age of 2, an Alabaster must know proper etiquette. At age 5, an Alabaster must be able to answer complex philosophical questions. At age 7, an Alabaster must know every law under the country of Eile. At age 12, an Alabaster must be able to kill at least a base class Fester. The list goes on and on. However, as a result of their extreme obsession with appearances; the Alabaster family held the second strongest influence over not just Eile, but also most of the new world. Rumours have spread that they control at least 25% of the five sovereign nations that surround Eile's politics. Not only that, some nasty rumours have spread around that the Alabaster family had been using F.A.T.E prisoners as training dummies. All this caused Cecilia to back off a bit, making Sebastian smirk from superiority.

"Actually... you're only an Alabaster by technicality..." a man with blonde hair with red spade shaped accents in his hair as well as reddish orange eyes said, appearing behind Sebastian.

His sudden appearance caused them both to get startled; Sebastian especially. The man tightly held onto Sebastian's shoulder, to the point that it was painful.

"B- brother you're hurting me..." Sebastian said, wincing.

The man continued to squeeze his shoulder, completely ignoring the pleas of his so-called brother.

"You're only my HALF brother you damn bastard child... How dare you act like a fool then use the Alabaster name... You make me sick" the man said, narrowing his gaze.

Seeing how much pain Sebastian was in, Cecilia felt a bit satisfied after that whole ordeal a moment ago. However, she still felt bad for him, even if he was a jerk.

"Hey let 'em go... He's your brother ain't he? Wouldn't this tarnish the Alabaster family's reputation?" Cecilia said, a pleading look on her face.

The man looked down on Cecilia for a moment before letting Sebastian go. He began fixing his tie before putting on a smile.

"You're right. Even if he's only half related to me. A brother is still a brother. Please forgive me for my brother's insolence as well" the man said, bowing slightly.

Cecilia nodded, though she was surprised by how fast his mood changed. Either he was really good at calming down, or he was just good at acting. Either way, it freaked her out.

"Might I ask your name miss? I wish to send some money to you as repayment for my brother's rudeness and the show of unprofessionalism I have shown" the man said, pulling out a check book.

Cecilia was weirded out even more. The way he said it made it sound like it was silencing money!

"But I need the cash..." Cecilia thought, questioning how moral it would be to take the money.

Without even realising though she already began writing her name on the check.

"Oh your name is Cecilia is it...?" The man said, reading at the check.

Cecilia perked up after hearing that, quickly realising what she had just done.

"W- wait sorry no I shouldn't take yer money!" Cecilia says frantically.

The man chuckled before writing the amount and a name on the check. He ripped it from the check book before handing it to her.

"This is my apology, Lady Cecilia... And also this isn't my money it's his…" the man said, pointing to the name on the check.

Reading it, Cecilia realised the name was "Sebastian". Seeing it made her laugh a bit, causing concern for Sebastian. Snatching the check from her, Sebastian began reading it, only to find his own name.

"I'm not giving this old hag my mo-" but before he could say anything, the man shot him a glare.

Sebastian immediately conceded, handing the check back to Cecilia. The man's cold expression turned warm again before bowing one more time.

"If my half brother ever bothers you again, just mention my name," the man said.

"Yeah thanks and all... But ya never gave me yer name" Cecilia said, crossing her arms.

The man chuckled before getting up from his bow.

"It is Glade. Glade Alabaster."

After saying that, he walked away, disappearing into the crowd of people. This made Cecilia grimace a bit.

"Is your brother a ghost or something?" Cecilia asked, shivering.

Sebastian rolled his eyes before putting his hands in his pockets.

"All the Alabasters are ghosts..." Sebastian said as he walked away.