The sudden bright light blinded Nina.

"Ngh..."

The troops departed the next day. Nina went in a military-grade transport truck. Going the way they did allowed her to see the sun in raw. She had stayed inside Teakwood since she was transported to this world.

Although, the display didn't take Nina's mind away from the truck's heavy atmosphere.

There were a dozen of person there. Two of them were on the younger side. Seeing the angry silence of Del across her, Nina could guess the reasons.

The necklace! He doesn't have it.

Even though Nina didn't have the comprehension of what level meant. Considering his level 99 strength, one could only imagine what violence he could do.

Wait... why is he here? A question popped out of Nina's head.

"Ah, Um... This is the reserves men, right?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Why are kids like you two here? I don't want anything happening to them to be on my conscience... Hey, Zelle's guys?"

The man beside her answered. His sentence's target changed to the opposite side of the truck. Two soldiers on the most inside seats were different. They were men of Zelle's family.

"Boss's instruction."

"I see you guys got an abundance of harvest, huh?" The discussion headed in a way Nina couldn't understand.

Del... This boy has level 99 why is someone like him in reserve? Not only him, but the others have such a strong presence!

"Um, I'm sorry, why are you in reserves?" Nina peeked at their weapons. Most have some kind of gun. Two had swords. Three including Nina and Del brought nothing at all.

"WHAT DO YOU SAY!?" A younger man with a sword screamed at Nina. From the look of his balded head, he was at the end of his twenties.

"Ey! Calm down! She's brought here fresh! Of course, she didn't know the rules of the court! She COMPLIMENTED us you ignorant fool!" Now one of the oldest on board joined in. "It's because we look more forged than others, right?"

"Hiii. Y-yes! I thought strong guys would be forced to the frontline..."

Most of them were macho old men. Most had all sorts of augmentation to their bodies. Almost all had scored an eye upgrade.

"It's something Cyntral has been doing as of late, all per our head's suggestion." The other Zelle family spoke. Besides Nina, she was the only other female on the floor.

""Reserves force is the ace on your sleeve." Was it?" The old man beside Nina snorted.

"Indeed. We will send you as support if the others get overwhelmed or anything goes south."

"And?"

"Haha, it is not your first time working with us, right?... That is correct, we also choose the strongest people for reserve so we can hopefully recruit any talent easier if deemed profitable."

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So THAT was why the group seemed to contradict norms for reserves. Did that mean Nina was also a part of the 'potential recruits' as well?

"Your boss. Where he is right now."

Del finally broke his no-speaking role. The way he spoke back then was the same. It was always unprovoking. Even though he was OBVIOUSLY PROVOKED HIMSELF!

"The boss is going to a meeting with the Cyntral's folks."

"I see. When can I see him."

"The head will talk with you when he wants to talk with you. But I can forward him a message if you want."

She was pissed. There was no way she would listen to anything Del said. But, Del's action is also understandable.

"Thank you. Remind his promise to me. "Please find me first before I find you. Or he will wish he never met me at all.""

THUMP!

"YOU BRAT!" The Zelle family's man snapped. But wasn't given the chance by the other people and the Zelle family lady. "MISS!?"

"The head's meeting was a thing beyond his scheduled list of activities for today. If what you say is true and not some childish attempt of baiting us, I swear the head will fulfill whatever promises he had with you."

"He gives me one promise. Until he finishes it, he's a thief."

His voice did heavy lifting for Del. Without that the two Zelle family peers would have already attacked him. The other mercenaries would also join for each different reasons.

"Listen, you brat! The boss is having a meeting with Eric Cyntral! Till that finished, JUST. WAIT."

"Hiii!" The situation was scary.

"Oh! Eric Cyntral!" Del was somewhat calmed down by the name.

---

"WHAT!?"

[Fighting Technique: 101]

"Is that real!? Level 99 is the ceiling... right?"

"So they said. And yet, here it is."

"Mr. Eric, is this real? He's this strong? Didn't look so!"

"Well, I don't know how strong he is now."

"What do you mean!? Is it true or not!?"

"I used a targeted statistic checker on him. I took this six years ago. Silently. I was just really curious back then, haha."

That laughter had somehow upseted Dusk. It was as if Eric Cyntral had insulted his face or something. And yet the second son of the Cyntral Corp. was just blasting.

"What do you mean!? Why are you laughing!? This is serious!" His voice raised contrasting his usual one when he gets upset.

"Ahaha... Sorry, lots of memories smashed me there."

"We need to recruit him right? The older brother of the late Hero Altrius... Level 101... It's a must to protect humans!"

"Oh! Recruiting Del, huh? We can TRY. I sent some of the men here to do that. Let's trust them, okay!?"

BUMP!

PUFF

Eric's words had yet again hurt Dusk. He slammed his head on a wall resulting in a very heardable sound. After a few seconds with his head firm on the wall, he fell back to a sofa.

Eric's office was truly first-class. There was not even a speck of dirt in it. But the room itself had barely anything covering it.

He preferred his desk to be looking outside. Beside his desk, the file cabinet was the only work furniture he had. Finally, a table with a set of sofas centered the room.

No carpet. Nothing covered the wall either. Dusk's shattered wall would stand out.

"I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. I teased you too hard. I underestimated your condition."

"I'm sorry I cannot be trusted."

"What? No! You're my most trusted, Dusk!"

"You didn't trust me to recruit him?"

The man looked just like a scarred little puppy at that moment. He wasn't really eager to do the job. He admired Eric's cause and simply wanted to be useful.

"You're too strong. Del is a battle junkie in a way. I send them 'cause I want to be peaceful."

"I see." That was surprisingly easy.

"Anyway, we're lucky he caused some trouble in a way, huh?"

"Ah! That's not it. The Du Lax son was the one who started it. Del has a beautiful red necklace. The fat man must smell the money on it, he tried to steal it in a way."

BAM! Eric slammed his desk.

"Sha!"

"WHAT!?"

Eric Cyntral was a man who hid his truth. "Young, playful, charismatic, but get the job done." Everyone construed him as such a man. His root was different, however.

Dusk who had been left alone in a room with Eric multiple times had seen some part of his true face. But even Dusk hadn't seen him being as crude as to slam something.

"Did you clean that mess up?"

"Yes, I gave the necklace to one of my men to give back to him before they en route to the field."

"I see... Good..."

"What is that necklace?"

"That is the proof of the sage. No one touches that except from the sage."

"Wait... Mr. Eric... Does that mean? Isn't the sage an elf?"

"His, mine, and Altrius's master. Del inherited the title."

That explanation gave chills to run through Dusk's body. He took a sip of the prepared tea to calm himself down.

"That was almost a problem... We dodged a bullet with that one."

"Yeah. Let's hope brother Del doesn't set his sight on you..."