The outcome of the battle between King Crow and the {Hunter of Hunters} has been kept a secret to stabilize the morale in Telmaris. After all, not just any hunter was defeated, but it was a Guild Leader and more importantly, a Blood ranked one at that. Once the people of Telmaris learn that there's a rogue hunter roaming around Fritz Forest that could take down a hunter like King Crow, it could cause an uproar.

As King Crow’s eyes slowly open up, what he sees is the wooden ceiling of his bedroom.

“.....”

“My liege, how are your wounds?”

Darius, King Crow’s trusted right hand man, is currently seated beside his Guild Master.

“Darius huh. Keh, I feel like shit. Not physically though.”

He forcibly raises his big body and tries to get out of the bed but Darius stops him.

“My liege, you still need some rest. You've lost way too much blood that a normal human could have died from it.”

Surprisingly, the big guy stayed still and rethinks some things for a while. He then left out a big sigh.

“I lost. My pride has been tainted twice already. I've no more spare energy to argue.”

As he was about to lay his body down again, a knock from the door happens to get their attention.

“Hmm, a report maybe?”

Darius gets the door open and is welcomed by a forced smile from none other than their Clan Master, Zephyr.

“Oh, {Fate Threader}. You have come to visit, I see.” One thing to notice is that Darius never bowed his head to him even once since they have met. He has pledged to only bow to one person after all, and that was his Guild leader.

“Yeah…I just want to see if King Crow is doing well already.”

Zephyr then carefully slides his head in.

“Yep. He's doing fine it seems. Anyway uh, please take this basket of fruits.”

“Oh- alright, thank you.”

As Darius takes the basket, King Crow calls Zephyr.

“{Fate Threader}, I know you're here to ask me questions. Come in…Darius, give us some space.”

‘What…? Well, I do have a question, but it's just to know if you're fine and all.’ Zephyr thought to himself as King Crow misunderstands his intention.

“Well then, we'll leave you to it.”

Darius takes a glance at Anastasia, who in turn, turns towards Zephyr.

“Master.”

Zephyr then gestures to her, signifying that it's fine and he can be safely left with him. With that said, Anastasia nods and leaves with Darius, closing the door afterwards.

“Hn…”

Clueless on how to start off with the conversation, Zephyr lightly scratches his cheek. He then takes up a seat and sits beside King Crow.

“I’ll answer your questions. Don't hold back.”

King Crow sits up with his arms crossed. He is ready to take blame and describe the hunter.

‘Well look at that, he looks like he can get back up on his feet already. Me asking if he's alright is now useless.’

Zephyr thought to himself while giving off a carefree smile.

‘Oh well, I'll just speak my mind out then.’

“Err, I'm not really here to ask questions. I just want to see if you're doing fine. But if you insist, then…first off, why did you go alone in the forest?”

King Crow never expected his first question. He thought that he was going to profile the other hunter first. He welcomed the query, however.

“A warrior’s pride, {Fate Threader}. It was the fueling ingredient for us battle-hardened hunters. I thought that I'll be able to boost my own morale by going in alone and taking the perpetrators down, but how wrong I am.”

‘Boost his own morale? Since when did it go down? Wait, don't tell me…I've been working him hard without realizing it!? Then, what does it connect to being battle-hardened– ah, must be because manual labor like that doesn't really fit his standards. Well…let's ask him just to be sure.

Zephyr clears his throat after misunderstanding King Crow’s words.

“Are you feeling all better now? I won't blame you if you want to pull back…”

“.....”

King Crow squints after hearing Zephyr’s statement.

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‘He is testing me.’

“I have faced two consecutive losses, {Fate Threader}. I may be in low spirits now, but that doesn't mean I'll be like this forever. Do not underestimate the heart of a warrior.”

‘Huh? Eh?’

Zephyr also did not expect this kind of reply from him. After all, everything he thinks about what King Crow is going through is not what King Crow really feels at the moment. For Zephyr, King Crow acts like this because he realized that his skills became rusty due to the fact that all he's doing right now is manual labor which is, of course, issued by Zephyr. And with that said, it might be the reason he lost despite being a high ranking hunter.

Meanwhile, King Crow thinks that Zephyr is trying to get him back to his feet as soon as possible to eliminate the possibility of morale degradation between the guilds. But then, looking at Zephyr’s innocent face, he thought that the

“Here I thought you'll inquire how I lost and who was the hunter in question first and foremost. Yet here you are worrying about such a trifling matter.”

Trifling matter being his condition.

Zephyr chuckles in confusion. He just then displays a warm smile to shrug off some of his uncertainty.

“Is that a bad thing?” He asks to assure himself for the next questions he should be asking.

“Huh?”

Yet again, it was not a response King Crow was expecting from someone dubbed as the strongest hunter, furthermore, the only Abyssal ranked hunter in Navea. A top predator should always have its fangs bared and will do its utmost to stay in the top. What Zephyr is showing right now is the opposite. An expression that shows concern yet, still with a sense of superiority. That's what King Crow is currently seeing right now from Zephyr’s face. The person in question however is unaware of such a thing.

“Fuhahaha! No. Of course not. A leader who shows regard to his superior is nothing short of being bad. In lieu, that's the sort of thing a unique and strong leader should have.”

‘What? We just briefly exchanged words just now though? Well, whatever, as long as he's doing fine, all is good.’

Zephyr repeatedly taps King Crow’s and stands up.

“Seeing you doing good and back to your usual self, I think everything's fine. Should you need assistance, we're moments away.”

“Haha, I know.”

As Zephyr was about to walk out of the room, King Crow picks up an apple from the basket Zephyr brought and bites into it while thinking of something:

‘He did not even ask who the culprit is or what they might have been up to. Looks like he has some way to find it out himself…he doesn't want to bother me for the details while I heal. Hah, what a thoughtful hunter this one is.’

‘I feel like I'm forgetting something important, but heck, it's too awkward to turn around now.’

Zephyr shuts the door gently. He was then greeted by the two who were patiently waiting for them to finish.

“Master, welcome back.”

“Done already? That was fast.”

Zephyr chuckles with his head hung low.

“Well, yeah. I just came in to check. Anyway, he's all fine now. Please look after your lord okay?”

“Haha, that goes without saying {Fate Threader}. Please rest assured that [Crow’s Nest] will not be dejected by just this–”

“That's right.”

A loud voice then interjected.

“M-My liege! You shouldn't get up so soon…-”

Noticing that King Crow is as energized as he once before the battle, Darius changes his attitude towards his Lord’s action.

“I see. Welcome back, my liege. Should we get back in action?”

“Fuhahaha! We're always in action, Darius. This time however, let us slow down and pace up with everyone.”

‘My liege is…saying that we follow whatever {Fate Threader} plans for this matter. I see, he reflected on acting on his own. Looks like his talk with {Fate Threader} resulted in a more positive way than I thought.’

Darius nods in agreement.

“If that's what my liege decided to do, then who am I to disagree.”

Anastasia’s gaze falls towards Zephyr and is currently smiling, thinking that her Master solved an underlying problem with ease once again. The man in question, on the other hand, innocently smiles to go with the flow.

Done with what they have gone to do, Zephyr and Anastasia leave the [Crow’s Nest]’s temporary Guild Hall and saunters towards Gringar’s tavern to have their dinner. While on their way, the two encountered Hywel along with Meiren who just finished their discussion.

“Oh. Looks like you two are already acquainted, haha.”

Zephyr feigns ignorance about what he saw earlier.

“Ah, Lord {Fate Threader}. How are you doing these days?”

While Zephyr and Meiren engage in a conversation, Hywel’s gaze turns towards Anastasia who is currently displaying a poker face. He then lightly taps Anastasia’s shoulder and smiles with his eyes closed.

“Ana, I hope you're doing fine. Are you keeping our dear Zep away from trouble?”

Anastasia remains unmoving. Unlike everyone who interacts with him, Anastasia, along with all the members of [Grim Fate], considers Hywel as just a normal person like anybody else.

“Said troubles are keeping Master entertained. I don't wish to take it away from him.”

“Oh-ho?”

Hywel strikes a thinking position. He notices the changes in Anastasia’s way of thinking, as well as her demeanour. It's as if in just a short amount of time, she has developed more emotions to express.

“I see. You now choose to let Zep embrace the inconveniences as you follow suit. I might want to know the reason.”

“There's always only one reason, Hywel. If it's Master Zep’s will, then I have no intention to oppose it.”

“Even if it's something that doesn't need his attention?”

“Master’s attention shall be spent on his own accord. My mission is to support it.”

Slowly opening his eyes, Hywel turns his gaze at Anastasia who in turn looks back at him. Two of them have locked eyes, without fear of each other.

“You have changed, Ana. Last I saw you, you're someone who steps up whenever a disturbance is approaching Zep.”

Anastasia then responded in kind.

“Then maybe I became more of what our Master Zep wants me to be now.”

After a little chat, Zephyr and Meiren turn towards the two, who seem to be in deep argument. Meiren shows concern, while Zephyr thinks that this is normal. Before interrupting them, Zephyr lets out a sigh and displays a carefree expression.

“Come now, you two. Let's uhh…show Meiren the same professionalism she always displays to us.”

Anastasia and Hywel then immediately went back to their usual character. Both of them seem ready to follow Zephyr quietly from now on. Meiren was surprised how easy it was for Zephyr to tame the two.

“Oh, uhm…any plans for today, [Grim Fate]?”

Zephyr looks at his present members and shrugs, seeing that they're just going to follow him whatever his plans are. Zephyr then remembered something–

“Oh, I'm actually planning to do a casual visit to the other guild that was injured by the same suspect King Crow encountered.”

Inside a small inn in Telmaris, Denzel and his little cluster are currently resting, still recovering from their previous encounter with Celaeno.

“Phew…ugh…”

Denzel can be seen trying to workout despite having a lot of bandages in his body, in order to somehow get a chance to raise his attribute. But alas, it's not coming to him.

“Denzel, please lay down and rest. You can't push your body like that, it's not worth it.”

Denzel frowns. He wipes his slightly formed sweat in his forehead and turns to his members.

“I'm sorry for everything…if only I–”

A knock on the door then startled him and his little crew. As Denzel was about to open it, he felt an intimidating presence from behind the door which made him wary.

“U-uh…who's behind that door?”

A voice of a woman with elegance then s

peaks from behind the door.

“Hello, sorry if we're interrupting your rest. Let us introduce ourselves–”

“-We are from the first Clan: GENESIS”