While Arima was enjoying his break along with his group, Lilis reached a turning point in his past.

One day, Arimane was simply strolling around the orphanage to spend his boredom when he stumbled upon a large crowd blocking the main hall. When he approached to inspect what was going on, the first thing he saw was the headmistress.

It was the old woman who had brought Arimane to his bed years before. When he looked around, he noted that the children appeared quite excited. At the same time, he spotted a group of adults entering, who then spoke to the headmistress.

"Hey, what’s going on?" He asked one of the older children. The kid was around sixteen years old, but when he turned around to see who called him, he trembled and froze.

Arimane was only thirteen then but almost everyone knew him. The genius who had joined Moria's special forces and had become one of their biggest assets as the best sniper of the orphanage.

If there was a military rank for the orphans, he would be ahead of everyone by a huge margin. That's why the boy made a salute to him and respectfully greeted him.

"You can stop that. So? What’s this ruckus for?" Arima waved his hand.

"Yes," the adolescent relaxed and glanced at the group of adults discussing with the headmistress. "The orphanage welcomes potential parents today. To adopt us."

"What?" Arimane scowled. "Do they know even who we are at least?"

"Yeah, they know," the orphan smiled wryly. "Those people perfectly know what kind of installation this place is. Most of them are ex-soldiers or have connections with the army. And a lot of the children here are excited about that, even if they won't escape the life of a soldier, it's a dream for them to have parents."

Arimane fell silent and eyed the group of people on the opposite side of the mob. He understood the feeling; to wish for a parent. But he believed that he didn't need anything like that. He just turned around and walked away without any further comment.

The orphan who had responded to him could only smile wryly before focusing on the situation at hand again. As Arimane was leaving, a woman that was in the group of ‘parents’ happened to spot him. She stared at him until she couldn’t see his back anymore.

After leaving the hall, he directly made his way toward the squad’s training ground since he had nothing else to do. When he arrived there, the only people present were Erin, Jin, Tieria, and Tiria. They were not really training per se, they were just lazing around. Since the squad was pretty active these days, the training was basically on the battlefield and the rest of the time was consecrated to relaxing.

"Where did you go?" Tieria inquired curiously when she saw Arimane entering.

"I just went on a stroll. I passed by the main hall. I didn't know that adopting was a thing here," he remarked as he sat down next to the girls and Jin.

"Oh, yeah. We didn't tell you about it, huh?" The latter exclaimed. "What are your thoughts on that? Do you want to have a family?"

Arimane shook his head. "It's not that I want one or not. It may be interesting but I don't feel like it will be really useful."

"Well, it's your choice," Tiria shrugged and Tieria also nodded.

"Now that you're here, let's play a game of poker," Jin suggested and pulled out a deck of cards. "I can teach you some techniques and tricks to win if you want. Hey, Erin, do you wanna play too?"

"Sure," Erin closed his book and went to sit with them. Jin shuffled the pile and gave a hand to everyone. "By the way, Arimane, I don't think it's a bad thing to have a family and it's something worth trying."

Arimane was taken off guard by the sudden statement and frowned at Erin. The squad’s leader merely smiled and place a chip in the middle of the table. At the same time, the cards in his hand suffered a slight change but no one noticed.

When they all revealed their hands, Erin won with a straight flush. Jin grunted. "I knew it…" He grumbled and shuffled the cards once again.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Erin smirked and remained silent.

"Arimane, keep your eyes open. You have the best sight, that's why he distracted you," Jin uttered.

Arimane's eyes widened and he immediately understood what happened. He nodded and concentrated on Erin's actions during the whole match. In the end, sometimes he’d notice and others no, but the more he looked, the more he learned.

A few games later, he started winning every time and with each victory, Erin and Jin's expression darkened a bit more. Tieria and Tiria watched in awe as they didn't even perceive a single inconspicuous movement.

"Mh? What's wrong?" The teen asked whilst smiling. The four players were silent, dead silent. But in their heads, they were basically screaming.

‘Don't act innocent like that! It doesn't suit you!’

They stopped playing only after an hour when Jin actually abandoned and raised his hands in defeat before leaving the room. Everyone shrugged and separated after that.

The sun was setting down. As Arimane was heading to his room, a voice suddenly resounded in the corridor behind him.

"I finally found you," the feminine, slightly huffed voice jolted his mind. He turned his head to look behind him. The woman was around thirty years old and she was smiling at him in the softest way imaginable. He immediately recalled her as one of the adopters he had seen in the main hall earlier.

She had dark brown eyes and black long hair; her figure wasn't exceptional but it still was fairly attractive. She was quite pretty but more than beautiful, Arimane would rather say that she was charming. But, beneath all of that, he clearly sensed that this woman wasn’t simple.

Jin had also told him that those coming here to adopt were quite special. Arimane glared at her warily. When she saw that, the woman stepped back as she was surprised by the look the child in front of her had in his eyes.

She smiled nonetheless and approached him. "My name is Scathach Blade, you can call me Scatha. Would you become my son?" She asked gently although her demand was quite blunt.

Arimane raised an eyebrow and turned to face her. "Why would I accept? Why did you choose me in the first place? I didn't even address you once."

"I just saw you and thought that you were the ideal choice."

"…You didn't even ask the headmistress about me?"

She shook her head. "No. I was just sure you were the one I was looking for."

"…" Arima deadpanned at her. He found her quite silly. "Then give me a good reason to follow you. I'm not against the idea of being part of a family if you want to know. But I want you to give me the motive to do so."

Scatha's eyes widened in surprise and she chuckled afterward. "I wasn't wrong after all. Before I answer, can I ask for your name?"

"Arimane."

Scatha nodded. "It's a cool name. I'll call you Arima from now on, is that okay for you?"

Arimane frowned again. "…sure?"

"Then Arima, the reason why you will come with me is simple," she grinned as she sent me an amused look. "It will be fun.”

“…”

Arima was genuinely astounded and his expression changed in consequence. He was silent at first but then he suddenly started laughing as if he couldn’t hold it back anymore. Perhaps it was the first time he had ever laughed so full-heartedly in his entire life.

"Fine. You went for it and won the bet. That is indeed good enough reason for me," he snorted. “I accept.”

"Then let's do it again," Scatha said as she extended her hand. "My name is Scathach Blade, let's get along."

Arima shook her hand and nodded. "Sure. My name is Arimane Blade, I share the same opinion," he purposefully added Scatha's family name to his own and she showed a dazzling smile in return.

"Then let's go, the allowed schedule is almost over. We have to inform the headmistress," Scatha declared enthusiastically as she dragged Arima with her to the main hall.

When they reached their destination, they immediately went to the headmistress. The old woman was stunned to see Scatha pulling Arima by his arm.

"I will adopt this little guy. Could you register it for me, Jane?" Scatha said to her and the old woman rubbed her eyes for a second, wondering if she was seeing right.

"…Arimane, do you agree with Scathach being your mother?" She asked before officializing anything. When he nodded in approval, she sighed and pulled out a paper from a nearby desk. "In that case, Scatha, please fill and sign this file," she handed it to Scatha along with a pen. "Also, Arimane, you don’t need to notify Moria about this, I’ll do it myself."

"Oh, he's in Moria's squad?" Scatha abruptly took her eyes off the papers.

"Yes, you didn't know? He's the little genius that we found in front of the orphanage thirteen years ago."

"I see. So, it's him…" Scatha muttered and finished completing the file. She gave it back before turning toward Arima. "I understand a little better now. I knew there was something strange when I first saw you. So you are that famous kid and also Moria's pupil, huh? It all makes sense."

Arima shrugged. "You could at least have asked me for my identity before deciding to take me in."

"Fair point," Scatha giggled. "Anyhow, let’s not waste our time. I’ll bring you to your new home right away," she stated and opened the front door.

"Bye, Ma'am," Arima bowed his head to Jane and followed her new parent. The old woman quietly observed until the door was closed and sighed.

"I didn't expect him, out of all people, to actually be adopted… Well, he's an avid learner, I guess he will be more than satisfied with Scatha," she muttered and phoned Moria to tell him the news.

***

After around an hour of driving, Scatha finally arrived at their destination. When Arima stepped out of the car, he was slightly surprised to see the house.

The whole thing was actually pretty big. There was even a vast garden in front of the house which looked fairly grandiose and well kept. It wasn't really a mansion, but it wasn't an inaccurate way to describe the house.

"Let's go in," Scatha said and unlocked the front door with a finger imprint scanner. Arima followed her in and admired the interior. As expected, it looked really modern and sophisticated.

"Well, I suppose it's your new home from now on, right?" Scatha smiled and turned around to look at him when they reached the very spacious living room.

"Yeah," he casually answered as he looked around. "What's your job in the end? I kinda can see that you have military experience but I don't believe that you’re a soldier."

Scatha tilted her head. "Is that really the first thing you should be asking?" She sighed. "But, oh well, I can show you. Follow me," she uttered and walked to a certain door in the living room. When she opened it, a staircase leading underground was lighted.

Scatha smiled and started going down the stairs. Arima stared wide-eyed before deciding to follow. What lied at the end of those stairs was a very large room. It was efficiently lighted and you could also clearly hear the sound of the powerful ventilation system

Arima’s sight instantly focused on a big modern stove with all kinds of tools next to it. Across the entire room, you could see many cold weapons and firearms lying on the ground or put against the wall.

Arima frowned. "You're a blacksmith?"

"Bingo. I make any kind of weapon that requires metalwork. But since most firearms are made in chain these days, my main job is to take on custom commands," she explained whilst picking up a strange tool that looked like the combination of a hammer, a knife, and a plier.

Arima had to admit that he was quite interested in the equipment around him. Scatha glanced at his expression and smirked. "How is it? Do you want to learn?"