Glenn crossed his arms, staring at Veil sitting in front of him. The bandaged Cleaner had had no qualms entering the mansion without announcing himself, interrupting the lively dinner.

"...What did you come here for, Veil?" Glenn asked with an annoyed tone.

The Cleaner smirked under the bandages and stretched his hand out, "The Recorders and whatever you took from the Ink Dunes. You are already guaranteed to receive incredible rewards for your performance during the war. Still, I'm pretty sure that whatever is in your Recorders will suffice to support your "project" with a certain Baron."

Glenn sighed and took out said Recorders from his dimensional pouch. He had kind of expected that to happen, hence why he had asked the team for their Recorders. He couldn't do anything about Milena and...and Javier's, though. The Pale Son was probably dead anyway, killed by Exan's massive Colossus.

'And that's all the better for us. That traitor doesn't deserve our sympathy,' Diamanes hissed. Nelg clicked his tongue, yet he didn't add anything.

"...Here are all of them, the rest was left buried under the black sand," Glenn said as he rolled over the Recorders to Veil. The bandaged man took them all in one fell swoop, stashing them in a small dimensional pouch.

"And...thank you. Now, for the loot, what did you get?" Veil asked curiously. Glenn's lips curved upward slightly as he suddenly pulled the whole mummy he took away from that ruin back in the Ink Dunes out of his pouch, before throwing it on the table. Veil paused at the sight, momentarily speechless.

"We found that corpse, alongside a few more things," Glenn said casually as he continued to pull a few more items out of his pouch, such as a metal tablet covered in mysterious engravings, a stone circlet, and finally, a scroll that bore the broken wax seal of the Thorn's Church.

Even though Glenn couldn't see Veil's face under all of his bandages, he could still notice the notable shock that the Cleaner was feeling.

"...Why did you bring back a corpse?" Veil's finally asked in awe.

Glenn raised an eyebrow, "...Why do you cover yourself in bandages?"

Veil paused for a moment before shrugging, "Fair enough. That steel tablet...I'll have to ask some of our researchers to see if they can decrypt it, while that stone circlet looks quite ordinary. I'll have to appraise it later..." He leaned in and picked up the scroll with an interested look, "Now, what might that be?"

Glenn moistened his lips and leaned back in his seat, "I found it after destroying an enemy camp. Couldn't read it, so I chose to bring it back."

"Good choice," Veil said as he glanced at it, "...Too bad I don't have a clue what language that is. Still, this looks like interesting information, even more so if it is about the Thorn's Church. We'd be able to strengthen our relationships with the Church of Onnea quite a bit if we can get rid of those pests. Anyway, this is pretty good, Fixer Glenn. I...sort of expected more, but I guess you brought back something even more important than all that..." He smiled under his bandages, "...How lucky of you to find your sister in the middle of the desert, right?"

Glenn sighed and pointed at Veil's pouch, "Whatever," He shook his head and changed the subject, "Trust me, what's in those Recorders is probably worth a hundred times that crap I've given you."

"I don't doubt it. Well, excellent," Veil stood up, dusting off his pants, "We will send your assistant to you as soon as your rewards are done being calculated."

Glenn waved his hand dismissively, "Sure, sure. Do tell Kevin to bring back some sort of teacher, though. I need one for my sister." He glanced at the mummy still on the table and winced, "...You don't take the corpse?"

Veil sighed dejectedly as he pushed the corpse into his dimensional pouch, "...I might as well get it off your hands. In the future, please don't bring back more corpses, okay?"

Glenn chuckled before pausing with a frown, "...In the future? What do you mean?"

Veil laughed as he forced the mummy's head into the pouch, "What, did you think you were already done with the Ink Dunes? As soon as your business with Baron Howard is done we will need your team's strength to reinforce us and continue to undermine the Celestial Gods. We don't nearly have enough elite teams to use, and way too many people tied down to King's Rise."

Glenn clicked his tongue, "...We'll see. I'm not sure what would push me to go back into that black hell."

Veil smiled mysteriously before tipping his head slightly and leaving the room. Lina entered behind him, frowning at the sight of the bandaged man. She waited until he was far enough and pointed her thumb at his back, "Hey, that dude is weird."

Glenn shook his head with a dejected laugh, "Who isn't weird in this world, Lina? Find me one example."

Lina pondered for an instant, "...Uhh, Janica?"

Glenn froze before laughing, "Yeah, I guess she is quite normal compared to the rest of us."

His sister shrugged and crossed her arms, "I want you to teach me about this world. About magic, Aura, and all that stuff."

"A suitable education is the bare minimum Milady needs. I recommend hiring an instructor to fill her knowledge deficiencies, be it for how this world works, or to instruct her on how to fight. Self-defense is an absolutely required skill in this cesspool of a world," Tiamanes requested with a polite tone, appearing within her right hand's palm. Lina winced but simply nodded, echoing her hand's words.

"Self-defense? Shit, you need to be able to rip and tear everything on your way if you want to survive, lil' sis!" Diamanes snorted. Glenn and Lina both raised an eyebrow.

"Lil' sis?"

"Say what now?"

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Diamanes reeled back with a smirk, "Oh, come on, we're all a big family of some sort, aren't we? My other self is in your hand, and you share blood with my host. If that isn't enough to make us kin, I don't know what will!"

Glenn and Lina sighed before turning away from Diamanes, both choosing to ignore the annoying entity.

"Teaching you won't be a problem, but..." Glenn grimaced, "...I'm not exactly aware of everything. My life has been quite hectic ever since I landed in this world, so a professional teacher might be better than me—"

"NO!" Lina protested loudly, "Why the hell would I listen to another stuck-up? Can't you ask those hot friends of yours?"

Glenn laughed, "My hot friends? Ah, you mean Sahro and Liara?" He passed his tongue over his teeth, his lips curved upward, "...I mean, sure, I could do that, but Sahro is a Black Heir who knows practically as much as I do, and Liara is mute most of the time, and also a Black Heir. So..." His eyes widened suddenly and he flicked his fingers, "Hey, I know who I'm going to ask!"

Lina shivered, unsure, "...Who?"

Glenn grinned wickedly, "You'll see."

A few moments later, Glenn and Lina were in the observatory, standing in front of Manalok Tuleam. The Restoration Operator's wide-opened eyes were going back and forth between Glenn and Lina.

"No. No, I refuse," He blurted out categorically, waving his hand dismissively, "You think I became a Restoration Operator because I wanted company? No. Take that brat away and leave me to my work."

Lina's cheeks flushed dark red, her fists tightening while Glenn scoffed, "Work? What work? You were sleeping on the damned sofa, that's not work!"

Tuleam rolled his eyes and brushed back his messy dark green hair, "I was, uh, resting efficiently, okay? And why would you care about what I do anyway?"

Glenn rubbed his hands together, "Well, you see, you're kind of living under my roof for free. I think it'd be quite illogical to leave someone who isn't a really good friend in my house without some sort of compensation."

Tuleam opened his mouth to protest but Glenn raised his hand, stopping him, "Come on, help me out and teach Lina about this world. If you do a good job at it I might as well hire a professional chef to feed you the best meals."

The odd man laughed in disbelief, "Stop thinking you can hire me with good food, it won't work I said—"

"Free different meals every day, with the promise that I will tell you the rest of my adventures in the future," Glenn interrupted him. Tuleam went silent before shaking his hand begrudgingly.

"Tsk, what a chore. You're lucky I feel like doing it." He grunted and left the observatory, "...I'll need to prepare some material then, and see what would be the best to teach her...sigh, what a pain..." Tuleam grumbled under his beard as he slammed the door behind him.

Lina leaned into Glenn's ear and whispered doubtfully, "...You're sure he will be a good teacher?"

Glenn looked at her and shrugged with an uncertain look, "I don't know, you'll tell me?"

"Wait, what?"

Lina tried punching Glenn in the arm but he easily dodged it, laughing mockingly at her pitiful attempt, "So, do you want to see what sort of training you'll be doing? Maybe trying to hit me would be a good start, huh?"

His sister clenched her teeth and began chasing after him, her punches missing helplessly, "You fucking—!"

Glenn flicked his finger and used the Silence curse on her, his lips curving upward as he watched the shock on her face, "You know, back on Earth, it always was a pain to find a way to shut you up, but now? I can just flick my fingers and mute you! Isn't that great?"

"Please stop bullying Milady, Young Master, or I'll be forced to take action," Tiamanes suddenly warned, displeased. Glenn paused and grinned widely, his arms crossed as he continued to dodge Lina's silent attacks.

"Oh? Is that right? Please, show me what you can do then, I'm really curious—" Glenn's eyes widened as he suddenly went mute as well. Tiamanes smiled widely as Lina gasped, her voice returned to her throat.

"What—what did you do?" She inquired in awe as she grabbed at her throat. Glenn opened his mouth a few times, before sighing and putting his left hand on his throat. Diamanes absorbed the Silence curse without protesting, freeing him from his forced silence.

"A Silence Curse, I took it from a cultist a long time ago." Glenn replied before looking at her right, purple hand, "Now, that seemed really similar to what Diamanes can do but not exactly the same. Do tell, Tiamanes, what exactly is your skill?"

Tiamanes huffed proudly, "I can reflect every attack that isn't directly physical. Curses, immaterial spells, Aura...It is a much more refined power compared to what that idiot in your left hand can use."

Diamanes clicked his tongue, "Sure, sure, why don't you keep explaining your power then if it's so great, huh? Isn't that incredible that there is no side-effect to reflecting a higher-ranked magic?"

Tiamanes paused and pressed his lips together confusedly, "What do you mean—oh boy."

Lina collapsed back, drained. Glenn caught her with Gravity Manipulation, sparing her from falling directly on the ground. He glared at her right hand angrily, only to find Tiamanes to be gone from it. Diamanes snorted mockingly, "That fool probably lost some intelligence if he thought reflecting your power would be so easy. You're a Fourth-rank, what the hell did he expect?"

Glenn lifted Lina up and gently brought her to a nearby sofa, "...I guess you know what Tiamanes can and can't do. Reflecting everything seems to be a very powerful skill."

Diamanes sighed, "I can't help but admit it. All of us were made equal to each other, so it can at least compare to me, even though it is less versatile than my power. Hey, if you were to compare us, I'd be like the ultimate weapon, while Tiamanes would be the ultimate shield, you know?"

"...Hmm..." Glenn rubbed his chin before turning away and leaving the room, "...It's not enough. Sahro and Liara will train her fighting skills for now, but she needs to make her choice between Aura and Mana quickly and forget about this nonsense of trying to get both at the same time. She isn't Redan..." He gritted his teeth and swallowed back his sadness, "...Nor a Black Heir after all..."

Diamanes smacked his lips, "That still is a problem for later. First, maybe get Giselle's grandson back so we can finally be done with it, ay?"

Glenn snorted, "Easier said than done. But you're right." He headed off to the Workshop, where he found Liam and Janica working on Sahro's mechanical arm.

"W...what did you do to it?" Janica muttered as she took apart the prosthetic, taking out molten pieces and broken cogs with an awed expression. Sahro watched from afar and rubbed his stump, unsure.

"I don't know, I just channeled my Thunder Mana alongside my Aura into it, and it kind of became like this. The creakings were annoying, but—"

"—BUT?!?" Liam stabbed a screwdriver on his worktable, unable to believe his ears, "Why would you do that? Can't you be happy with one or the other, like everyone? That's one of the best pieces of engineering we made in our whole lives—a masterpiece— and you're just destroying it like it's some sort of crappy prosthetic—!" Janica gently pulled Liam back and patted him on the back, calming him.

Sahro shrugged, "...Sorry, I guess. When can I get it back?"

Janica glanced at the prosthetic and winced, "Uhh, there's a lot of work to be done and materials to be replaced. We also need to modify and upgrade it to take into account the usage of Aura and Mana at the same time, so..." Sahro grimaced and prepared himself for the worse, "...Not before tomorrow, I fear."

The Black Heir blinked and almost laughed, "...Okay, that's fine then. Thank you."

Janica smiled widely while Liam turned away with a grunt, "Of course."

Sahro nodded at Glenn before leaving the Workshop, probably off to train or something. Janica wiped the sweat off her forehead and only noticed Glenn then, her face brightening.

"Ah! Mister Devil's Hand, what can we do for you?"

Glenn sighed, "For the love of Onnea, please call me Glenn. And I came to speak to Liam about Howard. I'm almost certain I got the green light to take care of him, so can begin preparing."

Liam's back froze, and he slowly turned around, his fists tightly clenched. He was grinning wickedly, his artificial heart beating with a loud mechanical sound, "So it's finally time, huh?"

Glenn nodded with a similar wicked smile, "It is. Baron Howard is going down."