“Rytus, I believe you have gathered everyone here for an important reason.”

Rytus stepped forward.

“Yes. We have discovered strange movements within the Kingdom of Wisteria.”

Rytus and his squad were only sent a year and a half ago for a three-year mission. In their time there, they discovered some interesting surprises.

“First, we discovered the presence of the Cursed Children.”

“Ah yes, those guys.”

Vezeres nodded as he recalled those people.

“As they were the former servants of that Deity, it would be nothing that much strange if they returned to where their home truly was, but the question of why still had to be asked. That aside however, recently, we discovered another faction.”

The powerful beings leaned a bit forward to listen to his next words. Normally, there would be no need to report to the dread lords if that faction was feeble or not a threat. For instance the church which could either be from Wisteria or that Holy Kingdom.

They were not much of a threat unless they directly intervened with the demon’s movements. However, the demons had remained quiet for centuries now, they had not even come to run havoc in any human land. Therefore, the church in turn had no need to mix themselves with the demons. They were more interested in what faction that Rytus was concerned about.

“We have discovered Beastmen and Elves in the city of Serene.”

The administrator turned his head to look Rytus directly in the face.

The other dread lords also looked surprised, with the exception of Irian who looked like she didn’t care about anything at all.

“We do not know how long they have been there as we have only discovered them since our focus primarily was the Cursed Children. The mystic race being there was the last we expected, and they hid themselves well.”

“Those worms crawled out of their holes?” Ongrus said with a growl.

“Mm, I wonder what made them go to that city,” Trigel muttered.

“So even elves, huh…” Vezeres looked up at the ceiling as though he was imagining something.

“How many are there?” the administrator asked.

Rytus looked at everyone and he caught a glimpse of Arin casually reading a book amidst this important meeting. She may seem giving no attention to the meeting, but it was the opposite. Well, to be exact, she was both reading and keeping attention to her surroundings.

“We only discovered a small group of five during their clash with the church.”

“The Wisterian church?”

“Yes.”

“Have you discovered their motives?”

“My apologies, we have not. We cannot capture one since they are hard to find.”

“Hmmm. The Cursed Children, the Mystic Race, and the Church… What or who could spur them in action?” Yavia muttered.

It was the same question the others have.

“We tried looking into the royal family, it’s a bit hard, but we discovered there had been a big fuss there recently. We think that this may involve the blood of royalty, or what we hoped at least.”

“With these powers in motion, the two gods would likely have had something to do with this. Does this mean there’s finally hope once again?”

After the administrator said that, everyone in the room took in sharp breaths, Irian including.

“We have tried for hundred years, spilling the blood of that kingdom’s royalties, but to no avail.”

Before a few centuries ago, the demons had been kidnapping one royalty every generation which hailed from the kingdom of Wisteria or connected to them by family, the descendants of the Deity of Blood. Then they would spill their blood in the goal of releasing the god of the demons from its seal.

However, it all ended in failure. They tried and tried, but it was useless. The seal was not lifted. This resulted in their hope turning faint since then at every passing time, and they stopped, the best they could do now was send a few people to visit Wisteria on occasions. One or two missions for every generation of kings. This also considering the rise of power of the church.

What they had surmised that they needed after all those failures were that a mere descendant wouldn’t work at all, regardless of age or appearance. They needed the divine blood which was reminiscent of the Deity of Blood. But all the royalties had no specialty in their blood or essence, they may be strong, but they were not purely of the Deity. They also lacked the sign of a divine’s power which further concluded they possess none of the divine blood — or only a tiny amount of it but not enough.

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Therefore, they were only looking for remarkable individuals that were different from normal. But, there was nothing.

“Have you looked into the current royalties?”

“Yes.”

“Then tell me about each one of them, how remarkable they are. Also their branching family, everyone connected to their blood.”

The administrator for the first time looked worked up as he moved a little closer to Rytus. The family tree had a lot of branches, so Rytus decided to talk about the royal family first.

I was about to get into it eventually in this meeting, oh well...

“Well, the king is strong and can handle a few monsters, but I can also do the same. The Queen is plain but charming to the people. The eldest prince is boring, but active on the diplomatic side of things. The second prince on the other hand is active in the knights, and his strength bears promise.”

“Have you looked deeper into this second prince?”

“Yes, he is making decent progress in his power. Is he the one?”

“Decent? The blood of the divine cannot be decent, especially in growth.”

“So, he’s not the one?”

“Humans grow in power at a normal pace. But the offspring of gods which had the blood of their parents already possess great power.”

“Is that so....”

It was unlikely that the second prince would be hiding his power, there was no point to it. It was even best to show his power to the people to gain further support for the royal family.

“Then… There is the youngest child, the princess. This one is the most that lacked presence. She never showed up at any event and always stayed in the palace.”

“I see… How disappointing…”

The administrator lowered his head.

“This is tiring, don’t you think? Holding onto hope.”

Everyone turned towards the source of that voice. It was the succubus.

“What are you trying to say, Irian?” Ongrus asked sternly.

“Hello~? How many generations do you think have passed since the first rulers of that kingdom, huh? The blood of the divine had surely already diluted in the mixture of other mortal blood. Therefore, it’s gone!”

Silence fell.

She was right. As time passed, the less likely it was possible for them to free their god.

“Let’s just live our lives with joy.”

“I will not give up.”

That resolute voice came from the administrator himself.

“He brought us into existence,” he gazed at the demons from within the shadow that covered his face under his hood. “Gave us power and improved our very being,” he gazed towards the fae as he said so before scanning everyone. “How ungrateful would we be to abandon him after all he had done for us. He was to lead us to glory, to become kings of every species that walked this world. We cannot give up.”

“No matter how long it takes?”

“No matter how long it takes.”

Irian stared for a long moment at the administrator, at his first show of emotion ever in this meeting. She then shifted her gaze towards others, they didn’t counter his words.

In other words, they agreed with the administrator's sentiment.

Rytus was the same.

“Whatever, I’m part of the herd anyway, I’ll get dragged along.”

She then proceeded on fidgeting with her fingernails after a casual shrug.

With her done, Rytus decided to continue.

“I still have something to inform you of, as we cannot take a look at the princess, we asked a few witnesses that had been in the palace. The most we could get was the princess’s appearance. She had white hair and pale skin, they said.”

“White hair?”

“I know what you guys think, but you should know that the queen has silver hair. So this is more likely a hereditary feature. Furthermore, she never left the palace, which could result in the color of her complexion, like barely being exposed under the sun.”

“But she has no power whatsoever?”

“No. More than that, we also learned that she has red eyes.”

The administrator froze.

“... Those features… they are like…”

“Like her?”

“The deity of blood?”

“Could it be?”

“Everyone, please, he didn’t mention she has any power, does she have none?” said Irian.

Rytus nodded at her.

So I recommend you not to get your hopes up yet!” she continued loudly.

Everyone then turned quiet. She was right. This could just be a coincidence. One’s appearance had no contribution to the release of their god but only their blood. If she had no power or any kind of profound power, then she would be useless.

“Rytus,” the administrator quietly called his name. “This princess, bring her to me. We will try it with her.”

“... I will do so but… it will be difficult. The… the Cursed Children are always guarding the palace.”

“They are guarding the palace?”

“Or they are guarding the princess.”

The one who chimed in all of a sudden was Arin who now had her books closed.

“First the Cursed Children returned to Wisteria where they were banished from, then came the Mystic Race, and the movement of the Church. Different forces concentrated in a single city. The princess may be no one remarkable, but why was she stuck in the palace? Never letting her out. Then her appearance. If she has a low presence, it wouldn’t be strange if she is only hiding her power. This princess may be smarter than we imagine her to be, smart enough not to flourish her power, and pretend to be unremarkable on the surface. I suggest focusing on the princess next time, disregard the others — I said that but you will still kidnap her in the end.”

Arin said all of those words, implying that there was a high chance that this princess was what they needed.

“As for the conflicts you could encounter, you will have a lot of enemies. The Mystic Race likely has their own motives, I cannot imagine what that could be aside from destroying a presence similar to the Ruling Deity of Blood, they don’t like her after all. As for how they knew of her existence, I have no idea. But I think the gods had something to do with it. Hm, yes, the gods are certainly involved.”

Everyone was a bit off guard by her sudden flood of words.

“... T-Thank you, Arin.”

Trigel said to her with a wry smile. Arin merely nodded her head and returned to reading her book.

“So… me and my team will need to find an opportunity, or we’ll risk being wiped out.”

“It could take months if the princess is such a sheltered girl,” Yavia said.

“Say, is the princess beautiful, Rytus?”

Vezeres asked with a curious expression. Rytus frowned upon his question which was far from their main topic, but he had to answer.

“I heard she is incredibly beautiful.”

“I see,” for some reason, he grinned widely.

Rytus already knew what he was already thinking of doing.

“Rytus,” the administrator called to him. “Kidnap the princess and bring her here, do not harm her in any way, keep her alive. Take your time even if it takes a couple of years, all so that you could strike in surprise. Do not be discovered, the mystic race will definitely attack you on sight, and it will be difficult if the Church learns of our involvement. Worst of all, they might hide the princess where we cannot find her.”

“I suggest keeping the team small,” Trigel said. “So your team should be enough, but I will send you a pair of strong ones for support.”

“Understood, I will bring the princess here.”

He must tread carefully and carry out his mission into success, for their god and people.