The next morning Zane awoke to a knocking on his door. He grunted loudly in response.

"Master Larcadia, lunch is ready soon. If you would like to participate you should get out of bed now. The baths are close and marked by a sign," a female voice said.

Zane grunted loudly again to tell her he had understood. He got out of bed and looked around while his eyes got used to the light. The view out of his window, which took up almost the entire wall, was amazing. Zane could nearly see every house in the city, he could see the shop of the blacksmith, or the armour and clothing shop, the inn he had been at the night before and even the tree at the witch's store.

Guess this will be what I'm going to wake up to.

Zane put on the clothing he had bought the day before and left his room. As he pushed open the door he really noticed how beautiful the second floor was. In the middle of the mansion was an open space, allowing one to look to every floor from every floor. Around that open space was space to walk, with a railing so no one would fall. The railing was made of beautiful dark wood, the floor was made out of the same wood and had a red and gold carpet laid out. Plants had been placed around, making it all seem even more beautiful. There was a large window as well, giving him an even better view of the city.

"Oh Zane, you are awake," a familiar voice said.

Zane turned his head only to see Holvin and Xavier, dressed in sleeping gowns, approach him from a room opposite to his own.

"How perfect, let us take a bath. That way you and Xavier can get to know each other a lot better," Holvin said with a smile on his face.

Zane and Xavier nodded at each other and he began following the two. They led him into a small corridor just two a door away from his own room. At the end of the corridor was a small room with many baskets in which Holvin and Xavier put their clothes, Zane followed suit.

Then they walked through a red and gold curtain and entered the bath area, which had been built in a deep hole somewhere in the middle of the mountain the mansion was embedded into. It was warm inside, steam rose up from the natural springs and all the way out of the room, escaping to the outside at the top where a wooden roof had been constructed.

Zane sat down in the hot water together with Holvin and Xavier, looking at the walls that had beautiful images of nine-tailed foxes carved into them.

Bit excessive isn't it? I think people get that this family descended from the nine tails clan just by looking at them.

He then took a closer look at Xavier. The man looked like a younger, more athletic version of his fat father. But unlike Holvin, Xavier had not a single scar on his body.

Never fought a day in his life.

"So Zane, tell me, how was your first night?" Holvin said.

"Fine," Zane answered.

"Good, good," Holvin said as he raised his hand. "To many more."

For a while, the three just sat there, until another person entered the baths.

"Oh, dear, you are already here," a woman said.

Zane turned his head only to see a woman dressed in only a bath towel with dark red hair, light brown eyes and nine completely orange fox tails.

"Oh Helga my dear, you came," Holvin said.

Must be his wife.

Holvin smiled at both Zane and his son Xavier before he got up and walked over to another corner of the bath with his wife. There was a short silence until Xavier broke it.

"So . . . you're our new bodyguard?" he asked.

Zane nodded slowly.

"Where did you find her?" Xavier asked.

"Hirmal," Zane answered.

"Hirmal?" Xavier said with concern in his voice.

Zane nodded again. An awkward silence followed shortly after. Neither Zane nor Holvin knew what to say in a moment like this. And after some time Xavier stood up, water dripping down from his body and got out of the bath.

"Ah yes, before I forget it. Thank you for bringing her back," Xavier said as he was walking through the curtain.

How do you forget to thank the one who saved your soon to be wife? This family is truly going to be the death of me.

Zane got out of the bath as well and followed after him. His clothes had been cleaned and smelled a lot better than yesterday. He dressed himself and walked back through the corridor. When he got outside he was greeted by a servant. He was a wolf demi-human dressed completely in black.

"Sir Larcadia, let me show you to the dining room," he said as he bowed before Zane.

Zane nodded but was a bit taken aback by how he was treated here. He followed the young-looking demi-human downstairs and through a large door in the middle of the back wall. Behind it was a large staircase lit up by light crystals that emitted a golden light. After a short while, they came across a small landing with another large door to the right. The servant opened the door and led Zane through.

On the other side was a long room with a slight bend, one wall was covered in a dark red curtain and the others were made of stone. The walls were lined with light crystals, all emitting white light and making the room appear as bright as the outside. In the middle of the room was a table, shaped like the room, with enough chairs for the entire Vermillion main family and a few more. Close to the head of the table sat two people, Xavier, dressed in elegant clothing, and Mira, dressed in a red and black dress that reached all the way to the floor. Opposite to them sat a few more Vermillions, all with dar red hair, orange tails with golden tips and the crimson eyes of the main bloodline.

The servant led Zane towards the chair next to Mira and pulled it back slightly for him to sit down. Shortly after another servant approached Zane and handed him a sword.

"For now, just in case," she said as she handed him the weapon.

Zane nodded at her as she left and leaned against the wall again.

"So, you accepted?" Mira said with a bright smile on her face.

Zane smiled and nodded.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"And you're wearing a dress," Zane said jokingly.

"Oh shut it," Mira said, hitting Zane's shoulder.

He noticed Xavier glaring over at him.

Jealous eh?

At that moment the door opened again, coming through it were Holvin and his wife Helga, he dressed in elegant clothing just like his son and she dressed in a dress similar to that of Mira. After them followed many other members of the Vermillion family, all with dark red hair. Most had orange tails with golden tips and crimson coloured eyes but some of them had the same light brown eyes Helga had, or the yellowish eyes that Merana and Mira had, and their tails were also different from the main family. Among them were also a few humans and other demi-humans, all with fine clothing and weapons.

Must be other bodyguards.

Once all of them had sat down at the long table a door in the back of the room opened and about ten servants came out, carrying plates filled with food. Following after them were even more servants carrying plates and cutlery for the family and some of the high ranking employees.

As soon as they had set everything down on the table the servants disappeared behind the door again and the people sitting at the table began putting food on their plates. To them, this seemed like an everyday thing whereas Zane had never seen so much high-quality food in one place. For a few seconds, he watched the family and the bodyguards shovelling food on their plates before he followed suit. He noticed the looks of a few of them on him as well.

Looking at the newbie eh?

Quickly chattering began spreading across the table and it didn't take long for Mira to begin talking to Zane.

"So . . . Xavier wanted to go hunting tomorrow . . . and he . . . invited me," Mira said, taking a bite of her meat every few words. "Since you're our bodyguard . . . I thought . . . you should know."

Zane nodded.

If they're going hunting I might need my bullets . . . I really hope she has them ready by then.

Zane glanced down at Mira's left hand, it hadn't been replaced yet, instead, there was just a thick layer of cloth wrapped around it to keep it clean. But he could see a bump in the sleeve of her dress on her other arm.

So she still has that.

"By the way . . . what's behind that curtain?" Zane asked with a piece of cheese in his mouth.

Both of them looked behind them, to the dark red curtain that covered the entire wall.

"A window, allowing you to look down into the time hall," Mira explained.

"Time hall?" Zane asked, frowning in confusion.

"Yeah . . . its a hall where we can determine what day and month it is . . . I heard all of the five great families have one of them," Mira said.

A time hall huh? Wonder what it looks like.

"It is also where we are going to take the vows of husband and wife," Xavier explained.

"That so," Zane said.

He could see a clear look of distaste on Xavier's face. They continued eating, and Zane continued to feel Xavier's crimson coloured eyes pierce him.

After a while, the first family members began leaving along with a few of the bodyguards. And after a while only a few people were left, Zane among them, but even he stayed, waiting for Mira and Xavier to finish. Once they were finished they left the room, Mira and Xavier were talking to each other the way up the stairs, Zane following behind them. When they reached the top they were greeted by a female human servant dressed in the usual pale pink dress with dark red vest.

They all look too alike.

"Master Vermillion, Misses Vermillion, the requested item has arrived," the servant said as she bowed before the two.

"Ah, great. Let us go and try it on my dear," Xavier said, trying to sound as cool as possible.

He turned around to face Zane.

"You may do as you please for now, if we require your services we shall call for you," he said.

Zane nodded and walked up the stairs fully, watching as they went upstairs.

"Ah, master Larcadia, the items you have requested from the blacksmith have arrived as well, they have been placed in your room," she said.

Zane nodded and walked past her, up the stairs and to his room at the end of the walkway. He entered and closed the door behind him. On the table, along with his repaired armour from the day before now laid a katana and a small bowl filled with metal bullets.

She works faster than I expected.

Zane walked up to the table and inspected the blade. It was sturdy and wouldn't bend a bit, the hilt felt comfortable in his hand and fit well. He then proceeded to pull out his guns and test if the bullets fit. They did, perfectly. He then put them all in the cartridges he had and then put on his belt with the holsters and the place for his katana and then put over his two satchels and then grabbed the coat he bought and put it on. He put the sword he had taken with him on the table and put the katana on his belt, then he left his room and began looking for a servant.

After a few minutes of looking around, he found the human servant from before.

"Do you need something, master Larcadia?" she asked when she saw him approach.

"A place to train," he said.

"Ah, the training grounds, please follow me," she said.

She led him out of the mansion and along the walkway Zane had seen Holvin take. It was made of wood and had a wooden railing with some veins growing on it. From there Zane had a good look at the city. After a while, they came across a staircase that led up to a higher point of the mountain but they didn't take it. They continued following the wooden walkway until it was covered by a wooden roof and not the mountain and eventually they reached a point where the mountain was on the same level as the walkway for a few meters.

And there, nestled between the mountain to all sides but one was a small open area, covered by the shadow of a tree that was growing on the mountain only a few meters above it. In the corner was a small, roofed area with all kinds of weapons stored there. Many dummies had been placed all over the sand floor of the training grounds and hanging from a wooden wall were archery targets. Lining the mountainsides that acted as natural walls to the place were bushes and other plants along with a few benches.

At this point in time, there were three people there already. A tall saberian, a cat-like humanoid with dark grey fur and large front teeth that curved, he looked similar to the sabre-tooth tigers that could be seen around the Velva Highland. He used a spear to attack the dummies and wore elegant armour with many plated parts. There was a human archer, shooting at the targets with her large bow that was larger than she was. Her short brown hair was unkempt and her leather armour dirty. Sitting on one of the benches was a wolf demi-human with a greatsword laying next to him on the bench. He wore common clothing just like Zane.

"The new bodyguard eh?" the saberian said with a rough voice.

"Uho, I'd heard that the Reaper might become one of Holvin's employees, but I didn't actually expect it to be true," the human archer said, stopping what she did.

The demi-human looked up from the bench, studying Zane with his two dark eyes.

"So it is true eh?" he said as he jumped up and grabbed his greatsword.

Zane looked at all three of them in turn, with a confused look on his face.

"Well, I shall take my leave master Larcadia," the servant said as she began leaving.

"Zane's fine," Zane said before the servant could get too far away.

"I will keep that in mind," she said.

"Hey! Are you ignoring us?" the archer asked as she walked around Zane with her hands behind her back, studying him.

Zane took a deep breath and followed her with his eyes.

"No," he said.

Could they just leave?

"Hey, I have an idea! Why don't we all spar with the legendary Reaper? The legendary, the strongest mercenary of Ion who turned into a simple bodyguard," the demi-human said mockingly.

Great . . . one of those people.

Zane just shook his head and walked toward one of the training dummies, drawing his katana in the process. But before he could reach it he was stopped by the saberian's spear. Zane looked down at the three people that now surrounded him.

"He really is as tall as everyone says," the archer said with a smirk on her face.

"Yeah, like a mountain among hills," the saberian said.

"But before we fight each other we should exchange names," the demi-human said. "I'm Veral."

"I'm Lovana, but you can call me Lova," the archer said, winking up at him.

"Igarem, Igarem Octaven," the saberian said, be it a bit reluctantly.

Guess I can't stop them no matter what I do.

"Fine," Zane said. "My name is Zane, Zane Larcadia."

"Well then, Zane Larcadia, which one of us do you wanna face first?" Veral asked.

Zane just shrugged.

"Hmm, how about we play rock-sword-paper for it?" Lovana asked.

What are they? Kids?

"Fine by me," Veral said.

"If that's how we have to do it," Igarem said with an annoyed undertone.

"Alright, let's begin," Lovana said, more excited than Zane thought she should be.

The three began shaking their fists and opened them after a few seconds, revealing their choice. Igarem had rock, the other two had sword.

"Looks like you won't need to continue," Igarem said with enough confidence for an entire city.

Veral began laughing.

"Oh, don't be so overconfident. Just because he lost his power doesn't mean he's weak ya know!" Veral said with a grin on his face as he shook his fist.

After a few seconds, both of them revealed their choices. Lovana had paper and Veral had rock.

"Oho, I'm going second," Lovana said.

"You're getting the best for last, you should be happy Reaper . . . I mean Zane," Veral said.

What a bunch of idiots.