“Look, Hektor,” Jacob said , “I know you had good intentions. But, now, would you become what? My general? And then what happens if one day I give you an order that you don’t like? Then, what if you get ideas that I’m not fit to lead because you don’t like my style?”

The Vermillion Tyrant slammed a hand on the table with an outraged look.

“You built that statue out there yourself,” Hektor pointed a tense finger to the outside, “didn’t you?”

“I did. Frederick… is a hero. He was a fool, too. But he’s a hero. He needed the recognition and the people here needed someone to look up to.”

The Vermillion Tyrant was someone who was tremendously good at picking up bodily cues and voice. As soon as he heard Jacob’s tone, he immediately asked the sharpest question.

“You made a statue for him, but he died and you call him a fool too. Jacob, did he kill the Charybdis, or did you do it?”

Jacob looked around, making sure that no one was in earshot.

The Vermillion Tyrant didn’t wait for a response.

“That’s all I need,” he pointed madly at him. “That’s really all I need, Jacob! I would have erected his statue and mine, see! That’s the problem! You know how to take the hard choices! I could be the most powerful weapon at your disposal! I want to share my life with such a great and beautiful person like you!”

Didn’t he call me ‘beautiful’ twice?

“Listen, Hektor. I do not have that much choice, do I? So, yeah, sure, I’ll take you in. As soon as I become powerful enough, I might snap your neck, not unlike our past life, if you start making a mess. Is that okay with you?”

“More than okay!” Hektor’s energy literally vibrated all around, somehow regenerating Jacob too.

“Master?” Jacob heard Flavius voice and the door of the villa opening itself.

The young man had not yet come for his training and had missed most of the action related to the Vermillion Tyrant.

“Master?” Hektor widened his eyes. “You have a disciple?! Wonderful! I want to know him! Should we found a Sect for us? What we should we call it? The Vermillion Blade Sect! BEAUTIFUL!”

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The Vermillion Tyrant might not have any intention of killing Jacob, but Jacob was getting some thoughts about getting the job done on his own.

“Flavius,” Jacob said with a sigh, “come. I’m speaking with another nuts from the future.”

“I heard people speaking about him and asking if all the reincarnation thing was true. When they asked me, I said nothing, not knowing your stance yet.”

“Ha! Look at how smart your disciple is! And he is a beautiful young man too!”

Said Vermillion Tyrant was actually younger in body compared to Flavius, but the ex-archenemy didn’t really mind.

“Cat’s out of the bag,” Jacob said, ignoring the other Tyrant in the room, “we might as well tell people the truth. Without the doomsday-vibes about Karma and monsters coming after me!”

Jacob barked the last part in Hektor’s face.

“And you really killed this person in your last life?” Flavius asked with curious eyes.

“That he did! And how he did it! HA! Come here, youngster, we shall teach you of the greatest battle of them all!”

“Hektor, my first order of business for you is to stop harassing my disciple. Second, go fetch me a list of all the people you rescued, names, last names, where they come from, what level they are at, which techniques you taught them, everything. Then, go bring it to Luis Albert’s office, the principal of this city High School. He’s sort of the mayor/organization guru of this city. Then, digitalize it all by yourself. And please, please, do not share anything with anyone before you have done all this. There’s a Contribution System in place to avoid seeing a massive power unbalance as I suspect you ignored it with your people.”

The last part made Hektor blush a bit but he still immediately got up and running without even looking back.

As soon as the Vermillion Tyrant was out, Flavius couldn’t help but ask.

“Why make a list and then digitalize it?”

“Because I hope it will take him as many hours as possible, hopefully enough to let me recover from the trauma of speaking to him for almost twenty minutes straight,” Jacob slid in the chair.

“You really killed that guy? How strong is he now?” Flavius asked.

“Yes, and now he’s at the Hound Realm, apparently.”

“Really?!” Flavius had been given a quick run-down of how realm worked and by now he had a vague idea of the power difference between various realms.

“Oh yeah. Don’t ask me how; I didn’t ask. I don’t even know if it’s worth knowing, since I bet that he would probably make it into an hour-long story that I do not want to hear.”

“He’s pretty much your opposite, master,” Flavius put some irony on the last part, still not entirely used to call Jacob that.

Jacob put his face between his hands.

“We are… different. Two different approaches to life, war, love and everything else,” Jacob said from behind his hand. “If you want to switch masters and prefer someone like him, I think he would be super happy to take you.”

“Oh no, hell no,” Flavius shivered, “I would probably shoot myself in the head after ten minutes. I heard him talk for a few minutes and I’m done. That guy, man, he has way too much energy.”

Jacob smiled, happy he was properly raising his disciple.