“We both know that would be improper, Father.” Vince shook away the hand that was firmly placed on his shoulder. “It would also make light of Gerald’s diligence. No, I prefer if things stay like they are.”

  Zeke looked visibly pained as he withdrew his hand. “It was worth a shot.” He gestured for Vincent to follow him and they both sat down. He produced a file from a shelf beside his desk and handed it over to Vincent.

  “Are these the investigation results?” Vincent asked as he flipped through it.

  “They are. I started off with Florence, since it used to belong to me.” Zeke began. The town for Florence belonged to the Redwall family for generations. It recently changed hands a decade ago because of the current lord of Florence and Zeke’s relationship. They were war buddies.

  “So multiple counts of embezzlement and ‘relocation’ adding on with mismanagement of the territory surrounding the town.” Vincent muttered as he read over the report. The current royal family has a high standing amongst the commoners because of their laws that favor the commoners over the nobles. Commoners were giving basic rights and welfare and nobles had to spend a percentage of their taxes on welfare for commoners. Although it would mean less taxes collected by the king, it would mean strong support from the masses.

  Naturally many noble families would be upset, which led to split into three factions within the Eidolon Kingdom: In support for a de-centralized government where nobility held more power, keeping the current centralized government where the royal family was in power, and the neutral faction. Zeke and many of the northern nobles were in this faction. Duke Evergreen was naturally the spiritual leader of the neutral faction regardless of whether he denied the position or not.

  “It would seem my friend has changed since we’ve last spoken,” muttered Zeke.

  “Father, what do you plan to do with this information? There are other reports besides Florence.” Vincent asked as he closed the file.

  “That’s why I called you in here,” sighed Zeke. “I want to know. What are your thoughts, Vince?”

  Vincent thought about the original plot of the novel. Until the end of the civil war, the northern nobles stayed neutral with only a few choosing sides towards the end. The factions were also divided into leaders: the crown prince, third prince, and Duke Evergreen were the leaders of the royal faction, noble faction, and neutral faction respectively.

  The royal faction was able to win because of the MC, but a lot of people’s lives were thrown into chaos because of how destructive and long the civil war took. If Vincent was able to help a bit by…

  “I think it’s best if Father were to punish more of the harsher cases of corruption,” said Vincent as he handed back the file. “Some things like what the Lord of Florence did cannot be excused, especially by the royal family.

  “That makes sense.” Zeke echoed as he understood Vincent’s meaning. “If that’s the case, then I might need to cooperate with the royal family on this matter…”

  “Naturally. Of course, it’s best to overlook the minor cases, since it would be best not to turn everyone against us. We just need to set an example for the rest.”

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  “Haha! Are you looking down on me, Vince? How long do you think I have been in the game?” Zeke laughed as he ushered Vincent out of the room, he had lots of work to do.

  “Sometimes I envy how good Vincent’s father is.” Vincent said to himself. He thought how the original Vincent could do whatever he liked because his father was there to weather the storm of the public opinion.

  He was walking down the hall when a dainty little girl called out his name, “Vince!”

  *Poof!*

  “Bell!” He chuckled as he picked her up. She was already getting too big to be picked up; she was already ten years old. He still picked her up into a big hug though. “Did you make sure Mom ate every meal?”

  “Uh huh! I also made sure Gerald and Daddy and Mommy ate a lot!” Her face beamed as she counted everyone on her fingers.

  “That’s good. You are becoming a very responsible girl now!” He rubbed her head. “Oh, I brought you a present.” He said as he retrieved the package from his bag.

  “What is it?!” Her eyes lit up as her cheeks puffed out like a chipmunks.

  “Open it, then you’ll know.”

  Without another word, the sounds of paper tearing was heard in the hallway followed by a loud…

  “WOW~!” Isabel held up a pink ribbon. “Can Big Brother put it on for me?” She held up the ribbon with pleading eyes. How could he say no to that?

  He didn’t have a comb on him, so he only used his hands and did his best. The result?

  “It might be a little offside…” Vincent began.

  “No! I like it! Thank you Big Brother!” She hugged his neck and ran off saying, “I’m going to show this to everyone!”

  Vincent felt a little warm inside as he watched her run off then returned to his room to rest.

  “It seems that Mom won’t be reliable if I want to find out more about Grandfather,” contemplated Vincent as he rolled the ring around while inspecting it. “What would be ideal is if I were able to see him once more…”

  Suddenly…

  Vincent felt a pulling force as he felt his vison black out. When he opened his eyes once more, he was inside the abyss.

  “So you’ve return.” The domineering man announced. He frowned after a momentary look at Vincent, “You’re still weak, but you’ve grown.”

  “Grandfather.” Vincent looked over the man. The man looked like he was in his fifties and wearing elegant clothes that looked foreign to him; they weren’t clothes traditional to the Eidolon Kingdom.

  “By those words, you must be Kitty’s child…” The man’s fierce look softened somewhat. “I haven’t told her about the ring, since I feared the heavenly tribulations.”

  “Catherine is my mother and my father is Zeke Redwall. If this is true then I really am your grandson. I have so many questions to ask you now that I’ve met you again. Will you please answer them?” Vincent felt his hunger for adventure growing with every passing word between them.

  “Impossible!” shouted the old man. “Kitty’s not married… no that doesn’t matter. You don’t have much time.” He hurriedly flicked through a few panels before a text box appeared in front of Vincent.

===

Origin Magic acquired.

===

  “This is…” Vincent was about to ask but was interrupted by the old man.

  “There’s no more time. Improve your magic before coming back. Reach at the very least 50 in your Magic stat.” Like the previous time, the old man flipped through a few options on his side and Vincent felt a sucking sensation before forcibly ejected from the abyss-like world.

  “Fuu~” Vincent sighed as he laid up in bed. He felt drained of all energy. “I think I understand why he was in such a hurry.” Entering the abyss world must require a lot of energy from the user, maybe it was because of this that his grandfather remained so distant when speaking.

  “Status.”

===

* Status

[Strength] (22)

[Endurance] (25)

[Agility] (25)

[Perception] (36)

[Magic] (6.4)

* Talents

[Flexible Body] (null)

[Origin Magic] (Beginner – Rank 10)

* Titles

[Inheritor of the Aion Ring]

===

  “What is this origin magic, I wonder?” pondered Vincent before he lost himself to sleep.