It was night in the Dragna empire. The king of the newly founded country of Renacido was making his way through the streets of his country. The streets were filled with people who were either working or enjoying themselves. These citizens consisted of both humans and monsters, but there wasn’t any form of conflict to be seen.

“Your Majesty!”

“Don!”

While he walked, his people greeted him which he responded by smiling at them and greeting them in return.

“You’re popular, King Miko.”

Someone appeared walking at Miko’s side as if they were there from the beginning. This person was small in structure like a child. They were wearing a hooded cloak, so their features couldn’t be seen from Miko’s angle.

“Well, I am the king and founder of this country. It would be a problem if I wasn’t popular with my own people.”

“I guess you’re right. So where do you want to talk? If you want to do it here, then I don’t mind.”

“No. I have a place prepared already.”

Miko continued to walk with his head straight as if he didn’t want to acknowledge the person beside him. They walked until they saw a sign that said “Nami”.

“So this is the first town you created that we heard about? It’s nice.”

“Thanks. I had some really skilled people build it for me.”

“Really? Are they the same ones building your capital?”

“I’ll leave that to your imagination. Anyway, we’re here.”

The two arrived in front of a plain-looking house. It didn’t look any different from all the houses around the town. The two entered after Miko opened the door and immediately faced each other.

“We can talk here. This is one of my houses for dealing with business.”

“Whew. It’s pretty heavily guarded.”

The person looked around the empty house and said.

(So they were able to detect all the traps hidden here with one look?)

Miko smiled and placed his hand on the wall. A set of seats and a table appeared out of nowhere.

“Impressive. There are countless spells engraved on the walls. Just one touch can activate a different effect.”

The person took a seat before Miko could offer them one. Miko didn’t mind and took one as well.

“Now then, let’s get down to business. But first, isn’t it rude to hide yourself when talking as equals?”

“My apologies.”

The person chuckled and pulled down the hood that was covering their face. In front of Miko was a little girl. The girl looked to be around 9, had pink hair, a cute face, and two different colored eyes, pink and gold. Miko’s eyes widen when he saw her.

“I never expected to see such a big shot like yourself. Could it be that MYTH is interested in me?”

“Aren’t you the one who contacted us, King Miko?”

“Yes, I did. However, I didn’t expect the Doll Princess herself to come here.”

“I’m surprised you know who this face belongs to. Did you gain that information from Darius Flameheart’s memory? I mean he has done business with us for a long time.”

“Face? Are you saying you’re not the Doll Princess?”

“From that question alone it’s obvious you don’t know much about me. That makes me relieved. Information about us still isn’t easy to get.”

The girl laughed.

“For the sake of this conversation, please call me Mari.”

“Alright, Mari.”

Miko had the same smile on his face from their conversation began. After all, Mari was said to be the name of the Doll Princess he had mistaken her for.

“But I’m surprised, Mari. MYTH are already aware of me inheriting Darius’ memories.”

“Of course. You may not realize this King Miko, but you’ve drawn the attention of a lot of influential people and organizations worldwide. I don’t think I need to explain why. So more people are aware of you than you can even imagine.”

“Oh? So I’m a celebrity?”

Miko started laughing.

“Anyway, as you should know I used Darius’ connections to arrange this meeting with you guys. Darius as Nebulous did a lot of business with you. I still have most of what he bought, you know.”

“I see. Nebulous was indeed an important customer of ours, so we were saddened by his death. But we’re also glad that he lives on inside you.”

Mari tapped the table.

“Let’s cut to the chase, King Miko. You said that you had a business proposition for us. I would like to hear it.”

Miko nodded.

“MYTH, despite being a mysterious organization with its leader and roots unknown, you’re undoubtedly history’s greatest weapons dealers. No, weapon dealers is incorrect. You people are responsible for advancing the world’s technology by 50 years with all of your hi-tech products. It’s more appropriate to call you new age pioneers.”

“You’re praising us too much. Despite what other uses they have, all of our products were designed for warfare.”

Mari replied.

“Either way, you guys are amazing. So amazing that the introductions of your products have caused the Proxy War to evolve into something no one would’ve dreamed of. One doesn’t need to be strong to kill powerful figures anymore. They just need some of your weapons.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Miko placed his hand on the table and it lit up. Before him appeared an oddly shaped gun.

“For example, the Shiva Series’ Trident. The gun is known as the Anti-Proxy Rifle.”

He took the gun and waved it like it was a toy. Mari didn’t seem to mind him holding a weapon in front of her.

“When I was fighting against Darius’ men this gun caused me a lot of trouble. I was lucky that no one seemed to be able to tap into its full potential. You know, the famous Anti-Proxy mode.”

Mari kept smiling without saying anything.

“You guys make it a habit to base your weapons on mythical objects, right? This was based on Shiva’s Trident which explains its destructive capabilities.”

Miko placed the gun down.

“I’m so impressed that I want to make a long-term deal with you.”

“Oh? Can you tell me what that is?”

Miko lifted a finger.

“We will buy weapons from you and only you for ten years. If we break this agreement we will still pay you ten years' worth of compensation regardless of how many years out of the 10 have passed. Meaning that even if we break it 9 years into the deal we’ll still have to pay you for an additional decade.”

“I’m grateful to hear that, but what do you want in return?”

“Exclusive rights to be the first to buy your new products. Meaning that you’ll sell us weapons before they’re even on the market.”

“I see. That way you’ll always be ahead of the competition. However, I don’t know if it’s a fair deal. A deal like this can ruin our reputation and cause the misconception that we’re displaying favoritism towards you and your country. This could make us lose customers.”

“True, but if you accept this deal there’s a chance that you’ll gain a lot of profit in the long run.”

“Oh, how?”

Miko grinned.

“Free advertisement.”

He started tapping his fingers on the table and made a joyful tone.

“I’ll let you on a secret, Mari. Renacido will be taking part in a lot of battles in the future. Some huge, some small, some major some minor. Either way, there will be lots of chances to use your weapons.”

He spread his arms.

“Imagine this. An army of monsters wielding Tridents marching into country after country burning them to the ground. Now imagine that same scene with your other weapons? Won’t people see the power of your products and rush to buy them? Regardless of whether I win or lose your products will be showcased to the world. Isn’t that the best advertisement you can ask for?”

“….King Miko, Just how many battles are you planning on fighting?”

“I don’t know. As much as necessary.”

“Your enemy?”

“The world.”

Miko answered with no hesitation.

“Hahaha!”

Mari suddenly burst out laughing.

“You’re freaking insane, you know that?”

She wiped the tears from her eyes from laughing too hard.

“But I can’t think of a better person to advertise our products. The more wars you fight, the more money we’ll make. I don’t see the problem considering your personality.”

Mari stood up and offered her hand. Miko stood up and shook hands with her.

“Are you able to make an important decision like this without permission?”

“Ah, don’t worry. As you know my identity is a bit special within MYTH.”

“I see. Then I look forward to our future business endeavors.”

“Likewise.”

The two smiled at each other with their hands still grasping the other.

“By the way, King Miko. What do you think about this era?”

“What do I think?”

Mari nodded.

“Have you ever felt like this world, this era of arrogant gods using mortals to play their sick game, have you ever felt like everything was wrong and needed to be corrected?”

Miko was silent for a while before he answered with a smile.

“I’ve never thought about it that deeply. I’m a simple man with a simple goal. It’s just that this world makes it look like it’s the hardest thing to achieve.”

“And what are you trying to achieve?”

“Peace.”

“And yet you spoke about war so enthusiastically?”

“War is only a means to achieve my desired end.”

Mari remained silent for a bit before releasing Miko’s hand.

“I see. I understand. I’ll talk to my higher-ups about everything that we spoke about today.”

“Please do.”

Soon after, Mari left leaving no trace that she was there.

“What do you think?”

He spoke in the empty room. Soon Alec appeared out of nowhere.

“She likes you. She likes you a lot.”

Alec said.

“I don’t know. I think she saw through me.”

“She did, but you still left an impression on her. So she doesn’t mind.”

“The deal I propose stated that I had to buy weapons only from MYTH, but it never said anything about making my own weapons. Also, it never stated how many weapons I needed to buy. I could simply buy one weapon per month.”

“Trust me. She realized this, but because she saw potential in you she’s considering it an investment.”

“Sounds like you know her well.”

“You can say that. She was also aware that I was around too. She sure has thick skin.”

Alec laughed.

“About what she said before she left…..Is it me or was she trying to recruit me to join something?”

“I thought so as well.”

Alec started to think.

“Could MYTH be a part of New Era?”

“New Era? What’s that?”

Alec shrugged and shook his head.

“I have no idea, but it’s something that has all of the Branch leaders on their toes. So it can’t be anything to laugh at.”

“New Era, huh?”

Miko repeated the name before smiling.

“Sounds like something fun.”

Miko’s words caused Alec to laugh.

“You don’t even know if they’re our enemies yet, you look like you’re ready to join them.”

“Forget that. Do you think you can replicate MYTH’s technology?”

“You’re planning on creating our own weapons using MYTH’s technology as inspiration, huh? Well, if I have Gizmo’s help it would be possible.”

“Alright, you can talk to him about it later. Also, my conversation with Mari made me realize that I lack information. In any era information is priceless and it’s something that you can’t have too much of. It will definitely be essential in the future.”

“Information, huh? You’re thinking of creating your own information-gathering organization?”

Miko nodded.

“Well, good luck with that. I need to head back and work on the drug you asked for.”

Alec started to leave.

“Yeah, good work.”

Alec left leaving Miko alone in the building. Miko stood around as if pondering something before leaving himself. He started walking down the street which was now less crowded because of how late it was. He had his hands in his pockets and was whistling a joyful tone.

“!”

He jumped and spun in the air like a rolling pin. Two streaks of light, one above and one below, passed him. He twisted his body and landed on his feet before leaping backward.

*Bam!*

The spot he was standing at a second before exploded when a huge hammer slammed down and smashed the ground.

“Whew~.”

Miko whistled in admiration and looked at the person who just attacked him. It was a huge beast of a person with hideous looking face and green skin. It was a troll.

“I was thinking that it was just around time for assassins to come after me.”

Miko’s glimpsed around him and saw even more trolls holding huge axes. These were the ones who attacked him earlier by slashing at his legs and head simultaneously causing him to twist his body to avoid it.

“But I gotta say, my enemies have bad taste. They know that I love monsters so they sent monsters to kill me.”

“We heard about you, King of Monsters. You accept outcasts like us which is respectable.”

The troll holding the hammer spoke.

“This isn’t anything personal. Just business.”

Miko nodded.

“I completely agree. You can’t mix business with your emotions. That’s the best way to survive.”

He stretched his palm out and water immediately started gathering above it. The water formed a ball that continuously rotated at high speeds.

“That’s why I’ll separate my emotions from business right here.”

Miko moved like a leaf caught in the wind and arrived in front of the troll with the ax. The troll swung down the ax. Miko thrust the sphere of water at the ax.

*Bam!*

The ax shattered and the sphere continued toward the troll’s arms.

“Ahhhh?!”

The troll screamed as his arms were shredded into pieces. He wailed and fell to his knees staring at his arms which were no more than stumps.

“Hydrosphere, it’s basically compressed water constantly spinning at a high velocity. It can tear things up like a blender. Pretty useful don’t you agree?”

Miko turned to the other trolls.

“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you. I need to know who hired you first. Although, I doubt you’ll know.”

He showed a smile.

“Either way, it won’t hurt to try. Well, me that is.”

Sometime later, Miko was seen once again walking alone.

“As I thought, they didn’t know anything.”

Blood dripped from his fingers and stained the ground.

“Looks like things are finally heating up.”

A huge grin appeared on his face.

“It’s about time. I was getting bored of this kingdom-building arc. I’m ready for a bloody period filled with death and excitement and I’m sure everyone is too.”