The Simulacrum

As I slumped down onto the barstool in front of me, I was met with a wide grin and a chipper, "[Do you require any refreshments?]" from the elderly Faun casually shining a shot glass on the other side.

"Please stop pretending to be a bartender and give me a bottle of soda."

"[Thine words carry quite the oxymoron,]" Brang told me with a chuckle, and it took inhuman willpower to stop myself from groaning.

"I won't even question why your language even has the word 'oxymoron', so could we just skip the banter? It's been a tiresome day."

"[Aye, I have seen it with mine own eyes.]" As he was saying that, he opened the minibar, took out a bottle of cold coke, and filled up two clean glasses.

I was just about to ask, but the question became moot when a spirited voice exclaimed, "Thank you, Brang-san!" right next to me, and a pair of small hands grabbed one of the glasses.

"Welcome, little one," the old Faun said with a toothy smile, and the tiny miko returned the gesture from her seat on top of the barstool right next to mine.

"On your own?" I asked, and Ichiko nodded at once. "What about the others?"

She waved for me to wait, downed her drink in one go, and only then did she tell me, "Judy-sama's group accompanied the knight-sans to their barracks, Josh-san and Angie-san left to visit the kitchen, Snowy-sama and Penny-sama are playing with Penny-sama's watch, and Elly-sama went to the quarter of the wise men to talk about signing papers, because they are too scared to come out."

"They are the last thing I'd call 'wise'," I grumbled. "And what do you mean they are scared? Scared of what?"

"Ki-hi-hi! Not what, but who!" a new voice joined us, and by the time I faced the newcomer, our atypical bartender already placed a stein of chilled beer onto the counter in anticipation of our chief mad scientist, in all of his flannel-shirted glory. "Thanks, general!"

"Welcome."

The two of them completely ignored my disapproving squint, and Fred blithely started on his drink. "Bottom's up!" In the end, he only finished a little less than half of it before he put the jug back down and uttered a bewildered 'What?', inciting a torrent of uncontrolled giggles from the girl on my other side.

"First off, you have a foam-stache, so wipe your face. After that, I'd appreciate it if you'd explain your previous comment."

"Oh, sure, boss." Like clockwork, Brang handed Fred a paper towel, and after cleaning his upper lip, he told me, "Ki-hi-hi! Of course, they're afraid of you, boss. Who else?"

"You know that this place is filled with people much scarier than I am, right?"

"Maybe, but none of them can threaten their budgets like you can," Fred countered with a triumphant grin, drawing even more giggles out of the peanut gallery.

"Maybe if they stuck to the safety protocols like I told them to, I wouldn't have had to threaten them," I shot back, and the man shrugged like it was none of his problem. "Seriously, just how hard is it to keep those tiny shoggoth things in their kennels?"

"Surprisingly so," he noted before taking another gulp from his jug. "They aren't called Autonomous Inorganic Material Recycling Organisms for nothing."

"That's still a mouthful, and it didn't answer my question at all."

"But, ue-sama?" Ichiko called out to me while tugging on my elbow. "Is it really bad if they are outside? They aren't hurting anyone."

"That may be, but they're still creepy flesh-balls crawling over the furniture and ceiling. Imagine how the Knights would've reacted if they saw the place!"

The tiny miko was obviously unconvinced, but didn't press the issue, and I took the momentary lull in the conversation to get started on my own drink before it went completely flat. Truth be told, she wasn't completely wrong. While the micro-shoggoths looked a touch disturbing at first glance, they were practically harmless, and for some reason they really liked me. Or rather, 'it' really liked me. They were something of a hive-mind, if their creator was to be believed, though I wasn't entirely clear on the details. Also, for the record, I wasn't talking about Fred, but one of the newcomers; it was the woman with the modulated voice who looked like she used a Tesla coil instead of a comb in the morning.

I, in an innocent folly of youth, gave her the remains of the Chimera for experimentation, without much oversight, and the next day I came over, the whole place was crawling with the tiny buggers. They were apparently designed to eat waste, from dust and communal trash to the debris resulting from the expansion of the underground complex, and turn them into uniformly sized building blocks, which was admittedly a noble goal.

Too bad they were practically impossible to keep locked up, because they were crafty little runts, and quickly learned how to open locked doors in their free time. On the bright side, at least they were both docile and capable of following commands, so I could gather them up in just a couple of minutes and then pretend that nothing was out of the ordinary while I introduced the Knights to the base.

Once the basic introductions were over and they stopped gawking at the Fauns and the Kage ninjas, I laid down a few house rules of cohabitation, and let them loose to explore their new home for the foreseeable future. There might've been a few other events I skimmed over, but let's not sweat the small details. In the end, I ended up here, with a half-ram muscleman pretending to be a bartender, a tipsy mad scientist, and a pouting little miko. As usual, my life was weird as all hell.

"Ki-hi-hi? So, what's the plan, boss?"

Fred's question jolted me out of my thoughts, and it took me a moment to recollect them again.

"The plan, huh? Well, originally I wanted to introduce the Knights to the world during tomorrow's banquet, but considering the circumstances, it's probably best to leave it for later and test the waters first. I couldn't finish their Uniformers in time anyway, so this gives me some leeway to catch up. For the time being, hand their armors back to them. I believe you said you're already done experimenting on them."

"Experimenting never ends, but yes, we have reached a point of diminishing returns."

"The undersuits?"

"Ki-hi-hi! Version two-point-seven-point-two is already under production. Verne was coincidentally working on something similar before he joined us, and his insights gave a huge boost to the project."

For the record, Verne was the kid with the steampunk gear and the top-hat. In any case, this was certainly good news. I could never have too many hidden cards up my sleeve after all.

"You know, boss, I'm curious about something too. How is the progress on the new equipment transposers? You said you couldn't finish them on time, but I'm pretty sure I saw your sisters with one."

"That's just the second prototype. The two of them worked together when designing the uniform, so I cooked up a beta version so they could see how it looked on her. It doesn't have the wards yet, only the Oath interface and the exchanging enchantment."

"Ah, that reminds me!" Fred snapped his fingers and pointed at me. "Wells is interested in the Oaths. He's been researching artificial mana injection in the past, but ran into a wall, so he wanted to know if you could help him restart his research. Imagine that! Being able to freely grant the ability to use mana to anyone you want! It will completely upend the common sense of the world of Mystics!"

"That's not exactly a good thing, nor part of my short-term plans," I responded flatly while I tried to remember which one of them was Wells. Since I couldn't, I moved on and told him, "Still, if he has some experience in the field, he might be able to help me with our Oath bottleneck, so tell him I'll sit down with him one of these days."

"Bottleneck?" Brang uttered on the side, unexpectedly interested in our conversation. Even Ichiko looked curious, so I figured I might as well oblige them.

"The Knights' Oaths have to be taken in sequence, and it involves a ritual that carves a new port into their Astral Body one at a time. It's quite traumatic, and the receiver requires several months of recuperation between each Oath. It wasn't a huge problem for them, because they only had so many sets of armor lying around and there was plenty of time to nurture the next generation, but if we tried to make all the Squires get the full set of Oaths, it would take them out of commission for up to a year. If we want to expand our organization at a non-glacial pace, we really need to come up with a better method."

"So… does ue-sama also have these… um… port-things?" the girl on my right inquired while Brang refilled her glass, and I nodded. "Did it hurt?"

"I don't know. I don't remember."

My amnesia was more or less an open secret at this point, so I didn't beat around the bush.

"Oath, broken? Hurt?" came the next question, this time from the Faun general, and he really sounded like he was struggling to get his question across, but didn't use Faunish for the benefit of the others.

"Also can't remember, but Penny said it should. Breaking one also permanently reduces the amount of mana a Knight can circulate, so one of these days we'll also have to look into repairing the any broken ports."

"So if ue-sama broke an Oath, it would break the port? But… why?"

"You mean, why the connections are tied to actual oaths? I can only guess, but it's probably some kind of safety measure the Celestials set up in case of the Knights going rogue. It obviously didn't have the desired effect."

"[It was the work of the Winged Ones of Elysium?]" Brang blurted out in surprise, his sudden growling startling Fred in the process.

"The Brotherhood was originally set up by them to harass the Draconians, and their initial equipment also came from them, so that's my best educated guess."

"Devious. As expected."

"In any case, that's another thing we have to look into. While these Oaths are nice for some chivalric roleplay, they are too big of a liability to just let them be."

"Ki-hi-hi! Just another reason to work on a replacement! Wells is going to be over the moon when he hears about this!"

"We'll see."

I was content to end the conversation there and have a brief spell of silence, but my expectations were dashed when my sisters came over.

"Brother, listen!" Penny exclaimed the moment she arrived, and she opened her arms wide, probably to show off her uniform.

As I mentioned, the two of them created the design the last time she came over to my house. I needed one because, unlike with the original Magiformers, I couldn't just copy our school uniform with some small modifications and call it a day. At first I requested a more practical military design from Snowy, but it was vetoed by Penny, and her current outfit was the end result.

It consisted of a short, white dress coat over a long-sleeved shirt of the same color, matching trousers, and flat-heeled boots, also white. The coat had some black hexagonal patterns one the collar and the cuffs, and around the chest area, there was a stylized unicorn logo embroidered into the fabric, derived from the one on the back of the phone case I gifted her. The whole outfit was form-fitting, but fairly modest, and had the general air of a simple dress uniform without the rank insignias.

Anyhow, Penny was still holding her arms open, as if waiting for me to respond, and I did so with neutral, "I'm listening."

"So, I tried moving around in these clothes, and while I admit the way I can just transform into them is really cool, I have a few suggestions."

While Penny was beaming with confidence, the way Snowy was fidgeting told me that whatever she had in mind, I probably wasn't going to approve.

"I'm still listening."

"Great! So, I've discussed this with Neige, and we both agree that the boot should have a higher heel."

"Really? And why exactly do you think so?"

"It would help me look taller and more imposing!" my newer sister declared with absolute confidence, as if her reasoning was foolproof.

"I don't think a few extra centimeters are going to increase your chances to intimidate anyone, but it's certainly going to make it easier for you to break your ankle," I pointed out, much to her disappointment.

"I told you he won't agree," Snowy whispered on the side, but Penny remained steadfast and whispered back with gusto.

"That's why we started with this one, so the rest are going to seem more reasonable in comparison. It's a basic negotiation tactic brother taught me."

"But if he taught you, then he'll know what you're doing."

"He would if he still had his memories. Trust me, I've got this."

I… really wanted to point out that I could hear them, but it was nice seeing them getting along even better than before, so my brotherly heart couldn't bear disturbing them until they finished.

"What should we bring up next? The stockings?"

"No, we have to soften him up with something easy first."

"Leo likes things that are practical, so… the belt?"

"Good thinking!" Once they came to an agreement, Penny turned back to me and raised the flaps of her dress coat. "Listen, Brother. Even if we are supposed to wear these in public, we still have to hang our weapons somewhere, so can you add a sword belt to the uniform?"

"Could make shoulder belt," Brang noted on the side, and while Penny was slightly startled, as if she just noticed the enormous Faun on the other side of the bar, Showy perked up at once.

"Do you mean a baldric?" She made a gesture as if she was tugging on something hanging from her shoulder, and Brang smiled. "I have a few prototype designs for that as well."

"Sounds reasonable enough. I'll add it to the next iteration."

By the looks of it, Penny was still a little lost, as it took her a second to realize I gave me approval.

"That's neat too, but I would prefer a simple belt. Might look good on Duncan though. Oh, but more importantly, can I have a hat?"

"A hat?" I repeated after her. I recalled snowy showing me a couple of early sketches with those flat top hats worn by police patrols, but they looked pretty silly with this outfit. "I thought we already ditched the idea."

"But I'd still like one! Specifically, a beret!"

"It would still fit the theme of the uniform," Snowy backed her up, and Penny doubled down.

"Yes! And then, we could all have our own emblems on the beret too! It would look so cool!"

"… Fine. Give me some references later, and I'll see what I can do."

"Yesss!" Penny raised her hand for a high-five, but it took Snowy several long seconds to realize what she wanted and to give her a limp slap. Not that she minded, as she turned back to me with the same enthusiasm and declared, "Let's talk about the trousers next!"

"Let's. Is there a problem with them?"

"Not a problem, but more of a…" my youngest sister murmured, and… now that I think about it, I never asked Penny about her age. Well, whatever. I was about ninety-five percent sure Snowy was about a year younger than what her fake ID said anyway, so youngest it is.

"They're easy to move in, but you know I run a lot, right?" A nodded with the intent 'That's an understatement' in it, but she remained blissfully oblivious. "So, I was thinking: since the coat reaches down to my thighs anyway, why don't we replace the trousers with something lighter, like long socks?"

That made my brows descend at once, as I had a sneaking suspicion about where this was going.

"How long are we talking about?"

"About this high?" Penny placed the edge of her palms against her legs, about a palm under the bottom of her coat. When I didn't respond right away, she looked back up and uttered an apprehensive, "What?"

"And you wouldn't be wearing anything else."

"I would still wear underwear, obviously. Or maybe hot pants?"

"Spats would be more appropriate," Snowy pointed out, and my other sister agreed with a nod.

"No, they wouldn't," I cut in and brought all the weight of my disapproving big-brotherly frown to bear. "You are not going to have zettai ryouiki on your official uniform."

"Oh, oh! I understood that!" Ichiko interjected with an excited glint in her eyes than clouded over when she asked, "But what does 'absolute territory' have to do with clothes? Is it some kind of ward, or shield?"

While I vacillated over how to explain this to the oldest and yet somehow most innocent person around the bar, Fred let out a derisive chuckle.

"Ki-hi-hi! Don't be silly! Zettai ryouiki refers to the bare skin showing between a girl's skirt and stockings. It's exceedingly common in mangas." It was at this point that the slightly tipsy mad scientist noticed the look I was giving him, and he immediately went on the defensive. "What? I have hobbies too, you know! You can't expect me to be all science, all the time!"

After some consideration, I realized this was a rabbit hole I didn't want anything to do with, so I promptly ignored the fuming guy and turned back to my sisters and their pleading eyes. Well, Penny's at any rate. Snowy looked more embarrassed than anything.

"Pleeease?" I maintained my disapproving silence, so she soon gave up and raised her hands into the air in surrender. "Fine, whatever. Forget about the leggings, but listen! This uniform is comfy, but a little thick. It's okay right now, but it's going to be a paaain during the summer."

"What are you getting at?"

"I mean, we were wondering if you could make a lighter version? You know? Short sleeves, short pants, or maybe a skirt? Oh, and if we're on the topic, could you make the coat shorter?"

"... How short are we talking about?"

This time she put her fingers just under her rib cage, making me doubt my eyes for a moment.

"You want a combat uniform that shows off your midriff," I channeled my inner Judy, but she didn't get the message, and nodded with a sweet smile.

"Does it really matter? There would be wards to protect me, so what if it shows off just a little bit of skin?"

"Wards or no wards, you're not going into battle with your stomach exposed. That's non-negotiable."

"Oh, come on! Pretty please?"

"Don't even try to be cute, it's not gonna work," I warned her, and when she switched over to pouting instead, I let out a long breath and asked, "Why do would you even want something like that?"

"Of course, you wouldn't understand!" she burst out and even stomped her feet. "You're a boy, so you don't care about these things, but do you have any idea how it felt for me to wear my armor all the time? Especially during the summer? All the heat and sweat and urgh! It was so icky! Is it really that unreasonable for me to ask for something more breathable for a change?"

"Well, no, but..." My objection was countered by an enormous pout before it even had a chance to coalesce, so in the end I took a step back and told her, "Fine. So long as you can give me a design, you can have an alternative uniform for summer. However, if I catch even a glimpse of a belly button on those sketches, they are out. Did I make myself clear?"

"Yes! You see? I told you he'd come around!"

"The short coat is off the table though," my other sister responded a touch dourly, but it did nothing to her enthusiasm.

"It's a compromise. So, can I rely on your help again? Please? I'll buy you another pie in the cafeteria!"

"Y-You don't really have to. Drawing these is good practice and also fun."

"No, I insist!"

"In that case... maybe a slice?"

I had to try hard to keep a dopey smile from spreading on my face, as I apparently wasn't the only one who found the sight wholesome.

"W-what are you laughing at?" Penny raised her voice and pointed a flustered finger at the little miko, currently holding her third glass.

"I'm not laughing. I just think it's nice that ue-sama's sisters are getting along so well."

"W-Wait, don't jump to conclusions like that on your own! It's... not like I like her or anything."

"You don't?" Snowy blurted out in surprise, and after freezing up for a second, Penny frantically turned to face her and waved her hands in a panic.

"No, that's not what I meant! I mean, I don't dislike you at all, it's just that you're a Seducer and I expected something completely different but then it turned out you're nice and you helped me and even lent me your notes and I wasn't expecting you to be so nice and... Auuu... This is sooo awkward!"

"So do you like her or not?" I proceeded to tease her a little. "Because from where I'm sitting, it sounds like you do."

"Argh! Okay, fine! A little! I like her a little! This much!"

She illustrated her point by showing his thumb and index finger like she was holding an invisible egg. I was tempted to point out that when using that gesture, keeping your fingers that far apart meant more than 'a little', but I never got the opportunity. At this point not only Ichiko, but even Brang and Fred were chuckling, so my beet red sister let out a frustrated groan and grabbed Snowy's hand.

"Let's go! There's no point staying here when they're just going to make fun of us!"

I was fairly sure nobody did that, but she followed along anyway, though not before giving us a timid little wave.

"Ki-hi-hi. Never a dull moment in your life, eh, boss?"

"You can say that again," I replied a touch wearily and turned in my seat to face the bar again, only to stop when my feet landed on something soft with a 'Nyu!' sound.

I glanced down and after the obligatory roll of the eye, I reached over and picked up the little critter.

"Three questions: why are you here, why are you looking so happy that I stepped on you, and why on Earth are you purring?"

The one-eyed meatball didn't give me an answer, but instead it redoubled its purring efforts and dangled its many appendages like it wanted to get onto my lap.

"Aw! He really likes you!" Ichiko chimed in between giggles, and while I couldn't disagree with her, her affectionate tone made this whole situation even more surreal. I had a sneaking suspicion that she was feeling some kind of kinship with the little buggers, as they were both 'born' from the flesh of the dead chimera, but the way she was looking at the thing in my hand was still a tad incongruous. Insert a tasteless joke about Japanese girls really liking their tentacle monsters here.

"Ah, you found it!" a familiar voice exclaimed from nearby, and by the time I looked over, Rinne was already right next to me. "My apologies, Leonard-dono! I thought we gathered up all of them, but I was just notified that one was still unaccounted for."

"Well, here it is." Saying so, I lightly tossed the mini-shoggoth over to her, and she not only expertly caught it, she held it to her chest, probably so that it couldn't escape her grasp.

It was giving me a classic 'abandoned puppy in the rain' gaze, which was impressive, considering it was a meatball with only one large eye. It was also marginally effective.

"Fine. I'll play with you in the evening, so behave yourself."

I wasn't sure how intelligent this thing was, or whether it could understand the spoken word, but it did have some effect. Namely, it started purring again. Then it let out a loud meow.

"Excuse me, but what?"

"Ah, I must return this yokai to its home! Until we meet again, Leonard-dono!"

And just like that, Rinne walked away with a suspiciously hurried pace, leaving us in just a touch baffled.

"A dull moment. Never," Brang echoed Fred's previous sentiment, and I could only manage a tired sigh before ordering another drink. And to think that this morning I imagined this would be a just straightforward, sensible day serving as the calm before the storm of tomorrow's conference...

"Have I ever told you that I really don't like parties that much?"

"Only five times in the last half an hour," Judy responded flatly and fixed my collar again. "Here. Looks good to me."

"Wow. I never thought you would look that intimidating in a suit," Josh commented from the other side of the room, which was rich coming from him, considering he was also wearing one with his hair slicked back, and it made him look like a young gangster.

"I know, right?" Elly agreed maybe just a touch too enthusiastically. "He looks so awesome! Hey, Leo? Can you try glaring at me?"

"Like this?" I indulged her, and she let out an honest to goodness squee.

"Your standards for attractiveness are weird," my dearest assistant noted with feigned disinterest, and my draconic girlfriend all but jumped on her.

"No, it's not! Even you can't deny that he looks great in that suit!"

"I never did. I really don't want him to glare at me though."

"Must be a dragon-thing," I surmised and raised my arms in a T-pose. "So, do I look decent enough to appear in public with you two?"

"More than decent enough," Judy stated emphatically, then added, "Maybe a bit too decent. You might steal the spotlight."

"I sincerely doubt it. You two aren't exactly wearing potato sacks either, you know?"

In fact, my girlfriends looked even lovelier than usual this evening. They already had their makeup done in preparation for the banquet, and the two of them wore matching evening dresses; Elly's a fiery red, while Judy's a calmer beige just a shade darker than the bow in her hair. She had a couple of different ones by now, but she insisted on wearing this one, as it was my first-month anniversary gift to her, and so she picked a dress that would complement it. I was pretty sure normally it was the other way around, with people choosing accessories that fit their outfit, but she was really attached to that bow, so I accommodated her wish. Or rather the Dracis maids did, but I paid for the dress, so six of one, half a dozen the other.

As for my outfit, Sebastian absolutely insisted that I had to make a strong first impression, so on top of the usual black shirt and trousers, I was given leather shoes, a richly embroidered high-collar black tuxedo right out of a Victorian period movie set, a bright red tie, and an actual silver pocket watch with its chain hanging out of a pocked designed just to hold it. That was already a bit of an overkill in my opinion, but then they even wanted me to have a silver cane with a dragon-head handle too, which I managed to avoid with a combination of logical reasoning, firm denial, and just a hint of pleading.

Considering how much Sebastian was fussing over my ensemble, I had a feeling these might've been his hand-me-downs. Josh, on the other hand, was wearing a simple modern business suit Lord Grandpa loaned to him. That was a story in and of itself, and if this was a sitcom, this would've been the point where the screen would go all wavy and we'd have a flashback to this morning. Nobody got time for that, so here's the footnotes version of the events leading to the current situation:

Lord Grandpa got invited to the banquet. Since he was invited, Ammy also got an invitation as his only kin. Because she's bad with crowds (or at least Angie insisted so), Josh volunteered to accompany her, but then the childhood friends got into an argument over it, Josh admitted he had ulterior motives (read: the exotic food), so Angie volunteered herself as his escort to keep him in check (read: so that she could have some of those delicacies too). Speaking of which...

"Wow! Leo looks snazzy!" the energetic celestial exclaimed as she entered the room. She was wearing a light blue dress that Judy identified as a 'haiter'. She also had her hair up in a fancy woven bun and looked even prettier than usual. Objectively speaking, of course. Subjectively, Judy and Elly looked better, but I wasn't insensitive enough to voice that out loud, even if I was obviously right and anyone saying otherwise was just asking for a smack upside their head.

But back to the morning: After they made up their minds all on their own, the childhood friend duo soon realized that they had no fitting clothes for the occasion. As it turned out, Josh's suit for the Christmas ball was at the tailor, because he grew out of it since last year, while Angie insisted that her ball gown was fine for the Christmas dance, but it was too old-fashioned for a high-society party. Since they weren't in the original plans, and I didn't want to impose on my in-laws the last second, I had to gently persuade the resident Arch-Mage to kindly take care of the problem.

As for why I was so accommodating, it was because this was a blindingly obvious setup to get Josh involved in the 'main plot', and I had a feeling that if I shut him out, he was probably going to get entangled in it some unexpected and eminently annoying way anyway, so it was best to keep him where I could see him. I also had a hunch that this might be another 'event' between him and Angie, and getting in the way of that would've been a dick move. Speaking of which, considering they were experiencing a lot more of those as of late, could it be that the Simulacrum also acknowledged their relationship slowly growing past the UST stage? And if so, could we be on the cusp of potentially entering one of those fabled 'routes' we theorized so much about?

All of that was beside the point though, at least for the time being. Right now, I had three things to worry about: making a good first impression on the gathered Draconians, rebuffing Elly's suitor firmly enough so that he'd get the message, but not so harshly where he would screw my plans over out of spite, and keeping an eye on any possibility of a tournament arc and, if necessary, shutting it down with extreme prejudice.

"Are you ready?" We all turned towards the source of the impatient question, the recently arrived butler. He looked over me in turn, and let out a thoughtful hum. "It is true after all. Clothes do make the man. In that outfit, you're almost dashing, my boy."

I graciously ignored the unnecessary 'almost' he wedged into his compliment and pointed at the old man's head instead.

"Isn't the monocle a bit too much?"

Sebastian all but scoffed at my comment and theatrically readjusted the piece of glass sitting in his orbit.

"Don't be daft, my boy. A prestigious meeting like this demands a certain level of elegance from every participant. Even I, the lowly steward, must abide by the rules of high society."

"Sure, that's your excuse, but what's the true reason behind you wearing it?"

"I like it," he answered so frankly it stumped me for a moment.

"Then I suppose it's lucky it suits you," a said after gathering my wits, and the incognito dragon gave me an appreciative facial expression that was like a repeating decimal fraction; infinitely approaching a smile, but never really getting there.

"Are the Eastern Draconians at the banquet yet?" Judy inquired on the side, and the old butler shook his head.

"No, I'm afraid not. Only the guests from the more distinguished Western bloodlines have arrived so far. If I would have to hazard a guess, I would say our Eastern kin are gathering somewhere else, and they are planning to arrive together in a show of unity."

"In other words, they are going to make a grand entrance and try to one-up everyone present," I posited, and the old man agreed with a smirk.

"Precisely. And that's why we must make your entrance one that would not pale in comparison."

"Personally, I'd prefer to quietly slip in. There's going to be plenty of opportunities to draw everyone's attention later."

"Chief, you're jinxing it again."

"No, I'm not. I'm just being a realist. If this banquet ends without a single incident, I'll eat my hat."

"You don't even have a hat," Josh ever so helpfully pointed out, earning a sideways look for his trouble.

"I just told you I'm a realist. I'm hedging my bets."

"So you want to make a subtle entrance?" Sebastian grabbed the reins of the conversation again.

"Yes. We should mingle a little first. Once dad-in-law announces the engagement, we'll be in the center of attention and gossiping anyway, and at that point we wouldn't be able to do it even if we tried."

"Everyone present already knows of your engagement. The rascal made sure to notify the guests ahead of time, but knowing him, the official proclamation is sure to be needlessly attention-grabbing." He silently considered things again, and ultimately nodded his head. "Very well. You do make a fair point. It would be certainly beneficial if you could make some connections before the announcement."

I didn't expect Sebastian to agree with me so easily, so I hit the iron while it was still hot.

"Precisely. Let's go with that plan."

"Seconded," Josh supported my motion with a raised hand. "I don't like being in the center of attention either."

"You're just saying that because you want to sneakily raid the smorgasbord," Angie quipped on the side, and her childhood friend didn't even bother to deny the accusation.

"You are definitely not going to be in the center of attention in any case, but very well," Sebastian noted a tad sourly before turning back to be. "Let us not tarry any longer. Follow me."

As if waiting for their cue, the girls lined up by my sides, while Josh and Angie trailed just a few steps behind us as we followed in the old butler's footsteps and headed for the venue of the banquet. Unsurprisingly enough, the Dracis mansion had a hall specifically for this purpose, and while normally it was supposed to be accessed through the large double-doors opening to the gardens, due to the weather, we used the second entrance to get in.

Needless to say, the grand hall was about as uselessly opulent as one would've expected, with enough marble to make a small Greek temple, more hardwood than it takes to make forestry mascots cry, and an enormous crystal chandelier I wouldn't want to stand under. Structurally speaking, the place could be divided into three main zones. On the two sides, there were tables full of cold cuts, pastries, and various drinks, and this is where most of the guests mingled. In the middle, there was an open space for dancing, but at the moment only a few people idled there. As for the music, it was provided by the quartet sitting on the raised area at the far end of the hall. The same area also had a long table with chairs only on one side, arranged so that they could overlook the whole place, and obviously reserved for the guests of honor. At the moment, only mom-in-law, Lord Grandpa, and a few older folks I couldn't recognize were sitting there, already engrossed in discussion.

"I don't see Ammy anywhere," Angie spoke with a hand over her eyes like she was shielding them from the sun, kind of ruining the refined look her outfit gave her.

"Let's find her," Josh declared at once, and after a curt mood towards the rest of us, they disappeared into the crowd.

After carefully looking over the place, searching for familiar faces, I got just slightly alarmed by actually finding one. I took a second glance, just to be sure, and even verified it with Far Sight, just to be extra sure. Only after confirming my hunch beyond the shadow of a doubt, and steeling my face, did I turn to the girls and propose, "Let's split. If we are together, they'll immediately figure out who we are."

"Chief. You do remember what happened the last time you left the two of us alone, right?"

"You mean at the ice rink? Please, Dormouse. This isn't a public place with random helpful people trying to be nice to you and nothing else, without any ulterior motives whatsoever."

"No matter how much you keep insisting on your version of the events, it won't change the fact that we were hit on by a group of scary hooligans."

"I don't know why you keep saying that. I thought it was funny," Elly chimed in, but my dearest assistant remained steadfast.

"Well, there aren't any hooligans here, so you should be fine."

"... Chief, I don't want to question your character or anything, but are you purposefully setting us up for a similar situation again, just so that you can swoop in the last second like a prince on a white horse?"

"No, I'm not. Also, nothing of the like would happen, because Sebastian will be looking after you."

"Will I?"

"Yes, you certainly will," I emphasized, but the old man only shook his head.

"I'm afraid I'll have to welcome the other guests, and..." It was at this point he finally noticed the insistent glare I was giving him, and after a short but intense session of eyebrow-based communications, he finally relented with a grudging, "But I suppose I can spare a few minutes."

One appreciative nod later I turned back to the girls and flashed my best smile.

"You see. Nothing bad could happen with him hovering around you. Now, shoo, and have as much fun as you can before the inevitable kerfuffle."

"You're still jinxing it," my dearest assistant grumbled, but my other girlfriend didn't care and grabbed hold of her hand.

"Come on, Judy! I'll introduce you to some people I know! I hope Vivien is here too. I used to go to school with her back in Berlin, and I haven't seen her in years!"

"Yes, you do that. Socializing is important."

My insistence only made Judy more suspicious. Elly, on the other hand, agreed wholeheartedly, and quickly dragged my skeptical assistant away, with the grouchy butler following after them. I waved them goodbye, and waited until they were out of sight before I zeroed in on my target and walked over to him at a brisk pace. He had his back turned to me, and since he didn't react when I pointedly cleared my throat right behind him, I reached out and placed a firm hand on the familiar waiter's shoulder.

"Care to explain what you're doing?"

The young man let out a frightened yelp as he threw me off and frantically whirled around, only to then freeze and let out a weird noise that I interpreted as a sign of relief, and then he whispered, "Why did you have to scare me like that?! I thought my cover got blown!"

"Do I look like I care? Now, please answer the first question."

The young man under the obviously fake moustache and wig conspicuously glanced around, and gestured towards the nearest corner with a few empty tables. I followed him over, and once we were out of earshot from most of the guests, Mike whispered, "I'm here to provide reconnaissance for the Intelligence Network."

"Obviously. I want to know why you're dressed like that."

"Oh, you mean the waiter's uniform?" He flashed me a cocky smile and straightened his clothes. "I've learned that the Dracis matriarch contracted a catering company for providing cold cuts for the banquet, so I sneakily infiltrated them. This way, I can stay completely inconspicuous as I listen to the newest internal gossip without anyone being suspicious."

He was so proud of himself, he completely failed to notice the sideways look I was giving him, forcing me to address the elephant in the room.

"Michael, I'll be honest with you for your own good. You are suspicious as all hell."

"Am I? B-But, I put on a disguise!"

"You have a fake Salvadore Dali moustache and a platinum blonde mullet! I probably wouldn't have picked you out of the crowd if you didn't stick out like a sore thumb."

"Really? But… nobody else said anything about it…"

I almost blurted out that it was probably because he was hanging out around a group of placeholders, but instead I took a couple of deep breaths.

"Doesn't matter at this point. So, what have you learned?"

"Erm… not much? I couldn't get close to the important people yet," he admitted a tad sheepishly.

"Important people. Such as?" I inquired with a brow raised, and when he didn't answer, I added, "I'm checking if you did your homework."

"Oh, I certainly did," he declared with a confident smile, so I figured I might as well use the opportunity to exploit someone else's hard work for my own benefit, as my research on the topic of the potential troublemakers at this event was surface-deep at most. Too much time spent on side-projects and last-minute preparations.

As such, I looked around and picked out the first person with a unique hairstyle I laid my eyes upon.

"In that case, what can you tell me about that guy?"

"Who?" Mike followed the direction of my eyes and took a sharp breath. "Oh. The short blonde man? He's Falla, the heir of the Peluda family. Small-time stock trader based in Galicia. Why?"

"I've already told you; I'm checking how well you've prepared. So far, I'm not particularly floored."

"Oh, I know more! Erm… Lemme see… He should be on bad terms with his father because of some kind of money laundering scandal, and his inheritance is on shaky legs. He also started his own fishing business a few years ago, but it's been doing poorly, so he's probably here to look for someone to bail him out. Oh, and he has three older sisters, but he's the heir because the family is very traditional about male inheritance."

"Interesting. What about him," I pointed to my next target, a tall guy with sunken cheeks and slick black hair. Mike squinted to take a better look, but then he let out a delighted 'Ah!'.

"I barely recognized him without the beard, but that's Dobry Smock for sure. Second in line of the Smok clan, and something of a black sheep. Considering it's the Smoks we are talking about, that's saying something. I don't recommend associating with him if at all possible."

"Duly noted. What about the woman with the beehive hairdo over there?"

"Who? Oh, that's easy: that's Yseult Albion. Big family from England. They were the biggest in the past, but then the British colonies went poof, and a lot of their influence with it. It was around the time the Dracis rose to their current position, and there was some friction between them, but I think it's already in the past. They are generally okay. Or, at least, I haven't read about them exterminating any misbehaving branch families in the past couple of decades."

"How very okay of them," I noted a touch flatly.

"So? Do I pass?"

"Barely, but here's an extra question for a better grade: who are the women giving us amorous glances over there?"

"What? Amorous? What?" Mike hastily glanced around, and once he found the group I was talking about, he muttered, "I have no idea. I based on their skin color and dresses, I'd guess they are probably Lotans."

"Probably?"

"Surely. They are surely Lotans. I don't recognize them, so they must be from a branch family."

"They also seem to be about to come here to say hi, so I guess I better move on before I get entangled in something stupid. Two pieces of advice before I leave: ditch the moustache, and look out for Ammy."

"Wait, she's here?!" I gave him my best 'Well, duh,' look and used my chin to point towards Lord Grandpa up at the main table. The hapless Celestial's eyes opened wide with recognition. "W-Wait, hold on! So when she said she needed an escort today, she meant this?" I nodded, and his face completely blanched. "But… I turned her down because I already had this disguise planned, and if I didn't, I could have come here anyway together, and… Oh, shit. I messed up. I messed up big time."

"That, you did," I told him as I patted him on the shoulder, and I was about to leave when he grabbed hold of me.

"Wait, don't go!" The presumed Lotan girls were just about to head over to us, but I couldn't shake him off. I mean that literally; he clamped onto me like I was his lifeline. I weighed my options, and in the end, decided to help him out in exchange for the last-minute refresher he gave me on the people I should keep an eye on in this banquet hall.

I had to be sure I didn't look too eager to help though, or he might just start relying on me. As such, I carefully pried his fingers off my arm and let out a dramatic groan before giving my instructions.

"Go and find Melinda. Blonde maid, braids, always frowns, currently at the back entrance. Tell her the 'future young master' sent you, and that you need a suit and a place to change into it. Also tell her that if she helps, I'll owe her one. Once you're changed, go find Ammy, and tell her you just wanted to surprise her with a sudden appearance, but you got held up by security and I had to bail you out. That's the best I can do for you."

"Thanks! You're a lifesaver!"

"Yeah, sure. Now shoo."

After waving the unprofessional yet eager Celestial agent away, I also turned on my heels and headed into the thick of the crowd to break sight-line with the women staring at me. Once I felt out of the crosshair, I slowed my steps and attempted to listen to the conversations around me with an aloof, disinterested expression, but soon I didn't have to force it, as it was almost exclusively placeholder chatter.

By the looks of it, the three unique characters I noted notwithstanding, the rest of the important players were either up at the main table with mom-in-law, or they haven't arrived yet. I made sure to keep an eye out for Josh, and I soon found him in the company of Angie and the class rep, the latter wearing a fairly conservative blue one-shoulder dress. The three of them were in the process of raiding one of the pastry tables, so I left them to their devices and headed for my girlfriends' direction. I used Far Sight to get their rough location, and my steps faltered when I noticed the small group gathered there.

"Oh for the love of—!" I whispered under my breath as my legs picked up the pace again. "Judy's right. I really can't leave them alone for five minutes in public…"

Breaking through the circle of onlookers, I found Elly and Judy standing side by side, shielding a short, brunette girl behind them. In front of them, there was a young man, about our age, and his face was beet red from outrage.

"You bitch! This is none of your business!" he bellowed, and raised a hand high… at which point the sound of a loud slap rang out as Sebastian stepped in from the sidelines so fast I could barely see more than a sharply dressed blur.

The young man, startled and shaken by the sudden impact, staggered back a step, his hand still raised high. That just wouldn't do, I moved behind him and clamped my hand on his wrist, and twisted it behind his back. For the record, I did all that very calmly, and I wasn't angry at all.

"Huh…? Who the fuck are you?!" the guy bellowed. On closer look, he had a square-ish face with small eyes sitting under thick eyebrows, and a bit of an under-bite, though that might've been just the aftereffect of getting slapped by a dragon.

"First, mind your language, dipshit. There are ladies present." For emphasis, I twisted his hand a little more, just enough to hear the bones creak. By the way, still not angry. "Secondly, I'm curious just what exactly you were thinking a few seconds ago."

"Let me go, you bastard!" He tried to kick me, so I applied just a touch more pressure, very calmly pushing his wrist into his back until he could barely stand.

"Well, it's apparent we're not getting anything useful out of you." I paused here to send Sebastian an appreciative nod, and he gave me a very butlery bow that said something along the lines of 'All in a day's work'. He was also unusually approving of my conduct. I didn't know which part, so out of curiosity, I put a tiny bit more strength into my grasp and made the guy hiss. With the serenity of a newborn lamb, of course. The old man almost smiled at that, and then casually backed out of the situation.

"Hey! What the fuck? Someone apprehend that servant! And you! Let me go at once, or face the conse— O-Ouch!"

I ignored the squealing guy and turned to my dear assistant.

"This guy is useless. Dormouse, sitrep please."

Before doing so, Judy readjusted her dress and swiped a lock of hair away from her forehead before stepping up to me and stoically stating, "Before I start, I would like to point out that I called it. Again."

"Yes, you did."

She let out a triumphant huff, and took a sharp breath in preparation of a dry summary of the events.

"Elly found her old school friend. This person is her ex-fiancé. He came over to talk to her, but she didn't want to. There was an argument. Lots of shouting. You were already here for the last part."

"Oh, so it's some high-society drama? Lovely." I paused here to glance over at my other girlfriend and the girl who was presumably her friend, her makeup smudged from crying. "Is she all right?"

"She must've been frightened. Elly said she'll take care of her."

"Let me go already!" the guy in my grasp bellowed and struggled to break free. In fact, I could see some grey scales forming around his jaw, so I immediately put my other hand on his shoulder and clenched fingers hard, my thumb practically sinking into his muscles. I also reaffirmed my grasp on his arm, at which point he let out a pained hiss and stopped struggling. "Do… Do you know who I am!?"

"I haven't the foggiest," I admitted.

"I'm Dupek Smok! Unhand me at once!"

"Really? The Dupek Smok? Of the Smok family?"

"Yes!"

"Never heard of you."

"Wha—?"

"All right, let's play a game," I proposed just in time for Elly to also come over. The younger girl was apparently taken away by her maids to clean up, so since it was just the three of us (plus about two dozen amused onlookers), I said, "Let's try to figure out who I am. I'm going to give you a clue: the man who slapped you just now was the steward of the Dracis household looking after the young miss of the family. That makes her...?"

"Eleanor Dracis?" he muttered, his resistance snuffed out like candlelight under a bucket of water.

"Bingo. She's also the girl you tried to slap in public."

"No, I didn't!"

"Oh, then I must be mistaken, and you only raised your hand for a friendly high-five. How terrible of me to presume the worst of you just because you looked like you were threatening my girlfriend."

Once he stopped squirming under the administration of my homebrew pressure point torment, he blurted out an alarmed, "G-Girlfriend?"

"Yes. Can you guess which one of the two I'm talking about?"

"Is it… her?"

He feebly gestured towards Judy, and I feigned a good-natured chuckle.

"Yes indeed, but you only get half a point for that. The correct answer is both."

The moment I uttered that, the guy's face blanched and her whole body broke out in cold sweat.

"You… You're Leonard Blackcloak…" he whispered with wide-open eyes.

"Some call me by that name, yes," I confirmed and slightly loosened my grip on his shoulder. "Though, on second thought, they are my fiancées now, aren't they? I wonder, does that make your situation worse, or much worse?"

"Fuck… I'm fucked…" he muttered in a daze, and since there didn't seem to be any more fight in him, I let go of him, only to immediately grab his upper arms and force him standing up, face to face with me.

"Now, now. Don't be so negative. I'm a reasonable guy, and in my opinion, everyone is entitled to do something monumentally stupid. Once. With this, we clear your allowance. Water under the bridge. Everything's good. Just, one small thing to remember." I leaned closer, and he remained stiff as a frightened lamb as I whispered directly into his ear, "You've run out of second chances. Now is the time to rethink your life choices and turn a new leaf. From this day onward, I have my eyes on you. I'll know your every move. If I catch even a whiff of you trying to come after my fiancées or their friends, I will show you the reason why nobody dares to even whisper my name in the Abyssal house of Inanna. Are we clear on that?"

He feebly nodded in place of a proper answer, so I stepped back and patted him on the shoulder in a friendly and not an all joint-dislocating manner.

"See? Everything's good. Off you go now."

I didn't have to say it twice, and the lad scurried away with his proverbial tail between his legs like the devil was at his heels. Once he left, the peanut gallery also lost interest, and the onlookers soon began to drift away from us.

"I was under the impression you were trying not to become a villain," Judy noted with just a hint of disapproval.

"That wasn't villainous. I was very nice and only restrained him so we could have a civil conversation."

"I don't even know where to begin dissecting that," she grumbled. "And what was that last bit about house Inanna?"

"It wasn't exactly lying. I mean, they can't say my name because it makes Crowey throw a hissy-fit, not because they are afraid of me, but I was technically telling the truth."

"Chief, has technical truths ever not bit you in the butt?"

"I… have no idea. I've been telling so many of them, it's hard to keep track."

It was at this point that Judy finally gave up.

"Fine, have your own head-canon then. I guess I should just be happy we aren't getting any odd looks for resorting to violence."

"That wasn't violent," Elly cut in, and she simultaneously attached herself to me.

"He nearly broke his arm," Judy pointed out, but the princess didn't seem to see any issues with that.

"Well, if he didn't cut in, I would have broken his nose. These kinds of things are fairly common when we gather."

"They are?" my dearest assistant uttered in sincere bafflement, and Elly grunted in the affirmative.

"Sure. Didn't I tell you that you should stay close to me because things between Draconians can get intense?"

"I thought you meant there would be taunting and backtalk."

"That's how it usually starts, and then they are followed by bruised jaws and some dislocated joints." She must've noticed the way we were both looking at her, because she hastily added, "They're not that big of a deal. We heal quickly."

"So the thing that the Chief just did wasn't a social faux pas?"

"No. In fact…" She paused here to squeeze my arm and declared, "He was so cool! He showed dominance and subdued his opponent with superior strength and authority, and didn't even need to break any bones in the process! If we weren't already engaged, half the eligible girls in the room would be lining up to introduce themselves to him by now."

Judy remained silent for a good while, massaging her temple, and she ultimately stated, "I have a feeling I'll have to unlearn my common sense if I want to fit into this family."

"Don't worry Dormouse. We'll do it together."

"You already seem to be doing really well on your own," she griped, but soon decided to just go with the flow by grabbing hold of my free arm. "Speaking of which, when do you think Abram will publicly announce our engagement."

"I guess they want to do it after everyone arrived."

Just as I said that, our attention was grabbed by the main doors of the hall opening wide. The music stopped, and Sebastian's voice exclaimed, "The prestigious Long family and their companions have arrived."

"Oh, speak of the devil," I muttered and held the girls closer. "Let's go take a look."

And with that, we followed the currents of the crowd towards the people promising to be the main source of my headaches for the foreseeable future. On the bright side, one random incident already happened, so I won't have to eat my nonexistent hat. Not much of a silver lining, but it's something.

The silence hanging over the grand hall was unexpectedly chilly. I meant that literally; unlike the back entrance where we (and presumably most of the other guests) entered, the main doors opened to the outside, and the gusts of cold air coming in made everyone just a little apprehensive.

I expected that Sebastian would announce each new arrival by their titles, but instead the whole group just walked in at once, three abreast. There was no mistaking who they were, as their fashion style was quite distinct. At a single glance, the procession could be roughly divided into four groups. Right behind the trio leading the march, there was a group of elderly men and women dressed in flowing ceremonial clothes. Most of them looked Chinese, but the styles were varied, and I could see some distinctly Japanese and potentially Korean robes as well.

The people behind this well-dressed bunch seemed like they came out of a kung fu movie set in ancient China, men and women both wearing long, brightly colored traditional dresses with decorative knots instead of buttons. For some reason, the women's clothes were all sleeveless, which couldn't be pleasant in this weather. If my memory served right, this kind of dress was called a 'qipao', and they were a little more flamboyant than I expected.

The third group consisted of the more placeholder-ish members in the back, wearing simple high-collared tunic suits, mostly in black and dark blue. As far as hairstyles were concerned, all the men had theirs cropped short, while the women had long, straight hairdos, without any accessories.

Now then, let's not dance around the issue any longer, and address the people at the front. The three walking ahead looked different not just from the rest, but also from each other. On the right, there was an elderly man in a dark purple robe. He looked a little wiry at first glance, but it was hard to tell for sure under all the layers he was wearing, and he had his long hair done up in a top knot fastened by what looked like a small crown and several hairpins. He also had a long yet thin beard and bushy eyebrows, so overall he looked like the archetypal sage.

On the opposite side walked a youngster, about our age or maybe a year younger the looks of it. He was firmly built, and he wore a bright red martial artist tunic adorned with some golden patterns around the shoulders. Most strikingly, however, he had bright orange hair that was somehow spikier than Josh's on an average morning. If there was a Chinese equivalent of the average hot-blooded shounen manga protagonist, this guy was it.

Last, but certainly not least, was the person leading the procession. He was a tall, lean fellow with long, jet black hair, and his features were similar to the boy's. He had a pair of thin-rimmed glasses balanced on a straight nose right in the middle of an unnecessarily handsome face, and his dignified appearance was further emphasized by his slim-cut, richly patterned black tunic suit and pants. Oh, and he was also tall. As in, a good head taller than the people walking right next to him. He might've been even taller than me, though I'd have had to get closer to say for sure.

"What's going on? Is Naoren here yet?"

Elly's question made me raise a brow, but then I realized that, unlike me, she couldn't see over the heads of the crowd, so I gave her a brief description of the newcomers.

"Only three important characters," Judy noted on my other side. "Less than expected."

I looked over the group one more time and shrugged.

"There might be a few unique placeholders in the middle group, but I don't see anyone else sticking out."

Since the girls didn't comment on that, I focused on the new variable triumvirate once again. As the crowd parted in front of them, out walked dad-in-law in his snazziest business suit to receive them.

"Welcome, everyone!" Abram's voice echoed loudly as he greeted the group with open arms. "Look at you, Naoren! You're even taller than the last time we met!"

The man in the middle smiled and cupped his right fist in his left hand in front of his chest.

"I'm also glad to see that you're in good health, clan head Abram. I thank you for your hospitality."

His voice was a pleasant baritone, and his tone had a certain sense of affability to it, yet I couldn't help but feel a sense of irritation wash over me. Uh-oh. That didn't bode well…

"Don't stand on formality and come inside you all! It's cold outside!" Following our host's instructions, the tail end of the line quickly made its way inside so that the old butler could close the doors behind them. In the meantime, Abram raised his hand over his head and snapped his fingers a couple of times, and before long, the music started again, along with the idle talk in the room as the two crowds slowly merged into one. Right after that, he turned to the robed old man and mirrored Naoren's fist-cupped-in-hand gesture. "Elder Xinji. I did not expect you to come. I've heard you were undergoing closed door seclusion."

"I was," the old man answered in a raspy voice, and after a long beat, gave a shallow bow to the Dracis patriarch. "It was deemed that I should accompany the younger generation due to the importance of this meeting."

"I'm happy to see you're still full of life and motivation. But speaking of the younger generation, I—" Abram swallowed the end of his sentence and glanced around, a touch perplexed. "Where did Zihao go?"

The tall guy in the middle frowned and glanced to his side, and once he saw there was nobody there, slowly shook his head in exasperation.

"Please excuse my brother. He's been looking forward to this day for weeks, and I'm afraid in his eagerness to meet his peers, he forgot his manners. I hope you forgive him."

"There's nothing to forgive! Young men are supposed to be impulsive like that!" Abram brushed the issue under the rug and gestured for the guests to follow after him. "Let's sit down and talk, shall we?"

"Before that," the old man cut in with a dignified wave of his hand. "I believe there is something we must discuss in public." Naoren sent the man a disapproving glance, but he completely ignored his reproach and continued with, "We all gathered here tonight in preparation to form a united force against our ancestral enemies. For such an alliance, a show of sincerity is necessary, and we came to this island expecting an announcement of a union between our families for the sake of the greater good. Yet, only upon our arrival did we learn that your daughter is already betrothed to an outsider. How are we to interpret this decision?"

By the looks of it, nobody expected the old man to confront dad-in-law so directly, not even the bespectacled man standing next to him, and it took Abram several seconds to formulate an answer… or rather, to shamelessly throw the ball into my court and have me deal with the situation.

"That's indeed the case, but since they are also here, why not hit two birds with one stone and introduce you to each other?" Saying so, he scanned his surroundings and quickly found me, which wasn't that hard considering I was a good half a head taller than everyone around me. "Son! Come over here for a minute!"

"Oh, great," I murmured under my breath and prepared myself for the inevitable, and glanced at my assistant. "Dormouse, if I say something out of line, you have my permission to step on my feet."

"Are you experiencing mood management issues again?" she asked back as we started moving, and I nodded.

"A double dose of it."

"Mood management issues?" Elly's echo sounded curious, and I just realized that I never properly explained my odd reaction to people in positions of power to her, but this really wasn't the right time or place for that.

As we got closer, the onlookers parted to make way for us, and we arrived in front of the leaders of the Eastern Draconian group in no time. Now that we were face to face, I could say for sure that the princess's bespectacled suitor was almost exactly as tall as I was, though a little leaner. He was also pretty handsome. Unexpectedly, irritatingly, infuriatingly handsome. The sentiment must've shown on my face, as Judy took the opportunity to exercise her newly received right and lightly stomped on my feet, helping me rein back my irrational impulses. For about a second.

"Good evening, gentlemen," I greeted the people in front of me with the best smile I could muster at the moment, and used the fact that I had the two girls holding onto my arms to avoid doing that martial artist salute thing. Judy and Elly also greeted them, and the two new faces followed my example, and only nodded in return.

Abram used the opportunity to clear his throat and motion at the guests.

"Leonard, let me introduce you to Naoren Feilong, current head of the Feilong family, and Elder Xinji Feilong, the grand elder of the Feilong family."

"I'm pleased to meet you," I spoke a tad woodenly, and dad-in-law quickly picked up the slack.

"I'm sure you all remember my dear daughter, so I believe no further introductions are necessary. The dashing young man in the middle is Leonard Dunning, while the lovely girl on his other side is Judy Sennoma."

"A concubine?" the old man blurted out dismissively, immediately painting a big red crosshair on his forehead in the process.

"If you know what's good for you, I'd like you to refrain from insulting my fiancée. And just to make it crystal clear, all three of us are engaged to each other, and yes, it's a perfectly functional arrangement, thank you very much."

"You!" The old man's face clouded over and he very slowly crossed his hands in front of his chest… or at least I think he did, though it was hard to make sure due to the long sleeves. I, naturally, completely ignored his outburst and focused on the tall man in front of me. He was obviously sizing me up, and so I did the same to him without any reservations.

"Leonard Blackcloak Dunning," he spoke like he was tasting each word individually, in a tone that wasn't exactly warm, but it wasn't quite hostile either. "Your reputation precedes you."

"Really?" I dramatically cocked my head to the side and told him, "I have a confession to make: I never really paid much attention to the rumors, so I can't help but feel curious about what you've heard about me."

The guy smiled at me and explained, "That you are inscrutable, unpredictable, dangerous, and someone who does not heed authority or established rules."

"That… actually sounds more accurate than I expected," I admitted with just a hint of reluctance.

"I should've predicted you would be involved the moment the news first reached out compound," Naoren mused with one hand on his chin. "There aren't many candidates in the world clan head Abram would consider worthy of the hand of Lenore."

"Who?" I whispered under my breath in surprise, and feeling her fidgeting, I glanced down at Elly.

"He calls me that," she whispered a tad peevishly. "The first time we met, he misheard my name, and he's been calling me that ever since."

That was an odd tidbit, and I was ready to move on, if not for the disapproving old man using the momentary lull in the conversation to raise his voice again.

"Clan head. I advise against calling him 'worthy' of anything. You must not legitimize his claim."

"Excuse me, but I don't see how your opinion on my worthiness has anything to do with whether our relationship is 'legit' or not," I pointed out, earning me a glare for my trouble.

"Watch your tongue, young man," the elder growled, but I naturally didn't back down.

"Should I? I don't remember you watching yours when you insulted my fiancée just now."

"You! How dare you use that tone with me! You're courting death!"

"Whoa! Did you really just say that?" I exclaimed and nudged my assistant. "Hey, Dormouse? Did you hear that? He said the thing!"

"… Chief, I've been stomping on your feet for the last ten seconds. Please notice it."

"Sorry, can't do. Too annoyed."

In the meantime, the old man's head turned an odd shade of crimson, and he was just about to raise his hand when a single word exploded in the hall.

"Elder!" All eyes fell on Naoren, who was glaring at the old man with eyes literally glowing behind his glasses. The elderly Draconian looked like a statue frozen mid-motion, but then the oppressive pressure emanating from the man next to him died down, and he inhaled sharply before returning the glare, earning him a stern, "Enough. This is a matter I have to deal with personally. Do not sully the face of our clan by engaging in petty squabbles."

The two stared daggers at each other for a few seconds, but ultimately the old man lost the contest and, after folding his arms again, he bowed and retreated with an insincere, "As the clan head wishes."

Once the elder walked away, Naoren turned back to me with a dignified bearing and said, "Please excuse Elder Xinji's conduct. He's somewhat ill-tempered due to coming out of seclusion before he could achieve a breakthrough."

"I think we all understand," Abram cut in with an amicable smile plastered on his face, obviously doing his best to mediate. "That said, I see you have fully solidified your grasp on the clan. Your grand elder would've never backed down so easily in the past."

"Desperate times require desperate measures," the bespectacled man answered in a weary tone. "If our bloodlines are to survive in this day and age, we must become more adaptable. Elder Xinji doesn't share the same sentiment, but with time, I'm confident he'll see things my way."

"He didn't exactly strike me as someone fond of changing his mind," I commented, and oddly enough, the Eastern clan head agreed with me.

"Unfortunately, you are correct, yet I believe in him and his devotion to our clan."

"You're quite the optimist," I noted with a more or less neutral tone, now that one of the sources of my irrational annoyance was out of sight and I had a slightly better grasp on my temper.

Naoren looked at me and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose before telling me, "You aren't the first person to call me that, thought I'd rather view myself as an idealist instead."

"Really? I, for one, am more of a pessimist. In my opinion, if something has the potential to go wrong, it's the prudent thing to expect it and always plan for the worst. If I were in your case, I would plan for your grand elder causing trouble. If he does, I'll be glad I prepared ahead of time, and if he doesn't, I'll be glad things remained peaceful. Win-win."

"Is that so? I find such scheming wasteful. By spending the same effort on bettering oneself and relentlessly striving to find the ideal solution to each difficulty, overcoming every setback in one's path should be the natural state of things."

"I'm sure such 'ideal solutions' exist, but if you ask me, hoping that you can achieve one just by dogged determination is naïve. Sometimes good enough is good enough."

"It sounds like you're the type that's willing to compromise for the sake of your end goals," Naoren noted with one arm crossed and his chin resting on his knuckle, and after a brief consideration, I shrugged ambivalently.

"In a sense. You might like to believe in people's common sense, but if you ask me, we aren't living in a rational world filled with rational people, so everyone has to compromise in one way or the other if we want to achieve anything. That said, I do think there are certain lines not worth crossing, and I do not believe the end justifies the means."

"Isn't that a bit too idealistic for a self-described pessimist?"

"I'm a pessimist, not a cynic," I pointed out. "I find the notion of hoping that everything will work out fine so long as someone does their best to be naive. I expect the worst because it's better to be prepared for something unlikely than to be caught off-guard at the worst possible moment. Considering we live in a world where life and death can balance on a knife's edge, my ideal solution to any problem is not one that's perfect, but one that keeps everyone I care about safe and happy."

The bespectacled man gave me a thoughtful hum and let his hands down.

"You have an interesting philosophy. A pessimistic idealist. I would love to have a long discussion with you in private about this."

"Maybe another time," I deflected his offer with a smile. "We're in the middle of a banquet, aren't we?"

"You're right," he agreed with a friendly smile and glanced at Abram. "I believe we'll have plenty of opportunities to discuss our opinions. For the time being, let us enjoy the festivities, and leave the heavy talks for later."

"I couldn't have said so better myself!" Papa Dracis exclaimed, and ushered us towards the main table. He took the lead with the Eastern Draconian, and we followed a few paces behind them.

"Wow. Naoren really grew up since the last time I saw him," Elly declared in a low voice only we could hear, imperceptibly raising my dear assistant's brow in the process.

"How so?"

"He used to be much more impulsive," she answered in a hush, making sure the man in front of us wouldn't overhear her over the background noise. "I half-expected him to get down onto one knee and propose on the spot again, or challenge Leo to a duel right away."

"So you didn't mean his height," I noted, and the princess giggled like my comment was funny. On the other hand, Judy squeezed my hand to get my attention, so I turned to her.

"You get a seven out of ten," she told me, throwing me on a loop for a second. "At first I thought you were going to cause an incident, but you behaved yourself considerably better in the second half, so you got a bonus point for effort. Consider yourself praised."

"How gracious of you," I quipped before falling silent for a while as we walked up the stairs leading to the elevated portion of the hall.

Honestly speaking, I was a little stumped. The man walking in front of me seemed way too mild-mannered and reasonable, and while my unnatural and unwanted sense of irritation did flare up a little whenever I was looking at him, it was merely on the level of what I got when I was talking with Sebastian. On the other hand, I did get a much bigger reaction from someone else, and while it was far from reliable, my track record did show some correlation, so I told the girls.

"Call it a hunch, but I think Naoren isn't our antagonist."

"Is it the Grand Elder then?" came the question from Elly, much to my surprise.

"That's obvious," Judy scoffed softly, though in her case, I wasn't as shocked.

"Is it?" I asked back, and she nearly rolled her eyes.

"Easily angered old man, in a traditional Chinese clan rife with internal power-politics, opposing a younger family head. It's a wuxia cliché."

"Clichéd or not, keep an eye on him."

The girls nodded, and since we reached the table, we all sat down at our designated spots in preparation for dinner, none the wiser about the drama already brewing in the main hall below us, once again proving that sometimes even preparing for the worst wasn't enough to protect one from unforeseen variables…