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Thud!

Three seconds after Basil hugged Clarissa, his surrogate sister, Iliana opened the door of his room. She looked at the scene presented before her eyes in slight surprise, before sighing in relief.

Basil smiled faintly at her, and let go of Clarissa. He immediately walked towards her, and embraced her tenderly.

Iliana buried her face in his chest, then let go of her hug after a few seconds. Looking at him silently for a moment, she made him understand that she was going to say something that he might not like.

"Dad is having an audience with the King," Clarissa suddenly remarked. "... In case that you are wondering."

"What kind of matter requires the King of Braxtein to meet my father?" Basil looked at Iliana.

"It has something to do with your reward for your achievements in the Outbreak," Iliana answered.

"Is he giving me this private mansion of his?" Basil had asked the Guide where he was the moment he was awake, thus he knew. "I don't still see the correlation between that and the meeting with my father though."

Thud!

"About that, why don't you also join our discussion now that you are already awake?"

Iliana, who was about to answer Basil's question, was interrupted by Anthony, who had suddenly barged into the room. He was followed by Danzel, who had an awkward smile on his face.

Basil was, of course, not surprised by the development. He had sensed Anthony long ago, which had also been the reason why he had addressed Anthony as the King of Braxtein Kingdom instead of simply Anthony earlier.

"I thank you for the concern you show towards the safety of my family; however, you can't force them to stay in this place, Your Majesty," Basil said calmly. "They will only live in the place where they find comfort."

"Ha-ha-ha. You are an extremely intuitive and straightforward youth, aren't you?" Anthony smiled. "I indeed planned to let your family stay in this mansion along with you, but like you wanted, I didn't force them when they refused."

Allowing his family to stay in the capital brought equal advantages and disadvantages to him. On one hand, he could rest assured that his family was in one of the safest places in the Kingdom; but on the other hand, he wasn't sure what Anthony would do to them.

Anthony was regarded as one of the greatest Kings in Braxtein Kingdom's history for a reason. He knew how to act like a King—he was smartly cunning, so he wouldn't offer what he offered without a catch.

If he let his family stay in the capital, when the water turned murky in the future, Anthony would definitely use them against him.

"Thank you for your understanding, Your Majesty." Basil bowed politely.

"Ah, it is a little bit uncomfortable to talk to you like this, so I will give you time to change your clothes, and join us in the dining room. For the time being, your father and I will have a chat."

With a small smile, Anthony exited the room. Danzel gave Basil a small smile, said that he would be waiting, then exited the room following Anthony.

Looking at the two women that still stayed in the room, Basil quirked his eyebrow. Clarissa coughed in embarrassment then got out with a blush, whereas Iliana stayed there and looked at him solemnly.

"We are in a position where we have to choose between entering a lion's den or a crocodile's mouth. Be careful of what he offered, Basil. Just like the Church, he has his own interest."

Responding to Iliana's warning, Basil merely petted her head, and said, "I have always played with fire ever since I decided to raise to prominence. You don't have to worry about me."

Basil was still clueless of the whole situation; however, as someone who had faced quite a lot the world's shenanigans, he knew what Iliana was talking about. The Church was now aiming for them, and the Kingdom was offering them protection.

Whether they knew of their real identity—he had no idea about it. One thing for sure, however, they were messing with the wrong person.

...

"So, I am actually quite floored about what I should reward you with, Basil. We don't have that much money as it is all spent on the rebuilding of the Kingdom, but we can compensate you with priceless treasures instead."

After making himself look more presentable, Basil immediately joined Anthony in the dining room. By the time he arrived there, he also found Iliana, Ione, Clarissa, and Shirley sitting at the table.

As he had expected to have a private discussion with Anthony and Danzel, he was quite surprised by the others' presence. He wondered why Anthony even bothered to invite them, then realized it was an attempt to make him comfortable not long after.

"The problem is, however, we don't think just giving you a treasure from our Treasure Vault will be enough. Your achievements are by no means ordinary, so I think it is more appropriate to give you something that is... More memorable."

"What you are saying is...?"

"How about marrying into my family? I have a very shy but competent daughter, and this is her first time showing an interest towards a man." Anthony laughed lightheartedly.

Anthony received various reactions for his words: Danzel widened his eyes in shock, Clarissa and Shirley choked on air; meanwhile Ione and Iliana stared at Basil, daring him to nod his head.

Basil, on the other hand, merely quirked his eyebrow and looked at Anthony with an 'are you joking?' look. In response, Anthony suppressed his laugh, and composed himself.

"Huuh... You really are too steady for your own good, Basil. I was just messing with you." Anthony waved his hand lightly. "With that said, what kind of reward do you want? Of course, this reward is separate from the compulsory one."

Basil hummed to himself and thought for a moment. "Goap... If I am not mistaken, he wore an armlet. That armlet gave him an exceptional Affinity towards water—I want it."

"As expected, you noticed it too, huh? I can give it to you, but are you sure you are okay with just that? I do admit its capability is amazing, but we have more amazing Artefacts than that in the Kingdom's vault."

"I am fine. Besides, it is the only memorable reward that I can think of." Basil shook his head faintly. "Goap's trident—that thing must have been destroyed, no? It would have been more preferable if not for that fact."

Smiling softly, Anthony remarked, "You really are an unusual youth." He stood up then straightened his clothes. "I invite you and your family to have a dinner with me and my family tonight. I will give you the armlet after the dinner."

Without waiting for any answer or saying any farewell, Anthony waved his hand lightly and left the mansion. His message was clear: "You have to come."

Everyone turned their head to Basil to look at his reaction. As usual, he reacted calmly, and even had a small smile on his face.

'Interesting ... This is interesting. Anthony is really currying favor with me, a nobody in his Kingdom. He also seems to be aware of the feud between me and the Church, but he is sincerely worried about me.'

Basil's past relationship with Anthony was neutral. Although he had never seen Anthony in a good light due to how he had treated Edward, his former fellow Legion Commander, they were by no means enemies.

Despite that fact, he still couldn't help wondering what suddenly made Anthony show such fondness towards him. In his last life, after all, Anthony had remained apathetic to every single talented individual Braxtein Kingdom had given birth to.

Nothing could describe the situation better than interesting.

...

Great Church of Azarthan, Azarthan City, Arthean Empire.

In the grandiose meeting room of the biggest and most prestigious Church in the entire Human Empire, the Great Pontiff Jaheim Abremson looked at the face of each of Head Priests he had invited to attend the conference.

His aged face that was riddled with faint wrinkles had a light frown on it as he couldn't help finding the whole situation dissatisfactory. His decision to "reveal the truth" about the Demons had backfired.

He had thought the world would shower the people of the Church with gratitude after the revelation, but what they got was mockery and damnation. All of it was because of the irresponsible action of one of the Head Priests he had chosen.

"I won't beat around the bush. Just tell me if you are a coward," Jaheim said solemnly. "I don't want to see another coward damage our reputation in the future."

The talk about Eban's last minute of betrayal had become a hot topic. His action made people question if the outstanding people of the Church were as brave as the "revelation" painted them to be.

The Mages and the people who hated the Church to their core used this as a chance to spread some hoax that wasn't very far from the truth. It was about the Church secretly working together with the Demons in teh Outbreak.

Quite a lot of people believed it, which in turn made tens of conspiracy theories spread throughout the Human Empire in the span of three days. Although many dismissed those theories, they still managed to hurt the Church's reputation.

The standing of the Church was still firm in every Kingdom other than Braxtein Kingdom. A huge majority of Braxtein Kingdom's citizens were sure of the Church's cooperation with the Demons in the Outbreak because Goap had seemed to know Eban personally.

"All of you know what we are doing when there are no eyes watching. I have given you my trust, so make sure to not betray it." Jaheim clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction. "If you have any plan to be that idiot bastard in that future, please die here."

Compared to Braxtein Kingdom's neighboring Kingdoms and Arthean Empire that had stayed silent during the Outbreak, although they were late, the Church was way better due to the fact they had helped Braxtein go through the Outbreak.

They still couldn't fulfill their intended goal, regardless, which was being seen as the world's saviour due to Eban's cowardice. Although many people still believed in them, their hold on Braxtein Kingdom had dramatically weakened thanks to that.

"We have to keep this farce until the fated day comes. Next time, even if you have to die, keep the farce!" He sighed then massaged his forehead. "Now, let us think of a way to fix our reputation."

No matter what, they couldn't let go of Braxtein Kingdom. Simply remaining there wouldn't be enough; they needed to gain the trust of the people back. For that, they had to build their reputation anew.