The capital

When Roswall was eating his breakfast, he looked at Kaji and started speaking. "Kaji, I have some business in the capital, you will be accompanying me." The clown said while eating.

"Sure." Kaji said while not showing a reaction, while on the inside he was thinking that this was a great chance for him to meet Wilhelm. It wasn't a guarantee that he would meet him but this was a good chance to try and find him.

"Good, but do tell meeee, why do you suddenly have tattoos? After all, you didn't have them beforeeee." The clown asked while smiling.

"A tradition of the Oni clan." Kaji said with a straight face while making things up.

"How and why do I not know of this tradition?" Roswall asked.

"You're not of the clan, furthermore only a certain type of Oni wears a certain type of tattoos." Kaji continued to bullshit, with a straight face.

"Annnnnnd what dooooo your tattoos mean?" The clown continued on.

"A secret of the clan, If I told you I'd have to kill you." Kaji said.

While the two were speaking to each other, the other servants didn't know how to react to this situation, so all they could do was stay silent. Rem was confused not understanding what the two were even talking about, Ram, on the other hand, understood that Kaji was just making things up.

Ram started thinking, she started asking questions, why did Kaji agree to work here if he dislikes the lord of this place. Kaji didn't explain to them what kind of man Roswall was, nor did he tell them the real reason their village was attacked, to begin with. For now, he wanted the two to enjoy what's left of their childhood, and for the clown, he still had a purpose to fulfill.

"So when are we leaving?" Kaji asked the clown.

"In a couple of hours, we will be going by carriage this time, after all, official business requires an official arrival." Roswall said while smiling.

"I'll go and prepare then." Kaji left in a hurry, he could feel that his tattoos started to deteriorate.

The moment he exited the dining room, he stopped the tattoos from absorbing any more man. He hurried to his room and decided to use his own blood instead of ink, this way he should be able to gather more mana. But he was in a hurry because the ink couldn't hold any more mana, he needed to do something.

And so he wished for his sword to appear, the moment it appeared he took it and sliced his palm to draw some blood. He used his blood to repair and strengthen the tattoos, after he was done the tattoos took on a bit more reddish color. He didn't mind it but now he needs to find blood that could absorb massive amounts of mana.

He could only think of a couple of options, he could try taking some blood from Wilhelm, Reinhard, or mabeasts. Kaji thought of taking blood from Reinhard only because the guy was broken, he had most if not all the blessings, so his blood should be useful.

Of course, there were other options, but he could try, he was thinking of making a blood mixture of many different people or beasts. He could easily find some mabeasts roaming around some forests, and for now, the blood of these mabeasts would suffice.

After he was done preparing, he was waiting for Roswall outside the mansion where a carriage was waiting. He was thinking of a way to gather more blood from people or mabeasts, he knew that stronger one would only appear later down the line.

Before he could continue his thinking about his mana storing magic, and how does blood even work, is blood just a conductor, or could it be used as a vessel to store mana. Roswall opened the door of the mansion followed by a couple of servants. Kaji didn't forget to say goodbye to the twins and Frederica, before leaving, he did have to promise them that he would stay safe.

And soon Kaji and the clown started their journey to the capital, while two big ground dragons pulled their carriage. While Traveling Kaji did manage to go and hunt some mabeasts, he stored them inside a space he created with magic. Even when using space magic he had to use up a quarter of his mana, after all, it was far more difficult to pull off than he initially thought.

Now he realized that he needed many more things, before he could even attempt to travel to another world. How naive he was thinking he could just absorb some mana and go, he now realized that he needed to prepare items, food, and other necessities. But it was alright, at least he realized it now, rather than when he was in another world or trapped in some random dimension because he didn't think things through.

The journey didn't feel too long for Kaji, as he was lost in his own thoughts most of the time. Roswall, on the other hand, observed him, he didn't know what the boy was thinking about, but he was sure he could win him over, he was but a child in his eyes, to begin with. Roswall was thinking of ways to get Kaji on his side, but there was no rush, after all, there was still time.