3.8.

"Angry at who?" Sequencee turned to him.

"Shiro, Risa, and Her Highness."

"..Not particularly.."

"Why would you decide to quit the party then?" Aaron rolled the jug.

Sequencee spooned the rice into his mouth and thought about how he should put his thoughts into words.

"I found out that maybe that's not what I want," he said.

"Not what you wanted..?"

"I thought I should seek revenge but.. when you realize that it holds no meaning.."

'Is that really how it is?'

"In a way, maybe I'm just not angry about The Sovereign killing my mother.."

'That's not it.'

"After all, he might not have been the one who attacked my home. It's not like he's the only demon lord in the demon nation."

"Sequencee, The Sovereign holds control over the entire demon empire. Are you simply making excuses to give up on your pursuit?" Aaron downed the rest of his alcohol and was about to order another when Sequencee interjected.

"Sir Aaron, you can have mine. Don't need to order a new one."

"Are you sure?"

"I don't drink."

"It's a pity Anna never taught you how to enjoy this."

'She tried, really. There's just no way I'm drinking that to get a hangover the next day.''

"Excuse or not, I want to find out the real cause behind my mother's death. Which division it is that created miscommunication in the chain of orders."

"Do you believe in that demon so much?"

'Ah.. so the cat is out of the bag? Since when?'

"You're talking about Schwii.. isn't it.."

"Who else?" His tone grew sharp.

Sequencee placed his spoon to the side of the plate and looked up at him.

"Aaron, she's my fiance."

"..." a conflicted expression surfaced on his face.

"How much did she tell you about us?"

"Not a lot.. you never told me she was your fiance."

"Now you know."

"..." Aaron didn't know what to say. It suddenly made sense why Sequencee would try to cover for Iona the other day.

The reason why Sequencee looked like he knew so much about the internal events and why he had no qualms living with the succubi–

For a moment, Iona's image flashed past his mind. He wondered if he should've ask about it..

"I'm quitting the hero's party because I think it might not be the best path. To be honest, now that I think about it, going to the academy just because I wanted to become the hero's companions was a really stupid idea."

Sequencee then finished the remainder of his dinner and drank the water.

"Did I miss anything else? Oh, and just because I left the party doesn't mean I'm mad at the two heroes. We can still work together, it's just, I want to have the freedom to act by myself."

"Sometimes I wonder who your father is. I think I have a rough idea now," Aaron mumbled.

"Yeah. I hope you keep that to yourself."

"Then I won't bother so much about which path you choose. I was worried you might've decided to quit by impulse, but after listening to your reasoning, it makes sense. I'll pass the message to Her Highness and the two heroes."

"Thanks." Sequencee finished his cup of water.

"Though honestly, if it was this much, you should've just told me earlier."

"Instructor Jonnathan was there."

".. True."

Aaron looked at his own reflection on the jug.

"It's embarrassing to ask, but have you already done it?"

"Done.. it?"

"You see. I'm in support of Her Highness's faction. When you said you had a fiance, and that your fiance being not human, it worries me."

'Damn. He's seriously implying that?'

"Not yet."

"You have quite the galls to resist."

"Yeah, yeah."

Aaron took a large gulp.

"I wish you the best," Aaron sighed deepely as if to signal the end of their conversation.

Sequencee nodded, "Good evening Aaron. Thanks for today."

He got up from the counter and walked out of the tavern.

Aaron crudely wiped his mouth with his arm.

"I wonder what I can do to help Her Highness."

As her loyal vassal for the past few years, Aaron couldn't help but feel the responsibility to help her win his heart over.

"As expected of Anna's son."

===

Back in his room, Sequencee wiped his body clean with a warm towel before changing into another set of clothes.

He placed the bucket aside and sat down on his bed. There he pulled up his system.

/

{ACQUIRED GIFTS:

1. [Illusion Magic: Universal Haze]; (1st UP: 40)

2. [Passive Trait: Growth Multiplier]^; (2nd UP: 180)

3. [Activated Trait: Focus]; (1st UP: 20)

}

/

{SOULS AVAILABLE: 21}

/

{BOOKMARKED SKILLS:

1. [Unique Trait: Mana Sense]; (Acquisition: 20)

2. [Passive Trait: Skill Mastery Acceleration]; (Acquisition: 30)

3. [Unique Skill: Soul Nicking]; (Acquisition: 20)

}

/

Sequencee finally had enough points to acquire the gift he had been saving up for.

'[Unique Skill: Soul Nicking].. does it take away anything from the person?'

The problem was that he didn't know what kind of side effect there was if he did say scrape off a small amount of a person's soul. What exactly is a soul? And even if the amount of loss doesn't cause any visible change to the victim, Sequencee didn't have the conscience to steal something which can't be returned once it's lost. And to do that to everyone? It's a little bit like secretly cutting a small sample of everyone's heart.

'This is really troublesome..'

Sequencee would rather kill a baddie than to steal from a perfectly good person.

'So should I get [Unique Trait: Mana Sense] instead then? Or should I save up for [Passive Trait: Skill Mastery Acceleration]?'

Just when he thought the gifts he bookmarked were a good idea, doubts began creeping in the moment he actually had to make the decision.

The dilemma was that the gifts catalog would refresh every week, and there might be something there that more valuable than his current bookmarked gifts. If he used up his points now, he wouldn't be able to regain it.

'I think I'll save it. I'll see if there are any gifts next time that help with acquiring more points.'

Sequencee closed his system and fell back onto his bed. He stared at the ceiling.

"Who is that black knight..?"

The truth which Schwii had unveiled to him had opened up an entirely new way of viewing the world. High demons were very similar to humans in that they can create conflict and cause misunderstandings. With the size of the current demon empire, it would be unfeasible to say that nation-scale mistakes couldn't occur.

"Schwii's mother probably had to do with this.. otherwise she wouldn't be imprisoned. So it's likely that one of her subordinate is the culprit.. so who?"

Most of what Sequencee had in mind were plain conjectures. Hypotheses to better grasp the logic behind the attack and..

'The black knight.'

.. to find a new goal to strive for.

Sequencee felt his heart wrench at the thought. The grotesque image of the dripping heart still remained in his mind.

He raised his hands towards the ceiling.

"I need to get stronger."

He clenched it into a fist.

"I'll go meet father and ask what happened."

From the vague manner in which Schwii had phrased the cause of the accident, it's likely she only knew the surface of things– was what Sequencee thought.

'And.. how did father feel about mom's death.'

Even after knowing that his wife had died, he left his child to face the real world alone. He did nothing to support him.

'What if Schwii is lying?'

There were still loopholes which he hadn't the explanation to. Like how the black knight had come only for his mother, or how Schwii only appeared as he was making his way to Rika Nation.

'Even if she's lying.. there must be a reason for it.'

For now at least, Sequencee's new goal was to grow stronger in preparation to meet his father. After that, depending on the explanation, he would decide if he should kill the black knight.

Sequencee took in a deep breath, got up and began his usual routine training.