Pearl Jewel was in her room in the Jewel Palace, wearing her mother's robe and thinking about her new guild.
"Now, all I want is to strike at the right time, and the operation to destroy the Jewel Guild will begin."
She was thinking about the chaos while embracing her old puppet, which had been made by her mother.
"I think the old man went to see Shion. If Shion is a man who can be trusted, my father will be disappointed—"
SMASH!!!
"!!!"
Pearl panicked and stood up immediately.
"What is going on?!"
Pearl got out of her room and saw something she couldn't believe.
"Father?!"
Avar Jewel, the man who was always able to keep a calm and cold expression, was like a volcano about to explode.
"PEARL! Come to my office! NOW!"
"O-okay!!"
Although she hated her father, at that moment, she felt terrified.
She thought,
'Did he discover my guild?! No... No... It can't be! Debi would tell me if something happened... I have to know what is happening!'
Pearl quickly changed her clothes and went to the office, but she found it filled with smoke.
"Father?"
Avar was smoking without stopping. Pearl noticed her father's heavy breathing, while his wild expression reminded her of that accident in the past when she lost her mother.
"..."
Upon seeing that scene, Pearl regained her coldness, giving no care to the old man before her.
"What is going on?"
Avar clenched his teeth and said,
"That bastard Lan!! He dared to unleash his aura on me!! I, the head of the Jewel Guild, was humiliated by a little arrogant bastard?!!"
"Y-you mean Lord Lan?"
"That bastard!!"
Pearl wasn't able to process that kind of conversation. She had never seen her father lose his usual composure like this.
"What happened there?"
"Well, listen to me..."
Avar told Pearl everything, making her feel cautious.
'What is wrong with him? Why is he telling me everything? I think he wants something...'
"So I want you to try with him."
Pearl wanted to laugh because she was the head of the Ocean's Core Guild, but she pretended as always and said calmly,
"Father, Lord Lan isn't that kind of person. He won't change his mind because of some relationships."
Avar held back his anger and said,
"Pearl, if you could make him join the Noble Alliance, we could trade with the Great Six Families. We can become nobles too!"
"Father, what is Lord Lan's role in this alliance?"
Pearl had known about the Noble Alliance and its goals for a long time. She had let her father join them so she could destroy him easily, but Shion Lan was her red line.
Avar laughed and said,
"If we could get our hands on that little one and make him the husband of Nell, or his mother the wife of the head of the Stroman Family, we would get royal protection from their family. That would allow us to confront the Six Great Families and put us on the same level as them!"
Pearl listened to her father, feeling disgusted.
'This old man... He will never change!'
Pearl nodded her head and said,
"I will try my best. When do you want that to happen?"
"The sooner, the better!"
"Time limit."
Pearl wanted to leave the room quickly, and her father said,
"In my calculations, you have six months. But I don't think you have to wait all that time—"
"Great. I will try tomorrow."
She left the office without permission, but she didn't care, making her father smoke again.
Pearl thought about Shion.
'I made Shion enter this chaos, and I will get him out of these troubles.'
Pearl went back to her room, remembering Shion's voice when he said, 'My little Pearl.'
Her face turned red, but she smiled, giving no care to anything else in the world.
---
Shion was in his office, looking at the two young men before him.
"Baro, Fiore, you want to go to Bimal Academy?"
Baro Ferrer and Fiore Tai were asking for permission to join the student exchange between the two academies.
"Lord Lan, I think I will become stronger if I get a beast."
"Yes, you know beasts can double your strength, especially when you form a bond with them!"
Baro and Fiore explained their reasons, but Shion gestured for them to stop and said,
"It's your lives, and I don't have the authority to control you, but I have some advice."
Baro and Fiore leaned forward to listen carefully.
"You will be in a foreign place, surrounded by different people and a different culture. Don't judge anything based on your own culture. Understood?"
"Yes, my lord!"
"Then, Baro, you can choose between dark and light beasts because of your (Night Body)."
Then he turned to Fiore.
"I didn't teach you an enhancing-physique technique. So..."
Shion grabbed a book from his drawer and said,
"(Chaos Body). This kind of technique will make your body tougher, with the wind surrounding you like a natural cover. At the same time, you can use it for movement and destruction. You can say that you are the one who is qualified to practice this technique."
"Thanks, my looooord!!!"
Fiore saw the technique and opened the book at once. It was strange that he didn't ask Shion anything about the technique, but that was normal for Fiore, who used (Whirlwind of Destruction) as his main technique.
After a few minutes, Solan Neumann entered in her spiritual form and grabbed Shion's arm.
"Shion! Let's walk for a while!"
Shion smiled helplessly, and both Baro and Fiore retreated, giving their lord and his love some space.
"Well, where do you want to go?"
"The market! There will be a theater, so we can spend some time there!"
Shion smiled and agreed to go there.
But Marie, the maid, knocked on the door and entered.
"Lord Lan, there's a guest—"
"Pearl Jewel!"
Solan unleashed her killing intent, but Shion calmed her down.
"Love, what is going on?"
"Don't you see what's happening?! She came to ruin our time together! The academy will begin soon, and I want to—"
Shion put his hand over her mouth and said,
"Don't worry. I'm not that easy to fall for anyone but you."
"..."
Solan said nothing and turned her face away, her spiritual form turning red.
'Lovely birds.'
Marie said nothing and left the room with Shion.
In the living room, Pearl was drinking a cup of coffee and said,
"Lord Lan, can't I have Marie? She is good at making drinks."
Shion sighed.
"Solan is up, so please don't talk about anything unimportant."
Pearl felt upset, but she regained her composure.
"Well, my father wants me to convince you to join that alliance."
Shion raised his eyebrows.
"What will you do?"
"Make chaos."
"???"
Shion didn't understand, so Pearl explained.
"My plan is dangerous but necessary to end the Noble Alliance."
Shion looked at her.
"Why are you doing that? Leave everything to the king."
Pearl said,
"The Noble Alliance is working undercover, and the king doesn't know about them."
Shion looked at Marie for a while, but she gestured to him that everything was okay.
'I don't think I have to tell Pearl that Marie is one of the royal maids who reports everything to the king.'
Shion said,
"Well, let's talk about the dangerous part you mentioned."
Pearl said,
"I asked for a vacation to run my guild, so I will disappear after causing some trouble. You will make a problem for them, and you will have a hand there that I arranged. Then you will expose their organization to the king, who will judge them."
Shion said,
"If I'm going to say anything about their secret organization, I should have some evidence."
"Here it is."
Pearl gave Shion some papers exposing the secret meetings and suspicious contracts.
"Well, I didn't know you had that."
Shion was surprised, but he asked,
"There must be a source to make sure the evidence is valid."
"I, the daughter of the head of the Jewel Guild, am the source. What about this?"
"!!!"
Shion looked at her and wanted to scold her.
"Are you insane?! You will be in danger!"
Pearl smiled softly.
"I told you I will disappear for months. Don't worry."
"But—"
"You will be targeted too. The nobles won't allow you to humiliate them."
She smiled and made a joke.
"Why don't you escape with me?"
No one knew what happened, but suddenly, a circle of spirits surrounded Pearl and formed a barrier between her and Shion.
"Eh?!"
Pearl was surprised as she saw Solan before her saying,
"Escape with who?!"
"It was... a joke!"
Pearl didn't care about Solan, as she knew that Shion would protect her.
"Sorry, but Shion won't join your stupid plan. If you want to kill yourself, do it. Don't expect him to risk his life with you!"
"Why?"
Pearl asked like a little girl, but Solan wanted to kill her.
"Shion doesn't have to do anything!"
"Really?! You mean he won't take revenge on them?"
"What?!"
Shion joined them, entering through the spirits.
"What do you mean by revenge?"
Pearl said indifferently,
"That wasn't the first time Stroman and his men tried to affect your mother. They have been using a method where they enter your mansion as visitors at night. Because of her kindness and because she didn't want to worsen your reputation, she let them in, and they tried to convince her to marry that stupid Stroman."
Shion wouldn't believe her easily, but he found Solan silent, trying to avoid his gaze.
"Solan."
Solan felt guilty and stuttered.
"Aaaaaahhh, I can explain..."
"I told her not to tell you."
Rita Lan heard everything and said,
"I know you won't let it go, so I told her not to tell you anything."
"Mom!"
"Don't raise your voice at me!"
"..."
Shion asked quietly,
"They didn't respect us. Why are you letting them do this so easily?"
"Shion, you have a bad reputation. The boy who killed his family. It will be worse if you become evil in their eyes."
"Hahahaha! My reputation?! They didn't take me seriously! So..."
His eyes were sharp and cold.
"Pearl, I will do it today."
"Well, I made the plan, and you can—"
"No, I will do it my way."
Pearl sighed.
"I don't mean to belittle you, but you are at the fourth level. You can't face a seventh-level swordsman."
Shion didn't say anything. He just raised his hand, and a cursed sword from his room moved.
"What the—"
A heavy, malicious aura fell over everyone, and the Sword of Sins appeared in the air before resting in Shion's hands.
"Now, I have the power to cause some real trouble."
Shion looked at Solan, who was afraid.
"Solan, summon Polter and Bloom and the rest of your souls."
He pointed at Marie.
"Contact Enfel Kito. Tell him to prepare himself well."
Marie hesitated.
"My lord, is it safe to hold this sword?"
"Why not? I've tamed the sword."
---
In the Veins Domain.
Shi Yun Lan looked at the pitiful sword spirit and said,
"You will obey Shion, and if you don't, I will kill you."
The old sword spirit nodded his head in humiliation and said,
"I will."
Shi Yun Lan returned to his meditation.
---
In Kito Province.
Enfel Kito heard the message and said,
"Well, let's destroy some idiots!"
The elders stopped him.
"The young lord! You are still a child!"
Enfel, who had been saved by Shion and had given him his loyalty, said,
"Don't forget, I'm a seventh-level child."
Enfel had learned how to control his simple domain and escaped from the elders to join Shion.
---
At the same time, in the mansion.
Marie communicated with King Jord Joul through the magical paper and wrote about Shion's intention to fight Stroman.
"That must stop him. Shion can't refuse an order from the king."
Other words appeared on the magical paper, but they shocked Marie as the king said,
"Let him handle them, and if anything happens, I will protect him."
Marie sighed.
"There's no one I can rely on."