"Aiming for me...?"
I never saw even a shadow of them while staying here for a month. What reason would they have to look for me?
"Since you gave me administrator privilege for the taming system, I trusted you already. However, those around me, especially my companions, were noisy about it. In the end, I had no choice."
Zeshion smiled wryly as he shrugged his shoulders.
"And that's why I decided to look into your past. To determine if you really are worthy of our protection."
Zeshion pointed his index finger at me, then waved it upward. A black card and a compass came out from the inside of my storage ring. The two objects flew into Zeshion's hands as if they were attracted by a magnet.
The compass was the one that I borrowed from him to go to the dwarves' place. I knew he had a trace of his soul placed inside it, so it's not surprising if he could take it out of my storage ring.
But the black card, the VIP Tamer's Proof, that I got from the capital's government office should be different. That has nothing to do with Zeshion at all. He raised the two articles and explained.
"This compass with a strand of my soul was actually passed to you to track your location. Sorry about that."
Then he flipped the black card on its back, and a hologram-like figure appeared above it.
"This one recorded your surroundings without your notice. With this, we could prove you're not connected with the demon tamers."
Like a video playback, Zeshion moved the scene back to when I met Igni and fought the Demon Tamers there. I felt a cold sweat running down my back after realizing what this meant.
"Uhh... D-Did it record everything since I received it from the capital?"
God Zeshion blinked at my question before nodding his head.
"Yes, it should. Want to see some more scenes?"
Before he could manipulate it even more, rewinding the time to a scene that shouldn't be shown, I quickly grabbed the card from his hands.
"Please, no. This is an invasion of privacy!"
"Oh, that?"
Zeshion smiled as if he realized what I was worried about.
"Only the top brass could review the records. They are under a strict privacy contract, so don't worry about it."
That's not what I'm worried about, though... Glancing behind me, I could see that Ember and Fang did have awkward expressions on their faces. They probably remembered the same thing I did and were embarrassed knowing that everything was recorded.
"Can I cut out some scenes at least? Like, when taking a bath or the loo!"
"Those are automatically skipped, so no need to. Ah! So that's what you were worried about? Your night activities aren't recorded either."
God Zeshion smiled as he gave a thumbs-up. Although I felt relief knowing about that, it still made me fear the black card. That card was worse than a hidden camera.
"Now, moving on to the last topic,"
After a bit of explaining, Zeshion returned to the previous talk with a serious face.
"For the third... Will, did you get notified who the System's Crowned Successor is?"
I shook my head before his stare, not even knowing what the term meant.
"That's weird... You should have the highest authority amongst the current taming system's administrators. You really have no idea?"
"Nope, not at all. What's the System's Crowned Successor, even?"
Zeshion leaned back in his chair and slowly talked.
"It's not widely known, as it's the secret of the top brass around the globe... But the system assigns a successor within a generation of tamers."
Zeshion closed his eyes as if recalling a distant memory.
"The successor can commit other tamers to a Servant Contract, giving them more power and awakening their bloodlines."
"... Ah."
Hearing everything up to this point, I suddenly had an epiphany. Wan Li and Wan Er seemed to have realized it too and stood up.
"God Zeshion! Do you know how to disable that servant contract?"
Wan Li shouted, upon which everyone turned to her and stared. Zeshion went, "Hmm?" and was surprised.
"You... aren't you the winner of this year's newbie tournament?"
He looked at her from top to bottom, nodding his head in realization, before turning back to me.
"I see. So you are the System's Crowned Successor for this generation?"
"I guess..."
I smiled wryly, not knowing how to respond to that.
"God Zeshion, please! Can this servant contract be canceled or removed?"
Wan Er couldn't help but raise her voice too. However, God Zeshion sighed before shaking his head.
"Unfortunately, no. It's a permanent change, and the contract will not vanish until one side perishes, just like a normal taming contract."
"There must be a way!"
Wan Li raised her voice; impatience was visible in her expression. I guess rather than worrying for herself, she was more worried for Ying Yue, who had yet to regain consciousness.
"NO!"
Zeshion raised his voice in anger. Everyone was surprised as the whole room shook from the pressure he released.
Realizing his mistake, he quickly apologized.
"Ah, sorry. I just... remembered a bad memory."
He rubbed his eyes as he sighed deeply. Then, as if resolving himself, he resumed what he was saying.
"It's impossible to cancel the servant contract. I've seen it before already."
His expression turned forlorn, as if just remembering that memory was enough to break his heart.
"You see, the successor in the generation before mine forcefully contracted a large majority of tamers... That included my mother, Talua, and all those with administrator privileges."
The older ones in the room frowned deeply, probably having an idea about that tragedy.
"With a single flick of his finger, everyone that he contracted died… Even my mother was… That's the reason why nobody had activated systems starting from my generation."
"The Century of Chaos..."
Harumi muttered with a bitter expression.
"Right, that. Probably nobody here was present at that time, I guess? Since it's over 500 years ago already."
God Zeshion scanned the faces of those around him and confirmed that nobody present was as old as he was. Even Vermeil wasn't as old as Zeshion.
"Since that tragedy, we never heard of any System's Crowned Successor anymore. That man was the last to be known as one..."
I felt that something was wrong, but I decided to quench my curiosity.
"That man's name is...?"
Zeshion looked at me, then smiled.
"Noir Zeshion. My older brother... But now, he's much better known as Agor, the leader of the current Demon Tamers."
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