The manager of the adventurer guild's Deep Down Town branch was sitting alone in an open cafe of the dungeon town of the East. It had been a day since the group of students had dived into the dungeon here as well.
They were planning to go all the way to the bottom, and it irked him a little since they were just kids that weren't even adventurers yet, but he could leave them all in Iffy and Philip's hands.
If there was anyone with a sharp eye for people, then it was him. From recruiting Kaiser and the Queen of Death to teaching the hero party of Schwarz and pulling out Keith, and then even a monster like Eugene Hall, he had done it all himself.
There was no doubt in his mind that those two could handle the expedition and then go down. For what it was worth, that Hoya girl was extremely unsettling too…
But not as unsettling as the sigh of the barista as he placed another coffee in front of him.
"Do you think this will end soon?" The barista asked. The manager had become a frequent customer now, so it was natural.
"I guess. It makes for alright background music."
His attention went out of the windows and toward the screams and shouts of protest that kept streaming in with the air.
"Surrender to Asahi! Surrender to Asahi!"
"Unification for the East!"
A chuckle left the manager.
"What an insane man…"
Public opinion was one that needed to be controlled. Along with Maria, had come another member of the second whip's team and more people from the Dark Moon.
Over these days, they put in the seeds of the Asahi estate's prosperity and magnanimity to the people. Just a week back, even word of how their ancestors were betrayed and stabbed in the back before the time of war.
People had started to see the Asahi in a favorable light.
And then right on time.
The Dark Moon started spreading word of a unification and the gracious spread of the Asahi's wings to take under the people troubled by war under their banner.
It was a slight, controlled rumor.
One that only spread to the upper echelons and the hidden masters of the city. The top brass of the top brass amongst the public.
At that very same time. The informants of the Dungeon city's lord returned home and told him about war.
The controlled rumor that was told to an extreme opposite faction, coupled with the steadily and strongly rising public opinion of the Asahi had not reached the lord.
In a moment of action and caution, the lord had taken to the podium and told his people that the wretched Asahi were planning to attack the dungeon city and take away their riches and peace.
That the sparks of war had maddened them. And that they had also coerced the seven warlords into siding with them through force.
It was a siding through force, the lord was most truthful and righteous. Even his decision to be transparent with his citizens was sound and logical, one that incited trust from the people.
Unfortunately.
A demon lord was on his back.
The citizens all knew the seven warlords as people liberated by the Asahi.
They knew his operations as that of peace and martyrdom.
And so, the lord became the very thing he was claiming the Asahi's to be.
A warmonger.
"What a wretched brat," the manager spoke again as he shook his head. It was just like his student to pull some tricks like this against the lord.
The result was a magnificent success. The people had taken to the street, guided by the leaders to finally make a move against the lord of the city, the damned warmonger.
People had been forced to look a different way. And it was likely not just here.
The manager knew how many places the count of Apollon had in his eyes. He was planning to become an overlord in the East. A grand power.
Just how many more people and sound and innocent lords were being tricked like this at the same time?
Only imagining it was enough to send shivers down the manager's spine.
Once again, he couldn't hold his words in.
"What a wretched brat," he said.
"You talking about me?"
Right then, the chair next to him was pulled back and the second cup of coffee that the barista had placed on the table taken away.
The manager looked to his side. Sitting there with no more scars on his neck and no more red in his purple eyes was the white haired child and the count of Apollon.
"How old are you now?"
"Oh, my birthday went by just a week back."
"You're running your 19 then?"
"Running? I guess I am?"
The manager nodded.
"No cutting me open. Do something about this, the barista here is troubled."
Eugene looked up at the Barista and grinned. There was no one else in the cafe.
"Hey, are you troubled by this? That I am planning to take over the East?"
The manager widened his eyes and looked at Eugene. Shocked at the casual admittance.
"Not at all, Lord Dark Moon."
The manager's eyes fell on the coffee that Eugene held. Drawn on it with latte was the figure of a dark moon.
The boy grinned once more and took a sip.
"You heard him."
A chuckle escaped the manager.
It then turned into a full blown laughter.
The man sighed and shook his head. He wiped his eyes and looked at Eugene Hall.
"What happened to you?"
"Things, I'll tell you later, before that. I need your help."
"Help?"
Eugene nodded.
"I want to learn how I can be weak."
The manager crossed his hands.
It was a difficult question, but he understood what he meant.
"I can only tell you about ideas, there's someone better who can teach you how to be weak."
Eugene raised his brow.
"The god of adventurers. Kaiser."
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