"You bastard—what are you doing here?!"

Bale froze the moment he saw Tesetan.

From the second floor, Basto, Raul, and Enzo came running down.

The newly recruited members stood by the railing above, watching with curiosity.

"I heard from Ribia."

Ignoring all the eyes on him, Tesetan strode straight toward Tie.

Raul and Enzo tried to block him, but Nordix stopped them.

Stopping in front of Tie, Tesetan slowly looked over the weapons on the table.

"You can keep my greatsword. But the squad members’ weapons—"

"Wait!"

Tie cut him off sharply.

Feeling her heart pounding, she blinked.

'Talk. I have to talk properly.'

Ribia’s voice echoed in her head, stressing how important it was to talk to Papa.

Tie swallowed and pulled a crumpled sheet of paper from her dress pocket.

Tesetan frowned.

"What’s that?"

Tie unfolded it and held it out to him.

He looked at it and began reading the uneven handwriting.

"Rules for a good and healthy conversation?"

And there were three of them.

Tie had written this list herself that morning.

'Because this Papa—whenever he talks to Tie—he gets angry and irritated right away.'

If she didn’t set rules in advance, he would just say what he wanted and leave again.

So Tie decided to establish boundaries from the start.

'Auntie Ribia said Papa would come for the weapons.'

Which meant—right now, Tie had the advantage.

Tie jumped off the sofa, ran to her kindergarten bag, and rummaged through it.

Then she pulled out her favorite doll, Tonapang.

"First! We speak in turns."

Tesetan lifted his gaze to Tie.

"Only the person holding the doll can talk! If you don’t have the doll—you listen! No interrupting, no arguing, no ignoring!"

Tesetan’s lips parted slightly.

But Tie energetically continued:

"Second—look each other in the eyes. Third—use nice words. If the rules are broken..."

She hesitated, glancing between the weapons and her papa.

"Negotiations are cancelled!"

After a pause—

Tesetan groaned heavily.

"......Do whatever you want."

"Okay!"

Tie grabbed the doll with one hand, raised the other, and—just like she had learned in kindergarten—started first.

"Tie bought these °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° weapons from Auntie Ribia with a lot of gold. So now they belong to Tie. I can’t just give them back to mister for free."

She quickly held the doll out to Tesetan.

Tesetan looked at Tie, then at the doll, then slowly closed his eyes.

And, grinding his teeth, he took it.

"......Hah."

Steadying his breath, he opened his eyes.

One of the rules was to look each other in the eyes.

"I..."

But the words wouldn’t come.

Bright green eyes were shining right in front of him.

Every time the King of the Dead blinked, the pupils slowly contracted and expanded.

Tesetan coughed and forced himself to speak:

"......My greatsword is fine. But the squad members’ weapons—I’d like those back. I’ll pay somehow."

The King of the Dead reached toward the table again.

Tesetan reflexively covered the blade with his hand.

But Tie simply took the doll back and replied:

"But Tie doesn’t lend things."

"......"

The doll returned to Tesetan’s hands.

He swallowed a sigh and placed the sword down on the table.

For some reason, it bothered him that the child kept reaching toward the sharp edge.

Holding the doll by one ear, he said:

"Can you make an exception this time?"

The King of the Dead shook his head.

This time, she didn’t even take the doll—like she didn’t see a need to answer.

Tesetan shifted awkwardly.

And after a long hesitation, he asked the question that had been lingering in his mind:

"Why are you even trying to recruit me?"

The King of the Dead’s eyes widened slightly.

"I almost killed you. You know that."

Silence fell over the first floor.

Even the Agavert members upstairs went quiet.

From somewhere nearby came Bale’s low growl:

"This bastard really—"

But at that moment, the King of the Dead reached out a hand toward Tesetan.

After a pause, Tesetan placed the doll into it.

The King of the Dead hugged it to her chest.

Then, looking straight into his eyes, she said softly:

"Tie... just likes mister."

"Cough!"

From the kitchen, Basto choked on his water.

Tesetan stared at the King of the Dead without blinking.

'She likes me?'

Was that really the only reason?

"Tie likes mister, so she just wants to be on the same side."

Tesetan forgot to take the doll back and asked:

"Why?"

Could someone really just like another person like that?

If they weren’t family.

But the King of the Dead answered calmly:

"I don’t know. You can just like someone."

And added:

"If we merge with Tie... I’ll make mister the deputy leader."

"Hey, kid!"

Several Agavert members rushed forward at once.

But Tie didn’t even turn toward them—she gathered magic.

A small barrier formed around her and Tesetan.

'A barrier?'

Tesetan couldn’t believe his eyes.

During the duel, the King of the Dead hadn’t created barriers herself.

She had only used summoned creatures.

But now—

Without words or gestures, she deployed a barrier.

It seemed to block sound.

'Has she grown this much already?'

At that moment, the King of the Dead said:

"Tie will protect you."

And suddenly—

'Mom will protect you.'

In the King of the Dead’s eyes, he saw his mother’s eyes.

Tesetan unconsciously clenched his fist.

The King of the Dead still held the doll and looked at him.

"Tie will make mister the first person you love, and will feed you lots, and won’t ask for meat every day."

Moisture gathered in her green eyes.

"I won’t be fussy, won’t be annoying. I’ll give lots and lots of days off."

"......"

"I won’t ask you to buy stickers... Tie will listen."

Tesetan inhaled sharply.

And suddenly, a tear ran down his cheek.

He wiped his face in confusion.

'Why?'

He stared at the moisture on his palm.

Tears—with no reason.

Strange.

The King of the Dead also began to cry and said softly:

"So... can Tie stay with mister?"

She sniffled and tried to smile.

"......Please......"

The King of the Dead’s hand was already resting on Tesetan’s wrist, where the contract ring had been.

For a long time, Tesetan couldn’t say anything.

—

That same day, at noon.

Tesetan returned to Tregava’s base with the recovered weapons.

Even though it was just a move to the neighboring house, Ribia greeted him with a radiant face.

"Squad leader, well? Well?!"

Without a word, Tesetan handed her the crescent blade.

Then gave Allerik the orb.

"We’re not moving the base yet."

As he climbed the stairs with his sword at his waist, he added:

"But your positions might disappear."

Ribia’s face lit up.

She rushed to hug Allerik and Victor.

"Waaah! So we’re not breaking up?! It’s not disbandment?! Yes!"

Tesetan smirked and turned the corner of the second floor.

The contract ring was no longer on his wrist.