Just as she had expected, the human food prepared in the estate was of the exact same culinary standard as the dishes back in the City Lord’s mansion of Oldyork.

Ayla thoroughly enjoyed every single meal placed before her. Her silver fork moved quickly, systematically clearing the plates of rich meats, delicate pastries, and sweet nectars while her golden eyes remained fixed on her plate.

Across the long mahogany table, Roric Vale silently watched his granddaughter eat. His face was a mask of stoic concern, his thoughts shifting heavily back to the irregular mandate issued by Marshal Vance and the sudden mobilization of General Hadrian.

He remained entirely unaware that as she chewed, Ayla was actively attentive to the precise trajectory of his thoughts, tracking every stray detail of his mind like a data stream.

’I cannot leave them here,’ he thought. It is not safe. ’But I cannot take them with me either. The front is not safe for that. Should I send them back to Oldyork?’

He shook his head slightly.

That would be openly opposing the direct deployment orders of the central government. The high bureaucrats in the inner districts have already begun to harbor deep, ugly doubts regarding the Vale family’s rising influence.

Ayla and Kenji clearing an undocumented apocalypse tunnel and obtaining legendary system rewards had already made several high-ranking figures in the capital intensely jealous. The only reason those corrupt politicians had not yet dared to openly intervene to "safely control" those invaluable resources was the combined military pressure from the Hayashi and Vale families.

The two houses stood together as an unbreakable wall. But now, after Ayla had successfully implanted the legendary Apocalypse Core and formed a Celestial vessel, Roric was deeply afraid that the greedy figureheads from the government could no longer sit calmly in their offices.

The current situation—the sudden Ghoul strike on the transport lines, the bizarrely isolated mandate, and Hadrian’s reckless advance—might be nothing more than an ugly, coordinated plan designed to systematically strip control from their families and isolate their assets.

’Damn it,’ Roric thought, his internal voice tightening with bitter resentment.

With each passing second, the old General became increasingly agitated. The Vale house had always remained inside the harsh confines of the Crusade, bleeding on the front lines and fighting exclusively for the collective interests of humanity.

And yet, look at the brilliant gift they were going to receive from their own species in return: betrayal and political sabotage.

If his tactical guess was correct, the Hayashi family on Earth would also be targeted by the bureaucrats by now.

If only the government were composed of true warriors who fight for the survival of humanity, rather than those corrupt, bureaucratic bitches in the capital, he thought, a dark, dangerous spark igniting in his mind.

’There is no way I am risking my grandchildren’s lives for their political games. If those people are really forcing my hand, then I have no choice left but to take an extreme path.’

A cold, lethal light glinted in his eyes as a single, monumental concept anchored itself at the absolute center of his thoughts.

The Spire.

’The Spire?’ Ayla’s cheeks were puffed out by the sweet fruit dessert she was currently consuming, her jaw pausing its rhythmic chewing for a fraction of a second.

Was her grandfather planning on sending them directly into the Spire?

It was a fascinating variable, but before she could extract further parameters regarding his hidden contingency plan, Roric’s thoughts abruptly shifted away from the military maps, his focus returning to the cute, completely blank expression on her face.

He slid a glass of chilled water across the table toward her, his harsh features softening into a gentle smile.

"Eat slowly, little one," he said softly. "No one is going to steal the food from your plate."

"Mm," Ayla hummed around her spoonful, swallowing the dessert with a delicate click of her throat.

Roric glanced toward the empty seat at the opposite side of the long table, his thick brows furrowing as he checked the time on his pocket watch.

"Why hasn’t Kenji come down to breakfast yet?" he asked aloud, a hint of grandfatherly annoyance creeping into his tone. "That boy is becoming increasingly rebellious."

Ayla had just finished clearing the last remnants of the sweet cream from her plate. Upon hearing her grandfather speak his name, she looked up with absolute seriousness, her voice perfectly casual as she blurted out, "He is full eating me."

Then she paused, remembering how Kenji had warned her not to reveal that.

"That was a joke." She lowered her eyes to the ground.

Lieutenant Maren entered the grand dining room at the exact millisecond those words slipped past Ayla’s lips.

The senior officer froze mid-stride, her heavy leather boot skidding slightly against the polished marble floor as she almost lost her footing entirely. Her eyes widened into perfect circles.

Roric’s face also stiffened, his jaw locking instantly as his brain struggled to process the joke his granddaughter had just dropped.

His granddaughter’s jokes were certainly a bit... inconvenient for polite human society. He cleared his throat roughly, his gaze shifting sharply toward Lieutenant Maren, his eyes flashing with a stern, commanding warning that practically ordered the officer to act as if she had heard absolutely nothing.

Maren, a seasoned soldier who had survived multiple vanguard campaigns, recovered her military composure with impressive speed, though a faint tint of pink colored the tips of her ears.

"Then... hm... I will wait outside until you are finished, General," she said quickly, her voice dropping a full octave as she turned on her heel and exited the dining hall, her steps significantly faster than when she had entered.

Ayla watched her departure, never finding anything wrong with her own statement as she picked up her water glass. She had already told them that was a joke, right?

As she sipped the cool water, she wondered briefly if Kenji was truly full just from kissing her. Human biology was remarkably inefficient, so it was entirely possible that a simple exchange of saliva had satisfied his immediate caloric needs.

She also wondered if she would experience a similar sensation of fullness if she were to kiss him back in the exact same manner.

’I will test it on him later,’ she thought calmly, archiving the experiment into her upcoming schedule.

After she finished the last drop of water, Roric rose from his seat, smoothing down the front of his military tunic. He looked down at her with a gentle expression, patting her shoulder.

"Go explore the base courtyard for a bit, sweetie," Roric told her. "Get familiar with the fresh air before the deployment. I have some boring administrative paperwork to review with Maren."

Ayla nodded obediently. Although she was deeply curious about what report the other human woman wanted to deliver, she knew she could not be too obvious with her movements.

She needed to maintain her persona, after all. She offered him a brief, dimpled smile and left the dining hall through the side exit to find Kenji.

The moment the heavy oak doors clicked shut behind Ayla, Lieutenant Maren reentered the room, her tablet clamped tightly against her chest as she approached the General’s desk.

Roric rubbed his temples, a heavy, exhausted sigh escaping his lips as he shook his head bitterly.

"Maren, find someone discreet to thoroughly check what kind of environment my granddaughter lived in during her time in the Outer Walls," Roric said, his voice laced with absolute exasperation. "She has surely learned a massive amount of crude jokes from those commoners."

Maren nodded her head in compliance, though for some strange reason, she did not actually think the young miss had been telling a crude joke. She had seen the absolute, unblinking seriousness in Ayla’s golden eyes when she spoke those words.

There had been no smirk, no hesitation, and no human shame. It looked like a statement of absolute fact. But Maren was a smart officer; she decided to keep her personal opinions entirely to herself.

"General, this is the official list of the next scheduled Spire Walkers from our sector," Maren said, tapping the screen of her tablet and sliding it across the mahogany table. Her brow furrowed into a deep line of confusion. "Why do you suddenly want to see this roster now? Our front hasn’t handled Spire allocations in three cycles."

Roric fell completely silent, his large hands resting on the edge of the table as he stared down at the glowing digital names. The silence stretched between them for several minutes.

"To pick two slots," Roric said finally, his voice cold as iron.