"I’ve brought him with me."

"Come in then."

It was already past midnight when Olivia welcomed Ophelia and Mika to the throne room of Fuera’s castle.

Olivia was sitting on her throne, resting her right elbow on the armrest, whereas on the other armrest, a pile of documents was visible.

Her gaze was indifferent just like Mika’s.

"I will take my leave n-"

"You can stay here." Olivia cut her sister off.

"?"

"This topic may concern you, too." she explained.

"U-understood."

Ophelia still distanced herself from them and listened to them from the sidelines.

"Well then..." Olivia sighed.

"Let’s continue our conversation from earlier." she stated.

"Yes."

Mika walked towards her.

He drew his silver sword and pointed it at her neck.

"And based on your answer, I will have to cut you down."

"Mika!"

Ophelia was about to rush to him but the unfazed Olivia gestured with her hand to stop.

"Do what you want." she said unbothered by the sword.

Mika did not move from his spot nor did he lower his sword.

"Did you know that there were only four nations in the beginning?"

"..."

"Grat, Loogam, Malnor and Stakew. The land was divided by those four nations."

Olivia began to tell Mika a story.

"Stakew, a currently small nation, was once bigger when the land, which was later called Rostanta, was divided between Malnor and Stakew. However, that changed with the arrival of the first demons."

"I know that this isn’t of interest to you so I will skip most of the historical part. What I’m trying to say is that there was a high-ranking demon that was untouchable. You could say that the man was on par with Vira."

In other words, he was most likely a high A-rank or low S-rank demon.

"The nations decided to leave him alone for the time being as they had to focus on the other enemies that appeared in their nations. And while he was left alone, the demon decided to try out some experiments with humans."

Mika narrowed his eyes as he faintly grasped the situation.

"Out of pure curiosity, he tried to birth a child with mixed blood."

Ophelia, who was in the corner, averted her frustrated gaze. She had her arms crossed but they were slightly trembling.

"He ordered his subordinates to capture women who were able to bear children. Following that, he tried to impregnate the women, however, none of them got actually pregnant. And seeing that it was not possible with them, no matter how often he tried, he got rid of them as if they were useless tools."

"Still... Before he completely gave up on his plan, one woman got unlucky and was pregnant with his child."

After that, Mika slightly lowered his sword.

"During the pregnancy of that woman, the demon used the time he had then to conquer land and fight back against the other nations. In that process, he managed to take away land from both Malnor and Stakew."

"He would only stop his conquest when his child was finally born. The woman used for the experiment died shortly after giving death but the son was born healthily. And just like the demon expected, his son had traits belonging to both humans and demons. His son may had the appearance of a human, including the ability to use magic, but he also possessed the strengths and instincts of a demon." 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"The demon was overjoyed and invested all his free time into raising his child into a strong person. Under his guidance, the son quickly grew strong. He participated in fights from a young age and eventually grasped the realm of S-rank lightning magic."

No one among his peers could even fight him.

"The father unexpectedly grew fond of him and treated him with care and love. The son reciprocated those feelings and stacked up military achievements at the same time. It was not a stretch to say that the results of the demon’s plan exceeded his expectations. If the demons could expand their force this way in the human realm, then conquering the world would be a piece of cake. Thinking that, the demon prepared to head out to tell the other demons about it."

However, it never came to that.

"The night before his departure, his son visited him in order to report about his latest trip. Well, that’s what it should have been about on the surface. But in truth, the son used that as an excuse to talk with his father and to lower his guard."

"The son assassinated his father."

It was an act of revenge.

The son knew what his father did and the reason for his birth. Of course, he could not forgive those evil deeds but the thing that was spurring him was the gaze of those around him. Because of his mixed blood, both humans and demons would look at him with disgust, making him conscious of gazes altogether.

He felt like he was a monster, belonging nowhere wherever he went to and it was all because his father played around out of curiosity.

"Following his death, the son took command over the land his father had conquered. And the first thing he did was to kill every demon in his land. It took him years to find and kill them but he succeeded. The son took the demons’ heads with him and presented them to the leaders of the other nations."

"Using their heads as presents, the son made a deal with them. All the land he and his father had taken would still remain theirs and the fact that he had mixed blood in him should remain a secret. In return, he would offer his help to fight against the demons and monsters and he promised not to attack any nations anymore."

"He, Gray Rostanta, was the first official ruler of the then official acknowledged nation Rostanta."

And based on the knowledge Mika possessed about Rostanta, the next ruler of the nation would be decided like in a tournament where the winner, or rather the strongest, would be crowned as the ruler. But since Gray Rostanta, the next leader was always a Rostanta.

It was clear to Mika why.

"You two are descendants of Gray Rostanta, right?" Mika asked.

"Yes." Olivia replied softly and bitterly.

Both Olivia and Ophelia have mixed blood, belonging to humans and demons. And that mixed blood would not vanish no matter what they did or how many generations they were apart.

But that blood enabled them to unlock a source of strength no normal human could match against, explaining why a Rostanta would always win the tournament and become the next king or queen.

"In my case, my blood awakened when I was 4."

Olivia glanced at Ophelia.

"My sister, however, only unlocked her power recently."

That was why Ophelia was staying in Fuera for a while. She had to learn how to control her power from Olivia.

"I see."

Mika sheathed his sword.

"In today’s age, no one aside from the leaders of each nation knows about this. So you know what I’m trying to say, right?"

"I know. I won’t tell that to anybody."

"Good."

Olivia leaned back.

"Then, to the next topic-"

"I want you two to join my group."

"?"

Olivia frowned sternly.

"W-what...?!"

Ophelia tilted her head in confusion.

"Your powers would be useful in my group so I want you two to join me." Mika repeated calmly.

Olivia sighed.

"Somehow, I expected that..."

She handed him some documents which were on her side all the time.

"If you really want us to join, then I want you to show me your potential."

"..."

Mika quickly read through the documents.

"These documents contain information about possible hideouts of demons."

Because of a great lack of information, the Grand Order could not move a finger yet.

"Choose one hideout and eliminate the threat there. If you succeed, we will join your little group."

"B-but Olivia! You’re the captain of the Grand Order! Can you promise something like that so easily?!"

"It’s alright, Ophelia. The others will surely understand that after witnessing his strength today."

Mika suddenly widened his eyes for a moment while going through the papers.

"Made your decision yet?"

"Yes."

The next day.

"Alright, with this we will conclude the candidates’ introductions. I look forward to your growth." Olivia announced expectingly.

The Grand Order meeting resumed today.

While some were covered in heavy bandages, some were fortunately lightly injured.

"What about that boy?" Zhen asked sternly with his arms crossed.

"Yes, what about him?! How could he not show his face after everything he did yesterday?!" Loram shouted, slamming the table.

"..."

Some other candidates were grumbling.

"Calm down, everyone." Lereon said.

"Tch, they’re so noisy." Elsa remarked quietly.

"..."

Olivia stared at them apathetically before she opened her mouth.

"Everyone, I have something to tell you."

They turned to her.

"I..."

She glanced at Elsa for a moment which confused her.

"I will step down from my position."