On the way back to the Rosavere Company, Penelope remained lost in her own thoughts. The cold afternoon breeze brushed against her hair while the sky light reflected faintly across the glass buildings surrounding the street.
Yet none of it entered her mind.
Her thoughts remained stuck on a single word.
’Them.’
What exactly did Lackey an by it?
Was it rely a figure of speech spoken casually during the conversation?
Or was there truly sothing hidden behind those words?
The more she thought about it, the more unsettled she beca.
Beside her, Lackey walked with his usual calm expression, his footsteps steady against the polished road as though nothing in the world could disturb his composure. His servant followed quietly a step behind him, her eyes lowered.
’Did you get it?’
Lackey’s voice echoed silently through their connection.
’Yes. Nightfire made it in ti.’
Without changing her expression, the servant carefully passed a parched scroll behind her back, making sure Penelope never noticed the movent. The exchange happened naturally, almost frighteningly smooth, like thieves exchanging blades in the dark.
The mont the scroll touched Lackey’s fingers, he tore it apart instantly.
For a brief second, his body distorted. The outline of his figure flickered violently like an old, broken television struggling to hold its signal before stabilising once again.
No one around them seed to notice.
Lackey simply humd under his breath with quiet satisfaction before continuing forward toward the Rosavere Company building.
"Did the discussion go smoothly?" Lackey asked casually as they approached Amara’s office floor.
Amara stood waiting outside her office door with perfect posture, one hand resting lightly against her folded arm.
When she saw the trio approaching, a professional smile ford on her lips.
"We shouldn’t discuss it out here," she replied calmly, her eyes briefly shifting toward Lackey’s servant before glancing at Penelope. "Too many ears."
Penelope imdiately lowered her head slightly, assuming her madam intended to speak privately. She took a small step back, preparing to leave alongside Lackey’s servant.
However, Amara suddenly stopped her.
"No, stay. You may as well co with us."
Penelope blinked in confusion.
Just monts ago, Amara’s gaze clearly carried the intention of dismissing both. Penelope had seen it. She was certain of it. Yet now her madam had changed her mind entirely.
Why?
The question lingered in her chest, but she didn’t dare ask aloud. Instead, she quietly nodded and followed behind Amara as the group moved deeper into the building.
The atmosphere gradually changed the farther they walked.
The lively sounds from the upper offices disappeared completely, replaced by an eerie silence. Even the lighting beca dimr here, colder sohow. Long tallic hallways stretched endlessly ahead while security doors lined the walls like sealed prison gates.
Not a single employee could be seen.
The deeper they went, the heavier the air beca.
Finally, Amara stopped before a large reinforced door hidden at the end of the restricted corridor.
"Isn’t this..." Lackey muttered softly, his eyes narrowing the mont he recognised the place.
This was the sa room.
The sa chamber where Amara had once shown him those Origin Core Crystals.
The door slid open with a low chanical hum.
The mont they entered.
Strange tallic devices floated silently in the air, rotating around glowing blue rings. Ancient-looking artifacts rested inside transparent containers while streams of symbols moved across suspended screens like living code.
The atmosphere carried an unnatural coldness.
Amara entered calmly as though this environnt was perfectly normal to her. Lackey remained composed as well. Even Penelope only looked around with mild curiosity, seemingly already accustod to such things.
Only Lackey’s servant froze slightly.
’What the hell...’
Her eyes widened despite her attempts to remain calm. Artifact after artifact filled the room, each one radiating energy that clearly did not belong to this world. It felt as though she had stepped beyond reality itself and entered another dinsion entirely.
She slowly glanced toward Lackey.
At that mont, she finally understood why he remained cautious around Amara.
For soone to gather this many impossible objects... how had she done it? Where did she even find them? And more importantly... what exactly was Amara?
Too many questions surfaced in her mind.
Which was exactly why Lackey treated this matter as the responsibility of "Lackey," not Aether or Victor.
The separation existed for a reason.
anwhile, Lackey’s eyes shifted quietly toward Penelope.
Unlike his servant, Penelope didn’t appear shocked anymore. Her gaze wandered through the room with familiarity rather than fear, almost like soone who had already spent enough ti here to beco numb to its insanity.
That alone made Lackey slightly curious.
’Does she... know about this too?’
For a brief mont, he considered probing further. Asking questions. Pulling at the hidden threads surrounding Amara and her secretary.
But eventually, he abandoned the thought.
He had already created enough complications as it was. And now that he was finally approaching his true objective, wasting ti chasing unnecessary answers felt pointless.
As they entered the room, the heavy tallic door closed behind them with a low chanical thud, sealing the chamber in silence. The faint blue lights from the floating devices reflected across the polished floor.
Amara stepped forward and stopped directly before Lackey. For the first ti since entering the room, a trace of genuine satisfaction appeared on her face.
"My colleague accepted your proposal," she said, her tone carrying faint happiness. "They’ve decided to take you to the Terra Empire."
Hearing those words, Lackey imdiately reacted with visible excitent.
"Oh my goodness... really?"
His voice almost sounded too eager. Behind the rabbit mask, however, his eyes quietly swept across the room, searching every corner, every reflection, every shadow.
Hidden caras?
Surveillance artifacts?
Soone watching remotely?
He still couldn’t understand how Amara had contacted the Terra Empire within barely an hour.
Amara gave a small nod before her expression slowly turned serious again. The warmth vanished from her face almost instantly.
"However, the regulations within the Terra Empire are extrely strict," she explained calmly. "Taking you openly through official channels is impossible. It could even place my colleague in danger."
She paused briefly before continuing.
"So instead... you’ll be sold as a slave in the next batch."
The room fell quiet for a mont.
Lackey wasn’t surprised by the statent itself, but the wording still caught his attention. His masked face tilted slightly.
"Slave?" he repeated carefully.
Amara frowned faintly at his reaction.
"What?" she asked coldly. "I thought you were prepared to sacrifice everything for that technology."
Lackey imdiately raised both hands defensively as though afraid he had offended her.
"No, no, no... that’s not what I ant." He shook his head quickly before letting out an awkward laugh. "Honestly, I don’t even mind working under you eternally if it ans reaching the Terra Empire. I was just surprised by the words you used."
His tone lowered slightly.
"’Slave’... and ’next batch.’ It almost sounds like you’re smuggling people."
Beneath the rabbit mask, his jaw tightened hard enough to ache.
For a brief second, he genuinely wanted to punch her face straight into the floor.
But he endured it.
Ruining everything here over emotions would destroy months of effort.
Amara rely shrugged her shoulders casually, almost amused by his reaction.
"And what if I am?" she asked bluntly. "Do you have a problem with it?"
Lackey slowly inhaled through his nose.
He needed to calm himself.
Every instinct in his body scread at him to press further, but one wrong reaction could expose everything. His acting had already carried him this far.
Losing control now would be stupidity.
So instead, he forced curiosity into his voice.
"I’m just confused," he replied carefully. "Didn’t Lord Aether abolish the slave system completely? The law was enforced the mont he took power. Every slave was freed, and even those carrying slave marks were given protection, opportunities, and proper jobs with decent salaries."
He tilted his head slightly.
"That’s why I’m wondering how sothing like this still exists."
The mont those words left his mouth, a cruel smile slowly appeared across Amara’s face.
It wasn’t loud or dramatic.
That made it worse.
"Mr. Lackey," she said softly, "you should understand sothing."
She turned away from him and walked toward the furnished centre table.
"Just because a system is abolished," she continued, "doesn’t an it disappears from reality."
Her smile deepened slightly.
"In fact, sotis banning sothing only pushes it deeper into the dark... where it becos even crueller."
Lackey remained silent.
Amara slowly looked back at him over her shoulder.
"You should’ve seen what happened after the announcent," she said quietly. "The mont the law was passed, countless nobles, businessn, and hidden perverts rushed into the black market."
A bitter amusent entered her voice.
"They sold slaves in panic. Bought slaves in secret. So even traded entire families overnight."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Even I was shocked. The numbers were so absurd that they could’ve ford an entire city by themselves."
The room felt colder with every sentence she spoke.
"And then the slave traders multiplied," she continued. "Prices skyrocketed higher than anything I’ve ever seen in my life. Illegal markets expanded faster than the law could track."
She clenched her fist tightly.
"What Lord Aether created..." she muttered coldly, "was nothing more than a beautiful illusion."
"A bright and comforting lie for ordinary people. Sothing that allowed the masses to believe the world had beco clean again."
Her voice grew darker.
"But in reality, those people were pushed into even deeper suffering. Before, at least the system existed openly enough for laws to monitor it."
"Now?"
A hollow laugh escaped her lips.
"Now they disappear completely. No records. No protection. No visibility. Nobody notices them anymore."
"So people," she said quietly, "beca even more excited knowing they were committing cris behind the Empire’s back."
When Lackey heard that sentence... he went completely silent.
No response ca from him.
No movent either.
Inside the mask, his expression slowly stiffened.
Did he... make a mistake?
Back then, he truly believed freedom alone would save them. He believed removing the chains, granting protection, providing resources, and securing proper jobs would naturally allow forr slaves to rebuild their lives.
But to think sothing like this had been happening behind his back all this ti...
A heavy feeling slowly settled deep inside his chest.
He wasn’t ignorant, per se.
It was simply that he had believed people would eventually change because of him being the Archpriest. And even if soone attempted sothing behind his back, he always had his puppets scattered across the Empire, silently watching over everything from the shadows.
However... ever since he lost his powers, he no longer knew what was truly happening within the rural regions and hidden corners of the Empire.
There was a massive difference between cruelty committed openly and cruelty buried underground.
If slaves were dragged through the streets in broad daylight, humiliated, tortured, or killed publicly, the governance would eventually hear about it.
Reports would spread.
Witnesses would talk.
And... Soone would notice!
But if a slave was chained inside a hidden cellar beneath an isolated mansion... tortured in silence where no sunlight reached and no screams escaped the walls... then who would ever know?
"Brighter the light... darker the shadow."
Those quiet words from Amara echoed heavily inside the room.
Lackey fell completely silent.
The glow from the floating devices reflected faintly against his rabbit mask while his gaze slowly shifted toward Penelope.
Surprisingly, she looked calm.
As though the reality Amara described wasn’t unfamiliar to her at all.
That alone made sothing inside Lackey feel even heavier.
"Anyway," Amara said, breaking the silence as she turned back toward him, "you don’t need to worry too much."
Her tone beca serious again, returning to business imdiately.
"You are not actually going there as a slave. You’ll simply enter the Terra Empire disguised as one. It’s a thod to bypass their governance and avoid unnecessary attention."
She crossed her arms lightly.
"Once you arrive there, my colleague will purchase you imdiately and remove you from the system. Understand?"
It was clear she wanted to make sure Lackey didn’t misunderstand her intentions.
Lackey nodded slowly, though a trace of hesitation still lingered in his voice.
"I understand," he replied carefully. "But what if your colleague betrays ?"
His masked face tilted slightly upward.
"After all... I trust you. Not your colleague."
For the first ti since the conversation started, Amara looked genuinely satisfied by his answer. A faint smile appeared on her lips, subtle yet aningful, as though his caution had earned her approval instead of annoyance.
[ 600 AP]
"That’s fair," she admitted.
She stepped aside from the centre table, revealing a tallic square box resting there.
Lackey’s eyes narrowed slightly.
The object definitely had not been there before.
The smooth black surface of the cube reflected the room’s cold blue lights while thin golden lines slowly moved across its edges like flowing circuits.
"Well," Amara said calmly, "you won’t need to rely solely on my words."
The cube suddenly emitted a soft chanical hum.
"Hm?"
For a brief second, Lackey focused on the object cautiously.
Then the square box flickered.
Its surface split apart piece by piece with precise chanical movents before a pillar of golden light burst upward into the air. The beam distorted slightly before stabilising into a holographic projection.
A figure slowly materialised within the light.
"Hello, Mr. Lackey."
A deep chanical voice echoed across the room.
The hologram fully stabilised, revealing the image of a figure clad in a deep golden ch suit.
The armour looked impossibly advanced. Smooth tallic plates layered over one another seamlessly while streams of faint blue energy moved beneath the surface like flowing veins. Its helt possessed no visible eyes, only a dark black visor glowing faintly from within.
Lackey’s eyes sharpened instantly behind the rabbit mask.
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