Precedence System: I Take My Rewards In Advance

Zishan smiled. ’I have a little brother now! Officially, that is!’

Elinox thanked the employee, while Zishan gave the man a small nod before following her toward the exit.

After everything at the Registry was settled, they returned to the Holmes estate. Zishan barely stayed with Elinox long enough to say anything before heading straight toward his room.

He wanted to see Ollie and Silvy.

The warning Elinox had given the entire estate should have been more than enough to keep anyone from touching them again, but Zishan wanted to check personally.

He opened the door and stopped near the entrance.

Ollie was nowhere in sight.

Silvy, however, was wandering around the room.

The tiny black dragon moved across the floor with her head lowered, her silver-gray eyes shifting beneath the bed before she continued toward one of the chairs. Her little wings remained folded against her back while she sniffed around, taking several slow steps before stopping again.

Zishan followed her gaze.

A small part of Ollie’s shirt was visible behind the curtain near the far wall.

He covered his mouth, trying to suppress his smile. ’They’re playing hide-and-seek.’

Silvy continued searching, checking beneath the table and behind a chair before getting distracted by one of her own wings for a few seconds. After staring at it like she had suddenly forgotten what she was doing, she seemed to remember the game and went back to looking for Ollie.

Zishan’s face softened. ’So fucking cute!’

Silvy wandered toward the wrong side of the room.

’Cutee!’

He had fought beasts, enemy soldiers, a Level 99 Beast Tamer, Majors, Captains, and enough monsters to make his first weeks in Cyrune feel completely unreasonable.

Yet this might have been one of the greatest things he had seen since arriving.

Silvy finally turned toward the door, and the moment her large silver-gray eyes found Zishan, she froze in place.

”Papa!!!”

Her wings spread.

Zishan barely had time to react before Silvy leaped from the floor, flapped her wings several times and flew directly toward him.

His eyes widened. ”What the hell? You can fly now?”

Silvy crashed into his chest and climbed higher before rubbing the side of her face against his cheek. ”Papa! Papa!”

Zishan forgot his question.

His arms wrapped around her little body as he closed his eyes, a bright smile spreading across his face while Silvy kept rubbing against him.

”Papa missed you, Silvy!”

The curtain moved behind them.

Ollie came out from his hiding place and ran over as well. ”Big Brother!”

Zishan opened one eye just before the boy wrapped both arms around his side.

Zishan almost lost his balance with Silvy clinging to his chest and Ollie hugging him from the side, but he only laughed and pulled the boy closer with his free arm. ”Okay, okay! I missed you too.”

Ollie buried his face against him while Silvy refused to loosen her hold.

Silvy seemed to take that as competition and pressed herself harder against Zishan’s cheek. ”Papa!”

”Yes, yes. Papa is here.”

Zishan stayed like that for a while, holding both of them close before they eventually settled down again.

Elsewhere in the estate, Elinox had gone to meet her parents after returning from the Registry.

Her parents had asked to speak with her after she returned, so she went toward another part of the estate while Zishan reunited with Ollie and Silvy.

Noxelle was already sitting beside Fadrieth when Elinox entered the private room.

Her mother wasted little time.

”So?” Noxelle asked, leaning slightly forward. ”What do you really think about Zishan?”

Elinox had already expected the question.

She sat across from them and answered without much hesitation. ”I only think he’s a talented peer I want to see grow. Although he started late, his potential might even be higher than mine.”

Noxelle stared at her daughter.

Then, she almost scoffed.

”Don’t kid us with that, Noxi!” Noxelle said. ”Even in the entire Cyrune, I can confidently say you have no equal at all! Although we’re only in the Sumwear Region of the Northern Continent, one of the weakest continents along with the Eastern Continent, that doesn’t mean—”

”I know, Mom.” Elinox stopped her before the explanation could grow longer. ”You came from the Central Continent, where most of the great experts gather. You’ve told me that many times.”

Noxelle folded her arms.

Elinox continued, ”However, there will always be a higher sky than the sky we see.”

Her mother did not answer right away.

Fadrieth remained beside her, listening without interfering. He already knew where the conversation was going, and from the slight movement of his face, Elinox suspected he had heard versions of it more times than she could count.

Noxelle eventually sighed and said, ”I came from a noble family belonging to a large Kingdom in the Central Continent. Your father came from there too. We were sent out here because we had a mission to complete.”

Elinox’s attention remained on her.

Noxelle continued after gathering her thoughts. ”I’ve already told you that the Holmes Family is one of the newest noble families in Olmost despite becoming famous much faster than families that have been here for generations. But rising here was never our original purpose.”

Fadrieth leaned back in his seat.

”We were sent here to scout for something else entirely,” Noxelle said. ”You don’t need to know everything about that mission yet. Your uncle Ernest is also one of us, as you already know.”

Her voice changed slightly at the next part.

”His wife was, too.” Noxelle rested one hand against her lap. ”There were four of us back then. Your father, your uncle, his wife and me. We lost one during that expedition a decade ago.”

Elinox knew about that part.

There were details nobody had ever explained to her, particularly what the expedition had been searching for or what could have killed the Crown Marshal’s wife. She had asked when she was younger and received the same answer every time.

’Not yet.’

”I know about that already, Mom.” Elinox leaned against the chair. ”However, when are you planning to leave the Kingdom of Olmost?”