Mad God – Reborn

When Ina woke up, it was already late in the evening. Sitting up slowly on the bed, she quickly realized she wasn't in her own room, but somehow, it didn't surprise her. Surprisingly, she felt pleasantly rested, her head clear of any confusing thoughts or worries.

"Good evening," a female voice welcomed her, and when she looked for the source and saw the silver-haired young girl with violet eyes, her body tensed up at once. "Don't be afraid. My name is Ren." She stepped closer with a smile, and when she stood beside the bed, Ren placed a hand on her chest and bowed. "I believe I owe you more than a simple sorry for what you have been through… but for now, please accept my apologies on behalf of the Naulin bloodline."

"Your Majesty-!" Daryan tried to step forward, as he was in the room too, but Ariana pulled him back. Ren asking for forgiveness was unbelievable, not just for Daryan, but for Ina too. A Lord of one of the Spires? A pureblood Naulin? A powerful cultivator? Asking for forgiveness? It never happened, not even as a mocking joke. Ever.

"I… I…” Ina stuttered, raising her hand and flinching, realizing all her injuries were gone, and his skin had regained a lot of healthy color.

"Don't worry, I'll tell the same to your family in person soon." Ren held her hand as she patted it. "I'll leave you with your son now. Some servants will bring you food, and we'll take care of you until you feel better. You have time to catch up, don't worry." She chuckled, letting her go, walking past Daryan and nudging him, leaving the two alone.

As soon as they closed the door, they heard crying from inside, and a soft smile crossed both their faces. Ren, especially, walked away with a pleased expression, followed by her disciple, and entered another room that had once served as a conference room. Inside, Sentios was already entertaining a guest while maids served light snacks and wine, yet everything sat untouched. Ren opened the door and stepped in; his eyes met Ooda's strict-looking face, who had arrived hours ago and was led in by Sentios, who had kept him company until now. The moment he saw Ren's eyes flash a little, he quickly averted his gaze, instinctively thinking of the silver-haired bloodline's eye powers.

Naturally, Ooda, as soon as he learned what happened and that his granddaughter had left their courtyard for the Spire of Ren, felt wave after wave of fear, anxiety, anger, and desperation. He felt like he was reliving everything that happened to his family, yet he never hesitated. Not even for a moment. He came straight to the Spire, demanding to see his granddaughter or the Lord of the Spire. He knew this could easily cost him his head... He also knew that when Sentios led him inside, he might never come out through the front gate again. At least, not while he was still alive and well. Even though... He had to try, so he accompanied Sentios, listened to him, and waited patiently in the room, but he refused to drink, eat, or even sit down. He answered only briefly when Sentios asked questions, and that was the extent of his cooperation.

"Finally! I felt like speaking to a brick wall for hours!" Sentios sighed when Ren arrived.

"Crybaby." Ariana chuckled, drawing a smile onto her Master's face.

Ooda frowned at hearing that, watching the back-and-forth, as he rarely saw anything like this in Rozex. It was undeniable that the short, petite girl before him held power and could do almost anything in Rozex if she so wished, going by her looks alone. Yet a pure-blooded Naulin acting like this, being so casual with her servants, was unheard of.

"Did I miss something?" Rabout opened another door and walked in with Milly in tow, making Ooda ball up his fists in fear. Seeing a second pureblood arrive was the worst possible news. He knew he had just walked into a tiger's den, but now he was sure he was going to die here. His face didn't betray his thoughts, though, and his eyes stayed cold and firm. However, before Ariana, he couldn't hide his real emotions.

"You don't need to be afraid. You won't be harmed." Ariana said, cupping her hands towards Ooda as she led Ren to the table. "This is also true for Ina. She is with Daryan right now. We are letting them enjoy a long talk that they truly deserve."

"If it is true…" Ooda said, watching Rabout come closer, sit down, and start unceremoniously munching on the untouched chocolate cookies on one of the plates.

"Hey, these are good!" He exclaimed with a mouthful, while Milly sighed, standing behind him and looking apologetically at the rest.

"It is my mother's recipe. Glad you like it!" Ren replied with a happy smile, "Please, sit and have a taste." She signaled toward Ooda, finally persuading him to sit down with them.

"I'd like to see my granddaughter." After a few seconds of silence, Ooda opened his mouth and got straight to the point, instead of eating. His voice was calm, without any tremor, perfectly concealing his nervousness.

"I understand, and I am going to walk you there personally. Please believe me if I say that she is not harmed. I speak the truth." Ren sighed loudly once again. "Before anything else, let me say something important." With that, she stood back up, and Ooda's body also shot up reflexively. He wasn't ready to go down without a fight, however futile it may be. On the other hand, Rabout only laughed at the scene, making Ooda feel like he was being mocked until he saw Ren bow towards him respectfully. "I'd like to ask for your family's forgiveness in the name of my ancestor Rudrick and in the name of my family's bloodline. I know it could not be swept off the table just like that, but this is something that needs to be said."

Ooda watched Ren, focusing on her senses, trying to see through her, to tell if she was just playing around or if this was real. When she finished speaking, his eyes wandered to Rabout, who just looked on with a friendly smile and an excited light dancing in his eyes.

"You are not joking…" Ooda murmured, his voice shaking for the first time as he watched Ren look him straight in the eyes, unafraid she'd manipulate his mind.

"No, I'm not," Ren replied, stretching out her hand as Ariana handed her a stack of papers, all signed and stamped by Ren. "This is my apology in written form. It is going to be published through Rozex, so everyone knows my official stand on the matter."

"Why are you doing this?" Ooda asked, looking at the papers, hesitantly picking them up, and glancing through them.

"Because it is the right thing to do. I think you would agree with me on this, no?" Ren said as she sat back, without any frustration in her voice, "I'm not like my relatives. Not anything like Rudrick. Maybe you did not hear it yet, but it was me who killed him," she explained with a slight smirk, and Ooda almost tore the paper in two in his hands from th shock those news brought. "He had it coming, as he tried to kill my disciple and ended up killing my husband. At least you still have your granddaughter and her son. Your great-grandson. Or am I mistaken?"

"N-no…" He lowered his head, falling silent for minutes before looking back up, finally coming to his senses. "You are not."

"Let's talk about something more light-hearted, then." Rabout chuckled, and Ren just nodded while Ariana filled everyone's cups with coffee.

"I want to establish a cooperative operation with your family." Ren leaned forward, drawing Ooda's full attention to herself once again. "As you may know, every Spire has their own little place to produce goods for the family."

"Yes. But as an outsider, I only know what I heard." Oda nodded. "They are usually done by the subordinate branch families. Noble families who are involved with that usually have very close ties to the Spire they work for."

"Honestly, I don't care about how the other spires handle their work. Ariana, please!" Ren shook her head.

"Yes, Master!" She already brought forward a booklet and placed it in front of Ooda. Still, before he could open it, Ariana kept her fingers on the cover, making it impossible for Ooda to lift it even a millimeter. He was utterly shocked, realizing that the beautiful young maid he had only looked at a few times was far stronger than he was. "This document has confidential information inside," Ariana said, looking deep into Ooda's eyes. "Secrets of my Master. What you read cannot be said to anybody else. Please know this: after reading it and refusing our offer, my Master has to wipe your memories of it."

"My memories…?" He asked, furrowing his brows as he listened to her, then looked at Ren and Rabout. To his surprise, Rabout spoke first.

"I don't think, after reading it, he would refuse it." He licked his lips. "You also easily bought me with even less, girl," Rabout said, grinning as he looked at Ren sideways, who met his gaze with a deadpan expression.

"There goes the Supreme Grandpa title right out of the window!" Ren clapped, playfully mocking Rabout.

"Oh, no, no, no! I take it back, my dear! I like that! I really like that, Milly, hurry! Note it down, Supreme Grandpa! That is a great title!" He laughed loudly while his little attendant just twitched her mouth, but still began writing.

"Your Majesty Ren… please, don't feed his ego like this… it is hard enough to keep track of his ideas day by day..." Milly pleaded with a tired voice.

"Ahaha, okay, okay... Back to business!" Ren chuckled as she shook her head, while Ariana slowly lifted her finger from the booklet, stepped back a little, and let Ooda decide whether he still dared to open it.

In the end, he took a deep breath and flipped it open, reading through the first few pages. It contained descriptions and pictures of pills, formations, artifacts, and spells. Just reading the first few made his eyes almost pop out of their sockets, and Rabout laughed again, seeing his reaction.

"Sorry, the section about the pills has already been claimed by me!" He added proudly.

"You are working together?" Ooda raised his head as he heard him, while they nodded, acknowledging that the two Spire Lords were working together, something that had never happened in Rozex's history.

"Of course we are! I am The Supreme Grandpa!" Rabout slapped his chest proudly. "Finally, an interesting child rose up from our bloodline. I lived through long, long years, Ooda. I can tell you when change is coming, and it is now the time to decide if you are going to be part of it or not!" He explained in a serious voice.

"..." Ooda looked back at the booklet, read it again, and tapped the table faster and faster until his index finger stopped. "What would be my role in this cooperation?"

"A few simple things," Ren answered after she put down her cup. "First, I need skilled manpower to operate the manufacturers inside the courtyard. I'll leave the selection and hiring to you and Daryan. Of course, please be aware that the people you send here are under obligation not to leak any information about what they work on. I won't place any restrictions on them mentally or physically, but if something ever leaks, our cooperation ends, and I'll wipe their minds along with yours."

"..." Ooda gulped a few times before nodding, finding it logical and as outrageous as he expected. "Secondly?"

"Secondly, you would be a source of resources and tasked with redistributing the goods. Sugargramps and I have a lot of things stocked up, but that is a different thing. I want to involve the whole city through you."

"Involve… Rozex?" Ooda furrowed his brow. "Redistribution… wait, you mean you are going to sell them?!"

"Yeah. You would be responsible for gathering materials. I read up about you, and I like your personality. It is trustworthy! You have morals and a backbone, even going as far as assassinating someone who was related to a Naulin bloodline."

"I-" He tried to refute it reflexively, but Ren just continued.

"I wholeheartedly agree with you. No need to make excuses!" She said with a solid and firm voice, not giving Ooda a chance to speak, "This is why I would let you rope in other noble or merchant families you trust. They can provide what we need through you. It would bring revenue for everyone. Second, what we are going to produce isn't just for my own courtyard. It is for yours too."

"This is the hook, Ooda." Rabout cut in. "I myself bit onto it; hell, I even swallowed it with line and all!"

"Drama Queen!" Ren scoffed, rolling her eyes and making Milly gulp back a laugh as she stood behind her Lord. "This would be an opportunity to raise your family's wealth and strength. Plus, I promise I'll raise you to the 9th stage of the Body Refinement realm, then into Harmony. By the end of the year."

"What?! Impossible!" Ooda finally stood up, then fell back into his chair a second later.

"It is not," Ariana interjected, shaking her head. "My Master can do it. She is at the same level as Zelig." Her words didn't even register in Ooda's mind at first, and when they did, his face shifted between expressions so fast it was like he was having a seizure.

"I'm not done yet." Ren continued. "There will be more than your family can consume, use, or store. So I want to open up a huge shop with an integrated auction house. We are going to sell everything we make. EVERYTHING. Of course, the top-quality items will only be available at auction. Your family can establish the auction house with one condition."

"That… is?" He asked, his voice dry, his hands trembling, his lips dry.

"It is going to be led by a joint leadership. Two members from the Nelvis family, two from the Spire of Rabout, and two from the Spire of Ren. At all times. When they meet, the council members can discuss the shop and auction house's operations, and they must remain anonymous. Even when meeting! Plus, their strengths can't be in the Harmony Realm or lower than the 6th stage of Body Refinement. If they advance, they need to be replaced."

"Anonymous?" Ooda asked, but then realized why.

"Yes. That way, none of the Naulins can have the chance to use their eyes," she nodded at him. "It is to ensure there is no chance to influence someone's mind by force," Ren said, smiling as she finished her speech.

"This… this is insane…" Ooda laughed for the first time, and he needed a few minutes to collect himself. After rubbing his face until it turned completely red, masking the fact that he even had tears in his eyes, he closed the booklet. He looked at Rabout, then at Ren, and slowly chewed his lip. "After seeing my granddaughter, we can finalize a contract."

"Sure!" Ren smiled happily, standing up and holding a hand towards him. "I think we are going to get along just fine!"

For a moment, Ooda looked at her fair fingers, then let out a long, tired sigh as his body relaxed completely, and he grabbed it with an honest smile.

"I just hope the future generations won't call me mad for agreeing to this!" He added.

"Ahaha~!" Ren laughed at that. "Let us leave it up to them and to Supreme Grandpa here, as he is the historian!"

"Sure!" Rabout joined in. "I'll send you two a letter, measuring the people's thoughts about it after 200 years."

"He really will," Milly added seriously, finally filling the room with laughter and ending an important night in Rozex's history on a joyful note the outside world didn't yet know about.