Luciel left the main faculty building of the Academy. Looking around and making sure that no one was looking his way, he crouched down, then using a moderate amount of strength, leapt into the air, landing on the lower roof of the faculty building. He dashed across the roof tiles towards the central tower, where Ikol’s office was located.

Once he got to the base of the tower, he unravelled his tail from his hips, took off his boots and placed them in his magic bag. Then he extended his nails, on all fingers and toes, into sharp claws, embedding them into the tower wall as he clawed his way up. The side of the tower he climbed was the blind spot from Ikol’s window. Once he got to just the right height above the level of Ikol’s window, he climbed sideways until he was just above the window. Whilst grinning, he released his hands’ grip and dropped himself in front of Ikol’s window and bashed against it making a harsh loud noise, as if the window would shatter in a second.

Poor old Ikol on the other side was so startled, that he jumped up too quickly and got his feet tangled in his chair’s legs, causing him to fall to the floor in utter disgrace, his neatly combed back hair, now dishevelled. Eiira, who had a feeling that something might occur, had left not long after Luciel had, so she didn’t get to witness the marvellous scene.

Luciel, still hanging mid-air outside, was bent over, creasing with laughter. He waved at the staggering Ikol who had looked outside his window only to be stunned. Luciel poked his tongue out cheekily as he used his gorgeous silver and teal tail to slingshot himself into the air. As he released his tail’s hold on the spire, he materialized his wings and unfurled them once his momentum started to decrease. If anyone were to look above the faculty building at that moment, they would notice a dazzling bright light as if an enormous gem were reflecting the sunlight, floating in the air briefly before ascending at great speeds like a shooting star.

Ikol, who had just about regathered his wits, shook his head in exasperation, And people call me petty!

***

Going back several hours, a certain cold faced big bear was sulking as he drove to work. This damn guest better have something important to say ￣ヘ￣, hmph! Making me miss out on my snuggle time with my wife.

Phim was feeling petty, so he decided to drive to work the long way round...he drove around the perimeter of the entire city slowly before actually heading to work. Hmph, they can wait a few more hours for all I care!

His workplace, the Guild, was directly opposite the Academy. Being the Guild Headquarters, it was, as expected, a colossal building. It was easily the size of a large castle. Phim drove through the entry gates and parked at the back of the building in the staff hover station. After getting out and deactivating his hover car, he went into the Guild via the staff entrance at the back of the parking lot.

As he walked through the halls of the Guild, slowly, anyone who passed him could tell that Phim was in a bad mood. Especially the staff that were former soldiers.

Staff A:Geh! Boss hasn't been so cold faced since he was still on the battlefield!

Staff B: Who the hell was stupid enough to piss him off!?

Staff A: ...wait a sec, wasn’t today meant to be Boss’s Day off?

Staff B: Now you mention it... no wonder he's pissed off.

Staff A: ...Doesn’t that mean Sir Luciel’s going to be pissed off too?

Staff B: ...

Staff A: ...

The gossiping staff shuddered at the thought.

Staff A&B: I'd rather piss off the Boss!

Phim reached the staircase that led up to where his office was. He didn't want to take the elevation platform, it would get him there too quickly. So, he plodded up the stairs as slowly as possible. Hmm? This is actually a good workout; I'm building up a bit of a sweat...maybe I should do this on the stairs at home O.O.

After much procrastination, Phim finally got to the door of his office. He reluctantly opened the door. What greeted him was the sight of a handsome man with gentle blue eyes, fluffy short mousey blonde hair, a constant small curve at his lips. A teardrop mole was hanging just under his left eye. The man was making himself at home on the sofa as he turned his gaze to the door where Phim stood, looking as if he just swallowed a fly. Damn it! Why is it this guy!? Urgh nasty thing polluting my eyes! (╬ Ò ‸ Ó).

“That's quite the expression after seeing an old friend.” The man chuckled lazily.

“Erinasnl Mulam.” Phim glared at him. “You know full well what I think of you.”

“Pity, personally, I rather like you.” Erinasnl shrugged.

“State your business.” Phim sat on the sofa opposite Erinasnl.

“OK, ok I'll get to the point.” Erinasnl smirked. “In fact, it's come to attention that a member of the Devil's clan survived. What we want is to place an SS ranked job to track and hunt them down.”

“LIKE HELL I'LL ALLOW SUCH A JOB TO BE TAKEN!” Phim practically exploded. “What Devil clan!? Have you forgotten why I was banished to the front lines in the first place!? They were peace loving folk minding their own business before you decided they were a supposed threat!”

“That’s because they were a threat, they were a powerful force that could tilt the balance at any time against our favour, besides they were evil by nature and should be purged.” Erinasnl calmly refuted.

“Evil by nature, now doesn’t that line sound familiar?” Phim's voice was laced with sarcasm. “That's literally what the Saint’s Church used to say about the Demons, but was that really the case? No! It was all just ingrained prejudices with no solidarity!”

“Regardless the Devil clan are still a remaining threat that must be dealt with, you should be aware of the great massacres that occurred on both sides of the war, leaving not a single member of both armies alive.” Erinasnl ignored Phim's sarcasm.

“Of course I know about them, it happened many times and everyone thought that it was the radical faction of the Anti-War factions.” Phim rolled his eyes.

“Haha, that kind of destructive and merciless power could only come from the Devil clan. And a single individual at that.” Erinasnl laughed. “We've been investigating those battlegrounds for centuries, trying to get a clue about what happened. And last month we finally found a trace that the Devil hadn't managed to erase, that is, a cloth with the emblem of the Devil clan was found clutched in the hands of a buried skeleton. It was covered in old blood and matched the timings of the massacres. Not to mention that the skeleton belonged to the Execution General of the Blackened Army. So, you see? The Devil is a dangerous evil being that must be eliminated.”

“Heh, don't think I don't know why that ‘Devil’ clan member stopped being a peace lover.” Phim's eyes grew colder. “It's because of the secret covert unit of the Saint’s Church and, for some reason, the Opal Temple’s shadow unit, invaded their village one after the other! That Devil clan member was simply walking the path of revenge that your lot set them on!”

“It doesn't change the fact that they're a threat that must be dealt with. In fact, the SS ranked job isn't the main reason I'm here.” Erinasnl raised his brow, completely brushing off Phim's anger.

“What do you want?” Phim snapped. This guy doesn’t want to hear anything that doesn’t suit him.（▼へ▼）

“In short. Saint General. Come back to the Saint’s Church, it's where you should be.” Erinasnl stopped smiling as he spoke. His tone not allowing refusal. But unfortunately for him, the one he was facing was Phim.

“NEVER! I've long quit the army, and I have no intention of ever returning. Not. Ever. Now get out of here!” Phim shifted into his Centaur form and looked down at Erinasnl whilst stomping his hoof, his voice was like ice. “Before I make you get out.”

“I’ll go, I'll go!” Erinasnl swaggered to the door. “I hope you don't regret your decision.”

As Erinasnl exited the Guild and boarded his hover car. He slammed his hand on the steering wheel; his handsome face twisted. How dare that failure refuse me! He glanced at the Academy opposite the Guild and smirked. Then again, there is another treasure trove we can use. And at least I’ve confirmed that he still remembers things the way we want him to.

Bang!

Phim slammed the door behind Erinasnl after he left. He stomped over to the wall of his office and pulled the lever sticking out next to the bookcase. The floorboards in the centre of his office shifted, and a large crystal sphere rose from below. Phim walked over to the sphere and infused his mana into it, activating the sphere. The sphere was an artifact created by Eiira, for the Anti-War factions during the war. It was used to communicate with all high members of their faction at the same time, a magic conference so to speak. As such, she named it the magicon.

Phim's magicon was connected to all the branches of the Guild, no matter which country they're in. He sent out a swift no nonsense order.

“All Guilds are not, I repeat, not authorized to take on any jobs relating to the Devil clan. Any that do will be severely punished by me personally!” Phim cut off his connection, not allowing any objections.

He deactivated the magicon and returned it to its station. He flopped onto the sofa, staring at the ceiling with glazed over eyes.

I want to go home and hug my wife! (ﾉಥДಥ)ﾉ︵┻━┻