“Uncle Weld…?”

“The one and only! Bring it here!”

Lucen and the man named Weld shook hands into a hug.

“It’s been a while, huh? Last time I saw you, you were still pretending to be that grasshopper dude on a bike doing the poses!”

“Still do!”

Lucen raised and stretched out his right arm up and across his body. “Trannssss…” He then motioned his arm in an arc around his head. Finally, Lucen raised and stretched his left arm across his body. “Form!”

“Hahahaha, still got it!” Weld said, clapping.

“Wait…” The realization had finally hit Lucen. “Why are you here, Uncle?”

“Long story but I’ve been helping these three since they were young.”

“Huh?? Seriously??”

“Don’t tell your ma, please?”

“How have you kept it from her this long?”

“Welll, it’s been rough trying to convince her that I’ve been busy with a traveling job for the last few decades.”

“You don’t seem too surprised to see me here.”

“Lia there had already told me everything. It was a pretty big shock, I tell you!”

Wait, Lia knew Weld was my uncle already? You know, it’s strange how I haven’t fully questioned how she knows so much about me. Lia clearly knew who I was before I even met her and she knows what school I go to as well where I live and she was also there the exact moment my demonic energy awakened. …I feel like I sorta let that slide a little too easily.

“Anyways, you guys called me here about demonic energy pills? Let me take a look.”

Lia picked up the empty capsule off of her desk and handed it to Weld. “There aren’t any more left, only the capsule. Sana told me the stray devil she killed had used them. It increased his power but turned him mental in the process as he ate more.”

“I see…” Weld examined the empty capsule for a bit. “Can’t say I know anything about it. It’s honestly unheard of… Pills that can boost demonic energy.”

The door to the lounge room suddenly opened and Sana walked in, yawning. She immediately spotted Lucen standing next and rushed over to him to check on him.

“You okay?”

“Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

“Y’sure?”

“Yup, feels like I can take on a hundred more of those ferals already.”

Sana exhaled. “Hehehe, that’s my junior!” she said, slapping Lucen’s shoulder.

“Nnnrgggnnn… What the hell…”

“Oops— Sorry!”

“Hey Sana, catch!” Weld tossed a small, aluminum foil wrapped item to Sana who caught it.

“Oooooh!” She opened it to reveal a piece of chocolate and immediately tossed it in her mouth. “Mmmm, so good! Thanks Weld!”

“Of course! Anyways, I’ll go take this back home and see if I find something out.”

“Would you not like to stay for breakfast before you leave?” Vonica asked.

“I’d love to but I did make a pit stop here. I still have to get to my actual job, haha. I’ll see you guys soon. Be sure to tell Laura I said hi, Lucen.”

“See ya, Uncle!”

Everyone waved bye to Weld as he left the lounge room and estate. Lia walked to her desk and Sana over to the couch.

“So… You serving breakfast?”

“Yes I am. Come with me to the kitchen.”

“You clean and cook… You do everything around this place, huh?”

Vonica chuckled “Perhaps.”

~Meanwhile in the Top Floor of Kumore Tower~

Oran sat at his desk, typing continuously on his computer while writing on a paper.

One… Two… Only three thousand? We need at least ten thousand sold if we want to stay on top of the market. Currently, our products sell the most in Glory and Lago. Hora and Brass are our lowest and expanding out of District 3 will be even harder.

Oran slouched back in his chair.

Fucking Sentinel and those mindless pieces of trash who consume their products. We sell cheaper AND more versatile electronics and yet they’re the go-to because they’ve been around longer? They’re just money hungry. Consistent overpriced tech that’s designed to make older models obsolete and people just eat that up and to top it off, they’ve managed to purchase an HQ in District 5.

The door to Oran’s office opened and Amelia walked in with a smile on her face.

“Mornin’! Hmmm? What’s wrong?”

“Sentinel. That’s what’s wrong. We’re being outperformed by them in half of the Sectors in District 3.”

“Like I said before, I could take care of that problem. If you’d just… let me.”

“No. This is a problem I must handle as the CEO of Kumore Tech, not as the Patriarch of the Kumore Family.”

Amelia sighed. “If you say so. But how do you plan on beating Sentinel? Even before we came around, Sentinel’s had their hand on the tech industry for years.”

“We’ll use their method. We’ll purchase smaller companies, brands, anything that will help us further our growth. We will move them all under the name of Kumore.”

“But that would be quite difficult, no?”

Oran picked up the piece of paper on his desk and approached Amelia.

“That’s where you come in. Here.” He handed Amelia the paper. The paper had a list of different names with a checkbox next to each one. “These are all of the companies I believe we have a high chance of acquiring. You’ll approach them and using that good charm of yours, you’ll land us deals. Take a few more people with you so you can cover more ground easily.”

“Do I just walk in?”

“All of them are owner-ran. They will most likely be there at their shop. Later on, I’ll handle the bigger names by contacting them through email or letter.”

“Hmmm okay!”

“And no using your Song. Got it?”

“Mhm!”

Amelia exited the room with the paper as Oran sat back down at his desk.

Now that she’s busy with that, I need to do something about the Azaroth’s. Lia’s keen on holding on to the artifact but I need it desperately and Amelia is too obsessed with this so-called “savior” of hers to focus on what’s important.

Oran rubbed his eyes and sighed. He then picked up his phone and made a call.

~A Few Hours Later in Reeve’s Detective Agency~

Khara walked into the office and greeted the few other co-workers who worked in the agency. She grabbed a bottle of water from the mini fridge and sat down at her desk.

Time to get to work.

She opened her bag and brought out her laptop, notebook, and a pen.

“Khara! We have something for you!” A voice rang out from across the room.

“Oh come on! I just sat down!”

“Sorry!”

Khara sighed “…Send the details.”

On her laptop, a notification appeared with a file listing the details of a suspicious individual likely involved in the gambling chain running in the Glory Sector.

Let’s see… He averages a small takeout restaurant but never comes back out until the next morning. The restaurant only has one floor and there are no lodgings there. It is speculated that there is a secret entrance to an illegal gambling den through a hidden contraption of some kind, hiding within the restaurant as when he returns, he usually carries a suspicious amount of money. The task is to confirm the speculation and that I proceed no further.

Khara looked under the description and found details of the takeout restaurant’s location as well as the time the man is usually there and a picture of him. A small, rough-looking man wearing a worn-down black hoodie at a small corner in a tiny plaza at 6:00PM.

I should leave now if I want to get there on time. It’s already 5:40.

Khara got up, packed up her things, and left the office.

~Meanwhile Inside of a Casino in an Unknown Location~

A man sat in front of a machine with a large screen full of flashing lights and icons. He pulled what seemed to be a handle mechanism and the icons in the machine spun around in circles. Then, the icons slowly turned into numbers.

“500…” The first number revealed itself.

“750!” The second number appeared shortly after.

“1050! YES!” The third number appeared, all three numbers covered the screen, and an animation of fireworks was displayed. The man got up and started jumping around excitedly.

“Hahaha, I’m fucking rich!”

“Congratulations. You’ve won the grand prize. Would you like to claim your reward now or continue playing?” A man in a tuxedo approached the celebrating winner.

“Right now, of course!”

“Great! If you would come with me, please.”

The two walked through the casino and through a door at the far end of the room. The room they walked into was dark and cold.

“What’s this— URGH!”

The man was suddenly impaled through the chest but the room was too dark to see with what as his body dropped to the floor.

“24 more to meet the quota. Speed up the process, make the machines easier to win after 15 attempts.” A deep voice rang out from across the room.

“Yes sir.”