One month after Titania joined the Outcasts, she learned three important things.
First, Sin could sleep anywhere.
On a roof.
Inside a cart.
Under a table.
Against a tree.
Once, somehow, balanced across two barrels without falling.
Second, Venus kept emergency money hidden in seven different locations because Sin had discovered the first six.
Third, nobody knew where Sin came from.
Not Venus.
Not Elena.
Not the Adventurers' Guild.
Not even the people who had fought beside him for years.
Titania found that deeply unsettling.
She found it even more unsettling because Sin found it funny.
The temporary Outcast Base was louder than usual.
Boxes covered the main hall.
Weapons had been removed from their racks. Books were stacked across tables. Maps had been rolled and tied. The pantry had been emptied, which had revealed several items that no one remembered buying and one jar that Venus immediately ordered burned.
Titania stood in the center of the chaos, holding a wooden crate against her chest.
[Where does this go?]
Venus looked up from an inventory sheet.
[Archive materials.]
Titania turned toward the corridor.
[Which box is for the archive?]
Venus pointed toward a pile beside the frozen kitchen door.
Titania looked.
Every crate was marked with a neat label.
ARCHIVE.
SECONDARY ARCHIVE.
RESTRICTED ARCHIVE.
VERY RESTRICTED ARCHIVE.
SIN IS NOT ALLOWED TO OPEN THIS.
Titania glanced back.
[Which one?]
Venus studied the book sticking out from Titania's crate.
[Restricted.]
Titania walked toward the pile.
Sin emerged from behind it.
He carried nothing.
[What are you doing?] Titania asked.
[Supervising.]
[You have not lifted a single box.]
[Leadership is invisible labor.]
Venus continued writing.
[Your labor is invisible because it does not exist.]
Sin placed one hand over his chest.
[That hurt.]
Elena entered through the front doors carrying four crates stacked above her head.
She moved effortlessly despite the weight.
Her long silver hair trailed behind her, and her crimson eyes immediately found Sin.
[Lord Sin, you should not exhaust yourself.]
Titania looked at his empty hands.
[He isn't.]
Elena placed the crates down gently.
[His divine mind carries burdens beyond physical understanding.]
Sin nodded.
[Exactly.]
Venus lowered her pen.
[Carry that table.]
Sin looked at the enormous central table.
Then toward the doorway.
[It looks happy here.]
[It is coming with us.]
[We can visit.]
[Sin.]
He sighed.
[Fine.]
He placed both hands beneath one end of the table.
Titania moved toward the other.
Sin lifted it by himself.
The massive hardwood table rose from the floor as though it weighed nothing.
Titania stopped.
Sin balanced it on one shoulder.
[Where?]
Venus pointed outside.
[Third transport wagon.]
Sin walked away with the table.
Titania watched him go.
Even after a month, the sudden reminders of his strength remained bizarre.
The same man who complained about lifting boxes could carry a table made from ancient ironwood with one arm.
The same man who tripped over his own cloak had once stopped a magical beam with one finger.
The same man who stole food from sixteen-year-old girls had received forty-eight recommendations for SS-Rank.
Forty-nine now.
Lucien Veyr had sent the newest promotion request three days earlier.
Sin had returned it with a drawing of a fox holding a sign that read:
BUSY MOVING.
Titania had expected Lucien to become angry.
Instead, the SSS-Rank guild leader sent back a larger sheet of paper.
It contained the same fox drawing, now surrounded by council members carrying chains.
Sin had hung it on the wall.
Titania still did not know whether they were threatening each other or communicating affectionately.
With powerful people, it was difficult to tell.
The Outcasts were finally leaving the temporary base.
Renovations on their actual headquarters had been completed earlier than expected, mostly because Venus had threatened the contractors after discovering they were three days behind schedule.
The workers finished the eastern wing overnight.
Nobody asked how.
The temporary base now stood hollowing around them as its belongings disappeared one wagon at a time.
Titania should have felt relieved.
Her bedroom here still bore scratches from the enchanted morning dummy.
The kitchen ceiling remained black from Luna's ambitious soup.
One wall had never properly recovered from Venus freezing Sin through it.
The floorboards made alarming noises near the western corridor.
Yet the idea of leaving made Titania strangely quiet.
This ruined fortress was the first place she had entered without chains.
The first room she had slept in as a free person.
The first table where she had eaten with people who wanted her there.
It was broken.
Cold.
Temporary.
But it had been home before Titania remembered what home was supposed to feel like.
She placed the archive box down.
Venus looked toward her.
[Are you all right?]
Titania crossed her arms.
[Of course.]
Venus's eyes moved across the emptying hall.
[You'll miss it.]
[I will not.]
A portion of the ceiling fell behind her.
Titania did not turn around.
[Perhaps slightly.]
Venus smiled faintly.
[The new base has stronger ceilings.]
[That already makes it superior.]
[And a private room prepared for you.]
Titania looked at her.
[With a proper bed?]
[Yes.]
[No attacking furniture?]
Venus glanced toward Sin outside.
[Not unless he interfered with construction.]
Titania's face fell.
Sin returned through the entrance.
[Good news.]
[No,] Titania said immediately.
He paused.
[I haven't said it yet.]
[Your good news is always dangerous.]
[The training room has an automatic combat system.]
Titania looked at Venus.
Venus looked at Sin.
[You installed what?]
[Educational architecture.]
Titania slowly picked up the archive box again.
[I'm staying here.]
Later that morning, Titania found Sin sitting on the temporary base's roof.
He had avoided the remaining work by claiming he needed to "inspect the horizon."
The horizon appeared structurally sound.
Titania climbed through the roof hatch and found him leaning against the old chimney, one knee raised, staring toward Rize.
The Radiant City stretched beyond the forest.
Even from the temporary base, its size remained impossible.
White-blue districts filled the land in every direction. The central crown shone beneath the morning sun, surrounded by towering structures and wide canals reflecting the sky.
Far to the north stood the renovated Outcast headquarters.
Even at a distance, Titania could see its dark towers rising among Rize's pale architecture.
It did not resemble the rest of the city.
Rize looked heavenly.
The Outcast base looked like heaven's locked basement.
Sin glanced toward her.
[Escaping work?]
Titania sat beside him.
[Learning from my teacher.]
[Good student.]
She held a thin leather folder in her lap.
Sin noticed.
His expression did not change, but one fox ear turned slightly toward it.
Titania opened the folder.
Inside were copied records from Rize's guild archive.
Mission reports.
Rank evaluations.
Old city notices.
Witness accounts.
Almost every page concerned Sin.
Almost none of them answered anything.
Titania spread several records across the roof.
[You first appeared in Rize four years ago.]
Sin looked toward the city.
[Did I?]
[According to the official record.]
[Official records lie.]
[You registered without a surname, place of birth, family crest, or citizenship papers.]
[Paperwork was different back then.]
[It was four years ago.]
[Ancient times.]
Titania ignored him.
[Your age was listed as "probably fifteen."]
[Reasonable guess.]
[Your race was listed as human.]
Sin touched one white fox ear.
[Poor guess.]
Titania picked up another page.
[Three weeks later, it was changed to beastfolk.]
[Better.]
[Then angelic beastfolk.]
[Creative.]
[Then unknown hybrid.]
[My favorite.]
Titania stared at him.
[You submitted none of those changes yourself.]
[People like categories.]
[And you apparently dislike giving answers.]
Sin did not respond.
Titania held up another record.
[Your first verified mission was C-Rank.]
[Sounds familiar.]
[The entire party died except for you.]
The humor thinned.
Titania noticed.
She continued more carefully.
[The report says the threat had been misclassified. It was A-Rank.]
Sin's eyes remained on Rize.
[Reports do that.]
[You returned carrying all six bodies.]
Silence.
The wind moved across the roof.
Titania looked at him.
[You were fifteen.]
Sin's voice was flat.
[Probably.]
[No one knew how you survived.]
[That happens often.]
Titania reached for another page.
Sin placed two fingers against the folder and closed it.
Not harshly.
Not angrily.
But firmly.
[Drop it.]
Titania frowned.
[I'm trying to understand you.]
[Bad hobby.]
[Everyone knows something about Venus. Elena's past is recorded in royal history. Luna is a dragon. Even your sword has more documented history than you.]
Sin's gaze lowered toward the closed folder.
Titania continued.
[But you have nothing.]
[That's not true.]
[Then tell me where you were born.]
He said nothing.
[Who were your parents?]
Nothing.
[Why do you use the name Sin?]
His eyes shifted toward her.
Titania felt the pressure immediately.
It was not killing intent.
That would have been easier to understand.
This was emptiness.
A sudden, suffocating absence behind his gaze, as though the foolish boy beside her had opened a door and revealed a black ocean beneath his skin.
Titania's fingers tightened around the folder.
Sin's voice remained quiet.
[Drop it.]
The wind stopped feeling warm.
Titania swallowed.
[Why?]
[For your own sake.]
She held his gaze despite the fear crawling along her spine.
[Are you threatening me?]
[No.]
His answer came instantly.
Sin looked away first.
[Warning you.]
Titania waited.
The pressure faded.
Distant sounds from Rize returned to the morning.
Birds.
Wind.
Construction platforms moving between towers.
Sin rested his arms across his raised knee.
[Some questions don't reward curiosity.]
[That sounds like something someone says when they're hiding a crime.]
[Maybe I stole a lot of bread.]
[Sin.]
He sighed.
[My past isn't useful to you.]
[That should be my decision.]
[No.]
Titania flinched at the firmness.
Sin's ears lowered slightly.
His voice softened.
[There are things in this world that notice when they're remembered.]
Titania stared at him.
He did not sound metaphorical.
[What does that mean?]
[It means stop digging.]
[What things?]
Sin's expression became tired.
[You're already asking another question.]
Titania looked down at the folder.
The pages suddenly felt different.
Not empty.
Deliberately erased.
She remembered the strange mark beneath Moonveil.
The voice the ruins had whispered where none of them could hear.
The way Sin avoided touching the recovered tablet.
The fact that God's Wisdom could not understand his magic.
[Does this involve your Unique Skill?]
Sin went completely still.
Titania's heartbeat quickened.
That reaction was more revealing than any answer.
[No one knows what it is,] she said. [Not Venus. Not Elena. The guild records list it as undisclosed.]
Sin's hand moved.
The folder vanished from Titania's lap.
She blinked.
Sin held it now.
She had not seen him take it.
He flipped through the pages once.
Then pale fire consumed them.
Titania lurched forward.
[Those were guild records!]
[Copies.]
[How did you know?]
[The originals smell older.]
The fire reached his fingers and disappeared without burning him.
Ash scattered into the wind.
Titania stared at the empty space where the folder had been.
Sin looked at her.
His eyes were calm again.
That somehow frightened her more.
[Do not investigate my Unique Skill.]
[Why?]
[Because someone else tried.]
Titania waited.
Sin said nothing more.
[What happened to them?]
His mouth curved into a humorless smile.
[See? Another question.]
Titania's frustration rose.
[You can't say something like that and expect me to stop.]
[I expect you to be smart.]
He stood.
[Curiosity makes people feel brave right before it makes them dead.]
Titania rose too.
[You called me your little sister.]
Sin paused.
The words struck him harder than Titania expected.
She stepped closer.
[You can't call me family and then expect me not to care when something about you is clearly wrong.]
Sin looked down at her.
For once, she saw no joke forming.
No lazy deflection.
No absurd answer.
Only someone who did not know what to do with concern.
[Nothing about me is clearly right,] he said.
Titania almost smiled.
Almost.
[That is not an answer.]
[It's the best one you're getting.]
He stepped toward the hatch.
Titania caught his cloak.
Sin stopped.
[Will you tell me someday?]
He did not look back.
The silence stretched.
Then:
[Maybe.]
It was not much.
From Sin, it felt enormous.
Titania released his cloak.
He opened the hatch.
Before descending, he glanced over his shoulder.
[And Titania?]
[Yes?]
[If anyone else asks about my Unique Skill, tell me.]
Her brows furrowed.
[Why?]
His foolish smile returned.
Too quickly.
Too brightly.
[So I can politely avoid them.]
He disappeared through the hatch.
Titania remained on the roof.
The ashes of his records drifted above Rize.
She watched them disappear into the sunlight.
Nobody knew Sin's past.
Nobody knew his Unique Skill.
Nobody knew why ancient ruins reacted to him, why his magic ignored normal law, or why one of the strongest adventurers alive refused every attempt to increase his rank.
Titania had believed those mysteries made him interesting.
Now she understood something more frightening.
Sin was not mysterious because the truth had been lost.
The truth had been buried.
And he was still standing on top of it.
The journey to the real Outcast Base took less than an hour.
Venus had arranged five transport wagons.
Elena had arranged twelve.
She claimed Sin's possessions required proper protection.
Sin owned one sword, two cloaks, several masks, a collection of stolen utensils, and enough hidden snacks to survive a siege.
Titania did not understand the twelve wagons.
Elena did.
[Lord Sin's belongings must not be compressed.]
Sin sat beside the driver of the third wagon.
[Most of these aren't mine.]
Elena rode beside him on a black horse.
[Everything beneath your roof belongs to your dominion.]
Venus guided her own horse ahead of the convoy.
[That legal argument is why three merchants are currently suing us.]
Elena's smile remained serene.
[They will lose.]
Titania rode inside the first wagon with several boxes of magical texts.
She leaned from the opening.
[How?]
Elena looked toward her.
[One cannot testify without a tongue.]
The driver went pale.
Sin pointed at Elena.
[No removing tongues.]
[As you command.]
The driver relaxed slightly.
Elena continued.
[Hands are still available.]
The driver became pale again.
Titania looked toward Venus.
[Should someone stop her?]
[Someone does.]
Venus gestured toward Sin.
Titania watched him attempt to balance an apple on his nose.
[That someone?]
[Our resources are limited.]
The convoy climbed toward northern Rize.
The city changed around them.
The packed older districts gave way to broad roads, military checkpoints, and elevated platforms protected by layered magical barriers. Noble estates rose behind white walls. Guild compounds occupied entire hills.
The Outcast headquarters stood beyond them all.
Titania saw the central tower first.
Black stone pierced the white-blue skyline, surrounded by four smaller towers connected through enclosed bridges. Silver lines ran across the walls like veins, carrying defensive magic through the entire structure.
Then the rest of the complex emerged.
Titania's mouth opened.
The base was not a building.
It was a fortress-city within the city.
High dark walls enclosed several courtyards. A grand hall dominated the center, its roof shaped like folded wings. Training arenas occupied the eastern grounds. A forge complex rose to the west, its chimneys sending thin silver smoke into the sky.
Behind the main structure stood gardens, glass-roofed laboratories, stable houses, storage towers, and a separate archive building protected by rotating magical rings.
The repaired eastern wing gleamed with newly installed windows.
Construction scaffolding still surrounded one small tower, but the rest appeared complete.
A huge gate faced the road.
The Outcast emblem had been carved across it.
A broken chain surrounding a black star.
Titania stared.
[This belongs to five people?]
Venus corrected her.
[Six now.]
Titania looked at her.
Venus's expression was soft.
[Welcome home.]
The words struck harder than the view.
The gates opened.
The entrance hall was large enough to contain the entire temporary base.
Sunlight streamed through high windows of dark blue glass. Long banners hung from the rafters, each bearing the black-star emblem. Polished stone floors reflected the moving figures as workers carried final supplies through the hall.
A massive staircase divided toward the upper levels.
Doors led toward separate wings.
At the center stood a circular black table surrounded by seven chairs.
Sin entered last.
He looked around.
[Too clean.]
Venus stared at him.
[Do not take that as a challenge.]
Titania stepped deeper into the hall.
The air smelled of fresh wood, stone, ink, and lingering enchantment.
The headquarters felt serious.
Powerful.
Permanent.
Nothing like the broken temporary base.
Elena moved beside Sin.
[Your throne awaits inspection.]
Sin looked toward the circular table.
[That's a chair.]
[All chairs become thrones beneath you.]
Venus closed her eyes.
Titania had become skilled at recognizing when Venus was deciding whether murder would create excessive paperwork.
A set of heavy footsteps came from the eastern corridor.
Titania turned.
No one appeared.
Then a loud crash shook the building.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Venus's face went blank.
Sin looked upward.
[Stronger ceilings.]
Another crash.
A worker ran into the hall.
[Lady Venus! The guardian courtyard wall collapsed!]
Venus slowly looked toward the eastern wing.
[How?]
The worker swallowed.
[Lady Luna tried the new entrance.]
Titania stared.
[The human entrance?]
[Yes.]
[In dragon form?]
The worker nodded.
Venus placed one hand over her face.
Sin smiled.
[Home.]
Titania's room occupied the second floor of the northern wing.
Venus opened the door.
Titania stopped in the entrance.
The room was larger than her old bedroom at the Astro estate.
A wide bed rested beneath a window overlooking Rize. Bookshelves covered one wall. A writing desk stood near the window, already supplied with ink, paper, and several fresh notebooks.
An armor stand occupied one corner.
A second door led to a private washroom.
A small connecting chamber had been prepared for magical practice, its walls reinforced against ordinary spells.
Her clothing had already been arranged inside a large wardrobe.
The Gemini Staff's storage rack stood beside the bed.
Titania walked inside slowly.
[This is mine?]
Venus leaned against the doorway.
[Yes.]
Titania touched the desk.
The polished wood felt real.
[No one else uses it?]
[No.]
[And I don't have to earn it?]
Venus's expression changed.
[You already have.]
Titania looked toward the window.
The city stretched beneath her.
From here, Rize appeared endless. White structures filled the horizon while blue waterways reflected the sky. The central crown shone in the distance, enormous and radiant.
Titania's eyes burned.
She blinked quickly.
Venus pretended not to notice.
[There is one rule.]
Titania cleared her throat.
[What rule?]
[Do not allow Sin to store food beneath your bed.]
Titania looked back.
[Why would he do that?]
A fox ear slowly rose from behind the bedframe.
Titania stared.
Sin emerged holding a wooden box.
[Temporary storage.]
Venus's ice spread across the doorway.
Sin looked toward the window.
Titania pointed.
[Out.]
[This is discrimination.]
[Out!]
Sin escaped through the window.
They were on the second floor.
Titania ran to the glass.
Sin landed in the courtyard below, rolled once, stood, and walked away carrying the box.
Titania slowly looked toward Venus.
[He already chose my room.]
Venus sighed.
[He likes the view.]
[I am locking the windows.]
[He can teleport.]
Titania stared.
[Then why did he jump?]
[For drama.]
The first meal in the renovated base was loud.
Not because all the Outcasts had returned.
Luna was still absent after apparently destroying the courtyard wall and fleeing before Venus arrived.
But the new dining hall echoed more than the temporary kitchen, making Sin and Elena's argument sound twice as ridiculous.
[You cannot taste my food before I do,] Sin said.
Elena held his soup spoon.
[Poison must pass through me first.]
[Venus cooked it.]
Elena looked toward Venus.
[Poison may pass through me first.]
Venus's eye twitched.
Titania sat across from them, studying a stack of guild records.
She had replaced the folder Sin burned.
Not with records about him.
She had enough survival instinct to wait.
These documents concerned the western territories.
For the past month, monster attacks had increased along Xadia's western trade routes. Creatures that normally remained deep inside ancient forests had begun attacking roads and villages.
Several species displayed unusual magic.
Some possessed altered bodies.
Others moved in coordinated groups despite naturally being solitary.
Titania opened another report.
[Another caravan vanished near Blackmere.]
Venus looked toward her.
[How recent?]
[Three days ago.]
Sin stopped arguing with Elena.
The change was slight.
Titania noticed.
[Have you been to Blackmere?] she asked.
Venus answered for him.
[He killed the Tyrant there.]
Titania looked at Sin.
He reached for his soup.
Elena caught his wrist and examined the spoon first.
[Was the Tyrant connected to these monsters?]
Sin shrugged.
[It was a hydra.]
[That's not an answer.]
[It was very hydra-like.]
Titania scanned the report.
[Witnesses say the monsters had black crystals growing from their bodies.]
Venus's expression sharpened.
[Similar to the Moonveil construct?]
[Perhaps.]
Sin took the report.
Titania watched his eyes move across the page.
His laziness vanished as he read.
[Western road. Three survivors. One mentioned silver marks.]
Titania leaned closer.
[The split-circle symbol?]
Sin closed the report.
[Maybe.]
[There's that word again.]
Before she could press him, a chime echoed through the base.
The sound came from the central hall.
Venus stood immediately.
[Guild communication.]
They followed her.
A circular crystal stood at the center of the black table.
It had begun glowing.
Five different emblems rotated above it.
A pale eye surrounded by a broken circle.
A golden lion beneath three suns.
A red spear splitting a mountain.
A green crown woven from branches.
A white serpent coiled around a star.
Titania recognized one.
The Pale Archive.
Lucien Veyr's guild.
Venus touched the crystal.
A formal message appeared above the table.
Emergency Convocation
Issued by the Adventurers' High Council
Recipients: Leaders of all registered guilds, regional guild masters, and designated strategic representatives
Subject: Abnormal monster activity throughout the western territories
Confirmed developments include:
Coordinated migration of hostile species
Unrecorded magical mutations
Destruction of three border outposts
Loss of contact with Westwatch Guild
Appearance of unidentified black crystalline growths
All guild leaders are ordered to attend an emergency meeting in Rize's Central Council Hall tomorrow at midday.
The room fell silent.
Titania read the message twice.
[All guild leaders?]
Venus nodded.
[That includes Sin.]
Sin slowly stepped backward.
The doors behind him froze shut.
He looked toward Venus.
[You planned that.]
[Experience.]
Elena clasped her hands.
[Lord Sin will stand before the nations and deliver judgment.]
Sin looked toward another exit.
Titania moved in front of it.
He stared at her.
[You too?]
[You used me to avoid the SS-Rank meeting.]
[That was teamwork.]
[This is revenge.]
Venus pointed toward the table.
[You are attending.]
Sin's ears lowered.
[Can't Venus go?]
[The convocation specifically requests guild leaders.]
[She's the vice captain.]
[You are the leader.]
[Administrative error.]
Titania folded her arms.
[You created the guild.]
[I was young.]
[Four years ago.]
[Ancient history.]
Venus stepped closer.
[Three border outposts have been destroyed.]
The humor disappeared.
Sin looked back at the message.
[Westwatch lost contact?]
[Yes.]
His eyes narrowed.
Titania noticed the name affected him.
[What is Westwatch?]
Venus answered.
[A B-Rank guild assigned to guard the primary western trade corridor.]
[How many members?]
[Nearly two hundred.]
Titania looked toward the message again.
An entire guild.
Silent.
Sin placed both hands on the table.
[When was the last communication?]
Venus scrolled through the notice.
[Forty-one hours ago.]
[Distress signal?]
[None.]
[Survivors?]
[Unknown.]
Sin's expression went still.
Not careless.
Not lazy.
The same face he wore beneath Moonveil when the Archivist became C-Rank.
[We leave for the meeting tomorrow.]
Titania blinked.
Venus did too.
Sin looked at them.
[What?]
Titania recovered first.
[Nothing.]
[You expected me to complain.]
[You were moving toward the door.]
[I was stretching.]
Venus's eyebrow rose.
Sin looked away.
Elena placed one hand over her heart.
[Your compassion surpasses heaven.]
Sin pointed at her.
[Don't start.]
Titania examined the five major guild emblems.
[Will all five SSS-Rank leaders attend?]
Venus nodded.
[If the council included designated strategic representatives, yes.]
Titania felt a chill of anticipation.
Lucien Veyr had already been frightening enough.
Now she might see all five.
[Why summon every guild leader instead of sending teams immediately?]
Sin answered.
[Because no one knows whether this is migration, mutation, invasion, or bait.]
Titania looked at him.
His voice carried none of its usual foolishness.
[If powerful guilds move without coordination, the west becomes crowded with competing parties. Supply routes collapse. Monsters scatter. Civilians get trapped between forces.]
He tapped the black-crystal warning.
[And if someone is controlling these monsters, they'll learn exactly how every guild responds.]
Titania stared.
Sin noticed.
[What?]
[You sound intelligent.]
[Occasionally.]
Venus looked toward the map wall.
[We should prepare all western records tonight.]
Elena nodded.
[I will accompany Lord Sin.]
[Only registered guild leaders and designated representatives may enter the primary chamber,] Venus said.
Elena's smile remained pleasant.
[Rules bend.]
[Not inside the High Council Hall.]
[Then walls bend.]
Sin rubbed his face.
[No breaking the council hall.]
Elena looked disappointed.
Titania raised one hand.
[Can I attend?]
Venus considered it.
[You are not a guild officer.]
Titania lowered her hand.
Sin looked toward her.
[She can carry my files.]
Titania's eyes narrowed.
[I am not your assistant.]
[Strategic representative.]
[You just invented that.]
Sin pointed at the notice.
[It says designated.]
Venus studied him.
[You want her inside?]
Sin glanced toward the western reports.
[She saw the Moonveil symbol. Her Unique Skill may notice patterns other mages miss.]
Titania's annoyance faded.
He was taking her.
Not as an excuse.
Not as luggage.
Because he believed she might contribute.
Venus nodded.
[I can register Titania as an apprentice observer under the Outcast Guild.]
Titania looked toward Sin.
[Thank you.]
He waved dismissively.
[Carry fewer files.]
[You are carrying your own.]
Sin's face fell.
[This arrangement keeps getting worse.]
That night, the Outcast Base remained awake.
Venus and Titania worked inside the archive, gathering every report concerning western monster activity.
The renovated archive occupied three floors.
Bookshelves curved around a central chamber. Floating lamps drifted between levels. Magical ladders moved automatically along the rails, though one had already attempted to carry Sin into the ceiling after he overloaded it with snack crates.
Elena patrolled the base.
Sin disappeared.
Titania noticed after an hour.
[Where did he go?]
Venus continued reading.
[Roof, likely.]
Titania looked toward the ceiling.
[He did that at the temporary base.]
[Sin prefers high places when he wants to think.]
Titania closed the report in front of her.
[Does he ever tell you what he's thinking?]
[No.]
[Not even you?]
Venus paused.
[Especially not me.]
Titania frowned.
[You've known him for years.]
[Yes.]
[And you don't know his past.]
Venus's eyes shifted toward her.
Titania immediately understood that Sin had spoken to her.
[You asked.]
Titania nodded.
[He told me to stop for my own sake.]
Venus closed her book.
[Then stop.]
The bluntness surprised Titania.
[You're not curious?]
[Constantly.]
[But you never investigated?]
Venus's expression became distant.
[Once.]
Titania waited.
Venus looked toward the upper windows.
[I found a village recorded as his birthplace.]
Titania leaned forward.
[Where?]
[It did not exist.]
[Destroyed?]
[No.]
Venus's voice lowered.
[It had never existed. The maps were false. Census records contradicted themselves. Everyone I questioned remembered a different road leading there.]
Titania felt cold.
[What did Sin say?]
[He asked whether I had dreamed it.]
[Had you?]
Venus met her eyes.
[I still don't know.]
Titania's unease deepened.
Venus continued.
[Elena searched his bloodline.]
[What did she find?]
[Nothing.]
[Vampires can trace blood through scent.]
[Exactly.]
Titania looked toward the rows of records.
[And Luna?]
[Dragons remember old magic. She said Sin's soul smelled older than his body.]
Titania went still.
[What does that mean?]
[Luna refused to explain.]
Venus reopened her book.
[Sin is not hiding an ordinary childhood.]
Titania remembered his warning.
Things that notice when they are remembered.
[Do you think he's dangerous?]
Venus's pen stopped.
[Yes.]
Titania's chest tightened.
Venus looked up.
[But not to us.]
That certainty mattered.
[How can you know?]
Venus's expression softened.
[Because Sin has had countless opportunities to hurt us.]
She turned one page.
[Instead, he gave us a home.]
Titania looked toward the archive entrance.
The permanent headquarters.
Her room.
Her guild plate.
The place at the dining table prepared for her before she ever knew it existed.
Sin's mysteries remained frightening.
But perhaps trust did not require every answer.
Perhaps it only required knowing where someone stood when everything became dangerous.
Titania reached for another report.
[Then I'll stop.]
Venus watched her.
[For now?]
Titania's mouth curved slightly.
[For my own sake.]
Venus returned the smile.
[Good.]
From somewhere above them came a loud crash.
Titania looked toward the ceiling.
[Was that Sin?]
Venus closed her eyes.
[Probably.]
A second crash followed.
Then Sin shouted from the upper level.
[The ladder attacked me!]
Titania looked at Venus.
Venus returned to her reading.
[Ignore him.]
[Shouldn't we help?]
[He qualifies for SS-Rank.]
Another crash.
[THE BOOKS ARE JOINING IT!]
Titania opened her report.
[He'll survive.]
[You're learning.]
The following morning, the Outcast Guild prepared to enter the heart of Rize's political world.
Venus wore formal dark-blue armor beneath a pale cloak.
Elena wore black noble clothing lined with red.
Titania dressed in her white-and-green traveling uniform, polished boots, and newly repaired mantle. Her D-Rank plate rested against her chest beside a temporary silver badge identifying her as an apprentice observer.
Sin appeared last.
He wore the same torn cloak.
Venus stared.
[No.]
Sin looked down at himself.
[What?]
[You are not attending an emergency council meeting dressed like a forest criminal.]
[This is formal black.]
[It is faded gray.]
[Lighting issue.]
Elena stepped forward carrying an elegant black coat with silver trim.
[I prepared ceremonial attire worthy of your divinity.]
Sin examined it.
[Too many buttons.]
[Allow me.]
[No.]
Venus froze the exit.
Titania blocked the hallway.
Elena smiled.
Sin looked between all three of them.
[This feels coordinated.]
Titania folded her arms.
[Advanced teamwork.]
Thirty minutes later, Sin stood in the entrance hall wearing the black coat.
His white hair remained wild.
His mask remained faded.
But for once, he looked like the leader of a major guild.
Then he put a biscuit in one pocket.
The illusion shattered.
Venus opened the front doors.
Outside, Rize shone beneath a pale morning sky.
High above the central district, enormous guild banners had been raised around the High Council Hall.
Representatives were already arriving from across Xadia.
Armored carriages crossed the skybridges.
Teleportation circles flashed atop distant towers.
Powerful magical signatures gathered within the city, each one strong enough to make the air feel heavier.
Five SSS-Rank guild leaders.
Regional masters.
Military commanders.
Noble strategists.
And among them, a strange A-Rank boy who had refused SS forty-nine times.
Sin stepped into the sunlight.
Titania walked beside him.
[Are you nervous?]
[No.]
[You're holding the biscuit too tightly.]
He looked at the crushed crumbs in his hand.
[It was weak.]
Titania smiled faintly.
Venus joined them.
Elena followed on Sin's other side.
The Outcasts began walking toward the central crown.
Behind them stood their completed home.
Ahead waited the most powerful guild leaders in Xadia.
Far beyond Rize's walls, the western forests continued to move.
Black crystals spread beneath bark and bone.
Monsters gathered where no monsters should gather.
And inside the ruins of Westwatch, something wearing a dead adventurer's face raised its head toward the east.
Toward Rize.
Toward Sin.
A silver line opened across its blackened eye.
[The Returned One has built another home.]
The creature smiled.
[Let us see how long this one survives.]