Bro, I'm not an Undead!



Silrat didn't give a response for a while.

He couldn't imagine how such a topic had suddenly popped up into Skullius' mind, but it wasn't like he was hesitant to answer about something like this.

He just didn't know where to start.

"Well, you know how mercenaries are always being looked down on by the Capital Service and the Families? What you've seen in Inhone and Genhuis pales in comparison to what happens in other cities. Mercenaries and even the board members are usually treated badly outside the Guilds Association environment," Silrat said.

"My father and some of his peers were eager to gain the respect they deserved from the Capital circles, so they worked their asses off to earn it. They collaborated with some Families to gain what was assumed to be 'basic' knowledge among circles of Families, which they used to their advantage. One of these pieces of 'basic knowledge' was about Ties of Exchange and how to use them... How to exploit them. My father didn't think they were too useful but kept the information anyway. I stumbled on it, being the information worm I am... and that's about it."

Skullius would have loved to nod his head at this explanation, but for obvious reasons, he couldn't.

He began to think that it should have been obvious to him from the beginning that this had something to do with Silrat's father. The two shared a powerful relationship that Skullius and Silrat hadn't delved into in its entirely, mostly because the former didn't know how exactly to engage in a conversation like that.

He did know enough to understand that Silrat's greatest motivations came from the man though. They challenged each other over many subjects, it seemed.

'I suppose this means that the Families have knowledge about things most people don't, which is pretty obvious but I never thought that included Ties of Exchange too,' Skullius thought.

That made the possibility of Aurolio telling the truth about knowing of Ties of Exchange high, but didn't confirm whether or not he could perform one.

The reason why Skullius brought this up was because he wanted to confirm something through Silrat first before he ultimately spoke about it in length with Sila.

"I see. How much do you know about Ties of Exchange? When you first proposed it back in Inhone City, I thought you knew something I didn't. Actually, I still do. Do you know something?" he asked.

Silrat hummed.

"Well, Ties of Exchange were passed on from Giants. They were usually made by those who wanted to surrender or were caught in tight situations where they were at a disadvantage – as I understand it. That has changed though, since time has passed, but the one who needs something is often the one to facilitate. And that means they have greater responsibility in the exchange," he said.

"Yeah I understand that part already. What else?"

"Rude... The other party is usually gifted with being able to summon the facilitator, but this can be by-passed."

'Sounds about right!'

This was what had gotten Skullius suspicious back in Inhone. When the Tie of Exchange manifested through the guidance field, he was denied the ability to summon the prime attendant, Silrat Veins. But why?

"How do you do that?"

"Ah, Festos... Have you tried to summon me through the Tie of Exchange?"

"Of course not, but I want know why I can't do that. How did you do that?"

Silrat groaned.

"It's simple really. It depends on the demands. If the lesser attendant demands anything drastic from the prime attendant, then they gain the ability to summon them. Since you didn't ask anything that profound from me – I admit I made sure you didn't, honestly – you couldn't, or rather can't summon me. Just to make sure though... do you do still have my lock of hair?"

(A/N: Refer to Ch.255)

Skullius nearly face palmed. Well...

So it was that simple?

Comparing the terms from his Tie of Exchange with Silrat to the ones he had with Sause... there was a great contrast.

From Silrat he had demanded items to boost his power – Enriching gems, information etc. – while from Sause... he had asked that the giant help him retrieve his soul... from an Arch-Lich.

That was drastic alright.

"Ah... makes sense. And yes I have your hair!"

This gave Skullius more of a reason to be careful with Aurolio. If the pale man's terms were larger than life, then he would be at his beck and call. And from what he'd seen of Aurolio's attitude, the man didn't shy away from acting on a whim.

Ah, what a hassle.

Soon, the two reached the Bryne Family Estate and Skullius deactivated [Boundless Evil] while they were still a distance away... just in case.

The duo then walked to the entrance... to the grand gates that were guarded quite well, only to find a rather comical scene.

"I've been meaning to ask this for a while but... why does he always do this?"

"I think you should take this up with him instead of asking me," Skullius said while pinching the bridge of his nose.

In front of them, on top of the large wall they had made around the Estate, a figure decked in a pristine armour could be seen. His body was turned to the left, his left leg angled while its greaved tip lightly kissed the surface of the wall. His gauntlet covered hand masked his face which was hidden under a dazzling helm and tilted downwards for some reason.

His freakishly long cape bellowed in the wind serenely like always, inspiring most who saw it.

Skullius and Silrat could tell.

The guards standing by the gate seemed more energetic than usual.

They were being affected positively by this!

"Master..." Red Rage said before doing away with his stance and flying down slowly towards Skullius.

Somehow, the flare of the sun behind him seemed to lean a bit low just so it could make the Apostle's image more glorious for those who could see it.

Absurd!

'THAT damn skill!' Skullius groaned inwardly.

Bitterly, he dispersed the heroic mood.

"Has anyone important arrived here?" he asked with an annoyed tone.

"No, Master. There haven't been any guests," the Apostle replied.

Skullius nodded and took steps into the Estate with Silrat and Red Rage following after him.

"So, I imagine you want me to handle everything whenever our guests show up?" Silrat asked.

"Well, yes. How did you know?" Skullius was mildly surprised.

"I just figured. Also, since the status quo has suddenly shifted, I'll leave it to you to manage it for us. After all, we have different strong suits."

"Fair enough. Glad I didn't have to bicker about it with you."

Silrat chuckled.

As they passed through the stretch of large trees, Skullius began to sense the 'defences' this place had. Their sheer abundance was quite staggering and they seemed pretty aggressive to changes.

An example was the beast with large, curled horns that Red Rage called Bull 1. Apparently, it patrolled all the grounds, especially those leading from the entrance to the estate.

Skullius hoped this mighty beast wouldn't crush their visitors when they showed up. It had too much energy to spare.

Since he had the free time now, Skullius got to business.

He reached in deep within his soul and called to a familiar piece that wasn't his..

'Tomato flinger...?' Sila said, his voice sounding weaker than usual.

Skullius almost felt pity, but what he was about to offer was likely to make the Tower General a little lively. He had thought quite a lot about this, evolving his intention from simply using Sila as a free information store to something else.

'Hey there. I have proposition for you,' Skullius told the piece of soul. 'How does having a body to use from time to time sound?'

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