Villain Retirement

Somewhere back in the Kingdom of Varoif, somewhere close to the sea, a manor stood—if a manor reached the heights of Earth's modern skyscrapers, that is. Perhaps it was better to call it a building, but like most of Theran's infrastructure, it looked historical.

With its size, one would even think that it was already abandoned—but the voices inside, albeit few, filled the entire building with a certain dread and rage.

"James! Look at me!"

The voices were seeping from a study the size of an entire library; the woman whose voice echoed throughout the entire building, relentlessly and almost violently slamming her palms on the desk in front of her. The one sitting at the desk, however, seemingly could not be bothered at all as he just continued to fidget with his orb.

"James! Are you not going to do anything!?"

"Send me, father! I'll avenge Fionn!"

The man beside the woman also approached the desk; almost towering over his mother as he also placed his hand on the desk, "We know who he is, and I already have his last position—I will make sure he—"

"Have they recovered Fionn's corpse?" And finally, James placed his orb on the table, letting it float there as he stood up; his bald head, almost as shiny as his orb.

"That…"

"I'm asking you a question, Tavi."

"They are still searching for him. They are searching outside the territory soon, father," James's son, Tavi, quickly stood up straight as he saw his father looking at him, "I believe we—"

"They?" The tone of James's voice quickly changed as he started to walk toward Tavi, "What do you mean 'they'?"

"Sir Jeri and the others are—"

"I remember ordering you," James brushed his thick mustache with his fingers, "I told you to retrieve your brother's corpse."

"But we need to avenge him so—"

"The one who sent your brother to eternal death played with several other cadets from the Grand Militia," James then placed his hand on his son's shoulder; and even though Tavi also towered him, Tavi felt like a dog being petted,

"You think you can avenge him? You, who spent 200 years as a cadet only to not become a private?"

"That—"

"Why are we debating about useless things!?" James's wife pushed his hand away from Tavi as she stood between the two, "At least your son is actually doing something about this! You're just going on about your day like nothing even happened! Our son died, your son died!"

"..." James could really only close his eyes as his wife's voice once again pierced through his ears. But after a few breaths to calm himself, his eyes started to turn red,

"The one who is doing nothing here is you, woman," James then said as he showed his teeth, "My work is done… And now I can concentrate on the hunt."

"You… you're going yourself?" James's wife slightly gasped, "But—"

"Hm," James only grunted as he started walking away.

"Will… the Grand Militia allow you to travel the border?"

"They will have no choice," James then slightly adjusted his coat, revealing the silver collar wrapped around his neck, "They can either join me…

…or I will go through them as well."

***

"This… is interesting."

"Interesting? What's interesting is there are people inside my house that I did not fucking inv—What the!? The fuck you doing!?"

"Really interesting."

The woman truly resembled Diana if she was probably 10 years younger, so much so that Riley could not help but suddenly circle around her, causing her to raise the spatula she was holding and point it toward Riley.

"Are you perhaps mother's clone?"

"Huh? Are you crazy?" The woman raised an eyebrow, before turning her attention to Katherine and the others, who were just standing in front of the door completely clueless as to what was going on,

"Who the fuck are you people and why is this guy trying to sniff me!?" And with that scream, the woman suddenly slammed her spatula straight at Riley's face, who took several steps back as his head violently swung to the side.

"...Hm," Riley, however, just calmly stood up straight even with the mark of a spatula still clearly planted on his white cheek, "Perhaps I should rephrase my question—Are you Caitlain'Ur's clone?"

"..." The woman quickly pointed her spatula back to Riley, before slightly moving it to the side so she could get a good look at Riley's face,

"You… know mother?"

"Mother?" Riley's eyes slightly squinted, "Caitlain'Ur is your mother?"

"I am the one asking questions here," the woman stretched the spatula closer to Riley's head, "How do you know Caitlain?"

"If you're mother's daughter, then I suppose that makes you my adoptive step-sister," Riley, however, just placed his hand on his chin; his eyes, seemingly lost in thought, "This makes the family dynamics quite confusing now."

"...What?" And very slowly, the woman's eyes also started to squint as she looked at Riley from head to toe, "You're one of mother's adopted children? I thought the last one died 1,226 years ago with the planet Aurum."

"To my knowledge, I am her only adopted child, and sister is her only biological child," Riley breathed out before he started looking around the house, "But I am now realizing that there could still be others out there, considering her age."

"Sister?" The woman blinked a couple of times as she blocked Riley's path with her spatula, "Mother has a biological child!?"

"Yes, you two look similar but not quite," Riley nodded, "Wait—are you not mother's biological child as well?"

"No, pft. I am not even fully biological in nature," the woman scoffed, "My name is Anna, one of mother's earliest children."

"Anna… as in the ship?" Katherine joined in on the conversation as soon as she heard the woman's name.

"The ship? You mean Anna?" Anna squinted her eyes, "That's my younger sister. How do you know her? Who are you—Wait… could it be mother's here!? That makes sense. Why would her adopted child be here if she isn't here!"

A wide smile then started to crawl on Anna's face, "Where is she!? Is she with you!?"

Anna almost hopped as she ran past Esme and Zac, almost pushing them to the side as she rushed to the door,

"Where is she!?"

"Caitlain'Ur… had a base here all along?" Zac could really only take in a small gulp as he very slowly started to back away; not really knowing where to go. Suddenly, however, his back hit Princess Esme's arm.

"Please don't try anything, Zac," Princess Esme calmly whispered, "You're just here to follow Professor Riley—do anything else like report him, and I will apply Professor Riley's teaching to you."

"I'm… just overwhelmed, Your Highness," Zac could really only force a chuckle. But before he could do anything, he found Anna right in front of his face; her eyes staring at him filled with a sort of hostility.

"You're wearing the Order's uniform," Anna squinted her eyes, "If you weren't with mother's adopted son, I would have already killed you."

"O…okay?" Zac's eye started to twitch. In just less than an hour, he had been threatened to die by three people. Just what sort of situation is this?

"Wait, what sort of party is this?" Anna then turned her eyes toward Esme, "You're the youngest princess of Varoif."

"...Yes," Princess Esme bowed her head, "It is an honor to meet one of the creations of the Caitlain'Ur."

"Hm, it's good that you know your position," Anna nodded before finally returning to Riley, "Where's mother?"

"I believe she is currently being held by the Grand Militia, Anna," Riley breathed out as he looked at Zac.

"Oh," Anna, however, only shrugged as she heard that, "She probably needs something with them. You said mother has a biological child? Where is she?"

"She is somewhere on the planet, Anna."

"Call me older sister, I am older than you," Anna once again pointed her spatula at Riley.

"...Okay, older sister."

"Good," Anna nodded, "I like you, you get it. So, are you guys hungry? I can cook you food while you update me with anything you want to tell me. Personally, I would like to know more about mother's biological child."

"Her name is Hannah, older sister," Riley nodded as he started to walk to where the kitchen should be, "She is also my older sister."

"As expected of mother, her naming sense is impeccable as always," Anna once again nodded as she followed Riley to the kitchen, leaving Katherine and the others just standing in the hallway.

"..." Princess Esme looked at Katherine and Zac for a few seconds, before also nodding her head and following the two step-siblings,

"I suppose we are having a meal."