The segmented sword lay on the table between them, its many sections locked together so neatly that, at first glance, it almost looked like a normal blade. Almost.
Catherine and Isaac stood there in silence, both staring at it.
Isaac was surprised. He wouldn’t deny that. An Imperial-grade weapon was not something you stumbled upon every day. Still, the surprise didn’t shake him too much. He already owned an Imperial-grade item himself: the treasure chest that generated money based on the strength of his City. Compared to that, this sword was different, but it belonged to the same tier of absurd value.
Catherine, on the other hand, was completely still.
She didn’t even try to hide it.
Her eyes were fixed on the weapon, unblinking, as if someone might snatch it away the moment she looked elsewhere. Isaac had seen her curious, amused, and calculating before. This was different. This was naked greed, plain and simple.
She looked like a child who had just found her favorite toy.
Isaac cleared his throat.
"It’s a good weapon. You should take it."
Catherine blinked, as if only just remembering he was there.
"Uh? Ah, yes, but..." She hesitated and finally tore her gaze away from the sword. "It’s Imperial grade, and it has an instant death attack skill. Only those with death resistance or divine protection can block that kind of effect. You should take this weapon instead of me. You need it more."
Her words were reasonable.
But her eyes betrayed her. They lingered on the blade for just a fraction of a second too long.
Isaac noticed it.
’I see. Her status did say she likes learning new poison compositions.’
’She probably wants to study the toxins this weapon can produce.’
He smiled. He liked her how she was, but he liked this side of her too, where she openly showed he actual thoughts.
"Okay," he said.
"H—Huh?"
The reaction was instant. Catherine stiffened, clearly not expecting him to agree so easily. Her brain froze for half a second, trying to process what she had just heard.
Isaac burst into laughter.
The sound echoed lightly through the room, breaking the tension completely. Catherine’s expression shifted as realization dawned on her face. By the time she understood what had happened, it was already too late to recover her usual composure.
She clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"You’re awful. Is how I raised you? You should never play with a maiden’s heart."
Isaac chuckled at those words, then said,
"You can take the weapon. I was just joking."
"But—"
"No buts," he cut in, waving his hand dismissively. "Take the weapon."
Catherine looked at him for a moment, then back at the sword. This time, she didn’t hesitate. She nodded once, firmly, and reached out.
The moment her fingers wrapped around the hilt, a faint reaction spread through the blade. The segmented parts trembled slightly, as if acknowledging her presence, before settling down again.
She bonded with it.
After that, she just stood there, staring into empty air.
Isaac raised an eyebrow. "You want to test the weapon?"
"Yes," she replied absentmindedly. "But I’ll do it later. For now—"
"No," Isaac said, cutting her off. "You should go now."
He waved his hand toward the door. "Go outside the city and take a few nagas with you. Tell them that whoever comes along will get some loot from the monsters we hunted yesterday."
Catherine’s gaze sharpened immediately. "You mean..."
Isaac nodded. "The monster tribes in the wilderness will make a move soon. They’ll think our city should’ve been weakened after everything that happened. They’ll come to check whether they can take something, or maybe try to extort us. Go deal with them."
Understanding settled in her eyes.
"That makes sense."
She had already been planning to deal with the nearby tribes. Now, with an Imperial-grade weapon in her hands, she could barely contain herself.
Normally, an awakener wouldn’t slaughter too many monsters from organized monster tribes. If you pushed them too far, the tribes might retaliate by sending Overlord-rank monsters to raid the city. That kind of escalation was dangerous.
But if the monsters approached the city first...
Then, the cities could
Catherine smiled.
It was the smile of an evil scientist, preparing for their next experiment.
"Heh, this will be fun."
She turned and walked out without another word, practically radiating anticipation. A moment later, her presence vanished completely.
Isaac watched the doorway for a few seconds before turning back to his work.
Paperwork waited for no one.
He sank back into his chair and drowned himself in reports, reconstruction plans, resource allocations, and population movement charts. The City was still healing, and every small decision now would affect its long-term growth.
Time passed faster than he expected.
By noon, someone knocked on the door.
"Come in," Isaac said without looking up.
The door opened, and three figures entered.
At the front was Althea, calm and composed as always. Behind her stood her guard, Charlotta, posture straight and eyes alert. Guiding them inside was Priscilla, the dragon maid, who closed the door quietly behind them.
Isaac finally looked up. "Have a seat. I heard you had an offer regarding the rebuilding of the city."
"Yes," Althea replied as she sat across from him. Charlotta remained standing behind her, hands folded neatly.
Priscilla moved to the side and poured tea with practiced ease, placing a cup in front of Isaac and another in front of Althea.
Althea took out a spatial ring and placed it on the table.
Isaac raised a brow. "And this is?"
"This ring contains seeds of Verdantweave Trees," Althea said.
Isaac leaned forward slightly. "Seeds?"
"Yes. They can be used for building infrastructure."
That immediately caught his interest.
"If buildings can be made with trees..." he muttered, thinking out loud. "Then I can use my skills to grow them instantly."
That alone would reduce reconstruction time by an absurd amount.
Althea nodded, as if she had expected that conclusion. "You only need to build the basic framework of the structures. After that, you plant the seeds. The trees will grow along the framework and form proper houses."
Isaac tapped the table lightly. "So the result would be...?"
"A mix of buildings and nature. You don’t need to worry about variety either. The spatial ring contains multiple types of Verdantweave seeds. Each type has different properties: texture, color, durability, insulation, mana conduction, and so on."
Isaac’s interest grew by the second.
"I just need to build the basic structure, plant the seed, and grow them?"
"Not exactly. Someone will need to guide the trees as they grow. Charlotta can do that," Althea said.
She gestured behind her.
"She has the Architect Class related to plants. It allows her to shape growth paths and structural balance during construction."
Isaac nodded slowly.
He already had a summon with an Architect class. If he sent that summon to work with Charlotta, the summon could learn how to model these nature-based buildings. That knowledge alone would be invaluable.
It might even meet the unknown prerequisites to get a nature-based Architect Class for its next advancement.
"But how do you have these seeds on hand? Do you usually carry something like this around?" Isaac asked.
"No," Althea replied calmly. "The Seventh Queen told me to carry them this time."
Isaac paused.
’The Seventh Queen again.’
The name surfaced more and more often lately, always attached to things that were inconveniently useful.
’Now I’m getting more and more curious to meet her,’ he thought.
He leaned back in his chair. "Alright. I’ll test them first. If they work as you say, I’ll buy them. So, what’s the price?"
The moment he said that, Althea’s demeanor changed.
It was subtle, but unmistakable.
A smile appeared on her face.
Not a friendly smile. Not a polite one.
It was the smile of a businesswoman who knew she was about to negotiate from a position of strength.
"We can discuss that. But first, let’s talk about how many districts you plan to rebuild."
Isaac exhaled slowly and picked up his tea.
He had a feeling this negotiation was going to take a while.
...
Celia POV
Celia leaned back in her chair and let out a slow breath.
The timeline on her screen was packed with cuts, overlays, and comment highlights. A half-edited video played silently in the corner, paused on Isaac’s image mid-speech. Beside it, dozens of smaller windows tracked engagement metrics, trending keywords, and sentiment graphs.
Ruby’s avatar hovered nearby, calm as always.
They had been working for hours.
Celia was handling the editing, adjusting what clips went out and which ones stayed internal.
Ruby handled distribution and analysis, feeding her real-time data about how the City was reacting.
So far, things were stable.
Public opinion about Isaac remained positive. And the people praising him were increasing by the second.
Celia stretched her arms above her head and rolled her shoulders. "Alright. I think this batch is good enough for today. We should post them slowly over the next week."
"Agreed," Ruby replied smoothly.
Celia glanced at the time and then leaned back again. "Where are Emily and Alice?"
"Miss Emily is currently training. She is practicing with her Abyss summons," Ruby answered without delay. "
Celia nodded slowly. That made sense.
Ruby continued, "She needs to learn their skills. The summons were obtained only yesterday. Synchronization during combat will require extensive practice."
"Mhm," Celia murmured.
Emily was training seriously.
Ruby paused for a fraction of a second before adding, "Miss Alice is healing people throughout the City."
Celia raised an eyebrow. "Still?"
"Yes. Many awakeners sustained lingering injuries during yesterday’s battle. After that, Miss Alice stated she would visit hospitals and other medical facilities to heal civilians and awakeners suffering from illnesses or chronic conditions."
Celia let out a short laugh and shook her head. "Didn’t she say she was going to rest today?"
"Yes. She said she would not train today and would rest."
"So this is what resting looks like for her?" Celia said dryly.
"It appears so," Ruby replied.
Celia sighed and rubbed her forehead lightly. She honestly couldn’t understand how Alice had that much energy. Even after battles, even after exhausting her mana, Alice always found something else she felt responsible for.
After that, Celia spent some time asking Ruby about the others.
Where people were stationed. Who was coordinating logistics. Which districts still needed supplies. Ruby, as the City’s AI, had access to cameras, sensors, and reports everywhere. She answered calmly, efficiently, without missing a detail.
Once she felt satisfied, Celia stood up and stretched again.
"I’ll go check on Alice," she said.
"Understood. I will notify you if any urgent matters arise," Ruby replied. Celia’s popularity allowed her to manipulate city’s trends. She would interfere if someone was trying to smear mud on Isaac’s image.
Celia left the room and made her way through the City.
She found Alice exactly where Ruby said she would be.
Healing.
Alice moved from one person to another, hands glowing softly as she treated wounds and illnesses.
People thanked her constantly, some bowing, some crying, some just staring in disbelief.
Alice nodded at them with a cold face. But after living with her some time, Celia understood that was Alice’s face when she was trying to smile.
"Hey, Alice," Celia called out casually.
Alice turned, and nodded.
From that point on, Celia didn’t say much. She simply followed her for hours, sometimes making small talks, sometime talking to patients, brightening their days with her smile.
Alice went from one location to another, never stopping for long.
Eventually, Alice couldn’t stay silent.
"...You’ve been following me for a while," Alice said, glancing sideways.
"Have I?" Celia replied innocently.
"Yes," Alice said flatly. "So what do you want?"
"Nothing~"
Celia smiled.
Normally, Celia was a bit afraid of Alice. Not because Alice was cruel—well, she was cruel to their enemies and monsters— but because there was something overwhelming about her presence.
Alice didn’t act dominant or threatening, yet she always felt... like a bright sun, something you could not look at and something that looked down at everyone. Like someone who burn you to ashes on a bad day.
"I don’t really get why you’re here. Did something happen?"
"Nope. I just wanted to walk," Celia said lightly.
Alice frowned slightly but didn’t push the issue.
They continued in silence until they reached a quieter area.
That was when Celia spoke.
"So," she said casually, "have you thought about Selene’s marriage partner?"
Alice stopped walking.
"...What?" she asked.
Celia tilted her head. "I was just wondering who she might end up marrying. Selene is kind, beautiful, and rich. I imagine a lot of people would want her."
Alice didn’t answer.
Her lips pressed together, and she looked away.
Celia watched her closely, the calm smile never leaving her face.
After a moment, Celia continued, her tone softer. "I’m happy with Isaac. Truly. I finally understand what it feels like to be with someone who loves you immensely. I hope Selene can find that kind of happiness too."
Alice’s hands clenched at her sides.
She stood up straighter.
"I’ve recovered my mana. I’ll go back to healing the patients," she said abruptly.
Without waiting for a reply, Alice turned and walked away.
Celia watched her leave.
She didn’t follow her.
Once Alice disappeared from view, Celia let out a quiet laugh.
"Heh."
Her smile remained calm, but there was something sharp behind it.
’I was worried that bringing Selene into the family would be difficult.’
’But seeing Alice react like that... as long as I guide things properly, this will be easy.’
Her eyes gleamed faintly.
She licked her lips, already thinking ahead.
Isaac owed her a reward for how much she was helping him. And when the time came, she knew exactly what she planned to ask for.