"A slave mark?"
Jason muttered this while glaring down at the rune in distaste, and Queen Bethsha was surprised when she heard what he said. Queen Bethsha knew just how complicated the Rune she handed Jason was. Even the best Rune Crafters on their world took more than fifteen years before they could reverse engineer the rune enough to figure out exactly what it was meant to do. But Jason was able to tell what it was from just a glance?
"Are you a Rune Crafter? You seem to be very knowledgeable about Runes."
Queen Bethsha couldn’t help but ask this, and Jason just nodded calmly while still looking down at the rune. After a few seconds, Jason raised his head and asked Bethsha if the Primordials used this on her people. Queen Bethsha shook her head.
"No, they didn’t. In truth, the Primordials don’t come after worlds like ours very often. The worlds that they are more interested in are worlds like yours that once lived without mana and then were introduced to it later, as well as higher-ranked worlds with intelligent beings, since they tend to have more powerful warriors. The Primordials have tried to take over a few Rank IV worlds within the ten domains, but they were repelled by Richard, as well as the Celestial of Order overseeing the Council of Nine and One. Recently, the Primordials have limited their actions to the worlds outside the ten major domains, but from how tense things have been getting for the past few centuries, I have a feeling that something big is coming. The Primordials are getting more daring and I think it’s only a matter of time before they try attacking the domains again."
Jason hummed as he stared down at the rune curiously, and he eventually asked Queen Bethsha if he could keep the rune. Bethsha smiled and said that it was fine; the rune was extremely difficult to acquire, but she had a feeling that Jason would be able to do more with that paper than all her researchers combined.
"Just make sure you remain vigilant out there. If you go to any world and see the people bearing the runes of the Primordials proudly, then you’ll know that they are not your allies."
Jason nodded and promised to be careful as he put the Rune into his Alternate Dimension for Azrael to take a look at it. Jason knew that the rune was extremely complicated, but that didn’t mean it was impossible to decipher, and Jason had a feeling that learning how to break this rune would come in handy sometime in the future. If the Primordials were so adamant about spreading this Rune around the Primordial Domain, then Jason would make it his mission to fuck with that plan.
....
[Later that Night.]
[Kai’s Bedroom.]
"Jason is so cool! Can you believe he can also gain power from eating mana stones! And he’s so strong that he was able to fight against the Machina soldiers for days while running away from them! Woosh! Woosh! Woosh! So cool!"
Kai made some exaggerated motions with his hands to mimic flight and explosions while his caretaker, Fritz, tried to get him to put on his pyjamas so he could go to sleep. Fritz held Kai in place, and she gently urged him to wear his long night gown with a smile on her face.
"I’m glad you could meet your brother, Kai. He seems like a really nice person."
"Mmhm! He is! I heard he even has two sisters on Earth, also! I can’t wait to go meet them!"
Kai opened his mouth wide and yawned, and Fritz laughed as she used the sleeve of her cloth to cover his mouth for him. Fritz knew that Kai was just struggling to stay awake because he didn’t want to sleep yet, but he was dead tired, so there was no way he would be able to remain awake for longer.
"You should go to sleep now, my prince."
Kai rubbed his eyes.
"But I don’t wanna. What if I wake up tomorrow and he’s already gone? I want to stay with my brother."
"I’m sure your brother wouldn’t leave tomorrow without saying goodbye. He seems like a very nice person."
Fritz tried to urge Kai towards the bed again, but she heard Kai speak up again.
"Oh, I know, why don’t you get married to him, Fritz. That way, you can be my sister too."
"Huh!? What are you even saying?"
Fritz felt a massive blush rise on her cheek when she heard Kai say that, and she shook her head as she saw that his eyes were already drooping! This boy was always saying nonsense! Fritz wouldn’t deny that it was a very tempting thought. Jason was a very handsome man, and he was also powerful, so she wouldn’t mind becoming one of his wives if he took interest in her, but Fritz also knew that something like that was just impossible, especially since the chances that she would still be here tomorrow were very slim. Fritz wasn’t a fool, and she knew exactly what was coming for her. The Queen was going to be summoning her later tonight, and she was going to be fired as Kai’s caretaker for her negligence.
After all, it was under Fritz’s watch that Kai managed to sneak out of the castle and run away. Fritz understood that she had made a big mistake, and there was nothing that could save her from being kicked out of the castle. In fact, she would be lucky if she wasn’t placed in prison. But Fritz truly loved Kai like he was her own son, so even though Jason would be saying goodbye to Kai before leaving, Fritz knew she wouldn’t be able to say goodbye. If she did, then she would break down immediately.
"Sniffle~!"
Fritz brought a hand up and quickly cleaned her eyes when she noticed that she was about to cry, and she smiled when Kai finally got in bed and allowed her to tuck him in. Kai raised his hand towards Fritz and Fritz took it and laid a gentle kiss on it.
"Goodnight, Fritz. I love you."
Fritz struggled to see anything through the tears that were gathering in her eyes, and she ran a sleeve over her eyes before she leaned down and placed a loving kiss on Kai’s forehead.
"Goodnight, my prince. I love you too. I always will."
By the time Fritz pulled back, Kai had already drifted off to sleep, and Fritz simply sat there and lay her head on the side of Kai’s bed as she tried to spend as much time with him as possible.
Time passed slowly, and it wasn’t long before the night reached its darkest hour. At this point, the clouds were covering up the full moon, and the cries of large whales and aquatic monsters in the ocean had finally died down. Fritz had fallen asleep with her head on the edge of Kai’s bed, and she was still holding his hand softly while muttering in her dreams, and the window at the side of the large bedroom rattled as a dark silhouette appeared from the night.
The silhouette shimmered like a phantom as the light from the waning moon bent and curved around it. The silhouette was wearing a special camouflage artefact that was used by many assassins around Vanta, so anyone who looked towards the window now wouldn’t even know that there was someone there! The assassin brought its hands forward, and multiple tiny mana blades formed at the tip of its fingers before it slowly carved a circular opening into the glass panel.