Chapter 239 What else
The group all dispersed, each heading towards their own tasks, but Nero didn't head back home. His parents had told him they'd pick him up, so there was no need to go back. More importantly, he still had some things he needed to do.
He walked to an old restaurant and grabbed a menu. Most of the items on the menu had been crossed out, with an 'Out of Stock' sticker in front of it, but fortunately they had the essentials. Since Nero had missed breakfast at home he intended to eat here.
"Two egg omelette with toast, butter, jam and some milk," Nero told the waitress, feeling generous. Normally he would not spend money on eating out - he barely had any of it. But it was while he was in school that someone told him that they were actually going to get paid for their service in the draft!
It seemed obvious, yet somehow Nero never expected it. It would take some time to manage everything, but he would eventually get paid. Furthermore, his payment would be deposited in an account made under his name in the national bank, so he would be able to access his income from anywhere.
He didn't know how much he'd get, but something was better than nothing. At least, it should be enough to cover a single breakfast, right?
"That'll be 33 Krims," the waitress told him, though she didn't wait for him to pay. She was just letting him know the total - the payment would be at the end of the meal, in case he wanted to add something. After deducting the cost of this meal, Nero would have around 650 Krims left in his total savings. That did not seem like it was a lot, to be honest.
How did he have a second innate ability, something that was entirely unheard of, and yet he was on the verge of being broke. If his housing and food weren't consistently taken care of by the army, he'd be homeless in days.
Then again, he was only fifteen years old. No, wait, was it going to be sixteen soon? What was the date today?
Nero allowed himself to have random thoughts for a while, till Gabriel soon appeared and sat opposite to him.
"You could have told me you were going to a restaurant. I was looking for you near the bus stop."
"I was hungry. You guys arrived before I had breakfast. Hey Gabriel, are you broke?"
Gabriel looked at him oddly.
"No. Why?"
"How much money do you have?"
"On me right now? I don't know, a couple thousand Krims. Back in my apartment I have about 20,000 and more in my bank account. Are you running short on money?"
Nero clicked his tongue. He shouldn't discuss money with someone from a famous family.
"Never mind, let's focus on the important thing. Give me the full update, and then we'll discuss our plans for the future."
Gabriel leaned back into his old, clearly heavily used sofa and looked around. Besides them, there was only one other group in the restaurant. Even so, this was not an ideal place to have such a delicate conversation. But they had limited options and time, so Gabriel searched through his card case and found a card that would isolate their conversation.
"First, I'll share a few interesting things related to Lumina, before moving on. The most significant is that Remi disappeared. Back at Lumina, when all the wounded were evacuated, it was discovered that the woman we thought was Remi was actually someone else covered in a disguise. When the woman woke up, she had no idea how Remi was, or why she looked like her.
"Since then, no one has found any signs of her. In fact, upon digging in deeper, I discovered that Remi was just a cover. That person does not actually exist. No one knows who we served with, where she came from, or where she went. This is a pretty big security flaw. I've already informed major Liam, who is much more alarmed about this than we are, trust me."
"You know, I discovered the black key because of her, right?" Nero said.
"We'll get to that in a moment. Next up is Arter and Maximilian. When you were… imprisoned, from what I understand, the Ferro family made a big push to have you set free. It wasn't the kind of effort one does to put on a show either. I've also heard rumours that Arter is suddenly getting a lot more attention, and has been spotted beside Sage Haiden, Arter's great grandfather. No matter how poorly you guys got along before, it seems like he hasn't forgotten to repay you.
"Maximilians situation is more interesting. You may have already guessed, but his father is Maxim Dawnlight, the owner of Maxim's Card shop. At first, I thought it was just an ordinary card shop, until I learned that his mother is actually a foreigner - more specifically from Dolziya."
"He had a space card," Nero suddenly said, recalling that instance where Maxim teleported on his own.
"His background is… unusual, and his father's quite peculiar as well. But that's irrelevant. From what I can tell, he's been recruited into the armoured division of the Felix corp."
"Armoured corp? Isn't that…"
"Yes, that's Sage Triss' old division. It's more or less confirmed that he's been recruited by Sage Triss. As it happens… I've also received a summons from my family's matriarch, Gabriella Kade. I think… I have no choice but to join up with the Kade family. The Sages… will not let anyone who entered the Vault be free of their influence."
Nero frowned.
"As far as I know, I haven't been contacted by any of the Sages."
"Therein lies the problem," Gabriel suddenly said. "Through appearances, it seems like you are close to Sage Haiden. You have met the man twice after all. But in Lumina, you were directly under the command major Liam, who is from the Carver family. Now you appear to be connected to two different Sages."
What Gabriel didn't know was that his father was surely an active, important member of Whisper Guard. If that was the case, and Whisper Guard was under the command of Sage Triss, then he might be connected to three of the Sages.
"But appearances can fool others, not the Sages. So the fact that they haven't made an effort to bring you into their fold is very unusual. Especially considering that, objectively speaking, your performance in the ruins was commendable."
This gave him much to think about, but his situation was ambiguous. His father had helped him out a lot, but maybe in exchange, he had made a deal on Nero's behalf. He'd learn more about that when he spent time with them.
"What else?"
Gabriel took in a deep breath, and then got to the news he had been wanting to avoid.
"You might have heard that Jacob Dom self sentenced to Broceliande, but apparently his performance during the war was pretty good. He got medals for holding up the enemy at the borders, and his influence within the Tera corp seems quite vast. They're not happy that he ended up in a cursed zone. "You're not very popular over there these days. More importantly, Baelor Dom made great contributions to the war effort. Apparently, he personally held up three enemy Ascendants and turned the tide of a battle, saving countless lives. The Dom's family is on the rise, and they know it well. They're putting on their best behaviour, which has made them quite popular. There are rumours that Baelor is going to get control of another city, this time with massive land holdings. The Dom family seems like it's on the path to join the ranks of the greatest Great families. Some people are even saying he's going to be the next Sage."
Nero simply nodded his head, as if he had heard some simple news. A waitress stopped by, and placed his breakfast on the table. After thanking her, Nero grabbed a piece of toast and began to put apple jam on one half and butter on the other half.
"What else?" he asked simply. There was nothing he could do about the Dom family. In fact, he understood that he was at their mercy. In terms of actual power, as well as influence, he was nothing in front of them.
He could not even afford to show discontent at the fact that Jacob was involved in his apparent set up. He was certain that if that family wanted him gone… well, one way or another, he would be gone.
"Finally, onto the matter of the black key. After we came out, I began looking into it. At first, I wasn't expecting much. I was sorely mistaken."
Gabriel placed a picture on the table and slid it to Nero. The picture was that of an extensively decorated sword, placed within a glass container, upon a pedestal. Among the many intricate engravings and embellishments on the sword, there appeared to be a black key.
"That is the ceremonial sword of the Barakus family."