Chapter 18: An Unexpected Visitor

Ash was making himself comfortable at the Silverash estate, currently in the living room. Putting his feet up the center table while leaning on the couch.

"Hmmm, Kjerag's nice and cool as always. It feels good on my skin." He was drinking some wine while eating a selection of meats and cheeses like a true noble.

"Weiss, why doesn't your mistress have a television? Please tell her to buy one." Ash called out to the master of the house's loyal courier that he made to buy his food earlier.

"Yes sir." Weiss nodded and Ash sighed, so he just decided to read something else. The label of his wine bottle.

"Aged in a barrel for 20 years. Ooh, this must be expensive. It's at the legal age after all, this bottle is even older than me." He shrugged while putting more wine in his glass.

"We're back, Weiss." He heard SilverAsh's voice after they got discharged from the hospital.

The younger sisters were stupefied by his appearance inside their own house. Ash was relaxing like he owned the place.

"Weiss... Where did he get his snacks and drink?" SilverAsh's eyebrow twitched. "He asked me to buy it ma'am."

"Listen here Ash, you're even turning Weiss into your errand boy..." She massaged her temples and sighed heavily.

"Well, he was happy to serve. Isn't that right Weiss?" Ash asked the guy and he bowed.

"See? And besides, how much do you think you owe me for healing Ensia's mangled legs earlier? She saw how I healed it, regular treatment would take years." He shrugged.

"That may be so..." SilverAsh wanted to be in control of him for once. But Ensia whacked her on the back for being a pain in the ass.

"Big bro... Here, did us a huge favor. Stop being troublesome." Ensia hesitated calling him her big brother after the debacle earlier.

"It is unbecoming of you, sister." Enya side-eyed Enciades and she winced.

"Fine, side with him." She groaned and the two sat down besides Ash.

"May I interest you ladies with a glass of wine?" Ash used his magic and created clear goblets made of ice. He then poured some wine in it and gave it to them.

"Woah, that's some next level control..." Enya was a prolific arts user like Gnosis, but seeing him make a perfectly clear goblet with ice was mind boggling.

"Told you, he's a riot. When he healed my legs earlier, he was even more amazing." Ensia reminisced about the treatment.

And while they were talking to each other, SilverAsh got jealous. Biting her lip as she saw him got along with them.

"Ash... Don't you have any work to do in Paradiso?" Her eyes twitched and he smirked at her, noticing the jealousy in the woman.

"I left it to Degenbrecher and penguin logistics. Come here Enciades." He raised his hand and she flew to him.

He put her between his legs and hugged her waist with one arm while drinking.

"So, how about it ladies? Can you forgive big sister here? She's lacks tack and is a bit of a control freak you see?" Ash gave her a bone.

Enya looked a bit sour upon looking at her and Ensia fidgeted around. But they didn't particularly say no.

"Hmm, aren't you glad I'm here? Stop being a wuss and ask them to hang out with you yourself." Ash pinched her abdomen and she hissed at him.

But she saw that her sisters weren't hostile against her anymore and felt bad about enstating Enya as basically the head of state.

And the girl powered through the trials just to spite her and plan on not helping her with the games she would play later.

"Enya, sorry for turning you into the saintess apparent. And Ensia, it wasn't my intention to ignore you." SilverAsh apologized to them and explained.

"That ship has already sailed sister." Enya side eyed her and snorted. SilverAsh thought that it's a lost cause.

"But I guess for big brother Ash, I won't ignore you too much." Enya was being a tsundere and Ash rubbed Enciades' tail.

"Hmm, we can hang out a bit." Ensia fidgeted around and was embarrassed by talking about their strained relationship.

"See? You just need to hash it out a bit. Honestly, you're like a kid. You can't even initiate a talk with your own sisters." Ash sighed and patted her head for a good job.

"Shut up..." SilverAsh blushed, she purred as Ash rubbed her ears and was thankful that he connected her with her younger sisters again.

"Wow, big sis is purring. You must really like him?" Ensia grinned at her and she sobered up.

She then put a blank face on and the sisters chuckled at her.

"I'm just really good at this, let me show you." He reached at his sides and started to caress their ears too.

And when he found their nerve bundles, he rubbed it thoroughly making them purr pleasantly.

"Wow, big bro. I dub you the fluff master." Ensia rubbed her ears towards his hands. She was feeling a bit high, her body releasing endorphins.

"I agree, fluff master Ash it is." Enya's eyes dilated and they felt a bit too nice.

"Hey! Hands off of my sisters you!" SilverAsh glared at him and put his hands on herself.

"Hoh? Want me all for yourself? Too bad, destiny awaits. An imperial harem is inevitable." Ash said wistfully.

"Not like that, you know what I mean." She hissed at him and he shrugged. "It's not my fault that I'm the fluff master, their words not mine."

She just gave up. "You know, putting your hands on the next saintess is going to turn you into a criminal." SilverAsh gave him a meaningful look.

"What? I can't even fluff my sisters in law? Then I'll just cause a rebellion and kill the grand elder. Make the other clans submit by kidnapping all the heirs and threaten the heads with execution. You know, the usual hostile takeover." Ash laughed.

They all looked at him weirdly and wasn't sure if he would do it for real. He could after all, Kjerag isn't that strong of a nation. Its main defense is the treacherous terrain.

"You're joking right?" Ensia asked with a shaky voice and he just looked at her. "He's dead serious isn't he?" Ensia asked Enciades and she nodded.

"He could do it alone too. Without any witnesses whatsoever." She replied to her sister and he grinned at them.

They shivered at his dangerous aura and the two shelved it for now.

"Here, big brother's little allowance for you." Ash gave them wads of cash as their pocket money and he stood up.

"You're leaving already?" Enciades asked him and he smiled at her. "What? Missed me too much? But it has to wait, we have tons of work back at Paradiso." He shrugged and said goodbye to them.

"Did he just give us wads of LMD?" Ensia looked at the thick bundle of cash in her hand. "He's rich, much more than us. That's pocket money to buy candy for him." SilverAsh chuckled.

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At the R&D of Paradiso, Ash was currently finalizing the prototype of the power armor he created.

"Hmm, I'll call it Ghost mark 1." Ash nodded in satisfaction at the pretty nice looking set of armor.

It was outfitted with a wrist mounted oscillating blade as well. As a plasma sword like Texas' would gain too much attention.

The thing might not be super hot. But it can still cut through normal steel like butter due to disrupting the molecular bonds of the things it hit.

"Perfect, my special forces will be like ghosts that pop in out of nowhere and kill people without a sound except a thud from their heads falling." He smiled in satisfaction.

"The only thing left is picking the soldiers that are fit to be special forces... I guess I'll leave it to Shining when she returns. Just thinking of picking them one by one is exhausting." He sighed and wished the team at Columbia luck.

He felt someone sneak on him but it was a familiar scent and feel. "Ash, someone's looking for you and little Texas." Degenbrecher jumped on him and he raised a brow.

"It isn't Emperor? Who is it then?" He looked at her and Degenbrecher shrugged. "It's a crazy girl with severe oripathy, a Lupo."

"A friend of Texas maybe?" He pried her off of him and they started walking towards the barracks.

"I don't know, maybe. They look kinda like frenemies or something. Totally has history with each other." She explained what she saw.

"A mafioso from Siracusa... Is she alone?" He inquired further. "Yup, she looked harmless and was just carrying a sword so we didn't fill her with metal while she requested entrance."

Somewhere in Paradiso, a silver haired Lupo shivered. Feeling like she just escaped certain death.

"Hmm, so her friend probably isn't here in behalf of Siracusa." Ash just wanted to see what was happening and they arrived at their military barracks.

"Texas! Come on! Fight you coward. Where's the bloodthirsty Texas that would try to kill me back then?" A silver haired Lupo was waving a sword while Mudrock was on top of her and Sonus wrote her arts in the air. Cancelling the Lupo's arts. (pic)

"Interesting." He watched the debacle with an amused expression. "Oi, what the hell are you just staring at over there? Come on, arrest her or something." Sonus huffed at him.

"Geez, so impatient. I thought old people are supposed to be more cool headed, woman." Ash rolled his eyes and Sonus glared daggers at him.

Ash crouched in front of the Lupo woman and lifted her chin up. "She was just asking around for Texas at first. But she suddenly began to rampage when she saw her." Mudrock explained while she was immobilizing the woman.

"Hmm, you are?" Ash asked her and she grinned at him. "Lappland, at your service~" The woman had a loopy smile on her face. (pic)

"Sorry about this Ash... She's uh, an acquaintance from Siracusa..." Texas frowned and never thought that Lappland, the daughter of one of the bosses in Siracusa would go after her even in Paradiso.

"What are you gonna do to me mister?" Lappland smirked at him and he thought about it.

"Well, that depends. Are you here to cause trouble like earlier?" He gripped her jaw tightly and craned her neck towards him. Ash then stared at her in the eyes with a smile.

"What if I am?" She couldn't resist but try to mess with him and he nodded. "I see, I see. You know, this city is pretty new. And we are really famous for our bleeding edge technology." He stood up and started explaining.

Lappland tilted her head in confusion at his calm explanation and he suddenly grinned towards her.

"But we don't do clinical trials on live human subjects. I bet no one will miss you if you suddenly start to go missing yeah? Especially because you started trouble on a Duke's city." Ash made Mudrock finish her immobilizing duty and he took hold of her arm.

"What are you doing?" She furrowed her brows, starting to get worried in what she got herself in. Her eyes suddenly turned bloodshot as he pulled off her whole arm from the shoulder.

Ash blocked the light in an area around them and he crouched down in front of her again. Cancelling the noise from her mouth as she noticed that there was no sound coming from it.

"And I can make a test subject last a long way." He put her arm back to its stump and manipulated the matter on it to repair the amputation like it was brand new.

He then gave her a toothy grin, sitting beside her and began to pat her ears and hair. "You know, people actually think that I'm a really kind person. But what they don't know, is I actually don't care if I have to resort into human experimentations."

"As long as they're not children and they're a little troublemaker like you. I can advance my research light-years ahead of everyone else if I choose to do so." His finger started to go to her thigh where there's a piece of originium.

"And my specialty is oripathy. Do you wanna be the subject to save millions of people Lappland? I can feel you have an outstanding originium adaptability. Your body will last for a long, long time." He smiled sweetly at her.

She was trembling, never has she ever saw someone so cold blooded before. Thinking that he's much more insane than she is. And she was exiled for being a maniac.

"I... I'll behave." She whimpered and he rubbed her tail. "Good, good. Just tell me or anyone else if you change your mind." He took off the light bending area around them.

Texas could see Lappland on the ground, whimpering like a kicked dog and her ears were folded submissively.

"What in the world did you do to her Ash?" Texas raised a brow and he shrugged.

"Just convinced her a little to behave here in Paradiso. Ain't that right little Lappy? Who's a good girl?" He rubbed her ears and she yelped.

"Okay... It's not my duty to butt in anyway." Texas thought it was a good thing that Lappland won't cause any trouble while in Paradiso.

"Texas, put her to use. I believe she can use her sword well?" Ash checked with her and Texas nodded.

"Good! Then let her be another instructor for people with unorthodox fighting styles. I assume she's really good at that." He analyzed her and with the Lupo's maniacal tendencies, she'd be unpredictable.

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At Columbia, Liz just finished her scans in the structural department and the creepy, old caprinae director of the place was looking at her file with great interest.

"Impossible, how can you have such an extensive originium network deposits in your body and be able to walk?" His ID card says Parvus and Liz just stared at him.

She squinted her eyes and started to remember something. A blue haired Sarkaz woman along with Shining experimenting on her.

Liz took a deep breath and she checked him on her list. It was a positive, the director of the structural department that deals with oripathy and the likes is a slimy bastard.

"That's none of your business." Liz walked away and went to Kirsten's office to unite with Shining and Margaret.

The caprinae scientist squinted his eyes and could only curse inside of his mind. Wanting to get Liz as a test subject. Especially because she's a Sarkaz.

And the amount of oripathy on her should've made her a cripple. He wanted to know exactly how she was fine and dandy.

Liz arrived at the Kirsten's office and she waved at Shining and Margaret. "Good timing Liz, we'll be escorted further by Saria. She's the chief of defense here in Rhine lab." Margaret explained the happenings to her.

"Umu, nice to meet you Liz." Saria gave her a stiff greeting and Liz nodded.

They started walking around and Liz informed Shining without caring about Saria's presence.

"Parvus... The director of structural is going to be a problem later on." Liz blurted out and Saria just stared at her like she has two heads.

"I see, then we will take care of that later. We will compile a report to Ash. Kirsten is also an obsessed woman. I can see it in her eyes, nothing else matters to her." Shining shrugged.

"Hey... What do you mean about that?" Saria frowned heavily. As the co-founder of Rhine lab, she was the best friend of Kirsten.

Partnering up together to build a research center that started from the very bottom. And she could see the changes on Kirsten. Shining was spot on, as she could read people like a book. Being a part of the special forces and all.

"Ahhh, don't mind us Dr. Saria. It's the matter of Asmodeus enterprise." Shining smiled at her and Saria has to drop it, they're VVIP's after all.

"But say, Saria. You're the director of the defense department here in Rhine lab, correct?" Margaret asked her and she raised a brow. "Yes?"

"Do you think that human experimentation is awful?" Margaret squinted her eyes and Saria nodded. "Of course it is. That's a violation of human rights. Researchers shouldn't have a mindless pursuit of science and sacrifice their morals for meagre results."

"I see, I'll hold you to that then. We shall meet again." Margaret said cryptically and they left Rhine lab after a small walk around the place.

"What do they mean by that?" Saria is confused and she went into deep thought about it.

"Kirsten... She's slowly getting more and more over focused on her work... That's not healthy, I should talk to her about this." Saria furrowed her brows.

She also wanted to investigate the structural department. With Liz saying that director Parvus is a problem. She rationalized that one of Ash's people not liking him will dissolve their partnership.

"Yes, this is for Rhine lab. A small investigation isn't going to be a problem." Saria convinced herself and planned on talking to her friend for now.

At the limo that they rented, the trio compared notes immediately.

"Kirsten Wright will have to change, she would throw away her principles and morals soon." Shining explained her observations on the control director.

"Saria will do some of our work for us, or at least start it. She looks like someone who just genuinely wants Rhine lab to continue its work like old times." Margaret reported and they nodded, giving her a thumbs up for the last second play.

"The director of structural needs to be eliminated. He looked at me and my files like I was a lab rat. And Shining, we need to talk later." Liz looked at her with squinted eyes, surprising the Sarkaz.

"Sure... Anything for you Liz." Shining's mind raced and they left Rhine lab with benefits and doubts.

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Thanks for reading everyone, ciao.