I was guided upwards again.

I’d walked up these stairs like a guest, then down like a prisoner, and now up again like who knows what this time.

I silently followed Selka from behind. Neither of us spoke a word to each other at all. The silence between us was thick but not uncomfortable just... professional.

Back in the underground, she opened the heavy iron door and gestured politely for me to come out. But I could roughly translate it to her saying: Get your ass out of the cell and follow me.

Which I was doing earnestly.

One thing I found interesting was that Kael had immediately taken the weapon out of my hand when she’d escorted me down. But Selka let it remain with me.

I walked behind her with Blood Raven still in my hands.

Selka should’ve already figured out this was an S+ rank sword. After all, the only swords with both a homing feature and built-in pseudo circuits were at least S rank. She wasn’t stupid.

We went past the first floor, the main floor with the great hall, and proceeded to take the stairs to the next one.

Seems like this was going to be a private conversation type of meeting, considering it’s not taking place in the great hall.

Selka’s ponytail swayed in rhythm as she walked before me. I almost let my inner demons win and pull that thing. It was right there, swinging back and forth hypnotically.

A direct ticket to heaven. Or maybe hell. Probably hell.

’Hey, Nexar. Where are those features you said you were gonna surprise me with?’.

[They’re ready, but... you don’t have enough kill count yet.]

’Enough kill count?’

This was the first time my kill count had ever been an issue. I probably hadn’t killed enough? But I’d killed more than five hundred soldiers from Tormund’s army.

[Yeah, remember how you used to get stat points for the kills you made in your past life?]

Oh yeah! That’s right! That’s how I’d risen so quickly in the Sinclair ranks in my past life.

’Yeah! Why am I not getting stat points this life? I forgot about it since I’m getting them from quests.’

[Yeah, in your past life you spent two years killing monsters before meeting Tugnier... but you skipped that part. And now you don’t have enough kill count to access that feature, and the feature I and Elowen developed.]

Such a boomer.

’How many kills left?’

There shouldn’t be many... considering the five hundred-plus SBV men I’d killed.

[1,021.]

Wait, what?

I killed 1,521+ monsters in two years in my past life? Damn, bro... I used to be a cold-blooded killer, driven purely by revenge back then.

Now I was kissing girls and collecting them like they were some kind of Pokemon cards.

We walked corridor after corridor. This third floor was too long. Maybe because there wasn’t a great hall eating up all the space like on the first floor.

Then, finally, we stopped at a room at the very end of the corridor.

If I remembered correctly, only the third floor didn’t have guards stationed. The ground floor, first, second, fourth, and fifth all had those shining armors standing at attention. Sometimes I wondered whether they were just for show or if there was actually a human inside them.

Selka knocked twice on the door.

"Come in."

The voice came from the other side.

Cass’s voice.

Selka held the doorknob and opened the door smoothly. She walked in and stood to the left, gesturing for me to enter.

I walked into the familiar room and turned right.

The door clicked closed behind me as I looked at the three women before me.

Kael was sulking, her face twisted in annoyance. Ilya was trying her absolute best to stop herself from smiling, I could see her lips curled inward as she fought to keep her face stern and professional.

Cass sat on the red-colored couch, flanked by Ilya and Kael on either side. She was sipping tea from a white porcelain cup decorated with green vines bearing red rose flowers.

I would’ve liked to have been part of whatever scene had unfolded before I entered the room, the one that made Ilya struggle not to laugh, but I am guessing that wasn’t the reason I’d been summoned.

Kael and Ilya took their seats on the left and right couches beside the Duchess, respectively.

Cass bent forward and placed her cup gently on the saucer sitting on the wooden table before her.

"Please, take a seat," she said.

I looked at the available seats. One was beside Kael, and the other beside Ilya.

I walked to the right and sat beside Ilya.

The reason was simple: I chose the safest option available.

"Rune," Cass began, looking at me with her ember eyes. They didn’t hold the same commanding authority they’d had in this morning’s great hall. They were now a bit more casual, more open to interaction. "I’m guessing you already understand the reason you were brought here."

"I do," I replied, leaning my back against the couch’s backrest. "It has more to do with my ingot and less with my crimes."

Cass’s eyes lingered for a second on my sword’s hilt, specifically around the chain attached to it, before quickly returning to my eyes.

"Yes. And after watching your memories and actions in your dream, we came to the conclusion that you, too, don’t know how the ingot got into your belongings," Cass said matter-of-factly.

"I see. So I assume I am inno—"

My words were cut off as Ilya spoke from beside me, adjusting her glasses with one hand.

"But your actions in your dream brought about a new set of questions that need immediate addressing," she said crisply.

I am guessing they want to know how I’d known about Selka and why Kael had behaved the way she did in the illusion.

"You bastard! You cut me without even a hesitation!" Kael suddenly shouted as she leaped at me from across the table.

Selka appeared from behind her in an instant, catching her mid-air before she could snap me in two.

"Woah, woah, General! I understood it was an illusion by then!" I said quickly, lifting my arms before me defensively and bending backward.

"Leave me! I should snap his neck!" Kael snarled as she struggled to shake off Selka’s iron grip.

"Pfft." Ilya smiled into her fist despite clearly trying to control herself.

I see. They must’ve been teasing Kael about what happened in the Voidmirror before I arrived. That explained her foul mood.

"So," Cass said calmly, picking up her cup again and taking another sip.

"We want you to tell us how you knew Selka, and how you could use Aura Slash when your aura is clearly only at intermediate level."

Cass pushed her lips inward slightly, wiping off any tea that might have stuck to them, before placing the cup back on the saucer again.

She must really like that tea. Then again, Cass had always been a tea lover.

I took a breath.

[No rune... listen to me, don’t do what you plan to do..]

Here goes nothing.

[Stop it! at least give them a heads-up!]

"That’s because I’ve been regressed."

[You fucking piece of shit!]