In the living room of the Rosalith Celeste Runerth mansion, the lady of the house was sprawled carelessly across her sofa, a sharp smile across her lips, strands of golden hair spilling over her face, and her pajamas barely clinging to her shoulders.

Across from her sat her younger brother, Leomaris Runerth, his mouth agape, his expression that of someone whose life was falling apart.

"What? You told the headmaster I’d be helping you catch the Black Arms? What does that have to do with me?"

He gestured toward the wound across his chest.

"I’m injured. How am I supposed to face a terrorist organization?"

Rosay shrugged her shoulders.

"Talking too much won’t help, Leo. Your job is to protect me. What happens if I have to face the enemy myself? My stamina is practically non-existent right now."

Leomaris rubbed his forehead in disbelief. He had known he was being deceived the moment he formed an alliance with Rosay for such a poor price, but being thrown onto the frontlines was another thing entirely, and the headmaster’s involvement in it was something he hadn’t seen coming at all.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

"What’s wrong with you? You’ve got Hazel, don’t you? And I doubt you’ll even see real combat, you’ll just be there to look after me."

Leomaris settled back in his seat and tilted his head up toward the chandelier, and almost as if the idea of a glowing bulb standing for inspiration were truly more than a saying, the sight of it gave him a brilliant one.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

He had been looking for a way to establish influence in the underground community, all to impress his father. His attempts so far had failed spectacularly, but now, he could actually use this as the breakthrough he had been after.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

With two allies recruited into the Mercy of Death, and his butler and Raine’s maid added to the mix, he had four in total. Beyond his own butler, though, he didn’t plan on telling the rest what the faction was truly for.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

As far as Raine was concerned, the faction was chasing dominance. Charlotte, on the other hand, believed it was a vigilante group.

He had said what each of them needed to hear, enough that neither would feel betrayed when given a mission connected to the underground community.

’I just want to grow strong enough, personally and in numbers, enough to finally live comfortably for once.’

He exhaled.

’We lack true influence.’

He smiled.

’This is an opportunity for me to build an influence of my own.’

His golden eyes met Rosay’s red ones, sharp and entirely unlike the betrayed younger brother he had been moments before.

"You’re asking too much of me, Rosay, but I won’t mind if you agree to one thing."

Rosay’s expression turned deadpan.

"What? I feed you every day and pay for literally everything you do, including those expensive weapons you just got, and you think I’m asking for too much?"

She wasn’t wrong. Leomaris was skint, and without her support, he would likely be starving, but that didn’t change the fact that he had no intention of backing down.

"I know you’ve considered it. Whoever wants you dead could be one of the Calamities. If so, everything you’ve planned will fail, they just want to see you fail."

Rosay’s expression darkened, and Leomaris could see the helplessness written into it. He loved it. In this entire world, he was the only person she could trust, which made him the only one with the power to save her.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

She sat properly in her seat, rubbed at her brow, and spoke.

"What are you suggesting, Leo?"

Leomaris smiled confidently.

"I want every third-year cadet to join my faction... my justice-serving faction."

"Huh?"

Leomaris nodded energetically.

"You heard me correctly, Rosay. You must join my faction."

Rosay frowned. "You really think your little faction stands a chance against the Black Arms?"

Leomaris’s eyes narrowed slightly. The Mercy of Death was the faction’s name, but given that everyone within it believed they were fighting for something different, he had resolved to establish clans within the main faction. Each clan with its own unique name and leader...

"I’m not referring to my faction, Rosay, but one I recently joined just to impress Father, the Laughing End."

Rosay’s expression turned even more confused. "The Laughing End? I’ve never heard of them. Why would you join an unknown organization just to impress Father?"

"Because it’s ruled by him... Jester," Leomaris smirked, and almost instinctively, his voice softened into something calm and amiable. "Jester of the End."

...in practice, he planned to build different personas of himself and lead each clan personally, using them to steadily build the reputation of the Mercy of Death.

Even a small association with an unknown organisation capable of bringing down the Black Arms would be enough to turn heads in the underground community. For now, that would be enough to make Godfrey proud.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Rosay let out a sigh.

"I don’t know who the Jester of the End is, but if you trust him to help us, I can build a better strategy with him."

She leaned into her seat once again.

"So you want the Laughing End to take all the credit once the Black Arms are brought down."

Try as he might, Leomaris could not wipe away his smile as he nodded in agreement.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

"That actually works in our favor. The headmaster was worried about the academy getting tied to the underground community. If we take the credit, people will start viewing the academy as a threat and target it more often. We were already considering shifting the credit elsewhere."

Rosay rose to her feet. "Inform your sovereign. For this mission alone, the third-year cadets will be working under the name of the Laughing Ends."

"Get me in contact with them tonight."

Leomaris frowned. The Rosay standing before him was supposed to be remarkably persuasive. Why, then, had she come around so easily over only a few words?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

"Shouldn’t you discuss this with the Calamities first?"

Rosay waved the thought away and walked off, and that did nothing to ease Leomaris’s unease.

He was capable with words, but not nearly as much as Rosay when she was like this. Had she worked out his plans? Or did she simply want to help her brother?

’Bullshit. None of my siblings would ever do anything without gaining something valuable in return.’

He weighed it all for a moment before deciding to take the win. After all, Rosay was only a few days from her hibernation. She must have been desperate to bring the mission to an end.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

But something else soon took over his thoughts entirely. How on earth was he going to get the Jester of the End to meet with Rosay?