Somewhere in an unknown place...
A man wearing a black robe with red fur on its collar. On the back of the robe was a symbol of red-eye. This was the symbol of the Deadly Sins, one of the bringers of calamity.
The man had an average height and his built was average too in terms of humans scale. His hair was messy and it had the color of a chestnut. His brown eyes were looking outside the land, observing the movements of every creature that was living in this place. He had thin facial hairs. It seems that he didn't even care about it.
It was dark and the room didn't have any light but the moon shone as if to give him vision in the land that he was observing. The cold breeze of the night blew on his face making him frown.
He stretched out his hand and pick a piece of meat from the table beside him. He quickly placed it inside his mouth and started to chew on it.
He was one of the upper echelons, nine-circle, and the seven deadly sins. He was called Esquin Georagnisus, the Gluttony sin of the seven deadly sins. The word gluttony brought terror in the whole world. Not just this world but thousands of sub-worlds knew what gluttony meant.
Esquin was one of the seven most powerful people in their organization. The man that brought fear to gods and deities.
Suddenly someone knocked on the door of his room.
Knock! Knock!
"Enter..." Esquin said in a deep tone. Even without looking around he already knew that the person on the door was his subordinates. His power and senses were above the norm.
A man wearing the same black robe entered the room. He bowed towards Esquin as a sign of respect towards the high deadly sin. Even though he was a powerful seven-circle officer, he still didn't dare to stand in front of the deadly sin. Their status and power were different. The deadly sin was like a god.
He lifted up his head and saw that his lord was looking outside the window. He still didn't receive the permission to speak so he didn't dare to utter a single word or else he would die.
"Hmm..." Esquin slightly turned his head and looked back. "Speak." He gave his permission to his subordinate.
"Lord, the group of six-circle officers that were task to get the bloodstone failed their mission." The seven-circle officer said with a careful expression.
"Hmm...? They failed?" Esquin turned around and looked into his subordinate's eyes.
"Yes, my lord." The seven-circle officer nodded and he gulped with a nervous expression.
"I see... I guess that some large countries discovered them and annihilated them, am I right?" Esquin picked another piece of meat on the table and ate it.
"Yes, my lord." The seven-circle officer nodded his head.
"Those people are arrogant and they believe that our organization is the strongest... I ordered them to move quietly but what did they do? They failed miserably at the cost of their lives. If our organization is the strongest like they thought then we wouldn't need to hide." Esquin said with a sigh. Even he, one of the strongest people in the Deadly Sins, didn't dare to fight those large countries openly especially the three great countries of the Giza continent.
He knew that even if their organization could fight one of the great countries, those people would gather people from other countries to fight them. It means that any large countries would unite together just to bring the Deadly Sin down.
"It's not the time to fight them in an all-out war. We still need to observe the happenings in the other continent especially the Demon's land. The demons are gathering their armies at the moment. It seems that they will make a move this time." Esquin muttered in a low voice before he turned around.
"The demons...?" The seven-circle officer shivered when he heard his lord mention the demons.
The demons were undoubtedly the greatest force in this world. They were the only race that dominated a whole continent.
"Then... What should we do, my lord?" The seven-circle officer asked carefully while taking a peek at his lord's face.
"We don't need to do anything. We will watch as demons bring chaos upon this world. I don't know their goals but it seems that they will invade the Giza continent. I will give you a task to bring back those bloodstones." Esquin said with a calm expression. Even the Deadly Sins couldn't predict what will happen in this world.
"Yes, my lord. I will retrieve the bloodstones at any cost." The seven-circle officer nodded with a respectful expression. He then left after Esquin gave permission.
After a few moments, Esquin squinted his eyes as he looked in the horizon.
"It seems that those people from God's Will made a ruckus in the Giza continent. But we need those bloodstones so I don't have a choice but to take it back. Well, the demons will divert the attention so I think that it's fine."
The demons and the God's Will were making a move. But something was bothering him... and that was the organization called Zodiac, one of the bringers of calamity like them. The Zodiac was keeping their heads low and didn't bother showing themselves in the public.
The Zodiac only has twelve members but the power of this small group made them became one of the bringers of calamity. The Zodiac made an appearance nineteen years ago. That day, they brought chaos to the whole Giza continent to the point that they offended the three great countries.
The Zodiac fought the three great countries and they got defeated with the combined effort of the great countries. The problem was that the great countries didn't manage to kill or capture any member of the Zodiac.
Some rumors said that the Zodiac was amassing the manpower that they lacked. They said that the Zodiac was creating an army to handle the three great countries.
Their small numbers was one of the Zodiac's disadvantages. That's one of the reasons why the three great countries managed to defeat them.
...
Lynn, Alice, and Yujin looked at him with a serious expression after they heard Souta's words.
This was Souta's plan from the beginning. Their capabilities were too high for him to let them go. He would grab them and integrate them in his party like what he did with Bryan and the rest. Lynn's sensing ability, Alice's combat ability, and lastly Yujin's spirit power.
He was slowly going to change their mind about monsters and that's Yuko's role. But from the looks of it, it seems that they didn't have any hatred in monsters like other people. Souta just needed time before they could accept a monster.
Of course, if some of their friends and family members died because of the monsters then they wouldn't be able to stand beside Yuko. Well, it all depends on their personality.
"I'll gladly accept it and join your party. In fact, I'm happy that you invite me to join." Lynn accepted his invitation without hesitation. She wanted to join Souta's party ever since she became an adventurer. She wanted to stay by his side in his adventure. But the only problem was that she didn't know if Souta would accept a weak person like her.
"Good." Souta nodded at her with a smile on his face. He already knew her answer even before asking such question but he still had to ask her to avoid misunderstanding.
He didn't hate Lynn but he also didn't like her. He didn't have any romantic feelings for her like what she feels towards him. He also didn't want to hurt her feelings by rejecting her immediately. That's the reason why Souta acted like he didn't notice her feelings for him even though she was expressing it to the point that everyone in their class knew that she like him romantically. Some of their female classmates even called him a dense person.
If Souta was going to have a relationship, then she was one of the candidates. That's why he still hasn't laid his hands on her. He also didn't want to treat her like a prostitute in the red light district. If really wanted that, Souta was sure that he could sleep with her with a little coaxing.
If she changed her mind on him? Then, that's fine for him. Souta didn't want someone that could easily change her feelings. Especially if he revealed the fact that he was a monster. He doesn't want someone who only accepted the good side of him.
He wouldn't deny it that he was cold-blooded against his enemies. He wouldn't hesitate to kill his opponents even though it was a child or a woman.
Souta turned his head to Alice and Yujin. He didn't say anything as he just waited for their answer.
After a few moments, Alice sighed and said, "Fine, fine, I'll join your party. Of course, I have a condition."
"State it," Souta said with a cool expression. He already expected it so he wasn't surprised when she had a condition.
Alice crossed her arms in front of her chest and slowly opened her mouth. "I want you to give me free will. I will join your party but you can not force me to do something that I don't want to do."
"Okay, that's easy." Souta nodded with a smile while rubbing his chin. He then asked, "But what are the things that you don't want you to do? Tell me in advance, so that I can avoid it."