Myths Reawakened

Londan Airport, May seventeenth.

A black sedan drove out of the airport, heading for the manor of the Holy Maiden of Darkness.

The manor belonged to Anastasia, with Vichy posted as her bodyguard. Both were women of few words. With Sukra, who was too lazy to speak, added to the mix, the three of them would make for perfect card buddies when Wayne visited.

The Holy Maiden of the Church of Death had been rendered useless. After finishing her mission, she stopped trying altogether, doing nothing but eating and drinking all day. When she heard that Wayne would be her sugar daddy, providing her with rides in expensive cars, a luxurious house, and a big allowance so that she could buy whatever she wanted to buy, she immediately said yes.

Thinking back to the difficult time she had endured always made her burst into tears.

Wayne called her a slacker with no drive, and she accepted the criticism without shame. She had worked so hard all her life. What was wrong with slacking off a little? It wouldn’t hurt Wayne.

Well, it did hurt his wallet. She had been living on his property and spending his money, even relying on him for protection.

In the manor, Wayne grabbed his white moonlight and kissed her deeply under Sukra’s shocked gaze. The Goddess of Death was still stuck in a limbo in Her Divine Realm, and Rognes was employing guerrilla warfare to rescue Her. Sukra’s call would reach no one save for the treacherous Church of Death.

Wayne didn’t see any point in hiding his relationship with Anastasia.

“See? This is the price of living at my place.” Wayne raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t just give you money without expecting anything.”

Sukra blanched. She rose from the comfortable sofa, but sank back down before she could even take a single step.

So be it then! She had completed her mission. Given her contribution, she could expect a reward from the goddess. Once the goddess returned, she would resign and live like a slacker, lying flat for the rest of her life.

Wayne had enough to provide for her and keep her safe for a lifetime. He would be a perfect sugar daddy. If he was audacious enough to lay a hand on her, she would audaciously stay right here, forever.

Besides, the sofa was way too comfortable! (๑´∀｀๑)

Wayne shot her a disapproving look. He patted Anastasia’s backside and told her to keep an eye on the slacker. Sukra had shown her true colors. She could be considered a peaceful character with a serene personality, or a slacker who had crumbled under pressure and no longer wanted to work hard.

People like her wouldn’t do any harm. He could leave her alone as long as he satisfied her basic needs.

That was what Wayne believed, but Vichy disagreed. Wayne had ordered her to protect Anastasia, so she had been doing that with full focus. The sudden appearance of Death unsettled her. Thinking back to what her goddess had done, she strongly suspected this to be a move made by the Goddess of Death.

In the past, Vichy would’ve tried everything to contact her other boss, but stuck between two masters, she could only complain about the difficulty of being a subordinate.

“That’s it then. I have another important matter to take care of, so I’ll come back after that.” Wayne gave Anastasia a farewell kiss. Then he headed straight to the Lando Estate with Mona and Isabella.

***

Lando Estate.

Auston stood silently at the window in his study, watching Trash Jr. chase after Monica while letting out his signature cackle. Auston sighed. If he had any other choice, he wouldn’t have chosen a successor like Wayne.

On the front lawn, Wayne took a big step and caught a defenseless Monica, lifting her over his head.

“Monica, fly!”

The black cat struggled like a regular cat would when shocked, swinging its claws at Wayne. His skin was too thick for it to break, unfortunately.

Behind him, Mona had a camera in hand, waiting to snap a picture of the goddess taking care of her business. Pooping was like love. Being too loose would lead to separation, and being too tight would break things. Even after working hard for a long time, the hard work could lead to nothing.

To conclude, it wasn’t easy to capture the moment. Monica refused to cooperate. After being placed on the ground, it just wanted to flee from Wayne.

Resigned, Wayne summoned Monica’s number one litter collector, Megan, asking her to make the cat poop already.

(눈_눈)

Megan stared at him. Pooping was like love. How was she going to make Monica do it when her love hadn’t been reciprocated?

Wayne wasted a lot of time on the lawn without getting a single picture. Once he let go, Monica hid behind Megan’s back, hissing and raising its hackles to show how intimidating it was.

ฅ(=•ェ•=)ฅ

Wayne felt his hands itch for another petting session.

He had tried and failed to find any Death energy in Monica. It seemed like a regular black cat, with no trace of the Goddess of Death’s thoughts.

Unlike Sukra, who housed the Goddess of Death’s thoughts, Monica was more like Julia. Julia didn’t feel like the Goddess of Death, either. If Rognes hadn’t told Wayne about it, he would’ve never made the connection.

In other words, there might be two explanations for Monica’s situation:

First, it was a black cat cursed by Death with immortality, charm, and the superpower of twisting people’s subconscious thoughts.

That was too absurd to be a valid explanation.

Second, just like Julia, Monica was an incarnation of the Goddess of Death, so the thoughts that inhabited the cat couldn’t be extracted.

Wayne thought about taking Monica back to his residence and keeping it there, but he shouldn’t be the one to make that offer. Auston had to make the request so that Wayne could drive up the price—and so that Auston wouldn’t ask for a high price.

That was how adults operated!

Wayne made a great ruckus as he messed around on the lawn. The young lady’s mansion remained quiet. No dragonblooded girl reached out to beckon him over.

He thought for a moment and decided to conduct a surprise on-site audit tonight. Kristen had gone too far. Was this his harem, or hers? He had to reaffirm his position!

***

Study.

Megan set up a soundproof barrier. A servant had taken Isabella to the dining room, where she was busy attacking luxury dishes.

Auston looked at Wayne, who sat on the sofa across from him, and then at Mona, who stood behind Wayne with an expressionless face. It felt unnervingly like looking into a mirror.

He fiddled with his antique silver coin a few times before snapping his fingers. He felt better with Megan standing behind him.

In response, Wayne took out a silver coin and played with it.

I can’t let the scumbag outdo me! x2

“Strange. Why did you bring Mona today?” Auston frowned. Something didn’t feel right.

“I took her here to take inventory of my assets,” Wayne said with a smile. “I’m now the head of the family, after all. I need a clear inventory of my assets.”

Auston frowned.

“Have you forgotten?” Wayne laughed. “We made a bet that if the unbreakable defense line broke, I’d become the head of the family.”

The defense line had collapsed, turned into the filling of a sandwich before it even served its purpose.

“That’s not good news,” Auston said, his face darkening. “Also, this isn’t the time to talk about that.”

“What? Are you taking back your word?”

“Why? Do you want to take the responsibility?” Auston laughed derisively. “If you want to be the head of the family, be my guest. You have to think it through, though. It’s not easy to be the Lando head now. You have to go to work at the Ministry of Magic’s headquarters every day. You have internal affairs and diplomatic matters to take care of, endless documents to sign, and never-ending work...”

“Do you have the time?”

“...” (一`´一)

“Speak!”

“I don’t have time to deal with the Queen, but I can send you to deal with the Queen once I become the head of the family. Why should I be worried?” Wayne huffed. “You must honor your bet. I’ll be in charge of the family from now on.”

“How meaningless...”

Auston pulled a long face. He knew that Wayne disliked politics. He was obsessed with power that stemmed from raw power rather than power itself. Take the Lando family’s rebellion as an example: Wayne’s goal was never to become the King himself. He just didn’t want the royal family telling him what to do after he had become stronger, like he was one of the other opportunists.

Wayne was a typical case of someone gaining power from raw power and pursuing status that befit his level of strength. Once he gained status, he would grant the authority to those he trusted as he continued to pursue raw power.

Similarly, Wayne didn’t actually covet the authority of the head of the family. He just wanted the title, and he wanted to... torment his subordinate.

Which subordinate he wanted to torment was a thought Auston didn’t want to entertain. Thinking about Wayne stepping all over him and ordering him around was as painful as holding Twilight Despair.

If Wayne became the head of the family, they would continue to do what they had been doing. That wouldn’t change because of their title change.

But!

Everything Auston did would become Wayne’s order. He couldn’t stand that!

Auston was going to break his promise and deny the bet. Unbothered, Wayne fiddled with his coin and said, “I’ve gained important intelligence in Palis, including information about your silver coin and Monica’s origin.”

“...” x2

Say it then!

“I’m so young that I sometimes forget the beginning of a story. What should I do?” Wayne sighed. “Me and my brain. If someone would call me ‘family head’ or ‘Master Wayne’, maybe I’d remember.”

He was being so punchable that Auston would’ve sent Megan to take care of him if he weren’t dealing with Wayne. Unfortunately, Wayne was Wayne. Megan couldn’t defeat him, and even if she could, she would pretend not to hear the order.

Auston looked around his family and realized that his wife, daughter, and butler were all on Wayne’s side. They would all support Wayne to become the head of the family.

“Master Wayne!” Megan called out.

The butler had helpfully resolved Auston’s dilemma, but he wasn’t happy at all. He knew what Megan was planning.

She was looking for courage from Wayne’s order!

“You’ve worked hard these past few years, Megan,” Wayne said gleefully. “Veryl will take over your work from now on and oversee the entire estate. Your duty now is to take care of the former master’s everyday needs, twenty-four seven. Do you understand?”

“I understand,” Megan said calmly.

“I know you’ve had it hard because of the former master’s inhuman deeds. I have a personal mission for you. You get what I mean.” Wayne glanced at Auston with a smile. “I’ll keep Twilight Despair with me for the next few nights. You’ll be able to overpower your target.”

Auston frowned deeply, unsure if Wayne was being serious. It worried him since Megan might just do something reckless.

“I understand,” Megan said calmly. “I will do everything I can to complete the mission!”

“Stop messing around,” Auston said with a dark expression. “If something happens, Silvia will kill me.”

“She’s not gonna kill me...” Wayne mumbled, giving Megan a regretful look. There wasn’t much he could do when his master was involved.

Megan gave him a grateful look wordlessly. The young master had helped her greatly. She could wait. She was in no hurry.