'Now these are quite the familiar faces.' Deed said as vassals of the FlameBlood duchy arrived at the main manor. I saw many carriages pulling up to the entrance.

  'It seems like the situation regarding OUTSIDERs is really dire.' I said.

  'Close aides of the FlameBlood's princess turning out to be evil beings... that's very obvious.' Zeronoz said.

  "Deed, you come too." Erica said as she returned to the tea room to call me. "Dad and the others agreed not to tell anyone regarding your contribution to this case. However, we will still reward you regardless." Erica said like a very responsible employer.

  "However, you are still officially my bodyguard right now, and my trusted aide." Erica said. "Stop slacking off and join me in the meeting. We're going to meet the vassals."

  The FlameBlood family is a dukedom that rules a large duchy named Solisvance, which resides in the western peninsula of the kingdom. The dukedom also has a lot of lesser nobles who are loyal and support them. Now, all of those vassals had arrived at the ducal capital, Ignis Pyre.

  'For some reason, going to meet all these elites makes my stomach feel bad.' I complained. I have never been good with political figures, handling VIPs, putting up fake smiles, and showing disingenuous respect.

  'Just treat them how you would treat Erica.' Zeroze said.

  'I wish, but seeing Deed's memories about those vassals really makes me wanna avoid them.' I said. 'Nobles really are bothersome...'

  'Just say you can't hold your poop later.' Zeronoz said, shrugging off my complaints. 'You are a commoner, no need to care about all that etiquette and stuff.'

  Deed seemed to have no comment, as he himself found it hard to deal with them.

  I had no choice but to follow Erica into the meeting room. Since this was an emergency and an urgent matter, there was no need for any formal greetings. There was a long, large, rectangular fancy table in the middle of the room... though it wasn't as fancy as the round table inside my mental void.

  Sitting at the end and the center of the table was Duke Joseph FlameBlood. Standing on his right was the old man Fuhrer, the head butler. Meanwhile, in the right seat was Leon FlameBlood, who looked somewhat furious knowing that there was an infiltrator in their manor. However, he noticed my gaze and looked somewhat satisfied.

  [To think that this mongrel was able to detect an OUTSIDER... as I expected, he's no longer someone simple. He might've had a lucky encounter and hidden his power. To think that he's still loyal despite having such a powerful awakening... most people would have succumbed to their greed and done everything to bite the hand that feeds them. Not bad, mongrel. But with someone as kind and noble as my little sister as his employer, it's only natural for him to be loyal. Leon thought to himself as he reassessed the usefulness of Null.]

  'Why is he looking at me like that...' I thought to myself, seeing the older brother of Erica.

  Sitting in the left seat was my employer, Erica FlameBlood, and standing behind her was me. Normally, this spot I'm standing in is for her most trusted vassal... a spot not for a commoner like me, but rather a noble she could trust. But she insisted I stand here rather than in a spot against the wall of the room.

  Even the head butler vouched for me to stand here... why do you guys keep trying to raise my status... this will definitely raise my death flags... I couldn't help but ironize to myself.

  The first to enter the meeting room were the two count family heads and their children. On the right was the EmberForge family head, who seated himself next to Leon, and on the left was the IronBlood family head, who seated himself next to Erica. I could already feel the glares coming from their children. I didn't even want to look at them.

  'Zayn EmberForge, the young master and the successor of the EmberForge family. He is both a rival, but also Leon's most loyal vassal. Even when Leon becomes the emperor, he's still his right-hand man.' Deed explained.

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  I could see him standing and glaring at me from the wall just behind Leon. Scary...

  'Elara IronBlood, the third-born daughter of the IronBlood family. As you know from my memories, she's a vassal for Erica, but also her cousin. If Erica was known as hot-blooded, then she is known as cold-blooded. After Erica's death, she became so furious knowing her cousin died as part of a nasty plot. She took part in the war of revenge and gained a lot of achievements. Surpassing her brothers, she became the first female successor of the IronBlood family.' Deed said. 'That said, I had a bad relationship with her and she kept trying to kill me... it's obvious why she would do so...'

  'Is she going to kill me now too...' I said as my spine chilled. 'I can feel an intense glare right behind me.' Knowing the children of the IronBlood family were standing at the wall behind me.

  'That's not her, but her brothers. At this point in time, she's not interested in political power, but more towards fighting and stuff. She just wants to be better than Erica at everything she does.' Deed explained. 'You could say that the moment Erica dies, she loses her entire goal.'

  After that, some viscount families entered.

  'Sylas CalmRiver, young lady of the CalmRiver viscount family. Right now, she's the main healer for Leon's party. However, her death in the future becomes the main drive of Leon's conquest to become an Emperor.' Deed said, as a woman in her 20s stood at the wall on Leon's side.

  Wtf bro... what is this lore drop... I couldn't help but get shocked.

  'Themis FrostBorn, young lady of the FrostBorn family. Another of Erica's faction's loyal vassals. They live on the northern side of Solisvance, a very cold place to live in, which explains their ice-white skin. After the death of Erica, she almost definitely kills me... they also played an important role in overthrowing the royal faction. She was titled as Cold-Death. Anyone who met her as an enemy most certainly died from the cold. Her control of SoulCraft is insane and very powerful.' Deed explained.

  'Did everyone really want you dead in the original timeline...' I said towards this Death Knight inside me.

  Deed just shrugged it off. After that, more lesser nobles arrived.

  'Alaric BattleSword of the BattleSword baron family, Leon's strongest general. He's the third in terms of strength in his faction in the future.' Deed said, telling me to take note of these characters which could be important later on.

  'Cedric SturdyHall, a baronet family. Despite being in a lesser noble family, this guy is a genius and is the strategist for Leon. This guy is the left-hand man for Leon even when Leon becomes an Emperor.' Deed explained.

  'Kaelen HardSpear, a landed knight. Despite his knight family using mainly spears, he uses a bow and acts as the sharpshooter for Leon's party. Berrick Stone, an unlanded knight from the loyal gatekeeper family, incredibly sturdy, the tank and the meatshield of Leon's party.' Deed explained as another lesser noble family from Leon's faction came in.

  Soon, lesser nobles from Erica's faction also arrived, and as usual, Deed would tell me which character was important.

  'Vera MountainBreaker, young lady from a very strong baron family. Like their name, they have the strength to break mountains. Currently, they mainly manage the heaviest mines and the largest forges...' Deed said. However, before he finished lore dumping...

  'Let me guess, she almost killed you by breaking a whole mountain over you.' I said sarcastically.

  'Not quite. She didn't blame me. Knowing how noble Erica was, she in fact admired her more deeply. Instead of wanting to kill me, she's the one that saved me from the other vassals that wanted me dead.' Deed explained his timeline.

  'Viper NightShade, young lady from a landed knight family. They are actually the guise of the Executor Shadow Army. They've had a blood oath towards the FlameBlood family since a very long time ago. They also often change their family name, so even the royal family is confused.' Deed explained. 'She actually helps me a lot during my time in the Executor Shadow Army. She blames herself for Erica's death and also decides to go on extreme, torturous training.'

  'In fact, all of Erica's vassals blame themselves for not being able to save Erica, or even be there when she was killed.' Deed said. 'Now that I remember it, all of them were sent towards other tasks...'

  'A daughter of a duke was sent off on a trip without any of her loyal vassals...' Deed said before continuing. 'As if they wanted to pin the blame towards those vassal families...'

  'Ugh... does this mean for this next trip, these nobles will join in as well...' I complained while my stomach hurt from all the stares.

  'Isn't it great for you, Null? Now you'll get a harem fest with all these young and beautiful noble ladies.' Zeronoz commented sarcastically.

  'Harem? More like a beat-up fest...' I said, imagining that these vassals of Erica would join her in beating me up under the disguise of training.

  'It's fine, you've got Aasiah right beside you now.' Zeroze said as I looked towards my pocket which held the mini doll version of Aasiah. She acted perfectly like a real doll, as she also looked at me as if telling me there was nothing to worry about.

  'She does make a fine and cute mascot character. At least she won't beat me up.' I couldn't help but lampoon.