The largest residence of the Jaygarcia Family naturally belonged to Saint Saturn.
At this moment, inside an opulent reception hall so luxurious it was impossible to find even the slightest flaw, Saint Saturn sat on a sofa, holding a cup of black tea, savoring this brief moment of leisure.
Beside him stood the butler, Alfred, waiting attentively, ready to serve the master of the Jaygarcia Family at any time.
As if recalling something, Saint Saturn suddenly asked, "If I remember correctly, Valthior had a few slaves?"
"Three in total. Two of them are Buccaneers—a family of three. When the young master was still in the Holy Land, he was especially fond of them," Butler Alfred immediately replied.
"Is that so?" Saturn nodded lightly, then asked again, "Where are they now?"
"The young master instructed me to arrange for their return to their homeland—the Sorbet Kingdom in the South Blue. During this year's Reverie, I even inquired with the Sorbet Kingdom's royal family to confirm their situation. They are still there and have become clergy members of the church," Alfred answered once more.
In Saturn's memory, when Valthior had gone with him to God Valley back then, he had brought along that sturdy yet very young Buccaneer slave.
Later, Valthior joined the Roger Pirates, and that slave had gone missing at God Valley. Of course, Saturn had never cared about that slave—he had merely recalled it casually and asked on a whim.
Now, hearing Alfred's report meant…
That slave who had once followed Valthior had been settled in the Sorbet Kingdom?
Seeing Saturn fall into thought, Alfred felt a bit uneasy, unsure what this powerful figure intended to do.
But after a moment, Saturn shifted his attention away from such insignificant slaves and said casually, "Since Valthior gave you instructions, then carry them out properly."
Clearly, Saturn had no intention of doing anything further, which made Alfred quietly sigh in relief.
"Yes, Saint Saturn," Alfred responded softly.
"Over these past two years, has Valthior contacted you again?" Saturn asked.
For some reason, Alfred seemed to detect a hint of dissatisfaction in that tone.
His heart skipped a beat, but outwardly he remained calm as he replied, "No. Since the young master left Mary Geoise, he has not contacted any of us servants."
"Is that so…" Saturn murmured, but didn't say anything further.
However, Alfred could feel that the invisible pressure from earlier had vanished.
Before he could think more about it, Saturn muttered to himself, "He talked about grasping fate by the throat, yet after more than two years, there's no sign of what he's even been doing."
There was clearly some dissatisfaction in his tone.
In Saturn's view, if Valthior had remained in Mary Geoise, he would at least have become an official member of the Holy Knights by now.
Instead, the boy had run off to become a pirate—and after two and a half years, hadn't stirred up any waves at all, as if he had simply disappeared into the sea. It gave Saturn the impression that he had faded into mediocrity.
"The young master has been intelligent since childhood. I imagine he must be planning something significant. Perhaps in the future, he will bring you an unexpected surprise?" Alfred said, trying to reassure him.
He understood very well that although Saturn's tone carried dissatisfaction, one couldn't judge by words alone—one had to look at actions.
If Saturn truly had an issue with the young master, would he still care so much about his movements and actions? Would someone of Saturn's status even bother asking about the young master's slaves?
If he were truly dissatisfied, the first thing Saturn would have done would be to revoke the young master's status—not sit here "complaining."
So at a time like this, Alfred had to speak in Valthior's favor.
Sure enough, after hearing this, Saturn said, "You are quite loyal. Go—bring in the two people I wish to see. As for Garling and the others, dismiss them. I have no interest in meeting them."
Even without a formal report, Saturn had sensed their arrival in advance.
Alfred showed no surprise. He immediately bowed respectfully and withdrew. Only after leaving the reception hall did he turn and head toward the main gate of the residence.
As expected, when Alfred passed through the corridor and arrived at the entrance, he saw Garling's group just reaching the gate with the two CP-9 agents.
"Saint Sommers, Saint Garling, Saint Maffey—greetings," Alfred said politely, bowing.
It was worth noting that in this greeting, he placed Sommers before Garling.
Naturally, there was nothing wrong with that. As the butler of a Five Elders family, he was obligated to show greater respect to members of such families.
Although Garling felt somewhat displeased, he didn't show it. To him, most servants within the God's Domain were no different from livestock—killable at will.
However, the key servants of the Five Elders' families were exceptions, and Alfred was one of them.
Being able to serve as the butler of a figure like Saturn made Alfred's importance self-evident.
Of course, while Garling couldn't casually kill him, that didn't mean he needed to show him much respect either.
"The people Saint Saturn wishes to see—we've brought them," Garling said calmly.
"Saint Saturn has instructed that only these two are to be granted an audience," Alfred replied softly.
Naturally, he couldn't bluntly tell Garling and the others to leave, so he only said half of what needed to be said.
The rest… everyone present was intelligent enough to understand.
As expected, although Garling felt some regret at not being able to meet Saturn, he still nodded. "Understood. Then we'll leave them to you."
After saying that, Garling turned and left.
Sommers, on the other hand, smiled and said, "Maffy, do you want to come with me to the Donquixote family for a visit?"
"What for?" Maffey asked curiously.
"I heard their eldest son is quite interesting. Only five years old this year, yet he's already slaughtered quite a few slaves. Don't you think the kid has potential to become one of our Holy Knights?" Sommers said with a wicked grin.
"The eldest son? Ah, I remember now. Homing's firstborn, right? That 'lunatic' Homing... if what you say is true, the boy is nothing like his father,"Maffey clicked her tongue.
The Donquixote Family producing oddballs was something widely acknowledged among the Celestial Dragons of Mary Geoise.
There were even rumors that madness ran in their blood—that every few generations, one particularly outrageous individual would emerge.
In this generation, that "lunatic" was Homing.
Despite being a Celestial Dragon who had grown up in Mary Geoise, he spent his days inside his luxurious mansion playing at living like an ordinary person with a group of slaves. He didn't participate in gatherings or activities with other families.
He even spent large sums of money buying slaves from others—only to free them.
To the other Celestial Dragons, Donquixote Homing was utterly unworthy of being one of them.
It was because of Homing's presence that during Valthior's years in Mary Geoise, the other Celestial Dragons never felt there was anything particularly "off" about him.
"Speaking of which, the Jaygarcia Family and the Donquixote Family are connected by marriage, right?" Maffey suddenly asked, as if recalling something.
"What a thing to say. We all suspect the Donquixote line of having a hereditary 'madness,' but after all these years, who hasn't intermarried? My sixth aunt is from the Donquixote family," Sommers said, rolling his eyes at Maffy.
"What I mean is, Homing's branch—if I remember correctly, his mother is Valthior's aunt, right? That would make Homing Valthior's cousin. And that kid you mentioned… wouldn't he have to call Valthior 'uncle'?" Maffey explained.
"Is that so?" Sommers was momentarily stunned, but didn't dwell on it. He waved his hand dismissively. "Family relations are way too complicated. Honestly, we need to bring in fresh blood every so often. Otherwise, idiots like them will just keep multiplying…"
Though he didn't say it outright, Maffey knew exactly who he meant by "idiots"—the many so-called "ordinary Celestial Dragons" of Mary Geoise.
The nineteen Celestial Dragon families had intermarried for generations. Over time, their bloodlines had become deeply intertwined—inevitably leading to problems.
That was why, four to five hundred years ago, the Celestial Dragons stopped rejecting the idea of incorporating "qualified" outsiders into their ranks.
For example, Gunko—once a personal attendant of Imu-sama and now a member of the Holy Knights—was fresh blood brought in from outside.
She had been entered into the Manmayer Family registry as the adopted daughter of its current head.
Adopted daughter or not, given her background as Imu-sama's attendant, which Celestial Dragon who knew the truth would dare look down on her?
That status alone made her more noble than the vast majority of Celestial Dragons.
Becoming the adopted daughter of the Manmayer Family head wasn't her honor—
It was the Manmayer Family's honor to have her.
...
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