175 Related to her?!

"...it doesn't hurt to tell you." the man suddenly laughed mysteriously.

Ozul looked at him confusedly as small sparks were suddenly produced in thin air illuminating the Rank 9 man's figure.

This small show made Ozul aware of his Element, but his focus was on his face instead. This man only looked to be around in his early thirties, unlike what anyone might have thought of a Rank-9 Mage. For some reason, when he looked at him, it seemed a little familiar.

He had a little messy black hair with bangs reaching his silver-colored eyes. There was a small smile on his face.

"I haven't introduced myself, have I?" the man said before adding, "Well, I am Raymond Ashin."

Raymond stood there with a small smile, waiting for Ozul's reaction. But contrary to what he expected, Ozul just stared at him before nodding his head uninterestedly.

*Sigh...*

"You don't know about the Ashin family either... Of course, you don't know!" Raymond said, a little annoyed.

Ozul stood there motionlessly waiting for his explanation. He just wanted to know how his being from the Ashin family made a difference to his earlier statement. 

"As my partner, you should now know that even with so many powers competing for the Neutral Lands, there are only 3 main factions that are the most involved. There is the Church of Light, the Leonhard Dynasty, and last but not least the Ashin Family," Raymond explained as his eyes drew a crescent.

"The Ashin Family, you can think is not a kingdom or any organization. It's just a family that has preserved their history for a very long time now," Raymond briefly described.

"So how many Rank-9 individuals do you have on your side?" Ozul asked.

"My younger brother is also a Rank-9 Mage. He runs the family as the head, while there aren't many who are aware of me. There is him, me, and two Sects; each with a Rank-9 Sect master with us. So, a total of 4 as well." Raymond replied.

Ozul was a little surprised now. Even this person's little brother was a Rank-9 Mage!

It was a wonder how only a single family could afford to cultivate individuals of such caliber. Though he did not doubt Raymond's words, it was just unexpected.

Raymond was also satisfied, finally being able to see a change in expressions on Ozul's face.

"Impressive," Ozul praised.

"Heh, In front of others, the Ashin family only has three Rank-9 individuals on their side. As I said, there are not many who know about me, so only a few are aware that the Order of the Dusk is under the Ashin family." Raymond stated with a cruel smile.

"But just like you, can't the Church hide their strength as well?" Ozul asked. If the Ashin family could do it, it was reasonable to assume that the Church of Light might be doing the same thing.

"Well, they could be, I won't deny that. But, remember I told you we are a family with a very long history. It is not everything that we can offer..." Raymond stated without a worry. He did not explain himself, but Ozul understood that they must have other measures as well.

However, he did not question Raymond about it. He had become the '5th Rank-9 Mage' allied with the Ashin family, but it did not mean that he would actively partake in their power struggle.

He stood to gain nothing among their battles, so Ozul was uninterested in knowing what else the Ashin family had up their sleeves.

They only approximately measured both sides' strength; a battle between Rank-9 individuals would never break out as casually as they were talking about it.

"Anyways, I will send you the list of things that my organization would require in the future," Ozul said, standing up from the chair and making his way towards the door.

"Very well," Raymond uttered.

Ozul had just opened the door and was about to walk out when Raymond suddenly remembered something.

"I almost forgot to ask you about your name," Raymond said.

Ozul did not halt his steps and said, "Ozul Ashfall..."

He walked out of the room, unaware that Raymond had widened his eyes at the mention of his name.

Raymond's previously serious face was gone, and there were only stunned expressions. Just when he got out of the daze, it was too late to stop Ozul as he was long gone.

'Could it be that he is...? No... That can't be; he should be dead...'

"Cyril! Mark! Come in here!" Raymond got out of his thoughts and immediately shouted.

The duo both came running in as Mark immediately defended himself, "Boss! We just complicated the mission. It is not our fault that he was a Rank-9 Mage! There was a mission to bring him alive, and we did so-"

"Shut up, and listen." Raymond did not let him continue and said, "Go and find out if there is anyone with any family even remotely related to the surname Ashfall."

Although the duo was confused, they did not question his orders and sped out of the room with speed even greater than when they had come in.

They had previously thought that their Boss would severely punish them for bringing a person to their headquarters without permission, so they thought up many excuses, and the one where they would blame the mission was the most feasible.

However, their Boss was completely different, and they were now assigned this odd task. If anyone else asked them to look at this information, the duo would have asked any person lower than them, but it was the Boss himself. So they had no choice but to perform this mission personally.

Not like it hurt them. On the contrary, it was something that helped them escape their fate of punishment; the duo was more than happy to bolt out of the room for whatever reason.

Meanwhile, Raymond was seriously contemplating on something.

——————

-Raymond's POV.-

A few moments ago, these two idiots had brought in a Rank-9 fellow from somewhere. 

Mark told me about his dealings with the Church and the Silverbird Kingdom's group and explained his judgment on how his relationship with them did not seem very good.

Quite the contrary, there seemed to be a bad spark between them.

I was satisfied and willing to listen to whatever he wanted to say only because of this simple reason, but as I talked with him, I realized the bad spark wasn't as simple as I thought it to be.

That manipulative bastard was up to no good this time either.

At first, the misunderstanding was cleared, and he should have left. However, I suddenly had a random idea of asking him to join me. 

I had only asked it casually since both of us seemed to have common enemies. 

However, I did not expect that he would actually agree!

Hmm? Am I too paranoid, or does it seem like this person was aiming for this from the start? Anyways, it was only beneficial for me if another Rank-9 was my ally.

His character was good enough. Even when he was a Rank-9 Mage, he was dedicated enough to do these things himself and not leave it to the subordinates. 

I have seen many with strength losing themselves in pleasure and stop improving. They get too comfortable with their power and start to stagnate, and there comes a time when they become useless. I wasn't very fond of such people.

If a person is not improving, he is certainly declining.

This person's dedication was impressive for a Rank-9 Mage. And it wouldn't really be a bad idea to become partners with him.

Not to mention, his deal was really enticing. If he could really set up a successful information-gathering agency that operated all over the continent, I would save an astronomical sum every time by making use of it.

As he finished listing out everything that they would cooperate on, my views of him were many times different than before. 

I did not like it when he sounded disappointed in our strength. So I could not help but explain to him about the family.

As far as I could discern about this person, he seemed to be trustworthy.

I wanted to see his surprised face when I told him about my other identity, but I forgot that this person was surprisingly not aware of such simple matters in the Neutral Lands.

Though I had to do some explaining, his surprised expression was worth the effort.

He stood up with a little talk here and there and started to walk out of the room. It was only at this point when I remembered that I had yet to ask his name after giving a whole introduction speech on myself.

"Ozul Ashfall..."

Hearing those words suddenly made me pause my thoughts. There wasn't anything wrong with the name itself.

However, I remember a dear person that once used the surname of Ashfall.

It was none other than my late sister Sylvia! Before her death, I was informed that she was using the surname of Ashfall instead of the Ashin.

No! It must be a coincidence for this person to have the same surnames!

I know that there was news for her son, but he died alongside her that day! There was no way that he could ever be him!

But... what if there is even a fraction of chance that he is indeed related to her?

Yes, I should get to the root of this!

When I got out of my daze, I noticed that Ozul had already left.

Well, it is not something I should ask him directly without any proof just yet. I am sure that it is just a coincidence anyway...

"Cyril! Mark!" I shouted to call them in.

——————