Another World Mall

"Here you go." Rin placed the last bowl on Clovis' table.

The table consisted of six seats. Five people had sat down. They were Clovis, Vina, Stefany, Melody, and Eid.

Instead of Kanaria, Jay, or even Christina, Clovis actually chose Melody to sit next to him.

However, the last seat was empty.

"..." Rin looked at the empty seat before asking, sounding annoyed. "I will need to confirm this, but this empty seat…"

"It's yours." Clovis nodded. "The situation is terrible, so you might want to hear about the current situation. You will probably come with us next. Of course, fighting or not is your choice, as we've agreed, but it's better to know how dangerous it is, no?"

Rin fell silent for a moment before taking her seat.

"So, does our employer have anything to say first?" Clovis smiled.

Eid couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows. The biggest problem was indeed them. If they were going to join hands, who would win the successor battle? No one wanted to lose after all.

Vina and Stefany didn't know what to say. They had been overwhelmed by everything. No matter how hard they tried to think, they couldn't figure out what Clovis meant by the true intention.

Other than taking down their opponent, were there even other intentions?

Then again, Clovis was probably the only one who could see through the Dark Supreme's intentions.

Clovis just closed his eyes for a moment before shrugging. "Okay. I've heard enough."

"I don't understand. Is there even a hidden intention?" Eid couldn't help but ask.

"The fact you're coming here must mean you have consulted your masters regarding this succession battle, right?"

"Yes."

"What did he tell you?"

Eid tilted his head in confusion before looking down. The masters didn't tell him anything. They just said they understood and proceeded to tell him about the one-eyed swordsman.

'No. Is there something I'm missing? Something related to the information provided by my masters?' Eid fell into deep thought. In a way, the Three Swords was similar to their current Dark Moon Mercenary.

Eid was good at analyzing, while Nart's prowess surpassed his. They worked together and maintained the order within the organization.

On the other hand, Stefany and Vina had their own specialties, unlike the Dark Supreme.

Vina and Stefany were confused, wondering why Eid suddenly looked so concerned.

After a moment, Eid couldn't help but ask, "Are you talking about the Three Swords?"

"More or less."

"I don't think I understand everything, but I get the gist of what you're trying to say… I see, you can see it from that angle as well. Now I understand why you are asking for an alliance."

"What are you two talking about?" Stefany couldn't contain herself.

Eid could also see the reason Clovis stayed quiet about it. This turned out to be the true test.

Eid simply looked away and said, "Well, I guess the alliance is the correct move."

Clovis nodded.

"What's this all about?" Rin asked. "Am I going to be in weird danger or get involved in something I shouldn't?"

"Ehm…" Clovis smiled wryly. "Well, don't worry about it."

"You are going to tell me, right?" Rin smiled.

"I don't think I should tell anyone. Unlike him, who realizes it after picking some clues here and there."

"You are going to tell me before we head outside or do something dangerous," demanded Rin. "If you don't tell me… I'm not going to break the agreement, but you will definitely not get good food from me."

"But I have hired you as my chef…"

"Of course. I will definitely cook some good food for your team, but not you."

"Isn't that too exaggerated?"

"More importantly, you should eat first. I'm not going to forgive you if my food goes cold."

"..." Clovis' eyebrows twitched.

"Pfft." Melody chuckled. "Looks like she had you. Do you promise her some ingredients in exchange for becoming your chef? You should have specified the agreement, Clovis, telling her to cook good food for you."

Clovis rolled his eyes. "Well, that's my mistake. I let my guard down. But it's not like this is outside the original plan."

"Plan?" Melody tilted her head in confusion. Eid only nodded his head as if he understood something. He added, "Looks like the successors are still in need of more training. Now that I have understood everything, I've come to realize that you have been releasing one clue after another. I guess no one has picked up the clues yet?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Clovis only smiled.

"..." Vina and Stefany couldn't understand what was going on. In fact, Melody and Rin couldn't figure it out either.

'Dropping clues? How many clues have been dropped? This one is a clue? I don't understand what he is talking about…' Vina frowned.

Suddenly, Melody felt Clovis' hand touching hers. He flipped her hand and opened her palm. Then, he wrote several characters, ultimately forming one word.

'Leadership.'

The moment she got that word, Melody instantly understood the whole picture. Even though Jay and Erwin were the vice captains, Melody had been the one commanding the group most of the time.

The meaning of leadership was clear to her.

'Now that I think about it, when Clovis returned to the group, Kanaria and the others were rather rampant, dragging him around. Usually, he was the one in control.

'Then, in this restaurant, Rin got a hold of him even though he was not that type of person? Clovis showed himself to be someone capable of bringing everything under control, so it was indeed unlike him.

'I see. If the leader gets pressured by his subordinates, he has stopped being their leader. Vina and Stefany are future leaders, but Clovis and Eid could pressure them and push them to the sidelines.

'They have failed as leaders. However, they're allowed to try again and again until they are able to get it.'

The reason Clovis picked her for this discussion was obvious. Melody couldn't help but curse inwardly, 'Ah, shit. I shouldn't have sat here.'

After slurping his noodles, Eid decided to drop a bomb, which made Melody regret her decision even more. "By the way, I've gotten some information. Since we're allies now, I guess I should share this with you. The one-eyed swordsman has met the association president and made contact with R.A.I.D."