This chapter is brought to you by Curses by The Crane Wives.

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The boy was small for his age.

He was shorter in person and had an impressive mask of disinterest as he was brought in front of Valerius.

His men stood around the room and eyed him curiously.

There was a distinct tang of dried blood on the boy.

Valerius noticed a red sheen on his black hair, and he paused.

The boy's uniform was the same black shirt and black pants as that of the other executioner. They did well to hide the fact that he was still filthy with the blood of criminals.

"What is your name?" Valerius asked, stepping closer to the boy.

"Toby."

After Thibault's childhood pet name, Valerius thought.

"Toby is a rather undignified name. You will be named Tobus."

To Valerius' satisfaction, the boy nodded without objections.

"Very good. We will be leaving--"

He was interrupted when the boy turned to the other executioners waiting near the door and asked without prompt, "Are you selling me?"

The room fell into an awkward silence.

---

According to the fairytales of this world, wasn't Tobus a warrior with a cat's head?

Did Lord Calypto have a sense of humor? Nine wondered as he stared into bright vermillion eyes.

He didn't object to the new name.

Was there any difference between being Toby and being Tobus?

He was still, in essence, Nine. A body snatcher from a distant future outside of a book written by a girl.

So he nodded his head the way soldiers often did in the face of being ordered by their superiors.

The Calyptos were a mercenary family with power. They were not far off from being trained soldiers. Nine could figure this out at a glance.

"Very good. We will be leaving--"

"Are you selling me?" Nine asked Noa, who had been waiting near the door.

The man waved a hand around, like a frantic denial mixed with a question mark because it really did look like they were selling him off.

Nine blinked.

"Boy, we are not your buyers," Lord Calypto stated, looking affronted by the insinuation.

Nine blinked again.

"I am your uncle. Your father was my brother-in-law."

He hadn't expected the man to admit family relations this early on.

Toby Calypto in the story barely got the approval of his relatives.

Even Lord Calypto hesitated to acknowledge him as his nephew, and the only indication of him being a part of House Calypto was the fact that he was buried in the Calypto Mausoleum at the behest of his aunt when he died.

So for Lord Calypto to recognize him as family... what exactly was he trying to do?

Nine might have spaced out whilst thinking about this for a little too long because Lord Calypto started to move.

"We shall leave in an hour. Get your things."

It was then that Nine stepped in front of Lord Calypto, blocking his way.

The man raised a sharp brow in confusion.

Nine opened his mouth to speak, "I have children," he said.

That earned him several bewildering stares from the people in the room.

"And cats," he added as an afterthought. "They will come with."

Nine met those vermillion eyes once more, his gaze challenging.

If his children could not come with him, he would not go with the man.

A few moments passed before Lord Calypto closed his eyes.

"Fine. You have two hours."

Nine nodded.

He gave a curt bow and quickly left the room.

---

"This is Otto." He pointed to the boy. The children were lined up in order in front of the Calypto caravan. The mercenaries were disguised as merchants and had come out to watch a scene.

"That's Sept, Juno, Quin, Tess, Trei, Duri, and Lief." Nine was undeterred by the audience.

There was danger in traveling long distances and he needed to make sure the Calypto mercenaries could protect his children.

"Why are they named after numbers?"

"For good luck. You can call me Nine."

Lord Calypto took that moment to cut in. "Tobus," he said, with emphasis.

Nine accepted the statement with the ease of a parent with too many children.

The children were all guided into a carriage.

"The cats?" One of the Calypto men asked.

"Cow, Dog, and Hungry."

"..."

"..."

"Kid, I'm just asking where I put them."

"They can join the children."

"... Right."

Nine entered a carriage with Lord Calypto. His wife did not join him.

---

"Tobus Arcadia?" Valerius inquired.

The boy was stubborn despite how calm he was.

"I will keep my mother's name."

"There is no power with a name like Arcadia."

"That is fine."

Valerius pursed his lips. "Foolish, but I will allow it. Arcadia is a baron family from the Rhenos Region. It will not get you anywhere in Vesna, but it is a peerage."

"She eloped with father."

"..."

"..."

Valerius stared at the boy. The boy stared back.

"You said you would allow it."

He closed his eyes.

---

It would take a week to reach the hidden city of Vesna.

At some point, the carriages were changed for horses. The children and the cats rode with the mercenaries, and Nine rode with Lord Calypto.

"I can ride on my own."

"There aren't enough horses."

Nine turned to the extra horses grazing nearby and then gave Lord Calypto a pointed look.

The man kept his head forward.

Horses weren't new to Nine anymore. The executioners often rode them when they went to pick up criminals from their prison cells. Noa taught him how to ride one once Nine became "old enough" to ride.

"My lord," Nine started, because he still had manners despite how rarely he used them.

"Call me uncle."

"..."

Toby Calypto did not call Lord Calypto "uncle."

"'My Lord!' Toby shouted, approaching Lord Calypto like a puffed-up cat. 'Enemy of our house has infiltrated the ball!' But Lord Calypto cared not for his nephew's words, knowing he wanted to make trouble." 1E5L1A03-ZW6 narrated with an exaggerated voice.

"So he's stupid," 9A1420H5 -ZT4 pointed out.

"Don't worry. According to my sister, he'll die soon."

"Don't they all die in the end?"

"You're spoiling it, Nine. Be quiet!"

Nine wondered if having the experience of an "Arena Executioner" under his belt made Lord Calypto appreciate him more.

Toby didn't win his favor. He was a child who ran to the arms of what he assumed was safety and was seen as a useless good-for-nothing who only knew how to cause trouble.

Perhaps, Toby would have happily jumped at the chance to call Lord Calypto "uncle."

Nine didn't really care. After all, he was not a child looking to seek parental affection.

"Lord Uncle." He made a compromise.

The child would never be able to say those words, but Nine granted him that wish.

After all, Toby was just a boy.

Lord Calypto--now Lord Uncle--made a noise between annoyance and resignation.

---

By day three, their group started camping out in the woods. There were barely any human settlements this far out, and Nine made the mistake of not asking where exactly Vesna was located on the map.

The scenery went from trees and deserts to rocky mountain paths.

The children were thankfully patient despite how boring the journey was.

Nine made sure to check in on them whenever they stopped to take a break.

The cats, on the other hand, have so far scratched every single person they rode with.

"Let the children hold them."

"With all due respect, Lord Tobus, but the cats are as big as that girl." One of the men pointed at Duri, the youngest of his children.

The children became unhappy at the statement. "They're not fat! Take it back! Rahhhhhh!"

And proceeded to throw themselves at the man like feral kittens.

The man stumbled and the children tackled him.

Then the cats joined in.

Nine watched without blinking and then turned to Lord Uncle.

"Mine," he said, the hidden streak of possessiveness making itself known as he turned his gaze to the rest of the Calypto mercenaries trying to pry the children and cats off the unfortunate man.

They were his children. Their future would be determined by him, not the Calyptos.

A pained expression flashed across Lord Uncle's face.

---

They were a day away from Vesna.

The air was thinner the more they climbed the mountain. Nine wrangled his children into the cloaks he forced the other mercenaries to hand over once he saw Otto and others shivering in the morning.

The mercenaries were adults. They could handle the cold.

Lord Uncle dropped his own cloak over Nine's head without looking at him, and Nine almost threw it off the horse.

"That was beast pelt."

"It was heavy."

"It is worth more than your yearly salary."

"Then you can buy another one."

"..."

Needless to say, Lord Uncle proceeded to wrap him in the cloak.

"You are worse than my children," Nine told him.

"..."

---

"How did he die?" the boy suddenly asked.

Valerius could see the city walls from this distance. They still had a few more hours before they reached Vesna, but home was close.

Home was close and the boy decided that was the moment he would ask the inevitable question.

Valerius adjusted the cloak on the boy's head. He saw a flash of emerald eyes before the large hood covered the boy's face.

"We hadn't known he had a family until his passing."

"So he was killed."

Valerius winced at the acceptance.

"It was an undercover mission. He was discovered."

"And they killed him."

There was no ripple in the boy's voice, and Valerius wasn't sure if Tobus already knew and accepted that his father was dead.

"Yes. We found his diary a few years back and went to look for you. We thought you died."

"The village was burned down." The boy lifted his head and stared into his eyes. "We are the sole survivors."

Valerius swallowed.

"Do you know why?"

He shook his head. No, but he would open an investigation if Tobus wanted to know.

"They killed Mama and the others. The executioners. Did they tell you that?"

"I did."

"You have the contract?"

"I had them burn it."

"... Okay."

Valerius had seen the contract.

Thibalt's widow had sold their son to the Arena in order to protect the other children. How did she know if he could survive being an executioner?

A mere mouser boy becoming Cat, the boy with nine lives.

The boy was a monster, and the village entrusted a monster to guard their children.

It was unforgivable, yet Tobus followed through with the contract and became the children's guardian at the age of eight.

"... world line hasn't changed."

Valerius heard the boy.

He didn't know why, but the words sent a shiver down his spine.

---

The city walls were tall and fortified. There was a transparent dome-like barrier around it.

"You can see it?"

Nine faced Lord Uncle without a word. The man watched him curiously.

"The force field?"

"... The what?"

He cocked his head. Did they not have force fields in this world?

In the Interstellar era, force fields were common. Most advanced civilizations used them for climate control, and during the worst of the war, they were almost impenetrable walls made from negative energy.

"Magic barrier," Nine corrected himself.

"... Yes." Lord Uncle was still staring at him questionably as if wondering what was wrong with him.

The man coughed. "Welcome to Vesna."

"Woahhhhhh!"

"Cool!"

The reactions of the children were to be expected, but why did it seem as if Lord Uncle was disappointed with him?

Nine was an adult... in spirit. He had seen a lot of bullshit before coming to this world.

"Tell Lord Eartha to lower the barrier," Lord Uncle instructed one of his men.

The hidden city of Vesna welcomed them home.

---

[....... In the sixty-third year of the Interstellar Calendar of ZEFRE-2B9, Day 90, Soldier 9A1420H5 -ZT4's consciousness has become a permanent resident of World 90150N-L4C3D-D4GG3R. Extraction of his consciousness from is no longer possible .......]

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End of Part I

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The author has something to say:

Here I am, trying to create a complex relationship between Valerius and Nine, and somehow, these two people diverged entirely from my outline. It was supposed to be Nine trying to win the approval of the cold and distant Valerius Calypto (aka my bootleg Lord Capulet), but somehow, I think the dynamic reversed??? But then again, there were no extra children in my original outline, either. Or cats. They kinda just... showed up. What in the world am I doing?! orz.

Rhenos Region is what will later be the starting point of the Rhine Empire, before its founding and expansion.