After his call to grandpa ended, the Zanuki quickly tried to track him before his signal suddenly went off.
Using the coordinates Ares sent to his grandpa, a team of Shadows went to Fog City and since they couldn't use the teleportation portal, they had to use the fastest cars they have and it still took one hour to arrive.
Zerisa quickly wrecked over the place especially when a group of suspicious people started attacking her first when they saw her.
Not wanting his grandchildren to destroy the place until it became unrecognizable, Zen Zanuki called the Guardian Association for backup and carried on the rescue.
While Zen Zanuki was on the way to the coordinate point, a huge explosion took place in one of the city malls near the area.
Many lives were lost in the explosion. Luckily the Guardian Association was called earlier and some Shadows also helped with evacuating the people.
However, sensing Zen Zanuki nearby, the criminal organization attacked him just like they attacked Eris but it was more brutal.
There was even a demon disguising as a human among the criminals and after killing all of them while sealing the demon alive, Zen decided to interrogate the demon and let Eris continue the search.
It was found that they have created an artificial dungeon while doing illegal experiments and trapping monsters from Fog Forest.
Most of the criminals caught were Djinns and they immediately committed suicide after getting caught.
Thus nobody knows how many humans were killed by them and what kind of experiments they do. Another thing is, that demons could use artificial dungeons to create more sinister demonic monsters and it could be catastrophic if those monsters were released near humans settlement.
The house that Ares entered could be said to be the artificial dungeon where the door and the windows as the dungeon entrance. Whether this was their only location or there were more of it, only time could tell.
After I was briefed about the situation, Eris let me alone with Cedric and Prince Theo. She said I had to spend more time with my friends.
'Since when I'm friends with the protagonist?'
"Hey best friend" Prince Theo greeted me like usual
"Hn" Ares responded as usual with his one-syllable sound.
"Are you alright Ares?" Cedric asked sounding genuinely worried.
"Yes, I'm fine. Just a bit exhausted"
"Hey, why didn't you tell me you're doing something interesting?" Prince Theo asked.
"I just want to let loose that's it. Aren't you busy preparing for the royal event this summer?"
"That event is more than a month from now. There's enough time and they prepare everything just fine without me there" Prince Theo answered confidently
'Really~ I wanted to see how this prince's face looked like when something happened during the royal event' Ares thought.
Even though he and Prince Theo always called each other best friends, both of them didn't trust each other much. Ares preferred to trust the protagonist since Cedric's way of thinking could be deduced easily.
Compared to Prince Theo who is far more calculative, Ares didn't know if he could let Prince Theo guard his back.
Prince Theo on the other hand already gives up on understanding Ares's way of thinking. He already knew he couldn't use normal common sense and standards in understanding Ares.
But he knew as long as there was no benefit for him or his family, Ares wouldn't do it. So that's why Prince Theo was confident that Ares wouldn't betray him for the time being.
Cedric, on the other hand, could be a useful ally or chess piece that he could rely on or use in the future. Prince Theo wasn't worried about Ares poaching Cedric since he could sense Ares didn't have the same interest as his in Cedric.
It even seemed like Ares tried to not interact much with Cedric.
Cedric could feel the way Ares and Prince Theo talking was a bit weird but he wasn't sure what was weird about the seemingly normal conversation between two close friends.
"Hey Ares, don't you want to come to the Royal Event this year?" Prince Theo asked seemingly probing for a certain answer.
"Nope, not interested"
'Why should I purposely enter a tiger den. More problems will happen but it had nothing to do with me nor benefitted me in any way.'
"Is it the celebration event of the Emperor's birthday?" Cedric asked seemingly interested.
"Yup. All Hargan citizens and even tourists could see the Emperor and Empress on that day along with the royal family members" Prince Theo said excitedly.
'What so exciting about that?' Ares almost wanted to roll his eyes but decided not to do so lest the naive Cedric would think the Zanuki didn't like the Royal family.
"I see. The nobles must have been specifically invited. But Shino didn't say anything about it"
"Oh about the noble family invitation, that was managed by the Empress and crown prince. One representative from each noble house must attend and if I'm not mistaken, the official heir for the Kiba house is Shizui Kiba right? He must be the one to come during the event"
"Oh Shino's older brother. That makes sense" Cedric accepted the explanation as it is.
What Prince Theo didn't say is that the six prominent noble families, could bring their whole family to the royal event if they wanted to but usually, they wouldn't do that and only send one representative like the other nobles.
The Zanuki sometimes didn't even send a representative from their house but from their vassal house, the Moran. It was deemed disrespectful towards the royal family but no one dared to say anything towards the Zanuki.
"Ares what did you find inside the dungeon?" Cedric suddenly asked.
"I found a weird red rose in a flower pot,"
"That's it?" Even Prince Theo was dumbfounded.
Even though it was an artificial dungeon, wasn't there supposed to be at least something worthy inside like a box of gold or mana stones or something.
But the only thing he found was a rose in a flower pot.
When he saw the rose inside the empty last room, Ares was also stunned before he checked around the room for any hidden button that lead to the real treasure room but there were none of those sorts.
Now that flower was even confiscated by his grandpa for an unknown reason.
"Maybe that flower isn't a normal flower" Prince Theo tried to think rationally.
'It was impossible for the Djinns to suddenly plant a rose in a pot just because one of them might have a hobby like gardening right?' Prince Theo thought.
Cedric, on the other hand, felt that the flower might be an abnormal and not a normal flower but he couldn't confirm his conjecture since he didn't see the flower.
After chatting for quite some time, the three of them were escorted out of Fog City where they headed to their different destinations.
Prince Theo headed towards the capital, Cedric towards Yaro Town where Kiba territory was and Ares headed straight to Soga Mountain.
***********************
Inside the Terrorism Bureau Interrogation Office.
"Sir Zoroas, your father send a parcel for you," a young male assistant reported to his superior who was in midst of checking on real-time reports on the screen in front of him.
"Alright, you can go," he said dismissing the assistant.
-Clack
After he was alone, Zoroas Zanuki let out a deep sigh while glancing toward the black box put on the table not far from him.
He just finish reading the reports about the mess made by his niece and nephew. Now his father suddenly gave him something.
Something fishy.
If it was anyone else, Zoroas would gladly accept their gifts but looking at the black box tied with bright red ribbons, he felt something ominous was inside.
As the son of Zen Zanuki, he knew his father was a bit eccentric and Zoroas always felt that he was the only normal person in his family. Even his son Adrian had become a battle addict after being influenced by his grandpa.
His nephew, Ares, on the other hand, seemed normal on the outside but that brat send him a corpse of a chimaera monster yesterday after he was nagged by his sister for keeping something weird inside his spatial bracelet.
If not, that boy might plan to keep the monster until who knows when.
And now today his father suddenly gave him something.
Zoroas was already too exhausted to be surprised.
He emotionlessly untie the ribbons and opened the box. In the end, he saw a red rose planted in a white pot inside the box.
However the moment he focused on the rose, a black round shaped eye formed on the centre of the rose. Staring back at Zoroas.
"As expected of my family. Yesterday I got a chimaera and today what kind of monster is this?" Zoroas muttered while picking up a postcard beside the flower pot.
========Flower of Desires=======
Species: Monster
Type: Carnivores
Level: Low-Intermediate
Ability:
¶Extracting living beings' desires through mind control. Those desires that have been absorbed will lose the sense of any desires such as the desire to eat, drink, sleep and even desire to live. Normal humans will die within a month after all their desires are devoured.
¶Can communicate with its owner through mana telepathy.
¶Have its own consciousness and behaviour
Special note:
¶It could eat anything directly thus special care is needed.
¶Need regular feeding
=====================
"As expected from my father to give me something like this," Zoroas said in a dull tone.
If anyone heard what he said, they might say he was mocking his father but in actuality, he was grateful deep down in his heart that his father didn't send a headless demon corpse to him and instead gave him something useful.
"From today onwards you will be helping me interrogate those criminals. By the way, your name is Anna Zanuki since your colour is red, I gave you my last name" Zoroas said towards the rose ignoring his assistant who was walking behind him.
They were heading towards the special interrogation room for high-level criminals. Zoroas decided to put Anna in that room to help him during the interrogation.
"When they have no desires anymore, there would be no reason to keep denying what they have done right?" Zoroas said randomly.
The red rose called Anna seemed to sway left and right as if agreeing with Zoroas.
The young assistant remained quiet while still maintaining his professional emotionless demeanour. This wasn't his first time witnessing his superior doing something weird.
To be honest it was kind of cute when his always stern superior was talking and naming the seemingly ordinary red rose. However, he knew that the red rose was a monster and he didn't want to accidentally become one of Anna's food.
"Alright Anna, you must remember don't eat random food, especially those who wear a uniform like this" Zoroas said pointing towards himself and his assistant.
Anna just swayed left and right before she was put in the centre of the room on top of a table where she got the most sunlight.
Meanwhile, Ares who was in Soga Mountain was forced to stay in bed for a few days by his worrywart butler, Ron.
"I already told you I'm fine," Ares said rolling his eyes hard towards the young butler in front of him while his maid was currently serving his lunch in front of him.
Because of Ron, he couldn't get out of his room at all.
[Guardian Association and Mercenary Association along with the topmost security forces have been deployed to uncover the incident. Around 87 civilians died in the explosion in the mall along with many severely injured.]
The TV currently showing the news about the attack in Fog City a few days ago along with the discovery of an artificial dungeon. There was no mention of me or Zanuki forces being involved.
Some information like the involvement of Demons and Djinns had also been covered up to avoid causing panic among the public.
[Latest news regarding Fog Forest unclear dungeon. After 20 years since the dungeon was first discovered, it was confirmed to be clear a few days ago by a Guardian with the initial D as his name. Currently, the dungeon entrance has close down and will open once again in three months. In the meantime, the Mercenary Association said that they will clear Fog Forest from any monsters and turned them into a normal forest once again. The authority has set up new preventive measures around....]
Ares almost choked on his drink when he heard the news.
"Tsskk this must be why grandpa asked me what kind of gift I wanted," Ares muttered.
He already forgot about the Fog Forest Dungeon that he unknowingly cleared before he found the artificial dungeon.
The initial 'D' is his middle name that he wasn't sure what it is. He was too lazy to ask what that 'D' in the middle of his name was. When he entered Fog Forest he put his name as D on the registration.
His full name is Ares D Zanuki.
That evening, Ron dragged the lazy Ares out of the Zanuki mansion and headed towards the Guardian Association Headquarter in Midas City.
Within an hour they arrived in front of the Guardian Association HQ which was made purely out of crystal-like stones that were so high it seemed to pierce the sky.
Entering the building, it was decorated with all kinds of luxury comparable to the Zanuki mansion.
The windows looked like huge cathedral gates from the medieval period.
"Young Master Ares Zanuki, my name is Amy and I will be your guide. Please follow me," a young lady around the same age as Ron with brown hair greeted us as soon as we enter the building as if she was already waiting for our arrival.
We took an elevator to the upper floor until it stopped at floor 250th, the highest floor of the building where the appointment was organized to be.
Ares stepped out of the elevator and walked into the dim-lit hallway. Relics and artifacts were displayed in various glass cases along the path.
There were swords, shields, necklaces with skulls of some monster used as a decore along with unknown stones that glowed strangely.
The weapons looked so cool that it still seemed like it is fantasy.
"You seemed to be interested in artifacts," a voice coming from behind him, awakened him from being too focused on staring at the artifacts.
Ares looked at the man and saw a face that looked like a Rome stone sculpture. He was quite handsome.
Patting Ares's shoulder he said, "Hello, I'm Vicenzo Rivera. Nice to meet you."
Looking at the face and hearing the name, Ares immediately knew who this man was.
The Vice President of the Guardian Association.
Along with Ron, I followed Vice President Rivera into his office.
His office was spacious. Looking out of the window was a magnificent view of the city. As I walked further inside the view of the city has turned into a scene from the top of a mountain.
Ares wasn't sure whether the scene he saw was merely a projection or the real deal since this world has magic, it wasn't impossible for someone to be able to distort a space inside the office.
Sitting on a large decorated sofa, Ares looked straight toward Vice President Rivera.
"You won't even say hello to me," Vice President Rivera smiled.
The casual word from this person sounded like a mockery to me.
"Hello, nice to meet you Vice President Vicenzo Rivera," I said while bowing my head slightly per normal noble etiquette.
Even though I felt uncomfortable around this person, since he wasn't mentioned inside the novel, I still wanted to give a good impression in front of this person.
"Take it easy. I don't want your grandfather to chew me out for making his beloved grandson uncomfortable," Vice President Rivera said playfully while his assistant served a few cups of tea on the table in front of them.
A moment later they talked about everything Ares witnessed on that day.
How he decided to follow a suspicious-looking man who turned out to be a Djinn.
The scenes inside the dungeon.
What kind of monster was inside.
Ares told him everything including the rose that he found that his grandpa took away from him.
"Oh if I'm not mistaken, your grandfather gave that rose to your uncle in the Terrorism Bureau. I just came back from that place where your uncle kept on talking about that rose he named Anna Zanuki," Vice President Rivera said as if he was already used to dealing with weird people.
Ares always thought that his Uncle Zoroas was the most normal person in the family but he just realized that he(Z) was just as weird as his other family members.
'Who the hell gives name to a flower, including the last name?!' Ares lamented.
"I see" Ares replied flat seemingly uninterested.
"It was fortunate you were the one who found that flower. If it was someone else, there might unnecessary casualty"
When Vice President Rivera was saying this, Ares didn't pay any attention to it because he was thinking about why his uncle had to name the flower.
Ron on the other hand was listening attentively since if his young master missed any words from the Vice President, he as a reliable butler could help.
However, he was confused about the rose his young master found and it showed on his face. Vice President Rivera saw his confusion and quickly explained.
"That rose is the Flower of Desires thus not everyone could handle them"
Ron nodded his head slightly since he knew what kind of ability Flower of Desires had from books he had read before even though he has never seen one.
Unlike its name, the Flower of Desires is a vicious carnivorous monster that feeds on the desires of living things. It could even eat other humans and monsters directly when it wanted to.
Those who have low mana, weak mental fortitude and endless greed would be consumed by that flower.
Knowing his young master, it wasn't shocking he wasn't affected by the flower even a bit.
Vice President Rivera on the other hand seemed satisfied with Ares's attitude of not asking for a reward after doing something good that saved multiple lives. He also knew Ares was the one clearing the Fog Forest Dungeon.
Since Ares was a noble, he didn't lack money thus the Guardian Association didn't know what kind of reward to give him.
"Ares, is there anything that you wanted? Either artifact or maybe ancient scrolls or skills from the dungeons?" Vice President Rivera asked.
"Can I tell you the answer later?"
Ares thought that he couldn't recklessly decide on something like this. He must ask them things that he really needed, things that were most useful to him, things that he couldn't obtain easily using his status or money.
"Of course. You can take your time and tell me anytime"
For the first time, Ares smiled at Vice President Rivera even though the other person couldn't see it due to his mask.
'At least my hard work wasn't a vain. I at least got something out of all this.'
Ron was startled seeing his young master's eyes seemingly showing a hint of smiling when usually those eyes looked like dead fish eyes, seemingly always uninterested with everything.