After some breathing, Leonidas successfully collects himself.
His eyes then lay on Pettriddas, fiercely glaring at his madness.
"Esteemed clan leader, if you let this keep happening, the whole clan's potency will strongly decline!"
Leonidas criticized him heavily after he got over his surprise.
With a little hindsight, he realized his lack of discernment. Yes, with a mad dog like Pettriddas, one had to expect worse, as always.
"Wrong!" Pettriddas firmly denied!
He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.
"Half a century ago, all the other clans thought that this was the end of our clan in the big leagues.
-Many said: Finally, these berserkers wolves have ended up eating each other.
-But what happened next? What did they see? Had we been stripped of our sovereignty?"
He ends his short tale with these questions.
Leonidas lowers his eyes,
Pettriddas grinned at this miserable sight.
"We are wolves of the east who govern over Forett County! We execrate the weak and are ruthless against them, regardless of whether or not they are of our blood, this is what the wild wolves of the East are!"
He pauses for a moment, contemplating Leonidas' expression with amusement.
"Kekek, even if we are insignificant in numerical terms compared to the other two clans, we have always been the most feared among them. Do you know why it's been so?"
"...Because you are insane fellows."
Leonidas retorts with a sigh.
"PFFHHAHA!!" Pettriddas didn't get upset; instead, he burst out laughing.
Leonidas looks at the patriarch with both irked and bitter expression. 'I wonder how I found myself here.' He wonders.
After this slight contradiction, Pettriddas was happy to finally find his loyal and obedient butler.
The two then exchanged ideas regarding the organization of this event.
All along, Leonidas cooperated openly like a devil aiming to destroy the clan.
He is not usually crazy, but when he gets into it, Pettriddas can only admire him.
Yes, the butler of such a man could not be ordinary after all.
They say that by rubbing shoulders with vicious fools, one ends up becoming one.
His innocence was forcibly ripped from him by the patriarch who ended up making him vicious and calculating.
--
There are mainly three types of mutant beasts, beasts with physiques and strength worthy of legendary titans, beasts with elemental affinity, and unique beasts.
This last category includes mutant beasts capable of showing titanic strength while performing magic.
Not only that, there are mutant beasts capable of using extremely rare magic, such as lightning, gravity, support magic, and so on.
But this category is so rare that they trigger skirmishes between factions when they appear.
--
On the evening of the same day,
Every first night of a new moon, the Shadow clan has the custom of gathering its descendants in the family dining room to feast together.
This is to create gatherings for the young descendants so that they can get to know each other better.
That is the basic version of the facts.
The reality is quite different!
And by chance or bad luck, tonight is the night of the first moon!
For this feast, only direct descendants and very few privileged people are allowed to participate.
Even ordinary guards are not allowed.
After all, what madman would dare to come and sow chaos when the legend is also present!?
In the large dining room, a friendly and warm atmosphere reigned supreme.
There are mainly four large tables in this dining room all filled with delicious dishes but mainly composed of meat.
The first table is composed of the youngest descendants of the third generation.
The second, a little further from the entrance doors, is almost unoccupied with only two men who gave off a presence as wild as the patriarch, they are part of the second generation, the true children of the patriarch.
The patriarch's current children are seven in number although they were more than forty at the beginning, the number look now very miserable.
The absence of the other five elders is not strange.
In a world continually at war, it is not strange that some have gone to the front.
There are also some who have gone on diplomatic trips for the management of the cities under the clan's tutelage.
And at the back of the large dining room, after climbing three flights of stairs, sits a fierce-looking man, Pettriddas.
Standing behind him, is his faithful and loyal waiter, Leonidas.
Everyone was enjoying their meals in a warm atmosphere, including Mystic who was on the last table right near the entrance.
Her presence was like that of a ghost, going unnoticed.
Around this table where the warm-blooded wolf cubs are gathered, Mystic seems to be the youngest of all cos of her silence which passes as shyness or whatever.
Sometimes, the patriarch would look up to look at his heritage with a small, vicious but proud smile.
Men, women, and children, everyone had their place in this family, as long as they had their blood and the necessary strength.
The strangest thing about this gathering is the fact that... despite all being dressed in their evening wear, they had their weapons with them!
Who the hell would bring a sword to a ball?
Well, everyone, including the elders and... Pettriddas! How crazy!
What the others don't know, is that during this evening, the exceptional event awaited by all is not eating and chatting, but dueling!
An elder can challenge an elder or the patriarch.
In each meeting, the position of the elders and the patriarch is threatened by the others.
If an elder manages to defeat the patriarch, he will inherit his position.
Who set this savage law? The patriarch himself!
It's the same for the elders as well. They can challenge each other in addition to challenging the patriarch.
As for the cubs, the same rule applies to them.
The thing to note is that within this clan, points are regularly awarded to the strongest.
The higher your status, the more points you will have.
Devon really fell badly.
Even being born into this clan is a danger in itself.
After a moment of contemplation, the patriarch smiles like an old fox.
"I'm interested in your opinion, Leonidas."
"On what subject, esteemed clan leader?"
"How many corpses will we have to clean up tonight?"
As crazy as the question was, Leonidas' eyelashes didn't even beat a bit.
By habit, he puts off his monocle and wipes its glass while he speaks.
"In my mind, we won't have to do that."
"Oh, ...I see." Pettriddas now looks depressed after hearing that news.
'Just, why!? Why the fuck do you show up such as depression because of lack of bloodbath ?' Leonidas' skull began itching as he stared at the patriarch's dismay.
However, he keeps going.
"Somehow, I feel wolf cubs' thirst seems stronger than usual." He added.
"Kekekh~, you're right, many of them seem curious about the rookie's skills." Pettriddas also rang as he peeked up at Mystic.
'Show me, little rookie, show off these fangs you keep hidden in the shade during these years back.' He mutters out of impatience.
The dinner table, surrounded by fifty-six young children who sit side by side from the strongest to the weakest, according to the rank of their grimoire, Mystic is, unsurprisingly seated all the way to the end.
Even on this table, a form of hierarchy reigned between them.
The four groups are separated by a chair in the middle between them.
The holders of the silver-rank grimoires were in the first row.
Among them, there was a young woman with horns sharper than all the others and a noble-looking man who had the tips of his horns red.
Although they were on the same table, the powerful aura that emanated from them was not ordinary. More importantly, they were the only two to hold gold-tier grimoires!
After them comes the group of people with iron-rank grimoires.
And finally, the copper ranks, of which Mystic is a part.
Age doesn't matter, only strength counts.
Fortunately, Mystic wasn't too far behind among people her age.
The handsome young man in the tavern is also present but among the oldest and strongest of the last generation.
Unlike the others, he nonchalantly enjoys his meal, without saying a word.
However, despite giving off a peaceful and pleasant aura, the girl next to him did not hesitate to provoke him.
She took a piece of meat from his plate that she stuffed in her mouth with a crooked smile.
Everyone saw her actions, but no one commented.
"Sigh, why don't you go play somewhere else, Eleanor?" The young man sighs out of annoyance as he says these words in a soft but unkind tone.
"Huhu~, come on Ivan, let's fight one more time, this time, I'll snatch off your place as sixth."
"No, I'm not in the mood to toy you this night, go ahead to seek someone else."
At his refusal, Eleanor's face darkened as she looked at those above the young man who bore the name of Ivan Forret Shadow.
To rank above, she had to designate an opponent who had a higher rank than hers.
Her rank is seventh strongest among the third generation, which makes Ivan, one rank above her, the ideal target.
Despite her repeated challenges, Ivan had bested her many times.
But as always, she asks for more.
With each defeat, she loses thirty percent of her merit points to Ivan's account.
Conversely, if she manages to win even one match against him, she will seize his position in the family ranking!
"Psst, who do you want to bet on?" One of the youngsters in the third row go ahead!
His colleague, the person next to him, clicked her tongue. "Stop getting excited over nothing, we all know that Eleanor always lost to Ivan."
"Are you pretending or are you ignorant?"
"What else?" The girl asked with puzzling curiosity.
"Keheh~, I heard from the seventh elder that big sister Eleanor got a special mutant beast during her last mission as a Seeker."
"Huh?! You dumped fucker, are you trying to rip me off!?" She screams at the guy by grabbing his shirt's collar.
"Why the fuck I'll rip off someone like you who hasn't even a hundred merit points?"
"...Ugh! You bastard, you must seek for death!"
Despite all the commotion, no one cared.
It was just as Leonidas had said. The cubs were hot-blooded this time.
However, none had decided to fight yet,
Ivan was peeved off by Eleanor who regained confidence in her power because of her new gains.
At the same time, the guy who pushed the girl next to him to bet with him also began to quarrel with her.
The dinner turned into a noisy mess as if it were a market.
And in this mess, a loud banging sound echoed heavily on the last table.
Because of the people on this table, the table was even more inconspicuous than Mystic.
Yes, in addition to the direct descendants and the patriarch, a final group of people could also participate in this monthly event.
The high officials sent by the royal family to assist the clan in handling common and diplomatic affairs.