Jacob tended to his ‘little’ garden while trying to ignore the person he dreaded the most.

“Jacob, I want you to know that whatever you want to do, I have got your back! I admire the myriad of aspects your soul can contain! The fact that you showed weakness in front of Juliet is the greatest act of strength!”

Oh no, is he going to cry again?

When he had heard that the Vermillion Tyrant had overheard his confession of weakness to Juliet, Jacob had been tempted to really flee St. Peter. And not because he was still afraid, no. His new great fear was not failing at his job, especially after his talk with Helena. No, his new great fear was that he was going to be emotionally tortured by the person sitting close to him.

The Vermillion Tyrant always bustled with energy; the man had so much energy that Jacob felt drained from a simple short conversation with him. And now that Hektor knew about this doubts, there was no way he was going to have some peace in the near future, was there?

“Hektor, I already told you that I had an enlightening conversation with Helena. I’m good now, I swear!”

Jacob was focused on the matter of food for St. Peter and he really didn’t want to deal with the Vermillion Tyrant at the moment.

“But Jacob! It’s important to have a support network! Let me help!” the man unchecked energy was slowly seeping through his body as a result of his strong emotions.

The fact that Jacob had the most dangerous flames in existence close to his dear Spiritual Herbs put him in no good mood.

“Hektor, I swear, if you burn anything in the Alchemical Garden, I will have you sit an entire week on the walls in the same post with Epagogia!”

Hearing the name of the Devil, the great Vermillion Tyrant instantly recoiled.

“That treacherous woman is no good for you, Jacob! I am completely in favor of yours and Helena’s union! And if you ever thought about wanting a male companion, just know that I—”

Said ‘treacherous woman’ was listening on the side while finishing up the analysis of the Formation they had dug out of the Alchemical Garden.

“Hektor! Christ!” Jacob refused to hear the last part and he plugged his ears with his fingers, starting to chant aloud.

He missed a sizeable brush flying at high-speed toward Hektor’s right eye.

“Look! Look at what that treacherous woman just did!” Hektor pointed an outraged finger toward the Devil Queen.

Jacob was going to cry from exhaustion.

But he was extremely glad that the Vermillion Tyrant had not behaved like Juliet or Helena had feared that he would. They had not known Hektor as well as Jacob did, but it was still weird for them to think that the man could have had any other reaction.

Hektor, as Jacob never stopped telling people, was a straight shooter. And, unlike in the word previous to the apocalypse, those things mattered for a cultivator. He had based his entire personality around the way he behaved. His flames were a testament to honesty and one of the strongest beliefs in existence.

No one burned brighter and hotter than Hektor, no one. He was one with his belief in saving humanity; and this time around he had also started seeing some sense, finally.

Therefore, Jacob had only marginally been worried about him. Instead, he had even thought to leave everything up to Hektor. Or at least that was before Helena had come to him.

Among all the things he could have expected, the blonde popping up in his office and saying those words had been…

Peculiar.

He would have never expected her to make his life so easy. Jacob was now looking forward to the end of the conflicts and wars, to the day he would finally be able to live a normal life once again.

In the meantime, he was coming up with sharp plans to save mankind.

“So, Hektor, why don’t you start recounting the things that I’ve told you we need instead of fighting with Epagogia and distracting her from the job she’s supposed to be working on?”

Jacob shot a glare at both before his attention went back to the Earthy Knightly Fruit. He was so close to finally managing to mix the potatoe-looking root with another plant that would make growing the Earthy Knightly Fruit much, much easier and faster; and it would also naturally amplify the root’s energy and properties. Jacob was going to need to change the Gnocchi recipe a bit to fit the new version of the potatoe, but he was willing to take the trade-off any day of the week.

“Well, as you said, I’m just going to take an incursion unit to the cities all over Marche and Abruzzo. I’m going to distribute low grade Cultivation Techniques so that people will be able to start cultivating properly and defend themselves. Right, the Martial Techniques, Spells and Martial Styles too, obviously. Then, I will map all the Ancient Ruins that I think are too dangerous to enter for later on; and I will enter those ruins I think we can handle to raid them and bring the stuff back here.”

“Exactly,” Jacob nodded.

Jacob was not surprised at the Vermillion Tyrant memory nor precision. There was a reason why the man had managed to almost win a intercontinental conflict alone. He was as smart and sharp as they made them.

“Do you need a ring—” the Vermillion Tyrant started asking.

“Oh, yeah, Interspatial Rings should be a priority. I doubt we can manufacture those anytime soon, honestly. But I don’t need one personally. The sword Relic has a Dimensional Storage.”

“I meant for Helena!” the Vermillion Tyrant looked outraged, “are you not going to ask her to marry you soon?”

“What?” Jacob recoiled.

“Well, she came to talk to you and now you are all better, shouldn’t we celebrate your union with marria—”

Epagogia narrowed her eyes and some Purple Qi started whirling around her body.

“What? Hektor, fuck, shut up!” Jacob looked rapidly from the man to Epagogia and back.

“What?” the Vermillion Tyrant gave him a sly smile. “Oh, the Devil didn’t know? Sorry there, treacherous monster, but I think Helena and Jacob are a match made in heaven!”

Jacob had yet to tell Epagogia what was going on. He had not told her about his self-doubts, about his meeting with Helena nor anything else.”

“Oh, Jaji-boy, I think we so need to talk, don’t we?”

“If you want, we could get rid of her,” the Vermillion Tyrant suggested pointing toward the Devil Queen.

“You two are unbelievable! Can you stop it for a second?! Christ, let’s keep the personal drama to the side. You, Hektor, shut the fuck up and start doing the necessary recon. Bring Linda, Geneva and Marina with you if you want to start visiting any cities. They will be able to organize things while you teach people how to cultivate.”

“And you,” Jacob looked toward Epagogia, “I know we have to talk. I know I didn’t tell you some things, but I really need to finish this work.”

Jacob pointed toward the Earthy Knightly Fruit.

“If we want to feed humans, Devils and God knows who else, we will need to expand this goddamn Alchemical Garden to ten times its original size. So, can we press pause on our personal issues for a second and just focus on the work we have on our hands?”

“You are right, Jacob. This pettiness is not something that belongs to humans. We need to be better than this. We can and will be better than this. Not sure I can speak about—”

Jacob threw the Earthy Knightly Fruit right into the Vermillion Tyrant’s mouth, shutting him up.

“Eppy, please. I will explain myself as soon as I’m done with this. We can have the chat we did not have before when my aunt interrupted us. But I really need to know more about this Formation as soon as possible. Is that okay with you?”

Epagogia grumbled but she shot a look at Hektor and didn’t want to appear petty in front of that smug reddish human.

“Sure thing, Jaji-boy. I’ll wait.”

“Good,” Jacob turned again toward the Earthy Knightly Fruit.