“The Broken Depths… I remember Wis mentioning them,” Rakna muttered. “Hey, Gaelius. From your own experience in the subject of energies, what could Phantasms accomplish by using a near unlimited source of life force?”

The scientist blinked. “I’m assuming you know something I don’t by asking that… as for the answer of it; I couldn’t tell. Many potential miracles and unthinkable feats could be achieved by having a near-infinite source of mana, much less life force. With the latter, anything would be possible. But even then, the first problem would be to find something or someone capable of making use of it.”

“I guess that doesn’t do much to filter it down then,” the therian shrugged.

“Mind explaining?”

“Let’s just say I’ve acquired some intel about the final goal of the System, but what I can make of it is unfortunately exactly as vague as what you’ve just told me,” Rakna sighed and stood up. “I will be going now. I have to pass by the Pavilion; I need to talk to someone but I also heard it’s a good idea to refer to them if I want to register or sign legal agreements for System-wide companies.”

“That’s true. You have to invest in factories, storage, and distribution channels at least. Then, there are maybe employees to consider but our workforce can probably be replaced by machines thanks to the Eion Core,” Gaelius said. “I can easily replicate automatons. As for the company declaration, the business plan is up to you, but who are you going to write as the CEO? Obviously, the evident choice is yourself, but that has its downsides.”

“It would guarantee your success though,” Old Wang added.

“You’re right, I suppose my current fame would help a lot. But I won’t put myself as the CEO but as the president; I have a far better candidate for the top position.”

“Oh? Who would that be? One of us?” Gaelius raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

Rakna smiled and without responding, a low and quiet growl came out of his throat and his body morphed into a quadrupedal beast. His fur went from pale blue to ebony and four tails sprouted from his back.

The old scientist gawked at the sight of the large wolf slowly raising his head to look at him. Even when the transformation was over, he was still frozen in place. Old Wang was also stuck between being surprised and accepting the situation as if he should have expected it.

“Goodness… you’re a walking political warhead, waiting to be set off,” Gaelius ultimately remarked before he burst out laughing. “But it’s perfect! I would certainly not mind working under someone who managed to become a literal public icon in record time; twice at that. Contact me whenever your preparations are over. I’m quite excited to see where this will bring us.”

The nine-tailed wolf gave him an amused huff and glanced at Evelyn. “You can say here if you want to learn a bit more about item alteration. Don’t forget you can use my card at Trafford afterward.”

“Yes, I think I’ll go buy some ingredients later and make the medicine tailored to you,” she said.

Rakna nodded and turned toward Wang. “Thanks for the liaison by the way. It won’t take too much time before you get to have as much material as you want.”

The dwarf snorted. “Aye, if you say so, kiddo.”

The wolf made a small smile and as he was about to leave the lab, he remembered something and looked at Gaelius. “I almost forgot. I want you to do this as well,” he uttered and sent a digital file through Eye of Symphony to the closest computer in the room.

“Hm?” Gaelius swiftly opened it and checked the content, skimming over it. “Oh? Interesting. Give me two weeks as well. The tri-core will need a few patches for this to be stably done.”

“Thanks,” the wolf said and while still in his lupine form, he fizzled out of view.

* * *

Rakna walked through the streets of Black Steel, purposefully allowing anyone to witness him in the city as a Nine-Tailed Wolf. He also had cloaked Sonata by manipulating it to change colors like a chameleon; the same way he could do it with Allegro and Scherzo.

“{Sometimes, I feel like you need to feed your vanity,}” Fray’s voice suddenly sounded. “{Look at all those people looking at you with mouths open wide enough to fit a hundred flies.}”

The wolf slightly raised an eyebrow. ‘What’s wrong? Didn’t you say you would only come out if I called you?’

“{Yes, well, I now have something to tell you and I learned from Fenriu here that you almost died while I wasn’t present. Something about ‘island’ and ‘jewels’, whatever that means. This child isn’t one of many words. Regardless, truly, you cannot be left alone.}”

‘Uh uh, and the real reason?’

“{…I was bored.}”

‘Good answer. Now what’s the thing you wanted to talk about?’

“{The book; it changed,}” the moment Fray said this, Rakna stopped walking in the middle of the street, ignoring the gasps behind him.

‘What change?’

“{Calm down, it’s not anything bad,}” the storyteller continued. “{I finally gathered enough valor to step into that room, which is admirably praiseworthy of me, then--}”

‘Stop glorifying your cowardness.’

“{--I took a look at the pages,}” Frau pointedly ignored the wolf’s jab. “{It hadn’t changed much from before and the content still ended in the middle. But I flipped the blank pages for a while and then I found one where words were being written; as if it was being gradually filled.}”

‘And what was written on it?’

“{Um… ‘The’.}”

‘‘The’? That’s it?’ Rakna made an incongruous expression.

“{Well, it is not my fault. I can see the letters for a second word being formed next to it but whether it means that it will be fully formed with enough time or if it requires specific conditions is beyond me. So, my suggestion is that you come here yourself. Considering it’s your uncle’s life record, you would have most likely more luck than me.}”

‘…all right. I’ll take a look when I can,’ the nine-tailed wolf responded and decided to star-flash to the Pavilion. When he walked in, he made sure to notify people of his presence with a pulse of intimidation. Not that he needed that with his overwhelming size and appearance.

As anticipated, this had the reaction of scaring away anyone in his direct vicinity. While he did this mostly for the persona, Rakna would be lying if he said he didn’t like to have his path open as if a red carpet had been unrolled for him.

He calmly walked to the reception, with almost everyone being forced to look up at him due to his height. When he got to the counter, the towering wolf tilted his head as he saw the sweating mess of a receptionist. Her lips were pursed and she was shivering in nervousness. There was only one reason why he paused; he recognized her.

“Elora, was it?”

“Eh?!” She stepped back with a yelp. Her mouth opened and closed. “H-h-h-how d-do you…? Ah, I am so sorry!” She suddenly bowed.

Rakna blinked. “Why… are you suddenly apologizing to me? I am not here to do anything to you if that is how it came across. Rakna simply told me about you.”

“Huh? Really? His Majesty mentioned me?” Elora reiterated with a blush. “Um, uh… It’s an honor but I cannot imagine being worth remembering for ones such as you...”

Rakna huffed under the guise of ‘Obsidian’. “What an idiotic thing to say, young girl. The ones that are not worth remembering are not those weaker than you, but those stronger who believe that they are worth more than you.”

The receptionist’s eyes widened and his words similarly struck the minds of the Hosts and Locals listening in the Pavilion’s entrance hall. “I… thank you, Lord Obsidian,” Elora ultimately said with a shy smile.

“Do not fret over it. Now, onto business. I have two things to ask. I have never come to the Pavilion in the past, you see. So, I would like to know; who should I refer to for the legal rights of founding an industrial corporation?”

Elora blinked a few times, taking the time to process that information. Especially the fact that this infamous Nine-Tailed Wolf had never visited the Pavilion before; which only served to solidify the idea that Obsidian had remained hidden from the world to this day.

The second thing she had to reiterate in her head was his question. The implications of it first went over her head then swung back to hit her full force. “A… a corporation, sir?”

“Yes. Oh, and,” Rakna glanced around the room. “You can spread this around. At least, it’ll be useful this time around,” he added under his breath and no one dared to comment on that.

“Um, Lord Obsidian, if you wish to go through the process, I will have to guide you to the dedicated lodges inside the Pavilion. Do you… have time for that?” She asked timidly.

The wolf hummed and nodded. “No problem. Take this one with you,” he added elusively but Elora soon understood what he meant when one of his tails flew out and created a perfect copy next to him. The two versions nodded at each other and the original Rakna started heading to the stairs.

“W-wait, what about your second question, sir?” She hastily asked but it was the clone who replied to her while the original entered the Pavilion’s private section.

“I’ll explain on the way. Show me to those lodges,” the clone said. She nodded after a moment spent recollecting herself; this was the first time she had seen the Nine-Tailed Clan’s clone technique in action after all. She asked one of her colleagues to replace her at the reception and brought the wolf inside the main corridors of the Pavilion’s administrative infrastructure.

* * *

Meanwhile, Rakna walked to the item shop and opened the doors with his tails. He shrunk himself a bit to fit into the room and the first thing he saw was a vixen. A beautiful one, as always, but there was one stark difference today, which was highlighted by his deadpan face.

“Hey, Rara! Good to see you. I have to say, you’re quite a handsome one in that form,” Kara said as she raised a cup of alcohol at him, an enchanting grin on her face.

“…who the heck is Rara? And where’s foxy?”

“She’s running late, so I’m here in her place,” the older woman said joyfully.

‘……this day suddenly got a hundred times harder,’ Rakna thought to himself with a sigh.