I turned my focus on Kuzon, but at this point, he simply looked uninterested.

The question of what happened to his race, his nation, did not faze the boy in the slightest.

“That’s because the Midas Empire no longer exists. It was destroyed twelve years ago.” There was a dead calm in his eyes as he spoke about it.

“W-what—? How did that even—?!”

“That’s enough talk. I’ve gotten what I wanted, and I also gave my customary greeting to Ana. I’m leaving.”

Kuzon took a step back, and golden lightning formed on his body.

“Wait.”

Once again, he didn’t listen to me. Apparently, he simply wanted to abandon everyone again—even Ana, whom he just kissed.

“I said wait!”

Instantly utilizing my Anti-Magic, I disabled the golden lightning that danced around his body.

“Hmm?” Kuzon looked surprised for a moment, and then a slight spark of interest appeared in his eyes.

“What did you do?” His voice still sounded cold, a sharp contrast from the young boy I remembered in Ainzlark.

‘Just how much has he changed? Or was he always like this… and I never noticed?’

Could I even call myself Kuzon’s friend after everything I was discovering? No one knew anything about him, and he was basically detached from everyone at this point.

“I’ll tell you once we’re done with this conversation. Why are you in such a hurry? Where are you going?” I narrowed my eyes.

I began putting my brain to work. Kuzon’s appearance was a surprise and all, but it wasn’t entirely bad.

‘He’s strong, and he has experience hunting down those Cult members. If I bring him to my side, then…’

The prospect of that plan was good. The only issue was how to tie him down and ensure cooperation.

“My next target. If you’re not telling me what I want to know, that’s fine too. Just don’t get in my way.” With that, Kuzon began walking away.

‘He can’t activate Magic since I used Anti-Magic, so he’ll just walk? Just how uncooperative can this guy be?’

Still, I wasn’t going to give up!

Kuzon was a Midas, and his race boasted of having a superior overall constitution—even better than the Beastfolk.

Other than Neron and myself, and Serah too; I expected Kuzon to be stronger than every member of our team.

He was indispensable at this point.

“Why don’t we share Intel? Tell us what you know, and we’ll tell you what we know. That way, everyone gets what they want.”

Kuzon stopped dead in his tracks.

He glanced in my direction, half of his face displayed thanks to his golden hair covering the other part.

“Fine. Start first.”

His hands were in his pocket, and his cloak danced with the wind.

Despite our long time apart, and how much the boy had changed in both behavior and looks, some things remained the same.

For one, the three Magic Items he donned as a necklace, ring, and bracelet.

He also had a luxurious outfit, purple shirt, and dark pants, with gold linings accentuating their prestige.

His shoes were also unique, and everything he donned had special Magic properties.

‘Did he make them himself, or…?’ There were many questions in my mind, but I decided to leave them for when I finished bringing the young Midas to our team.

“Fine. I’ll begin.”

******************

Before starting the information exchange, I brought Maria out of the subspace I hid her in when Beruel attacked.

She was initially flustered, but seeing everyone’s faces calmed her down quickly. Serah took it upon herself to fill her in on what happened, so I could focus on my conversation with Kuzon.

On one end was our group, and on the other was Kuzon.

He looked dead calm, and there was no trace of a smile on his face.

‘Jeez… when did he get so edgy?’

Since I was the one starting, I had to make my information appealing. If not, I doubted Kuzon would stick around.

‘I don’t know how much Kuzon knows about the Cult’s involvement in the just-concluded war, of their goal of collecting Arcanas…’

To be safe, I mentioned all of them.

“The Nether Cult currently has ten Arcanas. “The Magician. The Lovers. The Star. Death. The Papess. The Chariot. Justice. Temperance. The Empress—”

“The Empress??!” Kuzon’s eyes widened and he broke out of his cool character the moment I mentioned the Empress Arcana.

“Yeah. Finally, the Devil. They are also searching for others… like this one we just got ” I showed him the Strength Arcana, but Kuzon didn’t seem the least bit interested in it.

Frankly, that was a bit unsettling.

“Do you know which members have which Arcanas? Like The Empress?” He asked with genuine interest.

“No, we don’t. But, only the upper echelon members of their Organization are allowed to wield Arcanas, so it has to be a member of the top brass.”

“Of course. That much is obvious. Anything else?” He tapped his finger on his folded arm impatiently.

‘This looks like he can’t wait to get out of here. What the…?!’

I thought he would find some of the information I shared with him to be useful, but was I just wasting his time?

‘Well, I have a trump card…’ A smile formed on my face as I was ready to knock Kuzon’s condescending gaze off his face.

“I know where their base is located.”

Once again, the boy’s eyes lit with interest, causing me to smile within myself.

‘Heh! He took the bait!’

“I see. Alright then. Of everything you’ve told me, I suppose the one thing I still haven’t figured out is the location of their base.” Kuzon sighed, returning his hands to his pockets.

“I’ll tell you what I know, and then you’ll tell me the name of the base. Once that’s over with, we can go our separate ways.”

‘This guy…’ Was he intentionally trying to avoid being indebted to our group?

“Well, that’s fine. It depends on the information you bring to the table, though.”

At this point, I had already set a bar for the level of information I desired. It would take quite the information to trump that.

“Well, hear for yourself.”

*

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A

/N

Happy new month, everyone! Special thanks to to my dear fans and readers. I cherish and love you all.

Remember, this month there’s a 90 Percent Privilege Discount. Think of it as my happy new year present.

Do have a lovely time.