Shadow Slave

Now that Sunny was a teacher at the Academy, he was very much looking forward to gaining access to the Instructor's Cafeteria. He remembered the last time he had eaten there in perfect detail. The food was simply to die for.

…It might have been one of the major reasons why he had accepted the job of a lecturer, to be honest.

'No, no it wasn't! I am not that shallow!'

Walking inside, Sunny glanced at the tasteful interior, gaining a new appreciation for the wooden furnishings. By now, he was not shocked every time he saw natural wood in the waking world. However, this was not just any wood… if he remembered correctly, all this lumber came from the corpse of a slain titan.

A titan killed by the great clan Valor, to be precise. Perhaps even by Anvil himself. What irony it was, to enjoy a dinner on one of the cafeteria's tables while being secretly hunted by the people who provided the titanic lumber for its creation.

With a sigh, Sunny looked around and noticed a familiar face. An exquisitely beautiful woman in a deep blue uniform sat in the corner of the cafeteria, cradling a cup of coffee in her hands. He confidently walked over and sat down across from her.

"Master Jet."

Soul Reaper Jet looked up from her cup and smiled at him.

"...Master Sunless."

'Well that… sounds weird.'

He shifted uncomfortably, not accustomed to being addressed that way… at least not by her. Although the two of them were technically of the same Rank now, Jet was still older than him. The gap between them had grown much smaller, but he still felt a lot of respect for her.

Looking at his fellow Ascended, Sunny suddenly frowned.

Master Jet… looked different today.

He was accustomed to her usual, slightly unkept and careless appearance. However, the person in front of him looked like nothing if not an exemplary officer. Her uniform was perfectly ironed and buttoned all the way, with not a single crease or blemish marring its surface. Her silver epaulets were glistening with a polished sheen. Her leather boots were freshly shined.

Her raven black hair was perfectly arranged, and her icy blue eyes were sharp and piercing.

He raised an eyebrow.

"You… uh… look nice?"

Jet's smile widened.

"Oh, this? I had to attend a… a special ceremony in the morning. Promotions are flying off the shelves in the government these days."

Sunny cleared his throat.

"Congratulations, I guess."

a small alloy box

Congratulations to

times, then opened the box and looked at the glimmering soul shard

this is exactly what I needed! Thank you so much! But… isn't

shard like that

Master Jet shrugged.

have more access

expectantly.

the Ascended

me? I recently turned thirty,

then

Well, in that case, dinner is on

more than happy with that

too well, Sunny. In

finished their food and leaned

took a sip of coffee and

know how to treat your staff.

voice trailed off a little, and a wistful expression appeared on her face. Then, she shook her head and finally addressed the true reason why

first. You can relax, Sunny. Valor seems to finally be ready to behave reasonably, so the worst part is

He inhaled deeply:

"At last! What changed?"

Master Jet shrugged.

so Valor elders have a lot on their plate. That plays in your favor, because you and your cohort have managed to make yourself valuable. With Saint Tyris advocating on

Sunny frowned.

Fire Keepers that disappeared? You might have not noticed, but the survivors of the Forgotten Shore

She smiled.

foresee any problems with that. As long as you told the truth and neither of you had conscious plans of assisting that mysterious prisoner of

appeared on

had caused a great deal of harm to the clan's interests, because of the lack of witnesses and Saint Tyris volunteering to act as the scapegoat, that

matter was that no one in the Great Clan knew if their actions had been simply the result of a misfortunate happenstance, or premeditated. What Master Jet had just told him meant that Valor was ready to abandon their hostile paranoia and accept the version of events where neither Sunny nor Cassie had helped Mordret escape willingly,

death of Saint Cormac, that would leave

members of the cohort knew that he had followed them into the Nightmare. If the fact that the five of them had become