The Ashen Dominion

After Rai arrived, he handed Kaiser his daily protein as usual. The brown bag rustled softly as it landed in Kaiser's hands.

It was warm. Heavy. Familiar.

"Thanks."

Kaiser muttered, giving Rai a slight nod.

"No problem."

Rai answered with a smile, brushing dust off his sleeve.

Then, as always, they chatted casually.

Just small talk.

Rai mentioned how loud the inner halls were getting again. Some idiot in the Copper Wing dropped a tray and caused a mess. They both shared a quiet laugh about it.

(Servants have ranks too— Copper Wing, Silver Wing, and Gold Wing. Basically the same with the Gladiators. Rai is in Bronze.)

Kaiser listened silently as usual—half amused, half bored.

Eventually, though, the topic shifted.

Kaiser opened his mouth—

"So... Did you hear about the organization registration?"

Then he asked Rai that, getting to the important part. His eyes narrowing slightly.

Rai stopped mid-sentence and tilted his head.

"Oh, you heard about that already? I was just about to mention it to you right now."

He said, slightly surprised.

"Yeah. The guard gave the message to Leo earlier."

But after hearing that from Kaiser, Rai nodded his head.

"Well, now that you know it, it'll be faster now."

Rai muttered.

"My seniors were talking about that topic, along with the new event—[Organizations VS Organizations] in the servant halls. So it's really hard to miss."

He said.

Kaiser raised an eyebrow.

"I guess almost everyone in this coliseum knows about it now."

"Mhm."

Rai nodded as a response.

Then, excitedly—

Fwip~

He untied a string pouch at his waist, pulled out a folded paper, and held it up.

"Anyway, I already prepared this."

He showed the paper to Kaiser.

"Hmm? What's this?"

Kaiser took the paper and unfolded it.

And inside of it—

Were names... And ranks!

"...!"

Kaiser's eyes widened seeing that. After all—

'This is a list of [Ashborn] members?!'

He exclaimed in his head.

"You've been keeping track of all this?"

He asked, genuinely surprised.

"Of course."

Rai answered, standing a little straighter now. Proudly puffing his chest out.

"I know every member of [Ashborn]. Their roles. Their assigned cells. Their fighting rank and battle points. I've been keeping my own list ever since you invited me and I joined in."

Kaiser glanced at him.

Then at the list again.

He had no words.

Then, before he could even say anything else, Rai casually opened his mouth—

"I'll take care of the registration."

Them he offered that himself! Kaiser didn't even have the opportunity to go and ask him to!

Kaiser blinked.

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I'll just clean this up and pass it to my senior. The senior servants are the ones handling the internal submissions. All I need to do is submit the list officially under [Ashborn]'s name, and it'll be recognized by tomorrow as a legit organization!"

"Though, that also means that you guys are registered for the [Organizations VS Organizations]."

Rai explained calmly.

"..."

Kaiser just stared at him.

Then suddenly, out of nowhere—

"...Damn."

He just went and muttered that.

Rai scratched the back of his head, smiling.

"Haha, it's not a big deal. I can't exactly fight, I'm just a servant. So this is the least I can do, right?"

He mumbled jokingly.

At his words... Kaiser looked at him for a few more seconds.

Then—

He let out a low chuckle.

"Haha, you're seriously super amazing, you know that?"

Kaiser said as he handed back the paper and placed a hand on Rai's shoulder. And before Rai could even say anything—

"Don't say 'it's not a big deal'."

He continued speaking.

Rai glanced up to him.

"You've been helping in holding this group together from the background for months. Everyone trusts you. Leo, Viktor, even Edmar. You're not just some servant—"

"You're one of us."

Then, Kaiser declared that.

"..."

Rai's lips parted slightly.

His eyes widened.

And for a moment, he just stood there, stunned.

Then—

"...Thanks."

He said quietly.

"...That means a lot."

He followed.

Kaiser smirked, before shrugging his shoulders.

"Haha, you know what? I'm really glad I invited you to join [Ashborn]."

He said.

And after that, they stood in silence for a moment.

No more words were needed.

Eventually, Rai gave a playful salute with two fingers.

"I'll finish this tonight and get it submitted by morning. You guys just focus on preparing for the event next month."

He said, acting like a soldier.

Kaiser just laughed at him and nodded.

"We'll do that."

"Alright then. I'll head back now."

"See you tomorrow."

Rai grinned.

"Yeah, tomorrow, same time."

Then he turned around and started walking away.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Kaiser watched him go.

He waited until the sound of footsteps faded into the corridor... before finally turning back toward his room.

"Haaaaaa~"

He let out a tired yawn on his way back.

...

...

Once inside—

Thud!

Kaiser shut the door behind him and dropped the paper bag on top of the small drawer beside his bed.

The scent of the cooked meat hit him instantly.

Warm. Simple. Familiar.

Kaiser sat down on his bed.

Opened the paper bag.

Inside were two roasted chicken breasts, cut clean and neatly packed. Nothing fancy. But he didn't need fancy. He needed fuel.

He picked one up and began to eat silently.

Nom- nom-

No words. No thoughts. Just chewing.

He finished fast.

And once done, he just tossed the paper bag into the corner of his room lazily.

Then—

He laid down, and stared at the dark ceiling above.

"..."

No training tonight.

No meditation.

No sword swings or skill control.

Kaiser was tired.

Mentally more than physically.

"Fuuuuuuuuh~"

He sighed.

Closed his eyes.

And let the silence take over.

...

...

'I'll just train harder tomorrow.'

Kaiser thought to himself.

And with that—

He drifted off to sleep.

*****

The next day, Kaiser woke up feeling lazy.

"Tch... Fuck."

He cursed in the air as he sat up on his bed.

His hair was messy, his body still heavy. But after staring blankly at the wall for a few seconds, he finally moved.

He stood up and began fixing his bed, his face still half-asleep as he folded the thin blanket and adjusted the pillow back to the top.

After that, without resting—

"Well, let's get started."

He dropped to the floor and started his morning exercise. Push-ups. Sit-ups. Squats. Burpees. The usual.

It didn't take long before sweat began dripping down his face.

His breathing started getting heavier.

But he didn't stop.

He kept going.

Kept pushing.

Kept sweating.

By the time he finished, over half an hour had passed... and the sun hadn't even fully risen yet.

"...Haa."

Kaiser wiped his sweat with a towel as he looked at his door. Then he grabbed his shirt, wore it over his sticky body, and walked toward the door.

It was time for breakfast now.

"Ugh, I'm hungry..."

Kaiser thought.

TAP.

Then he stepped outside his room.

And the moment he did— he saw Edmar and Viktor sitting on a wooden bench just a few meters away.

The two of them were also covered in sweat.

Their shirts were half-soaked, and they were holding food trays in their hands.

Kaiser immediately realized they must have been training too in their rooms.

Moving on...

Edmar noticed Kaiser first and raised his hand lazily.

Viktor followed, nodding at him with his usual calm look.

Kaiser just nodded back at them, silently, then made his way to the gate where the line for breakfast was forming.

After waiting a bit, he got his portion—today's meal was bread, boiled eggs, and some thin stew.

With the tray in his hand, he turned around and walked straight back to where Edmar and Viktor were sitting.

"Morning."

Kaiser greeted them plainly as he sat beside them.

"Morning."

Edmar replied with a grin.

"Yo."

Viktor followed.

Meanwhile, Kaiser didn't waste time.

"Nom-"

And he started eating first!

...

...

...

As they were eating, Kaiser told Edmar and Viktor about what happened last night.

How Rai visited him.

How he handed over the protein as usual.

And most importantly—how he offered to handle the organization registration all by himself.

"...Really?"

Viktor blinked.

"That guy... he's too good sometimes."

Edmar said, biting into his bread.

"He already made a list of all the members and their ranks. Said he'd pass it to his senior and register [Ashborn] to be an official organization."

Kaiser said as he took a sip of the stew.

"Damn..."

Edmar scratched his head.

"That's... actually impressive."

Viktor muttered with a nod.

Even though Rai wasn't there, both of them looked up and thanked him aloud.

"Thanks, Rai."

"Appreciate it, man."

They'll just say it in person again when they see him.

Anyway, after that— the three just casually continued their breakfast, chatting about nothing important—random stuff, some gossip from the Bronze Place, and some nonsense that Edmar started talking about.

The three of them laughed a few times.

And after they finished eating a bit later—

"Fuuuuu, time to get ready."

"Yeah, same."

"Let's meet up again here in five minutes."

—the three of them started getting ready to head to the training ground.