Waking up from my daze on the Metro at just the right time to get off for my stop, I entered into a car already waiting for me. After an excruciating 35 minutes of silence, I had arrived back at the Mur compound at the countryside of Paris.

Getting out of the car as slowly as I could without breaking 'etiquette', I all but crawled inside the clan compound. I was not looking forward to being back in the hellscape called the Mur clan.

The moment I entered the compound, the etiquette hardwired into my head took over. When I passed by my fellow Mur clan members, I greeted their fake smiles with one of my own and pretended to not notice their hushed whispers as I left them.

After all, this was just my daily life.

'Why was he chosen to be the heir, doesn't he only have barrier manipulation? My child has that too! And he is a filthy bastard!' Was a common question that they asked amongst themselves. Due to me possessing Gluttony being one of, if not, the highest level secret in the clan, I faced this scrutiny every day.

The familiar sound of flip flops echoing against floor found its way into my ears as I entered the main building of the Mur clan. Having a 'polite' conversation with a person near the doorway, I soon found myself in the clan leader's room. The head of the Mur clan.

A woman that looked to be in her mid twenties sat in a laid back position on a throne of gold, her brown hair going down to the middle of her back. Her blue eyes piercing into my very soul. She was wearing the traditional Mur clan leader outfit, but changed to be for a woman.

Charlotte, the undisputed strongest sorcerer in France. Born in 1985 a time when women were treated as mere housewives. Even though she was born with Barrier Manipulation, she was seen as a meer breeding tool because of it.

Not accepting her fate as a pawn, a cog in the system, she struggled and clawed her way up to the top through any means no matter how insidious. Eventually ending up as the Mur clan head after killing the previous one in a duel to the death after he secretly made arrangements first her marriage.

After a period of strife within the clan, she crushed it down not with strength. But with intrigue and deception. Finding the weaknesses of all of the clan elders and bribing outside forces to help her.

Overall, she was not someone to be messed with.

Charlotte started our conversation in a stiff voice, "Good to see you in one piece, heir Andre." Containing my snicker I replied, "With all of the DCTs and a T grade BEB, I would be far more surprised if I didn't, clan leader Charlotte."

The room fell into silence for a couple long moments, a tense aura filled the room to a brim. And as it reached its breaking point-

The room erupted in laughter at the idiotic game we just played. There was no tension between me and Charlotte, as both of our origins were incredibly similar. And why make enemies if you don't have to? And I was an incredibly valuable ally. As I had explained earlier.

All of these factors led to Charlotte pretending to be friendly with me at first, but after a couple of months she loosened up a bit after hearing about, but never seeing, the way the clan's members treated me. In a way that was far too similar to the way she used to be treated.

And once she loosened up, she made friends with me. One of the few true friends the eccentric woman had.

After our laughter stopped, Charlotte readjusted herself to be in a more serious position and started once more, "I actually have something serious to discuss with you, Andre."

Straightening my back slightly, I fell silent. "As you know it is already late November. And every year EJS (European Jujutsu Society) holds a meeting on January 5th. I, being the strongest and most influential sorcerer in France, get to bring along one additional person to this meeting. As does everybody else."

"For the last few years I have been taking the first elder, but seeing as you are old enough now, I am taking you this year. As a few very important things are happening in this meeting." Charlotte finished.

"A few very important things? Quite vague aren't we?" I took the bait and asked the question.

Charlotte smiled, "Well, for one, the papacy is getting a new leader in February."

That… was very important news. The papacy was the oldest and strongest force in Europe and, excluding Japan, third or fourth strongest force in the world. Depending on who you ask. Not only were they immensely powerful but they held a great deal of influence due to two other reasons.

Most of Europe believed in the Catholic god and some feared him as well, a disaster waiting to happen, but they were also the only force made entirely of Reverse Curse Energy users. And good ones at that.

The Catholic Church believed that man's sin was cursed energy and thus tried every method in the book, and not, to get everyone to stop using it. However, they soon realized this was futile. And thus-

The Crusades.

Not only because they got to smite 'heathens' and take back the 'holy land', but because in Jerusalem there was something very important. The Catholic Church was made into such a dominant powerhouse because of it.

To understand what was in Jerusalem you must know that the Bible said something along the lines of, "Jesus sacrificed himself for all of mankind's sins." And what were sins? Cursed energy.

Jesus was the first user of Reverse Cursed Energy. Or, as the church called it, 'virtue'. And he would have been the only user of it if not for a binding vow he made using his life as the sacrifice.

"Jesus sacrificed himself for all of mankind's sins to be alleviated."

And thus, the power of reverse cursed energy was born into the world. But how does all of this connect to the object that The Crusades were after?

Because the object they were after was… the origin of reverse cursed energy. The pool of blood that fell below the cross Jesus wad on. The pool of virtue, as the church called it. Anyone who bathes in this pool would be given reverse cursed energy at the cost of their normal cursed energy. A being without 'sin' and only 'virtue'

"Hey! Stop spacing out. You do that a lot you know." Charlotte said, waking me up from my world building doze.

"Yeah, that is important news. But you said thingS. So whats the other?" I said, waving off my doziness.

The smile on Charlotte's face didn't fall, "You know how for the past hundred years everyone has been arguing over whose jujutsu ranking system was the best? Because it would hurt many old and large egos to say the strongest sorcerer in their country was a grade three?"

"Well everyone has decided enough is enough and we are all going to create a ranking system together! And everyone has a say in it so no sore losers can complain." Charlotte said excitedly. Finally a proper ranking system could be established!

"Thats… great news. Anything else?" I asked.

"Related to the gathering? Nothing I know about. But…-"Charlotte paused, in a successful attempt to add dramatic effect. "But what?" I asked. "But there is also nothing else of importance for me to tell you."

I facepalmed.

———

After the very 'delightful' conversation I had with Charlotte. I left the main building and headed towards my own residence. Where me and my mother lived with a few butlers and maids.

It took about 10 minutes of walking to reach the edge of the Mur compound, where my house was located. My house, if you could call it that, was absolutely gigantic. For no apparent reason. Although they said it was to house the butlers and maids.

But, if the house was smaller, would we need maids and butlers to LIVE there? Wouldn't it be easier if they just came for a few hours a day or when called for? Although I was rich, I had been poor before. So all of this rich shit really made me nauseous. I guess I could accept it if it gave the butlers and maids jobs, rather than being homeless.

Opening the front door of my house, I walked inside and took a deep breath. This was my safe haven.

Walking around the mansion for a long while in search of my mother before a maid eventually told me where she was. After having a conversation about my mission with her, I decided to watch TV for the rest of the day. Because I had completed my first mission today, I was off the hook when it came to training.

And I, was VERY thankful for that.