In This Rebirth, The Male Lead Is Mine [BL]
Chapter 72: Black Seeds

Chapter 72: Black Seeds

Rise did not have anyone besides Kamille, and his priority was elsewhere, not having any time to think about anything or anyone else. And so he did not pay attention to whatever was amiss.

"You invited the Guild Leader, right?" Rise finally went back on track. Ignoring the farce that Mitchell had created. "Don’t you think you should compensate us?"

"Compensate?"

"Yes, look..." Rise pointed at the ceiling. "Give us a place to stay," he demanded.

Mitchell blankly stared for a while before sighing. He chuckled, "Of course, I’ll give you a place to stay."

Whether it was only applicable to Rise, nothing else was said. As Micthell was really the one who provoked them and even ruined the ceiling of the inn, he ordered Akira, who was still dumbfounded by everything that transpired, to settle everything and the compensation.

The huge tower was bigger up close; it really dwarfed the surrounding buildings and was called the highest building in the yellow zone, which was only supposed to have less than fifty floors.

"Guild Leader?" Rise called after they arrived at the Blue Tower Guild headquarters, being led on with their temporary rooms. "We can still share the room."

Rise was annoyed that Mitchell prepared two rooms for them. Naturally, Riri was left behind with him, since he was really scared of Kamille for some reason.

Kamille, with fatigue visible on his face, rejected the idea much to Rise’s dismay.

"We’re in another territory, it’s better to respect their arrangements."

Rise did not conceal his disappointment; he pouted and could only accept it in the end. Reluctantly seeing Kamille off with his gaze, Rise stood outside of his room, and only when he could not really see him anymore then he went inside.

"Just you wait, Mitchell." Rise clicked his tongue, cursing the Guild Leader of Blue. He really had such guts, cursing someone in his own homecourt.

He sat on the couch, not minding how huge this room was. He would only stay for the night, so exploring the room was not important. Still, he knew that Mitchell treated them right, at least, he gave Rise a huge room to stay in for the night.

It was even bigger than his own room in the guild. Although it was indeed the case, it did not give a huge wave in his heart. For him, his room in the guild was more comfortable, and what he treated as his home.

"That arrogant prick." Mitchell really challenged Kamille! Who gave him the courage?

Seriously, Rise did not know what had gotten to that guy; his brain probably malfunctioned again. While both were S-ranks and Guild Leaders, the experiences of the two were far apart.

Kamille had been a Guild Leader longer than Mitchell, who only succeeded for three years. Their fighting experiences also differed greatly, Mitchell wouldn’t have any chance at all.

Rise decided to talk some sense to Mitchell one of these days, for the sake of the years they had known each other. Truthfully, Rise only did not want a sore loser, Mitchell repeatedly provoking Kamille for the years to come, repeating the history.

"Are you sleepy, Riri?" Rise laid down on the couch, looking at Riri curled up at his feet.

Riri pursed his lips and shook his little head.

In their journey, it was only Riri who was asleep, compared to the two of them who were constantly fighting, and Kamille even had to fly here carrying them.

Rise also felt the exhaustion, stifling a yawn. Compared to having a party, raiding a gate with only two people required more than just energy and power.

Not to mention they had been fighting for a whole two weeks after he joined the guild with only a day of rest. Then Mitchell arrived, making a farce, Rise really thought Kamille and him would fight, which would be disastrous.

"You can sleep..." Riri mumbled, the low and shy whisper was barely heard.

Rise did not expect this, so he laughed. Honestly, Rise was not exactly fond of kids, even if he grew up in an orphanage. He found some cute, but that was all there was to it.

He did not even know why he was fond of Riri, this little monster who could glimpse the threads of fate. Perhaps, Rise loved the idea of rebelling fate.

Riri, who was supposed to die, who did not have any will to live just because of the so-called destiny, it aroused his rebellious nature. It was as if, by keeping Riri alive, he could barely fight against fate.

Most importantly... Riri was not part of the plot. He could even be called a variable.

Anyway, Rise had the inkling Riri was someone special, and it would not hurt to keep him alive.

"You can sleep first," Rise sat up and pinched Riri’s cheek lightly, who only accepted his fate and just closed his eyes. "I’ll check what the fools were doing."

Riri tilted his head, confused.

"My foolish subordinates." Rise did not have feelings for them, but they were important, and checking once in a while was necessary.

Riri did not linger and obediently stood up to enter the bedroom. He might looked like a child, and in a sense, he was really a kid because he was born not long ago, Riri was a sensible child, not having the bearing of a normal kid.

Rise smiled satisfactorily after Riri entered the room and lightly closed the room. He was small, barely able to hold the doorknob when he tiptoed.

"Silly," Rise laughed, he did not care even if Riri heard or even if Kamille was there. He was pleased in his heart, though.

He took a communication artifact from his small space artifact. In the shape of a medium-sized mirror, Rise put it on the table. He leaned on the couch lazily, not bothering to change his posture or his appearance.

Rise found this artifact more reliable than phones, especially when he was dealing in the underground world. He did not want any interactions with them more than he intended to do.

After a while, the surface of the mirror seemed to twist as a new image then began to appear. It was blurry at first before it gradually became clear. Rise’s reflection was replaced by the image of a middle-aged man.

It was precisely the leader of the wasteland in the Dark Crimson Guild yellow zone, Dino. He was also a small management member of the underground world.

"Master," Dino greeted, bowing his head respectfully.

This time, it was not only because he wanted to do so on the surface, but because he did not have any other thoughts now. The Seed of Betrayal was very aggressive with such thoughts, after two weeks of being planted by the seed, it finally settled within them.

It was not that no one wanted to betray Rise and seek help from others, not convinced by the lethality of the seed. There were all sorts of people, most especially in the ranks of the wild espers of the underground world.

They had long been unruly and thought of them as far above the current society’s law. Dino, himself had similar thoughts initially.

Rise also seemed to anticipate this, as he never put any surveillance on them. Little did they know, the seed of betrayal could even sense any small malice against the master.

The moment they had the thoughts of betrayal or even the desire to reveal the existence of the seed, all of them suffered tormenting pain in their hearts.

The seed began its transformation, wanting to sprout and grow.

Dino felt immense fear at that moment, and when he stopped thinking of any malice against Rise, the seed retracted and became dormant again. He was one of the fortunate ones, some were not so lucky.

They failed to retract their malice, and the seed of betrayal successfully grew on them, using their heart, body, and the mana of their bodies to become mature quickly.

Dino and the members of the small organization stared in terror at how these members became monsters in just a few moments. What was the craziest of them... The corrupted treants seemed to elicit heartwrenching sounds before they peeled off on their own until only a black seed remained.

The black seeds were so small, but for days, Dino and the members were too afraid to pick them up. If not for Rise’s instructions when he helplessly reported it, no one would even have had the courage to pick those sinister seeds.

Dino could remember vividly when he reported it.

Rise listened lazily, and then he let out a playful laughter, he seemed unsurprised. In fact, he seemed to be waiting for it.

What he said then gave Dino chills; that diminished all of Dino’s desire to escape and instead cemented to his mind how much he needed to fulfill every order from Rise.

"It’s good you’re still alive; I won’t find another leader then." Rise stared at him mischievously. "The black seeds... Plant them, we’ll not be short of seeds anymore."

As it turned out, the black seeds could produce the white seeds, which could be implanted in humans, the more diluted version of the black seeds. And to have the black seeds... It needed betrayal.

Since the start... Rise had been waiting for betrayal so he could produce more of those white seeds. After all... He would have so many more subordinates in the future.

As mentioned, Rise never needed loyalty. He could make them obedient without it.

Dino knew... He really would never be able to escape the grasp of the devil.