Rena had always been known in the outpost as exactly what she had told them she was, which was mostly how everyone else operated. However, some significant issues were already surfacing, and Sylvester simply had to ask.

"I... Don’t understand," Rena forced a confused look and said, acting as though she hadn’t quite caught what he meant.

"This is serious, Rena Ironcrown. If I am guessing correctly, that is the surname of the Ironcrown Family. The same family that governs the Steel Empire, under Jonah Ironcrown specifically."

"How can you prove to me that you are not from that same family?" He asked. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"I’m simply not," Rena almost slipped, but she steadied herself and held his gaze.

"I’m Rena Ironcrown, but not that Ironcrown. If I were from such a family, would I really be here?" She asked, her eyes gleaming with growing tension.

Sylvester gave her a measured look and smiled faintly, then reached into his drawer and pulled out a folded paper, placing it in front of her.

On that paper was a clear image of her face alongside a few lines of text.

MISSING DAUGHTER OF EMPEROR JONAH OF THE STEEL EMPIRE. Two Hundred Thousand Gold Coins For Whoever Finds Her.

He set the paper down and stepped closer to her.

"People are looking for you everywhere. Some because of the reward, and some because the Emperor himself has sent them."

"You are the Rena Ironcrown from the very Ironcrown Family that everyone knows, and regardless of the fact that you had every opportunity available to you, you chose to run from it. Why?"

Rena realised there was no point pretending any further. He already knew everything. And as much as she did not want this spreading further across the outpost, especially to Roman, she had to give him something here.

"You are right. I am his one and only daughter. I am the Young Mistress of the Steel Empire. But I never dreamed of becoming the Empress," Rena began.

"Growing up, I always dreamed of building my own community from the ground up. One that was flawless. One that would flourish. One that would carry the legacy of my own name, not my father’s. That has always been my dream.

But my father has always been against it. He wants me to take over as Empress of the Steel Empire when he eventually goes beyond the Reach, and I do not want that. I have my own dream, and I intend to work toward it."

"Is that why you chose to come here?" Sylvester asked. "You turned down many strong communities just to end up here. Grey City, Newton Refuge, Deston Refuge, Success City, and even Strength City," he said, reading from a record book.

"All of these communities saw the potential in you and were ready to invest in the biggest way possible. Yet you chose Blood Trail Outpost. I am not trying to downgrade the community I lead, but we both know this place should be the last option anyone would seriously consider."

"I need to know why," Sylvester added.

Rena sighed and answered.

"I needed somewhere I would not be too easily noticed. Somewhere he would have a hard time finding me. So I chose a community at the extreme edge of the Frontier."

The Frontier was the outermost region of the Reach. The Reach itself was divided into three main regions, the Frontier, the Center, and the Heartland.

Most Outposts and Refuges were found in the Frontier, while Cities, Empires, and stronger communities were typically established in the Center or the Heartland.

The Frontier was understood to host the weakest Monster Zones, which was why most ambitious Entrants did not stay there. They pushed further in to build their communities where the high-ranked Monster Territories offered far greater rewards.

By the end of their conversation, Rena had made one thing very clear.

"I don’t want to be there. I want to remain here and give this outpost everything I have."

"You wouldn’t want to lose me, would you?" She gave him a steady look and asked.

Sylvester honestly had no clean answer to that. He simply gave a faint nod and dismissed her.

It was her choice if she wanted to walk away from her heritage. But one thing he knew for certain was that this matter was far from over, because the Emperor Jonah Ironcrown he knew would stop at nothing to bring his daughter back.

The man held a position in the Top 20 of the overall Strongest Entrants rankings in the entire Reach. He was not someone to take lightly, and Sylvester did not want a confrontation to unfold on his doorstep when the Emperor eventually traced her here.

That would not only create a massive problem between the Outpost and the Emperor, but would drag Citadel City into it as well.

Sylvester did not want any part of that.

...

Within minutes, Roman appeared in the room and took the offered seat.

Sylvester took several sips of water, exhaled slowly, and turned to the young man sitting across from him.

"Fourth Class. Yet you have surpassed millions of Entrants who entered the Badlands on the Day of the Red Zenith. That is not only impressive, Roman. It is genuinely unbelievable."

Sylvester stepped closer, closing the distance between them to about two metres.

"What is your Profession?" he asked.

"Mage," Roman replied almost immediately.

"What weapon do you use?" Sylvester asked.

"A Common Grade sword," Roman replied, maintaining perfect composure, and without being asked he pulled out the Common Grade sword he had received from the blacksmith on his first day and held it up briefly.

He did not bring out Queenfang. He had concealed it beneath the Common Grade sword’s sheath, making it nearly impossible to spot at a glance.

Sylvester gave it a brief look and nodded, then returned to his table and sat down. He appeared to be checking something on his BSP screen, and after a moment he looked up.

"You are currently ranked 119th in the Best Performing Newbies ranking, which puts you above every other youngster across every outpost at this stage. You have made people start to take notice of Blood Trail Outpost, and I want to thank you for that."

Roman hesitated and nodded.

He had not even been aware he had climbed to 119th, and the number hit him with a quiet kind of amazement. The morning’s hunt had clearly done more work than he had realised.

"Good stuff, hehe."

"When we head to the market in two days, you will receive a great number of offers from various communities. With that in mind, I want to ask you one question."

"I will stay at Blood Trail Outpost. I am not going anywhere."

Roman answered before Sylvester had even finished forming the question, and the certainty in his voice left no room for doubt.

Sylvester could not help the smile that crossed his face.

’Rena Ironcrown.’

’Roman Rings.’

’This community is going to be too proud to have you both.’

’We are finally going to grow.’