As the man said, Ezekiel was greeted by another person within three days.
"You must be Ezekiel," the woman said with a smile.
He nodded, unsure of what to say.
"Follow me. I will take you to your new accommodations."
"New accommodations?" He asked, exiting the room.
"Yes. Since you will be enrolling in the army, you will naturally have to live with your comrades in the barracks. You didn't think it would be easy, did you?"
Ezekiel smiled wryly, rubbing his head.
He did, in fact, think it would be easy. He quite liked this room with its big comfortable bed and peaceful quietness.
Still, since he'd decided to join the army, it was normal for him to be treated as a regular soldier.
With the woman's guidance, he found his way through several corridors and strange areas of the palace, some of which he couldn't explain at all.
There was a strange aura everywhere, as if the things he saw weren't as they seemed.
But he didn't really have the mind to focus on them.
After all, the guide woman was already giving him a rundown of what he could expect from this point forth.
The army schedule, the intensity of training, and other facts that he had to mentally prepare himself for were stated one after another.
They were all important things, sure, but Ezekiel didn't really mind them.
The things the woman spoke about didn't seem stressful at all. Compared to the hidden manor, Void Palace's schedules were nothing.
"–every day. Since the war only recently started, you probably won't be deployed any time soon, but that only means you'll have more time to train, so it can be considered a good thing."
"The war?"
Ezekiel's attention was grabbed by those words.
"Is Void Palace the Straea Clan's enemy?"
It was an obvious question, but it was really just meant to segue into a new conversation, through which he could learn more about this world.
"You don't even know that much? Well, I guess they did keep you guys isolated from everything. That's right. Our palace and the Straea Clan have never been on good terms, but this war is about more than just the hostility between us."
The woman finally got to the main subject.
"By our Young Lord's orders, we began our siege on the Straea Clan roughly half a year ago…"
Damien didn't waste time with the Straea Clan.
It took him a few days to make the decision, but he eventually decided that there was no need to hesitate.
He originally felt that it was too early to start a war against Straea. He didn't know enough about what they had hidden up their sleeve, and with the Divine Order only recently demolished, he was unsure of whether moving now was worth it or not.
But the Straea Clan was a conniving bunch. They definitely had hidden cards now, but if he waited, they'd have even more.
Wasn't it better to disrupt them so they couldn't accomplish whatever they were planning?
That was his intent as he started the war, and the people of the palace followed happily.
They started in the lawless zone, but they didn't spend too much time there.
The criminals in the lawless zone weren't loyal to Straea. They were only in the Northern Region for their own benefit.
For the most part, the Straea Clan actually kept the majority of its forces within its manor grounds.
Those grounds were massive, enough to form a country of their own. There were several manors that housed the many departments of the clan, with the main manor situated at the forefront of it all.
The manor grounds had been surrounded by the Void Palace army near the beginning of the siege, but even as six months passed, not much progress was made.
"The key players on both sides haven't made any moves yet. For the most part, only skirmishes and battles on the outskirts have taken place."
The woman looked back at him.
"Of course, saving kids like you from those vile institutions has been one of the main priorities recently."
Unlike the war against the Divine Order, Void Palace didn't move with an exact plan to take down the Straea Clan.
After all, unlike the Divine Order, Damien didn't know anything about Straea.
He couldn't say he could perfectly see through their intentions, power, or forces.
The current period was one of probing. Both sides were trying to figure out the true strength of their opponent.
And until they had an estimate, neither would truly engage in battle with their all.
'That…was probing?'
Ezekiel was stunned by the fact.
The woman he saw, who was, of course, Elvira, was extremely powerful.
But she was only a Demigod.
She had the ability to fight, and she had the authority to command the army, but even she couldn't be considered a true peak expert of the palace.
The troops she'd brought were also those who were experiencing some of their first battles. As for the ones they were fighting, it was mostly the same.
To Straea, even Demigods were expendables.
Only the best experts, like Damien and the 12 Swords, or Malefice and his people, were considered truly strong.
And all of them were quietly observing on the sidelines and waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
'The outside world is bigger than I thought.'
As he learned more, Ezekiel realized just how closed off he'd been from anything and everything.
There was so much to do, so much to learn…
'...but until the Straea Clan is gone, I can't do anything with peace of mind.'
His eyes turned cold.
The urge to slaughter was strong in his heart. It had been cultivated well.
He didn't know whether to suppress it or not, but it wasn't like he had the chance to make that choice here.
There was nobody to kill.
"Here we are."
He snapped out of his thoughts at the beckoning of his guide.
Before him was a door, a massive door that didn't seem to lead anywhere.
When he walked through it, he found himself in a completely new space.
Ezekiel's eyes immediately widened.
'Is this a training ground or a city?!'
The military facility was less of a facility and more of its own nation.
Everywhere Ezekiel looked, he could see soldiers doing drills or living out their daily lives.
There were high-rise apartments in the distance, as opposed to the cramped barracks he was expecting.
And most of all, there was a thick, suffocating aura.
"You'll get used to it eventually."
Ezekiel's head snapped to the side.
He stepped back, raising his guard.
The one who spoke was not the woman who brought him here. She was already gone.
Instead, the person who spoke was a man, a person who arrived in his blind spot before he even knew what was happening.
The man smiled wryly upon seeing Ezekiel's reaction.
"Calm down. I'm not here to hurt you. My name is Henry, and I'll be guiding you from here on."
Ezekiel slowly nodded his head, lowering his guard.
The man gazed at him strangely.
'Is this the guy we've been waiting for?'
He looked Ezekiel up and down, trying to gauge his strength.
In the end, he just shrugged.
'Whatever the case, we'll train him the same.'
A grin appeared on his face.
A grin that made Ezekiel shiver.
'Let's see how he handles it, eh?'
