“You look well. It’s been what? Sixty years?”

“Sixty-two.”

George had had an inkling the minute he saw the man earlier. They looked too much alike. Therefore he when he heard the familiar voice and saw energetic woman stride over, he was ready to bow and pay his respects to the woman who had taught him about cultivation. She had refused to teach him at first; no one wanted anything to do with the gaunt, zombie-like man; but in the end she had relented. She taught him the most basic of basics and told him to scram. But he’d followed her from a distance instead; watching and ‘stealing’ whatever techniques he could. She knew, of course but she had mostly ignored him; he would have to bear the consequences himself if he had learned the technique wrongly. One day, she told him that she had something she must do and that he was not allowed to follow him anymore. After that, she disappeared. To that woman whose name he didn’t even know, what she did was inconsequential; but to George, the eastern cultivation techniques that required meditation and concentration of will allowed him to overcome his dragon madness most of the time. For that alone, he willingly called her master. He saw the woman nod and turn to Ciel.

“So you are Mei’s son…”

He could see Ciel look confused but he nodded respectfully at her.

“Mother, she calls herself Scarlet now.”

“Nonsense. What’s wrong with the name your father and I gave her? No wonder your father is so cranky.”

“I think father is cranky because you’re here instead of by his side.”

“Humph. Who told him to disagree with me? He can suffer alone.”

Ciel’s uncle didn’t whether to laugh or cry at his mother’s stubbornness. Beside him, George heard Ciel mutter “Is running away from home during a disagreement a family trait?” George decided to take note of that. He really didn’t want to go chasing after Ciel because of any trivial disagreements.

“Enough of that. Did my grandson come all the way here for a visit?”

“No, mother. It seems that Kou and Yue have not returned. Ciel was sent here to enquire about it.”

There was silence and his master sipped the tea a servant had discreetly placed in front of her, her head bowed in consternation.

“They are moving. Have we worried them too much?” She seemed to be talking to herself, and everyone sat in respectful silence, allowing her to mull over her thoughts. After a while she raised her head and looked at everyone.

“Well? Has the captain of the guards been alerted?”

“Yes, mother. He should be here soon.”

As if summoned by his words, a man with flaming red hair wearing leather armour and carrying a helmet appeared. He stopped in front of everyone to give a salute before he stood to attention.

“You wanted to see me, lord?”

“Yes. The intelligence you gave to my nephew the last time. Who verified it?”

“Yun and Feng did, Lord.”

“My nephew has not returned. Considering his and his companion’s strength, they should not have any problems completing the mission assigned to them. Summon those two here.”

The captain made a sound of assent and hurriedly left. While the lord had looked calm, the Madam did not. If she flew into a rage, the soldiers at the barracks would all suffer; her temper was legendary, after all. The four remained seated and Ciel’s uncle turned to look at the two of them.

“I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Hong Yang. You can call me uncle Yang. Your grandmother is the legendary Flaming Red Rose. Others call her Madam Huo.”

“Uncle Yang, Grandmother Huo.” Ciel called the both of them dutifully.

“It’s my first time seeing you but you’ve grown up quite well. How old are you”

“786, Grandmother.”

“My, you’re really grown up.” She suddenly turned towards her son, a ferocious glare in her eyes. “And you? When are you going to settle down? All of your sisters have married and you’re still traipsing around like a young bachelor. Need I remind you how old you really are?”

“Mother…”

Ciel and George exchanged awkward looks. They did not dare interject.

“And look, your nephew has already gotten himself a partner. You’re a disgrace!”

“Please, mother…” Hong Yang looked awkward and uncomfortable by the sudden attack, unable to defend himself. He flashed a look at George. “That reminds me, when did you accept him as your disciple? Didn’t you say you didn’t want any more?”

“Who says he’s my disciple? He was the one who arbitrarily decided I was his master.” She looked at George, her eyes narrowing. That reminds me, I seemed to have heard something about you…”

George remained mute but his hands clenched under the table. His sins were long; would the old lady disapprove of him? If it were before, he would not have cared; he was doing his best to atone for them after all. But he did not want Ciel’s family to oppose the two of them. Even if Ciel were to stand by his side, knowing his nature, George could not bear to upset him because of slighted relations with his relatives. He decided to face his master head on.

“Whatever master has heard, it is all probably true.”

Madam Huo stared at George, her gaze growing sharper. “Oh? It’s true? Do you even know the rumours about yourself?”

“I know I was a mad man before I met your grandson. Your teachings gave me some semblance of peace but it was too late to drag me from the bog of insanity that had buried me for the past eight hundred or so years.”

“So you really were the rumoured dragon slayer?”

“Who was tamed by a dragon? Yes.” Here he looked at Ciel, his feelings of love and gratitude overflowing. “If I had not met your grandson, I would probably still be wandering around searching for dragons to murder.”

Ciel blushed at the intensity of his gaze and turned away, unable to look at him. But under the table, his hand found George’s and he clasped them, their fingers intertwined. Looking at their tender expressions, Madam Huo gave a humph of dissatisfaction. But before she could say anything else, the captain had returned with two other people in tow.

“Chen Liang greets the lord and Madam again. I’ve brought Yun and Feng, my lord.” He bowed another greeting. Behind him, the two also paid their respect to Ciel’s relatives.

“You can get up now.  Yun, Feng, the information you scouted, how accurate was it?”

“Reporting to the lord, when Feng and I finally managed to track him, he seemed to have been nursing an injury. Based on our observations, he did not have much fighting strength to begin with so even if he had been at full strength, he would not have been a match for the first young master.”

Here, Ciel interrupted the conversation. “Who was the person you were tracking? My father did not give me the details.”

Hong Yang looked at him before answering. “According to your brother, it was a kitchen hand call Xiao Ping.”

“I know him… he joined the club eight or nine years ago…” Ciel creased his forehead in thought. “If you say he’s injured, it’s most likely because he violated the contract.”

“Contract?”

“All staff that join have a contract placed on them. It’s to prevent betrayal of any kind. Whether a revolt or to sell the secrets of Sanctuary. My father’s very careful about this.”

Strange, why didn’t he have a contract? He didn’t remember signing anything or reciting any vows. Perhaps he should check with Master Gin when he returned; while he would never betray the club or Ciel, the preferential treatment unsettled him.

“Then it’s likely that he suffered a backlash for breaking the contract like you’ve said. What about his skills or abilities? How did he manage to join the club?”

“Ping doesn’t have any or very little skills. He wanted to join the security team but after the assessment, Master Gin, myself and Fionn, the other security leader agreed that he was unsuitable for it. If I recall, he had the blood of some legendary creature running in him.”

“Yes, I think it was a Vermillion bird. But it was very watered down. It gave him a longer life and he was a little stronger than humans but that’s about it. In fact, he actually stumbled into the club entrance by accident… something about being chased by bandits and hiding in the pine forest…”

The grave faces of those who listened to Ciel and George’s explanations did not ease in intensity. Finally Hong Yang asked Ciel. “Do you know which spell your father used for the binding contract?”

“If I remember correctly, it’s 'wrath of betrayal'.” Ciel’s face paled while the other two darkened. George was clueless and could only ask “What’s the matter?”

“'Wrath of betrayal' is a very potent spell. Even if you have the slightest thoughts of betrayal, you should have been incapacitated with internal injuries that will cause you to bleed through the seven orifices. It’s not something that you can walk away from.” Hong Yang explained. He looked at his two intelligence officers. “We did not know which spell he had been injured with and we underestimated his vitality. Track him down again. If you can get any word of my nephew and his companion, you can be sure that I will reward you for it.”

The two black dressed men nodded in understanding and left. The captain of the guard was about to follow suit when Madam Huo stopped him. “Captain Chen, increase the vigilance around the town. If our enemies know that my grandson and his companion came from or got their information from here, they may send people to gather information. The information about our affiliations must not be leaked.” The captain gave a ‘ha’ of understanding. “I also want you to prepare the training ground for me. This arrogant man has the temerity to go around calling me master. I need to see if he’s actually worthy of it.” the captain gave George a look of awe and pity. With another nod, he left, wearing his helmet as he left. The flaming red hair was soon replaced by black.

“Grandmother you cannot be serious.” Ciel looked at Madam Huo, eyes filled with nervous anxiety. Under the table, his hand clenched unconsciously and George could feel the strength of his feelings.

“Of course I am. I’ve just met you but I know my precious grandson is far too good for this murdering lunatic. I beat your father when he informed me of his intentions to pursue your mother, I beat that dragon whelp that was after your sister and now I’ll beat this useless swine that has the cheek to come after you!”

“But…” Ciel’s face was a mishmash of amusement and worry.

“Besides, he wants to call me master? Does he really think he’s worthy? I’m the Flaming Red Rose. Even your dragon emperor of a grandfather fears me.”

Beside her, Hong Yang had his face in his hands, muttering “it’s over, it’s over… She just wants to fight. How much do I need to set aside for the repairs? Chen Liang had better evacuate everyone around the barracks.” And they called him bloodthirsty?

Madam Huo smacked her son on the shoulder and glared. “How dare you treat your mother like this?” She rose and beckoned to George. “They should have gotten the grounds ready. Let’s go.” She turned and smiled at George. “You’re an immortal, right? This should be fun.” With that she left.

George didn’t like that smile one bit. It was nastier than Master Gin’s when he was feeling petty. Fun? It depends on the person and George had a feeling that it was not going to be fun for him at all.