Hikma and Rem scanned their handiwork one last time.

“I feel like I just take part in a slave-trade,” Hikma voiced his protest.

“Hikma, she will get paid,” Rem brushed aside the concern. “It is a win-win. Shyme get an assistant that can handle her demands. Chuang get to live a normal life. It works out best for everyone.”

Luxinna attached Melody’s special bracelet, finishing the piece and intensifying Scathach's discomfort. The badger understood her newest students’ ridiculous operandi, but this was by far the most insidious operation she ever witnessed.

“I enchanted the bracelet with a special variant of [Mentalism] and [Goddess Origin]’s suppressor,” Melody wiped her forehead and took off her welding goggle. “You are lucky you got my [Heavenly Eyes] and Hikma’s [Conceptual Seal]. No one else in Phantasia can inscribe the mechanism this sophisticate.”

“Mel, Cy developed the metal formula on the spot, give her some credit.” Luxinna spoke.

“I don’t need credit for this,” Cytortia dug at a mound of maid’s uniforms, “Scathach, can you sense her Mana or [Goddess Origin]?”

“No,” Scathach felt scared. “She resembles a normal human. I can’t even tell if she is a goddess. How did you do this?”

“A mixture of [Conceptual Seals] and mental augmentation,” Rem replied. “I and Hikma inscribed a modified Disguise arcane into her mind. She can’t use it consciously because she never learnt it herself, but that bracelet will trigger a sub-routine buried in her subconscious that constantly reinforces the alteration we imposed on her. She will wake up remembering the bracelet as a present from her long-forgotten childhood friend. For safety reason, Melody and Hikma also added several other useful enchantments. To be honest, it is quite a cutting-edge magical technology.”

“We also dyed her hair blonde and put a glass on her to top that off,” Luxinna added. “Are you sure reprogramming her posture isn’t too excessive?”

“I don’t take chances,” Rem emphasized. “If they discover her circumstance, the rest of the 33 Stars will cart her to a dungeon.”

“Agreed,” Cytortia showed them a pink maid costume. “This is it. She will never wear this even when hell freeze.”

“So, no way anyone will think twice it is her,” Rem surmised. “Get our contact ready. Tomorrow, we ship her out.”

“Yes,” Melody sang. “She looks so cute, right, Rem?”

“Don’t ask me about a pre-“

Bang!

Melody’s uppercut Rem mid-sentence, sending him back-flipping to the ground in a thunderous noise.

Silence

“What?” Melody said. “He gave a permission to punch him after we finish, right?.”

…

Shyme Enma realized trouble was coming the moment the trio carted a casket to her.

The evidence was clearer than air. Scathach fiddled uncomfortably. Shyme didn’t want to know what made a goddess who experienced multiple carnage on the level of gods on a warpath uncomfortable, but she knew she had no choice in that matter. Cytortia came with no nonsense in mind. No shyness, panicking, or the usual Cytortia’s trademark awkwardness existed right now. The Heavenly Daughter of Wood was gambling on a stake no one dare. None among 33 Stars believed that Cytortia could be awe-inspiring. They were wrong. The Cytortia in front of her won’t take no for an answer.

Then there was the latest addition to Shyme’s do-not-taunt list.

“Hello, Ms. Enma,” Rem sported a fresh bruise on his face. “I heard you are looking for a new housemaid.”

“I am not,” Shyme lied, and confronted Remus Breaker. “I don’t appreciate an associate selling me a time-bomb.”

“Shyme, you are lying,” Cytortia declared. “Sorry for being blunt, but I will cut the chase. I am recommending someone.”

Lancaster Waiter grimaced. The headache army mounted an all-out assault, and he recognized the damage would be humiliating.

“Ms. Tianshang, the workload Lady Shyme’s demand is inhuman,” Lancaster said. “Are you sure your gal can make it?”

Rem opened the casket.

“See who she is for yourself,” Rem pointed down.

Shyme and Lancaster peeked inside the box. The casket masked the aura of the individual inside it so brilliantly that Shyme was sure no amateur created this. The enchantment inscribed was outright bizarre. Lancaster shared that opinion, but his suspicion laid on a more urgent question.

Why used a casket at all?

They looked at the person inside. Both of them felt familiar with the blond-woman, but a mist of mystery still veiled the light of recognition. The girl’s chest was a washboard — Shyme’s heart cried in kinship — but the curve and body ticked all the nobility's check-box.

“Okay, she passed the look requirement,” Shyme’s fox ears twitched. Her instinct yelled danger. “Cy, do I know her? Is she a daughter of a noble I suppose to recognize?”

“You know her,” Cytortia replied humorlessly. “That is Chuang.”

Shyme and Lancaster blinked.

“Chuang?” The young Enma pointed at the woman in the casket. “As in Heavenly Daughter of Fire Chuang. The 33 Stars No. 3. The flaming bitch. One of Phantasia's most widely recognized younger generation. Rising star among the puppet-maker and combat-puppeteers. Your senior sister.”

“Yes.”

Shyme guffawed.

“That is good, Cy,” Shyme giggled, refusing to believe the possibility her living headache got beaten so early. “Are you telling me you ambushed Chuang — who is 30 spots above you in the ranking — won, dyed her hair yellow, put her in this casket and carted her to me as a gift?”

“Yes.”

“Okay,” Shyme guffawed at the thought. “Assuming you can do that — which you can’t — how do you convince to be my maid? She would rather die than accept.”

“You are close. Just change killing to brainwashing and you are right on track.”

Rem’s answer illuminated Shyme's mind like a tidal wave devastating a fortress. Even the experienced Lancaster hardly brought the story until he remembered he knew nothing about Rem. Cytortia lacked the ability to defeat Chuang — that was a fact — but Rem? That boy always drew every card he wanted. Even their rival — Madam Marmel — treated him as an equal. Shyme’s brain froze. Defeating Chuang was beyond Cytortia, but Rem was another animal entirely.

And brainwashing?

Hypnotism spell existed, but even in Phantasia, the spell-casting art to reshape the mind on Rem’s caliber was unheard. Rem’s combination of [Clairvoyance] and [Mentalism] accomplished the feat surpassing even Hikma’s [Mentalism]. Hikma ruled that what Rem accomplished couldn’t qualify as Arcane anymore. Rem’s ID even got an update for this accomplishment.

If Arcane was raw bauxite, then Rem’s brainwashing was Aluminum. It was a specialty method linking Arcane, Skill and True Magic together. Rem and Hikma even came up with a name for it: Extrapolated Arcana Propagation Sub-routine or EAPS. Shyme had no idea about Rem’s capability, but mind-alteration on such scale was unheard off for her or the Enma’s clan.

“You brainwash Chuang?” Shyme gaped. “You beat her?”

“Yes,” Cytortia said.

“You are serious?”

“It is not the hard. We only need to lure her into a trap, poison her, blow up her inventory box and snipe her,” Rem listed. “Peachy given that she think Cytortia is alone and helpless. Hell, she didn’t even bother to pull out all her puppets until she got cornered.”

Shyme dumbly looked at both of them and then at Scathach.

“Did you help them?”

The badger snorted and balefully unleashed her rage.

“Really? Do I have to lower myself to deal with squabbling children? Who do you think I am, Enma?”

Shyme flinched, but Cytortia’s anger boiled over.

“Who do I think you are?” Cytortia coldly answered. “Do you really want to hear my answer, Scathach?”

Shyme and Scathach froze. Never in a million years they expected a hard-ass tone from Cytortia. It Cytortia they were talking about. The gentlest and weakest goddess in Phantasia. The kindhearted girl who made cooking recipe as a hobby; who claim to fame was a cure for a plague. She was the saint among the gods.

But even saint had boiling point.

“Err, Cy,” Shyme gritted her teeth. “I thank you for the help but breat-“

“Scathach, I am grateful you are teaching us, but would you wonder for a second that if you agreed to help keep Chuang away, she would not be in this casket?”

“It’s Rem’s fault!” Scathach pointed. “He broke her mind!”

“Yes, but unlike you, Rem submitted all his reports and plans beforehand,” Cytortia’s anger burned. “A report which he justify before the Congress of Hope. Granted — I should take those documents more seriously then — but do you remember what he wrote?”

Rem whistled.

“When threat from the 33 Stars arise, the best action is using Scathach to intimidate them away from open engagement,” Cytortia grumbled. “But if open conflict is inevitable, the compromising of Horizon Dawn’s identity will be unpreventable. In such case, the enemy must be defeated, mentally altered and relocated.”

Scathach glanced at Shyme for help.

“What she was saying is it takes nothing for you to drag Shyme out of the warpath,” Rem spitefully hammered down the nails of Scathach’s metaphorical coffin. “But nope! Say it is our test and now Chuang got maided. Who knows what would be a geopolitical fallout from this? There are no cure for regret so what coming next is on you.”

“Why don’t mind-wipe her?” Scathach yelled. “Boy! You are Phantasia's first mental specialist. Your scrambling of Chuang's brain pioneered a new school of magic. You could do something!”

“Yes,” Shyme was trembling. The situation was out of control. Cytortia just threw a girl was over ten-rank above herself into a maid uniform.. If Chuang got finished by Cytortia’s faction, then Shyme won’t survive their ambush either. “Why give her to me?”

“Simple. You are hiring an assistant. Thus, a mysterious stranger appearing close to your side won’t raise much suspicion. As a well-known individual with connection, few people would check you closely. And your type always ignore the unwashed mass, aka the servant. More importantly, you possess enough strength to protect Chuang and enough trust to keep our investment.”

“Investment,” Lancaster spoke his first word in the conversation.

“Yes, investment,” Rem gestured to the casket. “Chuang is not out of the game. Here is a thing about mind-wipe — it won’t last. Nothing last forever, and when that time come Chuang will face with a choice.”

“Killing you?” Shyme hoped.

“Maybe,” Rem shrugged. “But for her to make a proper decision, I need you to provide one thing for her. An experience that Chuang can’t get herself.”

“What?” The fox girl asked. “What can I give her that Nu Wa can’t?”

Rem’s answer surprised them.

“A life as a normal, powerless human,” Rem said. “Sure, even with her power suppressed, she still kept most of her knowledge, reflexes and endurance. However, you can give her a job she can easily do. Lancaster can treat her like any other maid.”

“You want to treat me a noble among the god as an ordinary servant?” The waste of resource crashed Lancaster’s processing power.

“Yes, and praise her often,” Rem said. “She loves getting praises.”

Melancholically, Rem strolled away.

Shyme starred at her new King of the terror-list. She didn’t saw wasn’t a demon lord of with a thousand plans. But a sad man who was praying for a complete stranger.

Cytortia handed Shyme an instruction sheet.

“Shyme, listened to me,” Cytortia whispered. “This decision got tabled and voted yesterday. Rem is running a simulation with [Clairvoyance]. If you go back on this deal, the Congress gave Rem total directive to mind-wipe you and the deal will go to Marley the Magpie.”

Shyme starred.

“Cy, what the hell?” The fox-girl blinked at her barely recognizable friend. “You are my friend.”

“I try,” Cytortia grimaced. “But my authority as the Director have limits. Rem is one hell of a speaker and the vote is 3-2 in favor of a wipe.”

“Aren’t you the boss?”

“Yes, but we don’t function like you think.”

Cytortia started explaining.

…

Horizon Dawn reorganized two hours after Chuang got mind-fucked. The five founders sat at a round table of stainless steel and debated. Rem—ever so prepared—presented them with the Constitution of Dawn (CoD). After much amendment, the newly appointed Director Cytortia signed the seven CoD into motion.

It was a historic moment that marked the graduation of Horizon Dawn from a ragtag band of Vigilante to an organization with code and law.

Constitution of Dawn

1)     We of Horizon Dawn are protector of Truth, Justice and Freedom. Dissection of Falsehood will lead to truth. Truth will lead to accountability and justice. Justice will lead to peace. Through peace, happiness, freedom and progress will prosper.

2)     Horizon Dawn shall not impose fate beyond redemption. Sanctity of life is law and rehabilitation will be the first goal in mind.

3)    With Great power come Great Responsibility—If innocents are in danger, all member of Horizon Dawn must do the best in their power to save them.

4)     Horizon Dawn will not surrender sovereignty to a foreign body.

5)     Openly encouraged, healthy attachment is. Alienate the Civilian body or condemned love, Horizon Dawn will not.

6)     The Congress of Hope will engineer the law, drafted by the Councilors led by a Director and overseer by the Queen of Center. The Queen is the commander-in-chief, able to issue an absolute directive to the Congress. In ruling, Councilors and the Director held a vote each. The Director are free to alter the Congress as long as agreed by the Queen of Center and the Councilors.

7)     The Constitution of Dawn is unamendable. Do. Not. Try.

And hence, the first formal Congress of Hope began.

Face with the imminent threat of an undead army, Rem penned reform after reform. Arcane Liberation act motioned the gathering, sorting and relating all available historical texts of Arcane, declaring such knowledge free to access. Sunny Licensing acts motivated each member to invent and register EAPS for favors point tradable within the organization. The two documents passed by Cytortia and agreed by all members unanimously.

Predictably, the two hour’s session were not 100% productive. Luxinna proposed the expansion in food budget and met a tragic end after Melody and Rem combined forces to shoot it down. Hikma only got 25% increased in his book purchasing budget out of the proposed 80%. Rem’s application as interrogation overseer got torpedoed unanimously by a horrified screeching from all sides.

Scathach impotently watched the development. Horizon Dawn was the oasis in the sandstorm of mismanagement and incompetency. It was an undeniable fact. Rem held a seminar that get two laws passed democratically in thirty minutes. Zeus—Phantasia’s lead role model—barely able to stop the Olympian from going nut, much less held a debate.

Hell, Horizon Dawn was likely the only organization whose constitution wasn’t ‘the leader word is law’. Scathach watched half horrified as the motion on Chuang passed despite the best effort from Cytortia. Only Hikma and the Heavenly Daughter of Wood voted against Shyme Enma’s Redundancies Act.

…

Shyme woke up after a miserable night.

Yesterday was a whirlwind of carnage. She accepted Rem’s deal after he tacked in a right to purchase Cytortia’s alchemical product at half price. After Lancaster reassured her he would manage Chuang, Shyme went to sleep. It was problematic to sleep knowing that Rem could emerge anytime and influence her dream.

She rubbed her eyes. Sometimes she wondered was it a blessing knowing a person like Rem existed. A living mystery who could effortlessly infiltrated her house and reduced her to nothing. Sure, she had an information none had, but that information only brought paranoia..

A door opened.

“Hello, Ms. Enma,” said a familiar voice. “Your breakfast is here. Today you have to review the investigation team performance and the Merchant guide in Elypt sent you a mail. I also take care of several laundries. I also finished the previous maid job and cleaned the libraries.”

Shyme blinked

“Wait, you are—”

“May I introduce myself,” The yellow-hair maid, who used to be Chuang Tianshang, bowed. “My name is Charon Sol. The new housemaid Mr. Waiter recruited yesterday. What is your next command, Lady Enma?”