"Seriously, what is up with you?" I questioned.
"I was trying to prevent a war..." Growled Aaron. "You think I want to marry off my daughter?!"
"With how you're acting it sure seems like that." I scoffed. "And what's with this war?"
"The Du Lac's are quite the influential family in America. However, they've had a deep rooted rivalry with us since long ago." Aaron explained, sighing exasperatedly.
"Things have been getting tense lately, and I don't exactly completely trust the Du Lac's. But keeping your enemies close is the ticket to winning." Aaron continued.
"So if Erica and Darin married, then hopefully our long-standing rivalry would end and no longer would we have to fear of a war between the two families." Aaron stated. "And it allows us to easily spy on the Du Lac's in case they are planning something."
"And now, you've ruined it." He groaned. "Who knows how much destruction is going to be wrought from this..."
"Honey..." Julia softly said, placing her hand on her arm. "We'll figure this out."
I looked at them. I couldn't understand them. A little bit ago Aaron seemed like the biggest douchebag of a father since Irene's father and Lupercio. But now, he seems...
Still a douchebag. But not as big a douchebag.
"I'll help." I stated. "I'll help fight the Du Lac's on one condition. You let Erica come back with me to Japan."
"And why would I want your help?" Aaron questioned. "You've already ruined enough."
"Excuse me, are you blind? I literally took out all of your servants while on the DAMN PHONE." I replied, ticked. "I'm not scared of Darin or his father Darien."
"I suppose that is a fair point." Aaron sighed. "But why would I let Erica go back with you?"
"You are really ticking me off." I growled. "Because she wants to. You can ask Erica herself."
"Erica...would you like to return to Japan with him?" Julia asked, looking towards Erica.
"...yes." Erica nodded. "I would like to return to him."
Julia looked at her, saddened, before sighing. "Alright. We'll let Erica return with you if she wishes."
"Julia?!" Shouted Aaron.
"Aaron. Drop it." Julia replied, narrowing her eyes at him.
Aaron shrunk back, sighing. "I don't like this..."
"You don't get to say that after already sending her to Japan for a year for god knows why." I replied.
"I did that to keep her safe!" Aaron shouted, slamming his hand onto the table. "Because of the rising tensions between us and the Du Lac's!"
"Why do you guys hate each other, anyway?" I asked.
"Because...this is a secret, so you can't tell anyone. Okay?" Julia asked.
I nodded. "It's safe with me."
"We're the direct descendants of Arthur Pendragon." Julia revealed. "Or at least, Aaron and Erica are."
Erica gasped, her eyes wide. You seriously didn't tell your daughter?
"What?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. That certainly explains why Erica and Arthur are similar, and why she got Excalibur for her arcana, but...
"Why isn't your last name Pendragon then?" I asked.
"Pendragon is quite the famous name. It draws unwanted attention." Julia informed. "So our ancestors changed it to Arthurson a couple generations ago. Unfortunately it didn't trick the Du Lac's."
"Wait...if this is a deep-seeded rivalry, and you guys are the descendants of Arthur, and they're the descendants of Lancelot...is this whole thing because of what happened with Guinevere long ago?" I questioned.
"Likely." Aaron stated. "But now, it's just a deep hate."
Arthur would be rolling in his grave right now. Actually, he probably is. I wonder if Erica has to deal with that...
"This is ridiculous." I sighed. "So, what's the plan? What do I need to know to fight them?"
"They, just like us, are one of the strongest families in America." Aaron informed. "Their leader, Darien, despite his B Rank Arcana climbed up to become an A Rank Adventurer. He's getting close to S Rank."
I've killed an S Rank before. An unofficial one, but one nonetheless. With the right preparation, I could pull it off again. Or I could just go in guns blazing, that would also work.
"They also have ties with America's underground, as with the Assassin League." He continued.
"Are their servants loyal?" I asked.
"I'm not sure. Why?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I just had an idea..." I replied. "If you don't mind, can you give me the location of their house...or base, wherever they are."
"Are you going to go try and take all of them out by yourself?" Aaron questioned, looking at me like I was mad.
"No." I shook my head. "Not yet, at least. First I need to scout out some things, and I have the perfect person for that."
"Lily." Erica guessed.
"Yep." I replied. "And Fenrir is with her in case things go south. I doubt anybody can kill him."
"Then why don't you just have Fenrir go in and defeat them?" Erica asked.
"I have a score to settle." I cracked my knuckles.
A person suddenly crashed through the window of the room, making us looked towards the intruder. He was dressed as a ninja, complete with two katanas.
He threateningly pointed one at me. "Ken Kage, I have come to-"
Multiple bangs sounded out in the room. The ninja assassin stumbled back, looking down at his bleeding stomach. Smoke wavered off of the barrel of my Loki gun.
"Ninjas are supposed to sneaky." I stated as he dropped to the ground.
Seriously, I kill the Demon King and the first thing the damn Council thinks is "oh let's kill him by sending assassins, that's definitely possible."
To be fair, they probably didn't think I would know about it. But either way I would have found out, whether or not Isabella told me or not.
I appreciate her heads up though.
"I'll send you the location." Aaron sighed.
"Are we-are we just going to ignore the bleeding assassin on our floor?" Julia questioned.
Aaron sent me the location. I quickly sent it to Lily and asked her to find out as much as she could, anything that could possibly help us or seemed important. She agreed, and I promised to do some parkour with her later in return.
"Alright Erica, let's go to that hotel." I stated.
"Wait...Erica..." Julia started. "I...I want to talk. Is that okay?"
Erica looked towards me. "Erica...it's up to you." I placed my hand on her shoulder. "I'll always be here to help you and give you advice, but you have to be the one who makes that decision."
Erica closed her eyes in thought, before finally deciding. "Okay. I'll talk to her. You go ahead to the hotel."
"Alright." I nodded, smiling. "Call me if you need anything."
I lightly kissed her on the lips, before making my way out of the room. As I left, I could faintly hear Aaron say "we're doomed".
Heh. Guess it's time to create a little chaos.