I Became A Zompirewolf

"The soldier that raided you were my family's personal soldiers. All of whom came to Euphoria to complete the trials, but I scouted them and made them join the family. Thus they only follow the rules created by the family. One of which is that they cannot decline a request from a family member.  "

Otiga continued, "In a way, you can say they are an independent force under me.  My shameless daughter knew about it and instructed the soldiers to teach you a 'lesson'. Thankfully, someone spilt the beans and I stopped them before anything could happen. After all, they are my responsibility and their action could come to bite me in the ass, had I not punished the culprit."

"You did the right thing, madame," Ashton smirked while staring at Leon.

In his mind, there was no doubt Leon was the real mastermind of the plan. However, once he realised the plan was about to fail, he threw the sister under the bus to save his ass. Another reason for Ashton to believe so was the stats of the siblings.

Leon had twice the intelligence that his sister possessed. Consequently, there was no way for the sister to come up with such an elaborate plan on her own. The situation was fishy, but Ashton decided to ignore it and focus on Otiga.

"Please accept this as an apology." Otiga said before pushing a small emerald card towards him, "This is the mark of the Zhask Family. It represents that you are my guests. Not only that, as I informed you last night, with this, you can use all the services provided to a member of the family without any cost."

"That's very generous of you," Ashton immediately stored the card in the inventory.

Otiga then proceeded to hand a three-pack of vials filled with weird liquids to Ashton. The first pack was filled with a blue solution, followed by green and yellow ones. Their uses were mentioned on top of each vial.

"These solutions would provide you with temporary enhancements upon consumption," Otiga explained after looking at Ashton's confused gaze, "I hope this would be enough for you to forgive my incompetent daughter."

Ashton nodded. The gifts weren't anything extraordinary, but he wasn't complaining as it essentially was free loot. However, it seemed there was something else on her mind. Something that ended up being an unnecessary request.

"I also wanted to talk to you about something else. If possible, I would like you to not challenge me for the fifth seat once you clear Ursa's trial." She said, "Obviously you will be compensated for it as well."

Like before, Ashton wasn't planning on challenging any more of the seat holders. But Otiga did not need to know that. Especially, if there was an opportunity to squeeze out more precious materials out of her.

[Ho ho, more rewards?]

'The more, the merrier.' Ashton thought before coming up with an answer, "I wonder how will you compensate me for that? After all, what could possibly be more precious than one of the twelve Zodiac seats?"

"I assure you. If you agree to not challenge me for my seat, you wouldn't have any troubles on Euphoria. As you know, Leon is the commander of the security forces on Euphoria, therefore, you wouldn't have any problems with the other participants in any of your trials. They'll basically become your personal security."

Ashton nodded. If Otiga only had a bunch of bodyguards to offer for him, then the deal wasn't that bad. He didn't need to have guards around, since his strength was more than enough. Still, considering he had been wanting to conserve his abilities for the trials, having a bunch of C-grade bodyguards would be great.

However, Ashton had a feeling he could get more out of her. It seemed Otiga was thinking the same thing because the next moment she threw another condition in.

"Not only that, I'll personally help you to clear your trials. Doesn't matter whether you need resources or information, you'll get it."

"Fine. It's enough." Ashton smiled, "But I also have another condition. You have to make sure we do not get a repeat episode of what happened last night. If you fail, the ending might not be as good as you're hoping."

"You dare threaten us, worm?" Leon finally found his voice and retorted.

"Anna, the next time he opens his mouth, rip his tongue out." Ashton replied without even looking at Leon, "That, is a threat. What I said early was a warning. Learn to know the difference between the two, good sir."

Leon was infuriated with this blatant display of disrespect. Had his plan not failed, he wouldn't have to sit there listening to a bastard from earth talk to him like that. But for now, there was nothing he could do.

Otiga was already enraged at her children and acting out would only cause more trouble for them. It wasn't the right time, but he swore, he would make Ashton regret ever saying those words... for now, he would have to patiently wait for the arrogant bastard to make a mistake.

"You need not worry. I'll make sure no one causes you any inconvenience." Otiga immediately shifted the attention to herself, "If there is anything else you would like to say or know, please do not hesitate."

[Ask her about the trial. Since she has Ursa's seat, she probably knows about the trial.]

"I assume you're aware of what Ursa's trial is about?" Ashton asked while scratching his chin, "It would be of quite some help if you could tell me more about the trial."

Whether she had expected Ashton to ask her that, or because Ashton had accepted the deal, Otiga was smiling.

The next moment she turned toward Anna and said, "The seat holders of the first six seats cannot reveal the details of the trials. But I can give you a hint if you like."

Ashton agreed. After all, a hint was much better than going in blindly without any plans. Especially when there was so much to gain.

Upon getting his approval, Otiga continued, "If you have been living with someone of her kind all this time, then you don't have to worry about a thing. The trial would be easy for you to complete."

Both Ashton and Anna were a bit disjointed. What does Anna have anything to do with the trial? But before Ashton could ask something else, Otiga got up to leave.

"Oh my, it took a lot more time than I expected, please excuse me as I have some other appointments as well. It was good meeting you, Mr Ashton, hopefully, this wouldn't be our last meeting."