Chapter 258: Lost memories.

Zyra tilted her head slightly to the right. "Well...the devil could actually be a woman."

"And its name is Sabrina." Hunter pitched in, using that same flat voice.

Achilles nodded in enthusiastic agreement. "Pure evil! She is not the just the devil, but she basically gave birth to a demon in the form of Elliot."

Hunter frowned mildly, defending his brother just a bit. "Elliot is heavily influenced by our mother. He wasn’t always like that when we were young men."

Achilles scoffed and looked at Hunter with a raised eyebrow. "Wait a minute_ is your memory fully back? Because then you would know that Elliot was only nice to you because he was jealous and afraid of how strong you were. He’s a master pretender."

Zyra gasped, staring at Hunter in complete shock. "Your memory was gone?! As your wife, isn’t this something I should have known?" This was the first time she was hearing about any memory loss.

Hunter shifted uncomfortably under her sharp gaze and rubbed the back of his neck. "I... well... it was a long time ago. Besides, I didn’t need all my memories back to remember who my own siblings were." Hunter muttered defensively. "I will tell you all about it another time."

Achilles let out a loud, sarcastic laugh. "Right, right! Keep telling yourself that your half-brother can be redeemed. When he stabs a knife in your back, I will be there to say I told you so. I will have it printed on shirts along with your stupid face."

Hunter rolled his eyes.

Achilles cleared his throat to bring the conversation back on track. "Anyway, back to business. Elliot is currently hunting high and low for the source of our trade supplies. The demand on the black market for Zyra’s tech is becoming overwhelming, Hunter. Everyone wants our goods." He turned his attention to Zyra. "Hunter mentioned that you’re now the biggest shareholder of the Thorn Guild, I was not happy about it and I am still not, but I can deal. Are you planning to keep hiding where these supplies are coming from or will they have a Thorn logo going forward?"

Zyra sighed softly, her tone pragmatic. "We’ll hide it for as long as we can. But with so many powerful factions searching for the source, it’s only a matter of time before they realize the Thorn Guild is the root of it all."

Achilles dramatically raised both hands in surrender. "Well, if it comes down to it, I’m ready to be sacrificed for the cause!"

The entire group burst into laughter at his ridiculous posture.

"Jokes aside," Achilles continued, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye, "it would be much safer to move our packaging factories straight into the Wild Lands. I actually have a team of trusted men ready to get the sugar processing factory up and running out here as per Malia’s proposal. Salt too, and papaya soap." He sighed. "I think papaya soap is a waste. We don’t have enough fruit for humans to eat and we are wasting what we do have on soap!"

"We will charge five thousand mid-grade stones per small bar." Hunter said.

Achilles perked up immediately. "Five thousand high-grade stones per bar, got it."

Nobody was shocked that he had hiked the price by changing the grade of the energy stones. As long as the products moved, that was all that mattered.

Zyra’s voice became more serious. "What about the flu outbreak in the surrounding towns and cities? How bad is it?"

Achilles’ face sobered up. "It’s not good out there. People are panicking. But strangely enough, the slums and the low-born settlements haven’t been hit very hard. There are deaths but not many, the middle class however is another sad story. Bodies have started dropping."

Hunter frowned, his mind instantly analyzing the anomaly. "How is that even possible? Usually plagues or infections are worse in towns with large low-born populations."

Zyra’s eyes narrowed into thin slits. A wave of sharp memories from her past life suddenly flooded her mind. In her previous life, after the floods, many low-borns were completely wiped out by this exact plague. Thousands had died. For them to suddenly be immune or unaffected in this timeline_ it wasn’t just strange. It was unnatural.

Hunter noticed her stiffen, but his attention was pulled away by his own worries. "What about my grandfather? Is he alright?"

"The grand elder?" Achilles smiled reassuringly. "He’s been buried in paperwork ever since he officially became the clan head, but he’s healthy and fine. Though_ he misses you terribly, Hunter."

Hunter folded his lips into a tight line, silently nodding. Zyra gently reached over and patted his back in comfort. She still didn’t fully understand why he couldn’t just write a simple message or reach out to his grandfather, but she knew the deep web of family politics was suffocating him.

"DADDY!" A high-pitched, childish voice shattered the somber mood. A tiny little girl came running through the dirt path, her small arms outstretched as she sprinted straight toward Hunter.

"Yaya, stop!" Hunter yelled in panic, taking three quick steps backward and putting his hands up. "Stay back! Daddy Hunter has a cold! You’ll catch the flu!"

Little Yaya stopped dead in her tracks, pouted her chubby cheeks, and dramatically blew a kiss through the air toward him.

Hunter immediately put his hands out, making a show of "catching" the invisible kiss and pressing it to his heart with a warm, foolish grin.

Achilles stood frozen, his mouth hanging open so wide a bird could have nested in it. He stared at Hunter, then at the little girl, then back to Hunter.

"How long was I gone?!" Achilles shouted, pinching himself.

Hunter straightened his posture, trying to regain his dignity. "She is not ours biologically. My wife told me not to traumatize the girl further; she is an orphan. A lot has changed while you were away. Zyra is a mother as well."

Elfy immediately raised her hand in the air, speaking up with absolute pride. "Yes! Mother master Zyra is my mother!"

Achilles grabbed his head with both hands, groaning in sheer agony. "Stop! Please, stop! My brain is going to burst! First a human-crushing monster that calls Zyra mother, now an adorable little girl that calls you father_ what is happening in this valley?!"

Just then, a burst of bright, melodious laughter echoed from a group of women walking past the supermarket, dressed in white and red jumpsuits.

Achilles blinked, distracted by the peaceful, almost holy vibe of the newcomers. "Wait_ who are the Soul Maidens?"

"Oh," Hunter said casually, adjusting his scarf. "They’re our new residents."

Achilles blinked once. Then twice. He turned around slowly, taking a proper look at the valley for the first time since he had arrived. The newly built houses, the bustling martial fields, the diverse groups of people living in harmony. On second glance, this hidden valley didn’t just look like a refugee camp anymore. It looked like the foundation of an unstoppable empire. Especially because it had many Soul maidens.