Kaizen's office felt like the center of a small, stubborn world.
It wasn't luxurious. The furniture was practical, the floor scuffed in places, the walls decorated with framed mission photos—teams of Ascendants posing with tired smiles, a few cityscapes, and some candid shots of guild members crowding around a table or laughing in a training hall.
There was a desk near the window with stacks of organized documents and several floating displays. A soft couch sat against one wall with a low table in front of it. The atmosphere wasn't heavy. It was… lived-in.
"Sit wherever you like," Kaizen said, motioning toward the couch. "We don't stand on ceremony here."
Shinra took a seat, posture relaxed, hands resting loosely on his knees. Mizuki settled into a chair near the desk, tablet already hovering beside her with Shinra's data displayed.
Kaizen leaned against the front of his desk instead of sitting behind it, arms folded easily.
"For most new members," he started, "this is where we give a welcome talk, assign them to cleaning duty, and pretend they aren't terrified." He tilted his head. "With you, I think we can skip the terrified part."
"I'm not easily frightened," Shinra said.
"So I sensed." Kaizen smiled a little. "Let's start simple. You already know how the world works now?"
"Power decides worth," Shinra said. "The strong sit high. The weak are stepped on. Those with nothing get told they shouldn't complain."
Mizuki's eyes flickered. "That's… accurate," she said. "Blunt, but accurate."
[Your summary is efficient as usual, Master.] Arios murmured.
There's not much else to it, Shinra replied inwardly.
Kaizen pushed off the desk and walked over to the window. He looked down at the street below, where people moved back and forth beneath the Sanctum emblem.
"You saw the city on your way here," he said. "You saw how people move around people with power. I'm sure you saw how Mundanes walk."
Shinra remembered the man apologizing for being shoved, the shop signs with tiny ASCENDANTS ONLY letters at the bottom.
"I did," he said.
"As guilds got stronger," Kaizen continued, "and the Authority got more centralized, the gap between the top and bottom widened. High-tier Ascendants started getting called 'pillars of society.' Low-tiers and Mundanes became weight."
He turned back to face Shinra.
"But a city doesn't stand on pillars alone," he said. "Someone has to be the ground."
Mizuki gave him a sidelong glance. "You're in a poetic mood today."
"I blame our new guest," Kaizen said. "He talks like an old story."
Shinra didn't deny it.
"So Sanctum decided to protect the ground?" he asked.
"That's the idea," Kaizen said. "We take Breach missions others consider too low-profit, especially in poorer sectors. We bring in Tier 6 and Tier 5 Ascendants, train them, and give them real work instead of letting them spiral. We hire Mundanes because they're usually more careful and organized than the hot-blooded ones."
Mizuki tapped her tablet lightly. "Which also means," she added, "we get a reputation for being… soft. Or foolish. The bigger guilds think we're a charity. They're not entirely wrong."
"But we're still here," Kaizen said. "And some people sleep easier at night because of it."
Shinra regarded them quietly.
"In a world like this," he said, "you're either naïve or stubborn."
"Both," Kaizen replied without hesitation.
Mizuki sighed. "We lean toward stubborn."
[They are outliers, Master,] Arios said.
[Most guilds would not sacrifice profit for principle.]
That's why you brought me here, Shinra replied.
[Yes.]
Mizuki slid Shinra's file to the side of the display and opened a new window. "Now that you've registered as Tier 1," she said, "Authority will get a notification. It'll be flagged 'under review' to delay direct attention, but the information will circulate eventually."
"Other guilds will hear about it," Kaizen added. "Some will be curious. Some will be wary. Some will get stupid ideas."
"Like what?" Shinra asked.
"Like thinking we don't deserve to have a Tier 1 to ourselves," Kaizen said lightly. "Or thinking you're wasted here and should join them instead. Or deciding that if they can't have you, no one should."
"Guild politics," Mizuki concluded.
Shinra leaned back slightly. "I see."
[We will have to manage our visibility, Master.] Arios said.
[But with this guild as a buffer, you will attract attention at a slower rate.]
Better than walking out alone and breaking something by accident, Shinra thought.
Mizuki folded her hands over her tablet. "So I have to ask this clearly," she said. "What exactly are you planning to do here?"
Shinra didn't answer immediately.
Outside, the faint shadow of a transport craft slid across the window. Voices drifted in muffled from the hall—someone arguing about mission quotas, another laughing about some mistake in training.
"I need time," Shinra said. "To understand this age. To gather information. To look for traces of whoever erased me."
He paused, corrected himself.
"Erased people like me," he said.
Mizuki's gaze sharpened slightly at that phrasing.
"So you are looking for something specific," she said.
"Yes," he replied.
"What happens when you find it?"
He thought about the sudden agony when he'd tried to recall his name. About the blank line, the censored records, the nonexistent history.
"When I find it," he said quietly, "we'll see whether this world survives what comes next."
Kaizen whistled under his breath.
"Now I'm very glad you're sitting on our couch and not breaking into one of the more arrogant guilds," he said.
"Wouldn't be very efficient," Shinra replied.
Mizuki exhaled a soft, resigned breath. "You understand," she said, "that by taking you in, we're putting a target on ourselves."
"Yes," Shinra said. "I also understand you knew that before you walked into the evaluation room and offered your hand anyway."
Kaizen grinned.
"See?" he said to Mizuki. "He gets us."
She didn't smile, but some of the tension left her shoulders.
"Then let's make the risk worthwhile," she said. "You want a starting point. We want someone who doesn't step on the weak. That's a manageable exchange."
Kaizen clapped his hands lightly, as if to clear the air.
"All right," he said. "For now, we'll register you provisionally as a full combat member. No leadership position, no special label. Just a Tier 1 assigned to a squad."
"No objections," Shinra said.
"Good," Kaizen replied. "Because if we handed you a leadership title on day one, everyone would revolt—including me."
Mizuki tapped her tablet. "Dorm room assignment, mission access, basic internal band registration," she listed. "We'll work out the details by the end of the day."
A soft knock sounded at the door.
Kaizen glanced up. "Come in," he called.
The door opened half a heartbeat later.
A familiar figure stepped in.
Shinra recognized her immediately.
It was the girl from the street—the one who had almost crashed into him earlier, the one who'd apologized too much.
She stopped just inside the threshold, eyes scanning the room quickly. Her gaze went first to Kaizen, like it usually did.
"Brother," she said, breath still a little quick. "I heard—"
Then her eyes fell on Shinra.
Her voice cut off.
She stared.
"…You," she said before she could stop herself.
Shinra inclined his head slightly. "We meet again," he said.
A flicker of confusion, then realization, passed over her face.
"You're the new Tier 1?" she blurted.
"Yes," he said.
She looked from him to Kaizen, then to Mizuki, then back to him, as if waiting for someone to tell her it was a joke.
Kaizen tilted his head. "You two know each other already?" he asked.
"We bumped into each other outside," Shinra said. "She apologized as if she'd committed a crime. I told her it was unnecessary."
The girl flushed faintly. "You make it sound worse than it was," she muttered. "I was just running and not looking."
Mizuki's mouth curved slightly. "That sounds like you, Yuna," she said.
Yuna.
So that was her name.
Kaizen snapped his fingers. "Right, introductions," he said. He gestured between them. "Shinra, this is Yuna Kaizen. One of Sanctum's strongest front-liners."
"And his sister," Mizuki added.
Yuna folded her arms. "You have a habit of leaving that part for last," she told Kaizen.
"It makes it more dramatic," he said.
She gave him a look, then turned back to Shinra.
"So you're the mysterious Tier 1 with no past," she said, studying him more openly now. Her gaze flicked over his posture, his expression, the way he sat—not slouched, not stiff.
"If that's what they're calling me," Shinra replied, "yes."
[Her energy is high, Great Master.] Arios observed.
[Not just in power, but in temperament.]
She fights at the front, Shinra thought. It suits her.
Yuna took a few steps deeper into the room, closing the door behind her with a soft click.
"I rushed over when I heard," she admitted. "We don't get Tier 1s just casually signing up here."
"Sorry to disappoint," Shinra said. "I didn't bring a parade."
"Good," she replied. "We don't have the budget."
Kaizen chuckled. "Yuna leads one of our active squads," he explained. "Breach suppression, city patrol, the usual high-risk work."
"Unit 3," Yuna added. "Front-line squad."
She tipped her chin toward Shinra. "You fight?"
"Yes," he said.
"At Tier 1?" she pressed.
"Yes."
She squinted at him. "You don't… look like it."
"What does a Tier 1 look like?" Shinra asked.
"Louder," she said. "More arrogant. More 'I own the world' energy."
Shinra thought briefly, then shook his head. "Too tiring," he said.
Yuna stared at him, then laughed once. "Okay," she said. "That's fair."
Mizuki glanced between them, then flicked her attention to Kaizen. "You were thinking it already, weren't you?" she asked.
"Thinking what?" Yuna said.
Kaizen scratched his cheek. "About which squad to place him in," he said. "We can't stick a Tier 1 in logistics. That'd be a waste."
"And if we leave him unassigned," Mizuki added, "everyone will walk on eggshells around him, and nothing will get done."
She looked at Yuna.
"Unit 3 is the most active and stable squad we have," she said. "Its captain actually listens to orders… most of the time."
"That's generous," Yuna muttered.
"Pairing him with your unit makes the most sense," Mizuki finished.
Yuna nearly choked. "Wait, you're putting a brand new, unregistered Tier 1 under me?"
"Is that a problem?" Kaizen asked.
"Of course it's a problem," Yuna said. "He's Tier 1. I'm Tier 1 barely. I had to grind my way up over years. He just… appears."
She realized how that sounded, glanced at Shinra, then added quickly, "I'm not saying you didn't work. I'm saying I don't know anything about you."
"That's reasonable," Shinra said.
She frowned. "Don't just accept it so calmly. It makes it weird."
[Her reactions are honest, Master.] Arios said.
[This guild feels… very human.]
Unlike the halls I used to sit in, Shinra thought.
Kaizen shrugged. "Look at it this way," he told Yuna. "If he's a problem, you're the one most qualified to hit him first."
Yuna considered that. "That does make me feel better," she admitted.
She faced Shinra fully now.
"I don't care what your rank is," she said. "On missions, we move as a team. No lone hero rushes in without warning, no one uses allies as shields, and no one ignores orders just because they 'can handle it.' Got it?"
"I don't like wasting effort," Shinra replied. "Reckless rushing is inefficient. I won't do it unless it's necessary."
Her eyes lit up a little at that.
"I take that back," she said. "You can join."
Mizuki sighed quietly. "We were going to assign him either way," she said. "But your approval will help the others accept it."
Yuna glanced at the tablet in Mizuki's hand. "Have you told them yet?" she asked.
"Not in detail," Mizuki said. "They know a Tier 1 registered. They don't know he's yours."
"Great," Yuna muttered. "They're going to be insufferable."
Kaizen pushed off the desk again. "You'll manage," he said. "You always do."
He looked at Shinra.
"From today," he said, "you're assigned to Unit 3 under Yuna's command. You'll join their missions, follow their structure, and let them get used to you gradually."
"No issue," Shinra said.
Yuna studied him once more, then nodded slowly.
"We have a patrol and Breach-watch job tomorrow," she said. "Lower Sector. Not too dangerous. Good as a first run together."
"That's fine," Shinra replied.
"And one more thing," she added. "Don't go full strength unless I say so."
He blinked once. "You noticed I was holding back," he said.
"Even I could feel the pressure from the evaluation room," she said. "If that was you restrained, I don't want to see what 'serious' looks like near housing blocks."
Shinra considered her words, then nodded.
"That's acceptable," he said. "I don't enjoy destroying things casually."
"Good," she said.
[Your decision aligns with our goal of low attention, Master.] Arios said.
[Showing controlled power is preferable to overwhelming displays at this stage.]
I know, Shinra replied. If the world is going to notice me, let it be slowly.
Kaizen clapped his hands once again, lightly.
"All right, that settles it," he said. "Shinra, welcome to Sanctum Guild. Provisional member, combat class, Tier 1—assigned to the squad that gets into the most avoidable trouble."
"We don't get into trouble," Yuna protested. "Trouble walks into us."
"Same result," Kaizen said.
Mizuki stood, closing her tablet. "I'll send your basic info to the dorm admin," she told Shinra. "You'll have a room by tonight. For now, Yuna will show you around the building."
Yuna sighed, but there was no real annoyance in it.
"Come on," she said, jerking her head toward the door. "You should at least know where the cafeteria and the training rooms are before we throw you into a Breach."
Shinra rose.
Kaizen gave him a casual salute. "If anyone bothers you," the Guild Leader said, "feel free to tell them you're with us. If they keep bothering you, feel free to not tell them you're Tier 1. I'd like to keep the walls intact."
"I'll keep that in mind," Shinra said.
Mizuki added, "And if you have any questions about systems, missions, or rules, ask me—not Kaizen. He'll improvise answers."
"Hey," Kaizen said.
Yuna opened the door.
Shinra stepped out into the corridor beside her.
As the door closed behind them with a soft click, the noise of the guild came back into focus—footsteps, distant shouts from a training hall, someone complaining about paperwork, someone else laughing too loudly.
Yuna walked ahead a few steps, then matched his pace.
"So," she said, "first impression of Sanctum?"
Shinra thought about the Mundane woman giving orders to an Ascendant earlier. The low-tier trainees in the practice room who weren't being mocked when they failed. The way Kaizen and Mizuki talked about protecting people no one else wanted.
"…Different," he said. "From what I expected."
"Different good or different bad?" she asked.
"Not bad," he said.
She snorted softly. "I'll take that as a compliment."
"It was one," he replied.
She glanced sideways at him, then looked ahead again.
"Most people laugh at us," she said. "Sanctum doesn't have the biggest building or the richest sponsors. We don't win every public ranking competition. But when things go wrong in the places no one else wants to touch…" She shrugged. "We're usually the ones who show up."
"They call you foolish," Shinra said. "But they're willing to let you do the work they don't want."
"Pretty much," Yuna said. "It annoys Mizuki a lot. Kaizen pretends it doesn't bother him, but it does. Me? I just like punching things that threaten people who couldn't fight back even if they wanted to."
[She is very clear about her motivations, Master.] Arios said.
Clarity isn't a bad thing, Shinra answered.
They turned a corner. Yuna pointed as they walked.
"Cafeteria's down there," she said. "Food's decent when they're not trying to experiment. Training rooms are on the lower floors. Squad rooms are above. Dorms are in the annex building—you'll get a key later."
Shinra nodded, storing the information away.
"Any questions so far?" she asked.
He considered.
"Yes," he said. "Why did you run all the way to your brother's office the moment you heard there was a Tier 1?"
She blinked, then made a face.
"Is that important?" she asked.
"I'm curious," he said.
She sighed. "Because we're a mid-tier guild and we don't get people like you," she admitted. "I wanted to know if you were another arrogant show-off who's going to use us as a stepping stone… or someone who might actually stay long enough to matter."
"And?" he asked.
She looked at him for a moment.
"…Jury's still out," she said. "But you didn't complain about being assigned to my squad. That's a good start."
He let a small breath escape—almost a laugh.
"I don't plan to run just because something better flashes its teeth at me," he said. "If I choose a place, I don't leave it lightly."
She studied him again, more quietly this time.
"That sounds like someone who's had a lot to lose," she said.
"I did," he replied.
He didn't elaborate. She didn't press.
They walked on.
Behind them, in an office where mission lists and budgets clashed with ideals, Sanctum's leaders were already calculating how to protect a guild that protected the weak—now sheltering someone who could overturn the world.
Ahead of them, the hallways branched into training rooms and dorm corridors, into cafeterias and briefing spaces.
Between those two points, Shinra moved at an easy pace beside Yuna, no throne, no crown, no name the world could remember—
just a man from a lost era,
standing for the first time among people in a place that refused to throw the weakest away.