Ren studied Ryuken Ishida with an amused look. Ryuken blew a smoke ring, took a folder from his coat, and set it on the table. "This contains the research on creating a Hōgyoku—the research on creating a Complete Hōgyoku!"
"What? Research on a Complete Hōgyoku? How did you get your hands on that?" Ren exclaimed, staring at Ryuken in disbelief.
Creating a Hōgyoku had long been a sore point for Ren. After all these years, he had nearly wiped out the Menos Grande in the Forest of Menos, yet he still couldn't make one.
Naturally, Ren was excited to obtain the complete research. But he remained skeptical, unsure whether the documents before him were genuine.
Ryuken adjusted his glasses. "Yes. This is the complete research on the Hōgyoku. You're powerful, Lord Ren, but you rose to prominence only recently, and you lack deep roots in this world. Granted, you've seized a great deal of its accumulated knowledge.
"But many of this world's secrets have been passed down since ancient times and rarely recorded. So even now, you don't truly understand this world as a whole. I do. Many of its secrets are no secrets to me at all. Between that knowledge and my own strength, am I qualified to work with you?"
Ren considered his words, then nodded. "If all that's true, then you certainly are. And rest assured, Lord Ryuken: if we have grounds to work together, we can both benefit. I'll get what I want, and so will you."
Ryuken nodded and watched as Morgana picked up the folder. "Then you have my thanks, Lord Ren. As for whether the documents are genuine, please examine them yourself."
At Ren's signal, Morgana had already begun leafing through the documents.
She had worked alongside Ren on the Hōgyoku experiments. After