"Reen was keeping track of my thoughts when I spent time with aunt Nina?"

Only now did Eren realize that Reen was reading his thoughts and emotions when he had his way with drunk aunt Nina post their dinner date. He was in ecstasy due to repeated orgasms. His long-awaited wish had come to reality.

Reen connected those feelings with having very good food and asked him about the same. He could only smile mirthlessly after realizing that the mental channel had been left open by him during his intimate moments with Nina.

Eren had kept the channel open in these three days so that she could ask him questions anytime. But he forgot to close it that night.

"Yes, Reen. I had fish for that day. My favourite."

Eren laughed at his pun. But he started laughing uncontrollably when he heard Reen's next words:

"Aai olsou want to hyaav some feesh!"

Reen asked while running towards Eren. They were fine-tuning her walk in the ground floor's open space now, before tonight's events. Every little, last-minute preparation mattered before partaking into something like this.

Eren immediately stopped her in her tracks by mentally giving her commands when he saw her running towards him. He was visibly shaken by the intimidating view.

Eren didn't want to see naked Dom's body coming towards him with open arms, aiming to hug him. He had already killed the guy. What would he do by forming such bonds with him?

The evening arrived. Eren made fake Dom wear the clothes that he had received from the original Dom's ID stone. He also told him to retract his prowess and not leak any of it.

Reen by now had understood and learned to not leak her demon beast aura, thanks to her training of staying as inorganic objects. She could now shapeshift into people while assuming the status of inorganic matter. Her ruse would work as long as there's no higher-ranked entity inspecting her.

Eren and fake Dom walked out of the house and disappeared into the darkness. They then visited the same gambling den they had previously to lure the Fantastic Five. This time Dom went in while Eren stayed behind.

The first thing the fake Dom did after entering the bar was to order a pint of E Rank booze in his weird accent and kept the tab open. He started chugging pints after pints until he was satisfied.

Eren wanted fake Dom to do that so that he can have a good excuse for his weird accent. Fake Dom's facial expressions and his stride were anyway. So drinking that much booze justified everything about him.

Dom kept on looking at the bar's crowd from time to time as he had his booze. Then he approached a female rogue, apparently to impress her. He reached her table and took a seat in front of her before trying to woo her.

Reen had her mental channel open while acting as a fake Dom. She would send all her thoughts and experiences to Eren in real-time. And he would be aware of the audiovisuals happening in front of and around Reen at almost the same time as her.

Reen was only conveying what her master wanted her to say. The real conversation took place between Eren and that lady rouge:

"Hi, beautiful. Don't you think this bar is too crass for ya? Why don't you come with me and we can find some nice cosy place to spend the night?"

"Damn. Saying that you are drunk is an understatement, strange man. What's with that weird tone and speech? Are you not from here?"

"Hahahaha. No need to think of me as an outsider. I might have something else to drink before coming here. My head's still buzzing. This is an after-party after an after-party, you see. Will you like to join me for some fun? All expenses will be paid by me of course."

"That's all good. And you look okay, I guess. But I don't know you. And don't get me wrong, but you are weird. So I'll pass."

"Lady, please wait before you reject the deal. Let's know a little about each other if that's what you want. I'll go first. My name is Dom. Dom Walker. I'm an E Rank hunter steps away from becoming a D Rank.

Life is fleeting, young miss. Tonight I'm asking you to spend the night with me. Tomorrow, you might not even get the chance to have a word with me to show your approval.

That's because I've struck gold. I'll tell you at this moment, mark my words. I'll become so successful that my name will spread throughout the entire kingdom like some viral flu of the season."

Dom said this while emptying another pint. Of course, he said this in his weird accent. But that wasn't important anymore to either the lady or the nearby audience that was listening to their conversation.

"Hmm? Dom Walker? Where have I heard this name? Wait Dom Walker. An E Rank Hunter. Are you from the OB (short for Osan Braveheart Hunters' association)?"

"I was. Not anymore. Wait! Should I say this out loud? Haah! Who cares? I don't have to work in that guild anymore and struggle for every penny. My backer is huge.

My point is, young lady. I'll soon be walking on the path of success that'll take me away from this backwater place called the city of Osan. Why not follow me till you can?"

Dom said this and started eating the chips that had been ordered by the lady without asking her. But she didn't mind. The scoop in front of her was worth more than the price of those chips.

"But they say that you died. And your entire party was wiped out in the Osan woods' disturbance. How can you be alive after all that?"

The lady asked Dom what the entire audience of that conversation was dying to. Dom acted as if he didn't care. As if his backer was not something to be taken lightly of.

"Aah! That. Let's say I'm a dead man walking then. Hahaha! Don't worry about the details. What's your name? Are you leaving the place with me tonight or not? Decide quickly. I don't have time. I'd rather go avail of 'professional services' if there's nothing to be gained from here."

"Name's Julie."

Julie had to give him something to keep this filthy blabbermouth hooked to the seat.

"As I said, I don't know you so how can I come to a decision this quick? Listen, why not tell me what happened to you and your team in the Osan woods. And about your backer as well. I'll come with you after you give me these deets."

"Is that so? I'm going to leave the city anyway. I guess there's no harm in telling you. But you have to promise not to speak a word about this to anyone."

"I promise." Said Julie loudly.

'We promise.' Said the audience in their heads.

"Alright. So listen closely."

Dom bent forward a little to make the conversation more private. But contrastingly, his voice remained on the same volume.

"The road to success in the ranking journey is forged with the corpses of your enemies and friends. Yes, I killed my party members. It wasn't any rogue cultist. And it certainly wasn't a demon beast. Sure, it ate the dead bodies. But those bodies were dead because of me.

Do I regret it a little? Yes, maybe. But will I do it again after being offered the same choice? Abso fokin lutely yes!"

"Why did you kill them?"

Julie asked and touched her sheathed dagger's hilt attached to her waistband, trying to find some sense of security while talking to this maniac.

Julie was an E-Rank entity in the initial stage. Her on-field experience wasn't as rich as the guy. She wasn't Dom's match in a frontal assault. But she was confident of saving herself from any mishap, thanks to Dom's drunken state.

"Why, you ask? Of course, it was to feed that damn demon beast. It was raised especially by that backer, you see. And it needed ranked entities to feed on."

Dom said this like it is the most obvious thing in the world.

Author's Note: VEH is 40 chapters rich with this release. What have you liked about the novel so far? Or what would you like it to improve on? Place a review on the novel and let me know. ;)