Roger Eikam immediately removed his hat in greeting.
"My name is Roger Eikam. Please inform your masters."
"Oh, you're Ro… Roger?!"
The attendant at the gate was horrified. He never imagined he would see with his own eyes the man who had devoured all the Titans and unleashed a world-shaking Rumbling.
In an instant, cold sweat poured off him. His legs went weak and he dropped to his knees, not daring to meet Roger's gaze.
Yet Roger remained courteous, not losing his manners even in the face of the man's embarrassment.
Thankfully, someone finally came out—someone who could calmly accept the situation and had the authority to report Roger's visit to the family elders.
After a careful, solemn discussion, the elders ultimately had no choice but to let him in.
Because they knew that even if they refused in every possible way, they couldn't keep this man standing outside forever.
They couldn't stop him.
Roger was very polite. After all, this counted as his birth family, and his blood carried this family's blood. And General Tybur, who had once held power in this family, was his father.
If nothing unexpected had happened, Roger should've been able to inherit the family smoothly.
But in the end, these people had rebelled against General Tybur's authority and completely sidelined him.
It was fortunate that the "Eikams" inside the Walls had a talent for lying low—otherwise, they would've been dragged out long ago.
Roger walked inside and saw several elders sitting upright, their bodies lax but their expressions guarded.
The moment they saw him enter, they straightened, not daring to say much, leaving only the elder at the head to speak.
"Roger Eikam pays his respects to the elders."
Roger understood propriety well. Even if he didn't know the Tybur family's customs, he still pushed his courtesy to the limit.
The elders around him wore strange clothes and odd hats, kneeling on cushions with stiff, unsmiling faces.
The elder at the head looked sharp and spirited, clearly the spokesman.
At first, they wanted to rely on the dignity of their status—crush Roger with sheer presence.
But the moment they saw Roger's deep blue eyes, they didn't dare anymore.
"State your purpose, Roger… Eikam."
Roger nodded and straightened.
"Before my father died, he left an heirloom to me. Unfortunately, it ended up in your hands. I've come to claim it. If you know what's good for you, give it to me."
At once, the elders began whispering among themselves. They really did have something General Tybur had left for Roger Eikam.
But clearly, they didn't want to hand it over easily. They wanted to use it at the end—to trade it for something.
"If you guarantee that you will return the Founding Titan's power to the Tybur family, then we're willing to give you that key back. Otherwise, we'll destroy it forever."
Roger had expected this. He smiled and nodded.
"You don't actually think I can't open it without your key, do you? And you old men think you can oppose me? Aren't you afraid I'll turn all of you into Titans and steal the memories from your minds?"
Roger's words instantly shocked every elder present.
It was true—Roger had the power to control all Eldians, and he could read all Eldian memories.
In other words, they never had the ability to contend with him.
Realizing that, all the elders lowered their heads.
They had lost completely.
"Then why did you come to ask us?" the leading elder demanded, still clinging to a sliver of hope. "Why not just steal our memories directly?"
He was gambling that Roger couldn't actually do it, which was why he'd come here.
But what Roger said next filled them with terror.
"As the inheritor of the Founding Titan, I do have the ability to read all Eldian memories. But the side effect is that everyone whose memories I steal will perish—erased completely from this world. In the Titan world, mind and body cannot be separated. If I steal your mind, then I must devour your flesh. I came to speak to you properly because I'm merciful. What—do you want to die?"
The elders instantly began sweating like rain.
The leading elder let out a long sigh and nodded. "I understand. Follow me."
He led Roger into a basement.
At the basement door, he searched for a while, then finally pulled a key from a hidden compartment.
"This is the key to the basement your father left for you. We don't know what's inside, because even with this key, we were never able to open the basement door. So we guessed it was made specifically for you—meant to be opened by your hand someday."
Roger took the key and examined it closely. The patterns carved into it were strange, and the moment it touched his skin, it faintly lit up.
Beside him, the elder sighed again and said, "General Tybur truly was a talented man. Back then, when the War Hammer Titan defied the family and acted on his own, it was your father who defeated the War Hammer's inheritor and saved the Tybur family from collapse. But in the end, he abandoned the creed he once held so dearly. He refused to keep the secret for the former king—he even married an Ackerman woman. Left with no choice, we killed him. He regretted it deeply afterward, but under our pressure, he could do nothing. We just never expected that he would still raise you to adulthood in the end, instead of abandoning you in the wilderness."
"Heh." Roger's laughter was thin. "He did abandon me, that's true. It's just… I met someone gentler and kinder than him. My body carries his blood, yes—but the person I was closest to was still that grandmother who lay in a sickbed, warning me not to be reckless, not to stick my nose into everything."
As he spoke, longing flickered in his eyes.
Hearing that, the elders could only sigh.
They never imagined that after trying to control the world's direction, they would be mocked by the world itself in the end.
Holding the key, Roger finally approached the basement door and slid the key into the lock.
Twist.
Unlock.
Open.
What he saw inside felt bizarre beyond description.
Like a galaxy—packed with countless stars.
They drifted through the air. Then some of the stars dimmed, leaving behind only a strange pattern.
Roger focused and recognized it at once.
It was the star map that had once appeared in his mind—
Scorpio.