Keel Freezis

"*To a merchant, money is certainly important, but do you know what's even more essential than that? –Information.*"
―Keel Freezis

**Keel Freezis** was a merchant from the Kingdom of Marlon and a friend of Queen Germaine Marlon. Establishing his business in Elphegort, Keel built up the Freezis Firm to span across Evillious. Through his connections, the merchant funded the Lucifenian Resistance's efforts while moving himself and his family to Marlon. He later supported Queen Germaine's regime while investigating the events surrounding it.

## History

### Early Life

In BT 020, Pale Noël created three ghoul children, two being his clones. One of them grew up to be Meta Salmhofer, while the other eventually became Meta Clockworker; meanwhile, the third one was cryogenically frozen. This baby was eventually transferred to the facility underneath Castle Hedgehog alongside four others in cold storage. During the latter half of the fifth century EC, an earthquake occurred, waking one of the babies. Freed from his Freezis pod, the boy escaped and lived in the Kingdom of Marlon, adopting the name "Keel Freezis". He eventually became an apprentice and earned a reputation for doing anything if he was paid for it. At some point, Keel met and became close friends with Mikina Sfarz.

In EC 489, Keel received the investigation files from Princess Germaine for her art tutor's poisoning and became friends with the royal, always interested in her paintings. Around this time, Keel began a business in Marlon. After Germaine burned her paintings in EC 490, Keel bought the only one left, telling his friend she could buy it back later, though at double the price. Later, through Keel's teasing on her lack of skill with the sword, Germaine was prompted to study fencing. During this period, Keel and Mikina became romantically involved.

After Mikina became pregnant with Keel's child in EC 491, their tryst was revealed and rumor spread that Keel was involved in black market dealings. Hunted by Duke Sfarz, the two agreed to flee abroad and boarded a ship bound for the Kingdom of Elphegort. Traveling the capital of Aceid, the two moved into the Central District and married. On December 4, Mikina's eighteenth birthday, she gave birth to their daughter Yukina. Hoping to avoid dangerous work because of the child, the two set up a general store.

Despised by the native Netsuma populace, the couple suffered severe discrimination, failing to sell much of their merchandise despite their hard work. The Freezises managed to barely survive, relying on aid from the wife of another foreign couple who owned a nearby inn. They were overjoyed once they received their first customer. Around that time, Mikina became pregnant again.

During that year, EC 492, Mikina took a trip to the village of Yatski, getting injured on the way and unable to help in the shop for a time; the next day, Keel was visited by a man in rags. Impressing the man with excellent service, Keel watched as he marveled at all their high quality stock, though he only purchased a pipe before leaving. Later, Keel described the incident to Mikina. Over the next month, their entire stock sold out.

Later the couple discovered that the man had been King Thorny Elphen. Impressed, the king distinguished them throughout the country and his sponsorship made their failing business very successful. The following year, their first son was born and the couple named him Shaw. At a later point, while Keel was out dealing with customers, Duke Sfarz intruded on their home and attempted to take the child, but failed. Mikina did not inform Keel of this incident when he got back.

### Growing Success

"*Nowadays Mr. Keel is the greatest merchant in Elphegort, and the whole Evillious region.*"
―An Elphegortean innkeeper and friend of Keel
Due to the popular success of their local business, Keel expanded it into the Freezis Firm, spreading the merchant guild across Evillious into Lucifenia, Levianta, and even his homeland in Marlon. Becoming extremely wealthy, Keel purchased a title of nobility in Aceid and the Freezis family moved into a mansion in the Northern District.

Afterwards, the merchant began to collect things for home decoration, and set up a hideout in a well at the Millennium Tree Forest. Around this time, Keel funded the construction of a monastery along the northwestern coast of Lucifenia, dedicated to Held. From there, Keel began holding monthly banquets, inviting nobles and other business owners, to help create a vast information network for himself through these connections. Keel then convinced the businesses to join his proposed "Evillious Commerce Alliance" under the Freezis Firm's leadership to promote their individual business interests and dominate the region.

During that period, Keel managed to contact the Association and earned their cooperation to merge with the firm. As part of the merge, the Association agreed to provide one of their Bruno agents as the family's top aide; Keel also agreed to let the Bruno have complete authority of the family and its assets in the event the family head has died and there was no immediate successor, until a new successor was chosen. He later received the new Bruno and made him the family's butler and chief informant.

In EC 495, Keel and Mikina had their third child, Aile, and were well known among the higher echelons of society. Around this time Keel saw Yukina's talent of writing and would send a servant to purchase Rollam bird feathers from the inn owned by the foreigner couple for her pens. In EC 499, Mikina gave Keel a sword for his collection and, fascinated by the weapon, he stored it in his treasury. Seeing little value in the blade, the he attempted to sell it several times to his visitors, even attempting to sell it to Germaine, to no avail. During one attempt, a traveling businessman told the merchant it was called the "Venom Sword".

In November, Keel planned to visit the inn with a servant to buy more rollam bird feathers for Yukina since several of their servants had resigned and left them understaffed, when he became busy with work. Mikina agreed to handle it instead. Keel later heard his wife had returned with two new servants, the Elphe girl Michaela and the Netsuma girl Clarith.

While going through his paper work the following night, Keel opened a letter from the Lucifenian Royal Palace, learning Prince Alexiel's fourteenth birthday party would be held a month from then. Soon after reading this he was joined by his wife, and the two chatted over tea about Lucifenia, Yukina, and their two new servants. Keel resolved to introduce himself to them. The very next day, Keel assigned the literate and exotic Michaela to take care of Yukina. In December, Keel hired someone to perform magic tricks at his next monthly banquet, failing to impress his guests.

On December 26, Keel departed for Lucifenia, along with Mikina and Bruno, to attend Prince Alexiel's banquet in the Hall of Mirrors. During the celebration, Keel learned of the local populace's starvation due to the recent famine while aristocracy profited off taxation. After the prince's candy castle was largely eaten, Keel and Mikina retired for the night along with the rest of the guests.

Once they returned home the next day, Keel learned Earl Felix had visited the mansion and immediately headed for the guest quarters to speak with the Earl. Asked about Lucifenia's current affairs, Keel shared his newfound knowledge. The two of them discussed the immense power and wealth of the monarchy, along with the paradoxical plight of the starving, poverty-ridden people. Keel was then abruptly accosted by his daughter Yukina, and the two brought the meeting to an end so he could spend time with her.

### Discovering the Diva

"*Come, listen carefully to the beautiful voice of Elphegort’s one and only diva, a girl working in my household, Clarith!*"
―Keel to his business associates
That night, Keel heard a beautiful singing voice from his room and went out to the garden to see Clarith singing for Michaela. Amazed by the performance, he went outside to applaud her secret talent. Confirming she liked to sing, Keel permitted her to do so whenever she pleased.

After hiring a singing instructor to refine Clarith's skill, Keel had her trained for two weeks until the banquet. Once she was dressed up for the main event, Keel introduced her to his assembled guests as the "Diva of Elphegort". Clarith proceded to dazzle his audience with her performance. Once the maid finished, the two were met with thunderous applause and approval. After the show, Keel and Clarith socialized with the various guests. When one admitted he'd like to show her off at his own home, Keel replied he wouldn't refuse if she agreed to it before warning him from recruiting her, explaining the Freezis family motto.

Germaine later walked up to congratulate him on the success, and the merchant took the opportunity to introduce her to Clarith. The two of them had a friendly chat, Germaine clearly showing a developing infatuation.

Over the course of the following months, Keel had Clarith continue her instruction and perform for other households and businesses, eventually receiving subsidies from the royal government. Learning several nobles requested her hand in marriage, the merchant was pleased with the Diva of Elphegort's growing popularity. After Clarith performed at another one of his monthly banquets, Keel noticed that Germaine looked somewhat stiff as she left the party.

### Lucifenia's Troubles

"*Moreover, your opponent would be the Prince of Lucifenia! It may become a diplomatic problem if it gets too bad.*"
―Keel and Clarith
Over the next few weeks, Germaine repeated visited the Keel to arrange a meeting with him and King Thorny Elphen to discuss relieving Lucifenia's food shortage. The day of the meeting, Keel went to collect documents from his office and spotted Clarith silently examining his collection before coming in himself, asking if anything was wrong.

Having seen the shell pendant Germaine gave to her, he explained it was an engagement token. When faced with Clarith's doubt, he encouraged her to be up-front with her refusal, pointing out that she already had a fiancée. Upon noticing Clarith's surprise, Keel elaborated that Germaine was engaged to the Prince of Lucifenia, and that it could become a diplomatic issue, though also informing her she could make her own judgments on the matter. Then he left her to her cleaning.

That night, Keel met with Kings Thorny and Germaine in his private room and discuss the famine plaguing Lucifenia and the recent assassination of one of the kingdom's Three Heroes, Mariam Avadonia. After Germaine proposed Marlon and Elphegort both send aide to relieve the Yellow Country's populace and improve their diplomatic relations, Keel agreed to send the relief on Elphegort's behalf.

Once Kyle convinced Thorny to agree to the arrangement, Keel suggested they put the business aside and have some liquor, tasking Clarith with bringing some in. After a much longer then expected period of waiting, Michaela suddenly burst in with the liquor bottle.

After grabbing Germaine by the front of her clothes, Michaela began ranting in her face. Keel attempted to stop her when the Elphe snapped at him and grabbed him instead, the two of them engaging in an argument. After Michaela eventually calmed down, the merchant harshly scolded her and Clarith for the incident.

The next day, Keel met with a messenger to handle the formalities of providing aid to Lucifenia, finishing up his meeting early. While marveling at the Venom Sword in his private room, he saw Michaela enter frantically and asked if something was wrong. Brushing it off, she noted the messenger had left and the businessman explained how it ended early. Seeing her stare at the sword, he elaborated how it was his favorite and that even his wife had noted its odd shape to him but that it wasn't worth much, recalling the name the businessman gave the weapon.

### Foreign Visitors

"*And, with her engagement to Queen Germaine coming up, it seems the Prince is in high spirits.*"
"*The engagement, huh?...Well then I hope there won't be any troubles with that,*"
―Rin Avadonia and Keel
Weeks later, Keel learned that Germaine was under house arrest in her castle in Marlon after trying to run away to Elphegort again. Four days later, a servant from Lucifenia was sent in response to Keel's aid after he rejected any minister or Leonhart Phutapie from coming. While awaiting the messenger, Keel was visited by the mercenary Gast Glass, interested in buying the Venom Sword because it was a family heirloom. Purposefully, Keel offered an exorbitant price for the sword and the mercenary gave up and left.

After Gast left, Keel greeted his messenger, Rin Avadonia. The servant immediately expressed Prince Alexiel's appreciation and bestowed rare gifts: fine parchment paper and a quill pen made from Rollam bird feathers. Keel thanked him, and explained upon being prompted that, while he had little interest in writing, his eldest, Yukina, had recently started wanting to write her own stories.

Changing the topic, Keel queried if she had spoken with Gast, recounting how he had tried to buy the sword but had given up at the price. He informed Rin on his mercantile tendencies to overcharge when a client didn't know something's worth, and spend money on things that had great value. Rin using this as a seque to ask about his reasons for aiding Lucifenia, Keel explained that he did so both to protect his business interests in the region and as a favor to his friend Germaine.

He informed Rin that his aid had its price, however, in the form of information, which he wanted to hear from a non-politically involved servant. Rin explained the full brunt of Prince Alexiel's tyranny, to him, though also how the food aid and impending marriage with Germaine lessened the severity of the situation.

As Keel was recalling the issue with Germaine and her infatuation with Clarith, Clarith entered with tea and brioche. Both Rin and Keel pleased with the recipe, Clarith told him Michaela baked it this time. When she left, Keel, noticing Rin appearing to have a crush on her, explained Clarith's numerous suitors, and how she had denied to marry any of them. At this point he brought the meeting to a close, and bid Rin fairwell.

The next day, Keel was visited by Kyle Phutapie, and was informed that Germaine had thrown away her engagement, with Alexiel desperately searching for her alleged sweetheart in Elphegort. After he left, Keel summoned Michaela, Clarith, Gerda, Bruno, and the family together for a meeting, having Bruno explain the situation.

Keel first took a moment to express his anger at the negative consequences of Germaine's actions, before he explained that Kyle was a spy trained by Leonhart Phutapie of the Three Heroes. Saying he feared the worst if Alexiel learned of Clarith, he decided to give her refuge and described his hideout in the Millennium Tree Forest. Keel and Mikina then encouraged Michaela to protect Clarith and be with her at all times. Keel later sent a letter to Germaine detailing where he planned to hide Clarith. Later on, Germaine wrote back, saying she could arrive in about a week from when the letter got there and smuggle Clarith safely out of the country.

### White Hunting

"*...Rin, my girl. I'll trust you, and tell you Clarith's location. What happens then is up to you. Whatever the outcome, I'll accept it.* "
―Keel while imprisoned
At the start of the White Hunting, Keel, his family, and the servants all gathered in preparation to flee, deciding to leave in fewer numbers to avoid discovery. Confident he himself would survive, Keel showed the servants their escape routes and later joined his wife's side as she tearfully said goodbye to Clarith and Michaela.

Later, the Lucifenian army found Keel and his family, arresting and imprisoning them at the Lucifenian Royal Palace's dungeon for allowing a white-haired servant to flee. Once Rin arrived at his cell, the two of them discussed how Clarith was the one that Alexiel was searching for, thinking that they were alone. Keel expressed his moral conflict over the issue of giving up Clarith to save the other women of Elphegort, deciding to leave the matter up to Rin and giving her Clarith's location. He elaborated upon Germaine's projected arrival and plan to rescue her. Some days later, Keel was approached again in his prison cell; he listened as Rin, with tears in her eyes, explained someone had already killed Clarith.

Keel used the Firm's connections through Corpa and managed to pay off the heavy fines charged against him and his family months later. Following their release, they were placed under house arrest at Corpa's mansion in Rolled. Soon after, Keel came in contact with Chartette Langley who set up a meeting between him and the Lucifenian Resistance days later. Learning that Michaela had been captured and interrogated by the Lucifenian military, Keel persuaded Corpa to pay for her bail so that he could speak with her again.

### Supporting the Rebellion

"*There's the matter of Lord Keel Freezis. I believe he will make sure that each resistance member has weapons.*"
―Sekka of the Resistance
Keel met with the Resistance's leader, Ney Avadonia and York Le Corbusier, who offered to secure his confiscated property from the Palace in exchange for his support for their revolution. During the meeting, Keel heard Michaela at the door and permitted her to enter. During the discussion Ney ended up trying to drag Michaela into the Resistance, becoming suspicious when she refused though Keel insisted Michaela would not betray them. He ended the conversation with saying he would consider her offer.

After Ney and York left, Keel urged Michaela to get some rest. He struggled with his guilt over telling Rin Clarith's location and her ensuing death. Advised by his wife to support the Resistance, he thoroughly investigated the rebellion's situation, without sleep, and saw the advantage they had. Keel decided to support the Resistance and use the chance to return to Marlon, learning that a mansion in Marlon had become vacant.

A few days since the meeting, he entered Michaela's room and explained his decision, inquiring as to what she intended to do after this point. When hearing her doubts as to returning to being a maid, Keel offered to set her up at the monastery he helped create to give her some peace and quiet to recover in. Michaela finally accepted his offer, Keel asserting they would stay in touch. The following day, Keel had Michaela relay his decision to Ney and began providing supplies to the Resistance. On the day of Michaela's departure, Keel and Yukina said their goodbyes before she left.

### Lucifenian Revolution

"*It's not that easy! The merchants in Rollam are aiding the rebelling army!*"
"*What?...Unbelievable...Was this all instigated by Keel Freezis!? Hey! Find and arrest Keel at once! This time he won't be pardoned! He'll be executed!*"
―A Lucifenian minister and Prime Minister Minis
Shortly after Michaela's departure, Keel traveled to Marlon with his family and moved into the vacant mansion in Bariti. While there, Keel was visited by Gallerian Clockworker and his apprentice, Lemy. The two men revealed they managed to recover Keel's property from his burned-down mansion and, after some negotiation, returned them to him.

As part of their deal, the merchant abided Gallerian's request to hide them from Lucifenia and give him the Venom Sword he held. During that period, Lemy revealed that Clarith was once a Forest Spirit and her "partner" used a ritual to show that her spirit incarnated as a tree sapling. Amazed, Keel advised they give Clarith to Michaela.

Months later, during the Lucifenian Revolution, Keel used the Freezis Firm to help support the revolutionary army at Rollam, supplying them with weapons to help combat the military might of the Lucifenian army. After Lucifenia was captured by the Resistance and The Son of Evil was imprisoned, Keel attended the peace meeting, praising Ney on her success.

Like the others, Keel was surprised when the masked Lukana revealed herself to be Queen Germaine. When the matter regarding the Three Heroes came up, Keel expressed disbelief that the missing Gallerian would cause any trouble, turning the council's attention to Leonhart Phutapie instead. Soon after, Germaine announced Marlon's temporary occupation of Lucifenia and control over its government. He, along with the rest present at the meeting, agreed to the proposal and did not object as Germaine announced The Son of Evil's execution.

On December 27th, EC 500, Keel attended the execution in Milanais Square in Rolled and witnessed The Son of Evil come on the stage; during the event, he recognized the prince was actually Rin in disguise. Sometime after the revolution, Keel met with Germaine and related the testimony Rin gave him while imprisoned. At a later point, Gallerian and Lemy left Keel's protection, telling him they planned to meet Michaela before heading to the Eastern region.

### Return Home

"*Well, maybe let's say that you were actually asked to go looking for my whereabouts and check up on me by my father. ...Hm?*"
"*Ho ho ho. I'm impressed, young miss Yukina. You always have such interesting ideas.*"
"*Well then, what do you think? True? Or false?*"
"*I'll leave that to your imagination.*"
―Yukina and Bruno
Sometime later, Yukina told Keel about a story that she had written about snakes and frogs. At the time he had recieved four letters, the first concerning Germaine having handed control over to her mother, Prim, and settled in Lucifenia; the letter also mentioned her Sorcerer Hunt order for Ney. After reading his letters from Gallerian and Michaela, Keel read the letter from Ney, thanking him for his assistance and reporting the situations of her friends. Knowing the risks the intelligence he had brought, Keel threw the letters in his fireplace and decided to keep the information memorized.

Despite Germaine's policies in Lucifenia becoming more aggressive, Keel was convinced by Mikina to support their friend and not oppose her actions. He began investigating the cause of Germaine's new policies and discovered the existence of Prim's court mage, Irina Clockworker. In EC 502, Bruno retired from Keel's employ and left to live in Beelzenia with his family.

Keel suggested that Germaine block Marlon's trade within Elphegort to promote its domestic market and the Queen complied. When Yukina expressed her renewed desire to study The Son of Evil for the purpose of writing a story on the matter, Keel opposed her going abroad for research. After she snuck away from her family, Keel grew depressed and used all his resources available to track her. Eventually, he contacted Bruno and asked the retired butler to help find Yukina and monitor the situation for him in the country.

Sometime after, Keel received word of her activity at Retasan Fortress from Bruno. Around the same time, Keel began investigating the events that had transpired and learned of Prim and Irina's seeming involvement. By chance, he discovered the son of Prim's midwife from twenty-three years ago and learned that Prim's allegedly stillborn child had actually survived.

Afterwards, Keel connected the child to the boy Germaine portrayed in her last remaining painting and concluded the Queen's long lost brother was Kyle Phutapie; he also suspected that the machinations by Queen Dowager Prim and Irina were to expand Marlon's territory and advance its status in Evillious. Around this time, Keel received word that Prim was staying at Castle Hedgehog to nurse a physical condition, and learned that undead soldiers were spotted in the area.

He then asked Admiral Dylan to sail Yukina and Germaine back to Marlon and the navyman agreed to help. Afterward, Keel wrote an invitation to Germaine, Ney, and Lemy, asking them to join him for a future dinner party he'd host in Marlon and return via the ship he sent to them. While writing his invitation to Germaine, he noted how busy they'd been and never got the chance to see each other again. He also expressed a desire to "thank" Germaine for taking care of Yukina.

Keel then sent Shaw as a messenger on the Royal Victoricia with an entourage of attendants. Afterward, he made preparations for carriages to receive them when they returned and had the guest bedrooms prepared for his upcoming visitors.

After Yukina arrived back in Marlon with Ney, Lemy, and Shaw a few days later, Keel received news of their arrival from one of the servants and went out to joyfully greet them. Despite his disappointment at seeing Germaine was not with them, Keel invited his guests and the whole family to have dinner together, discussing some matters with Ney and Lemy beforehand. During dinner, Ney talked about how their ship had been attacked by a group of pirates and a giant octopus, leading Keel to become greatly agrieved at the thought of his children in danger. As Yukina later described her adventures, her father revealed his own findings about Prim and her court mage.

### Meeting an Old Friend

"*You've kept me waiting quite a while, Germaine.*"
―Keel to the Marlon Queen[src]
The merchant later prepared to meet Germaine at Marlon Castle, instructing Gerda to bring the king's last surviving painting with her, bringing along both her and Shaw as his attendants. The two greated each other warmly as they were able to meet, deciding to have their conversation in private and discuss what had happened in the years they hadn't seen each other.

Keel learned from Germaine that Prim was at Castle Hedgehog supposedly to nurse Prim's physical condition. He also learned from her that corpse soldiers were amassing in the Blood Pool region, a fact that fueled Germaine's suspicions that Kyle was in the area as well, as he was the only one who could summon such monsters.

Keel then explained his theory that Prim was the mastermind of their troubles, having used demonic possession to make the countries of Lucifenia and Elphegort collide to advance Marlon's power, although there was no conclusive evidence for it. Thinking it over, Germaine decided to go speak to Prim herself, saying she could make use of Marlon's troops as well as take advice from Yukina, Lemy, and Ney on combating the corpse soldiers.

Remembering the package that Gerda had brought with them, Keel asked Germaine if she remembered her last surviving painting. He brought up that when Germaine was eight, Prim had taken leave due to her pregnancy and apparent stillbirth. He had learned from the midwife's son, however, that the child had survived, but was hidden from the public. The boy in the portrait that Germaine had painted was that child. After Germaine inquired as to who he was, Keel revealed that he was Kyle.

### Tides of Battle

Later on, Keel returned home and walked in on a meeting between Germaine, Gallerian, Lemy, and Yukina; as he walked in, he saw Germaine and Yukina in a seemingly tender embrace, his daughter making the Queen promise she'd return from Castle Hedgehog safely. Believing Germaine was making a play for Yukina, the furious merchant promptly beat her up and threw her out of the house.

Soon after, Keel made arrangements to help supply weapons for the Marlon soldiers. Around this time he also heard from Ney that Germaine had promised to work toward removing Marlon's presence from Lucifenia in exchange for her help in the coming battle.

A few days later, Keel departed with Yukina for Lioness to watch over his daughter, taking the opportunity to meet with Germaine as well and confirm Ney's support. By sunset, the deal for the weapons was finished. During the ensuing battle, Keel waited with Yukina at Lioness Castle.

After the battle, Keel met with Yukina, Ney, Lemy, and Gallerian while Germaine explained what had transpired with Queen Dowager Prim and Kyle. During this time he asked several questions of Gallerian regarding the vessels of sin laid out before them, before Ney then interrupted and noted they still had to decide what to do with Kyle. Despite Keel noting that he would likely get capital punishment if they went public with his crimes, Germaine seemed unwilling to do so, with Lemy also wishing to heal the captured Kyle.

The group then heard a rattling sound outside the room. Keel went to investigate, seeing Mikina in a peculiar mask. Surprised, he was in the middle of asking about her mask when she hit his head with a blunt instrument, knocking him out. Shortly after, Keel was moved to another room and examined by a doctor, determining his injuries weren't life threatening.

### Later Life

Keel was moved back to the Freezis Mansion in Marlon soon after and remained in a coma for several weeks while attended to by a doctor. He eventually regained consciousness and was cared for by Mikina after she was freed from Irina's control. As a result of his injury, his condition became worse and he retired soon after. Although he ceded control of the Freezis Firm over to Shaw, he assisted in the majority of his work and helped procure the young boy's business acumen until he became a mature and business savvy adult. Later in life, he witnessed his son reorganize the business as the Freezis Foundation and died sometime after.

### Afterlife

Following his death, Keel's soul was sent to the Heavenly Yard and remained there with his family and friends. Noticing Rin Avadonia wasn't among the souls there in Champs-Élysées, the former merchant wondered if she had instead fallen into the Hellish Yard. In EC 999, he and the other souls were pulled back to the Third Period as the ground world merged with the Hellish Yard. Afterward, Keel was invited to a dinner party at the Lucifenian Royal Palace held in Prince Alexiel's honor. Upon Yukina's request, Keel brought her along, joining the other guests in the Hall of Mirrors. Later during the festivities, Keel inhaled the Eighth Gift in the palace air and fell into a deep slumber.

Keel eventually woke up and gathered with everyone else in the Hall of Sounds. As the group discussed the Tasan Party soldiers surrounding the palace and Queen Anne speculated they themselves weren't safe, Keel pointed out that, as the soldiers were holding illusory guns, they could probably conjure weapons of their own. He then briefly spoke to Germaine before joining the rest of the group as they prepared to do battle. When all the souls of the Third Period started singing the Clockwork Lullaby to restrain Ma, Keel eventually joined in their singing. Later, Keel participated in the ball at the Lucifenian Royal Palace, where he announced Gumi Chan's presence to the public.After that, he was presumably incorporated into the Fourth Period.

### Legacy

Keel's accomplishments as a merchant carried on his son Shaw and the Freezis Foundation stemming from his corporate conglomerate had a major impact in politics and business in the century following his death. By the seventh century EC, the Foundation was entrusted to investigate the Toragay Epidemic and their connection to Père Noël. In the wake of his and Mikina's death, Shaw resolved to eradicate the vessels of sin that ruined his family and gave his full support to Gallerian Clockworker's mission in finding them.

## Personality and Traits

"*It's shameful...For someone who's worked only for loss and gain up until this point to hesitate over using a single servant as a scapegoat...But that's how things are, isn't it? Dispensing with things like common sense and morals...everyone has something they want to protect. To me...that thing is family.*"
―Keel reflecting on his values
Keel was a shrewd and responsible businessman, who nevertheless always put the well-being of his family and those he considered family above himself. Experiencing hardships and obstacles from a young age, Keel learned to be resolute in his goals and persist even when the odds were against him, both in business and his personal life. After he was successful, Keel faced his problems head-on and remained active in the managing of his trading guild. As such, many of his actions were calculated for making him money or gaining more power for his business.

In addition to this, Keel was not above making shady deals when necessary; additionally, during his youth he had a reputation for doing anything if he was paid for it, and continued to demonstrate a keen sense and cutthroat objectives throughout his life. He also loved gathering information, making strides to know everything of worth in politics and business. Similarly, Keel entertained the common Marlon hobby of collecting rare and valuable artifacts, storing them in his personal study or warehouse and showing his collection to others.

Although becoming known through Evillious as a powerful merchant Keel was nonetheless well-mannered and polite; similarly, he was not quick to anger and would only yell when given sufficient cause. As part of this, he showed a softer side when dealing with his own family, valuing and trusting them above all else, although he was fiercely protective of Yukina in particular

The merchant was also philanthropic despite his hard business sense and financial objectives. His own difficulty in getting a foothold in Elphegort made him sympathetic to the plight of other minorities, and he and his wife hired them on staff as a higher priority than most working Netsumans. In addition, he often came to care for the staff he took on as though they were his own family, willing to protect them at any cost. Similarly, he was concerned by the harsh situation of the Lucifenian citizens under Alexiel's autocratic rule.

## Skills and Abilities

As a businessman, Keel had a sharp business acumen and head for dealing with financial affairs. Originally as the proprietor of his shop, he had a keen eye for merchandise and stocked his store with high-quality products, although initially hampered by the prejudice Netsumans held against foreigners. Later, he demonstrated the skills necessary to manage and maintain his growing merchant's guild, the Freezis Firm, as it encompassed trade all through Evillious. With these skills, Keel was able to organize the Evillious Commerce Alliance as a powerful financial empire and become its head.

Due to this, he carried a heavy influence in Evillious and he was able to have a large hand in politics and trade across the region. Similarly, his name alone was enough to sway political officials and other powerful individuals in favor of him or his associates. Aside from influence, Keel's guild gave him considerable wealth that allowed him to afford luxurious living conditions.

As part of this influence, Keel had developed social skills and was able to make friends with multiple important figures. In order to maintain these social connections he would throw a banquet every month, becoming skilled as a host as well. Similarly, he was very observant about others and skilled at having the advantage in conversations. He could also recognize talent, as in the case of helping Clarith to become the diva of Elphegort. Despite his keen observation skills, Keel had weak eyesight and required glasses to see.

His good sense also carried over to his skills as an investigator, and he was able to use his vast connections through Evillious to gather facts and corroborate stories for the purpose of discovering the truth. During his youth in Marlon, Keel maintained connections that allowed him to discover truths even concerning sensitive political cases; this only enhanced as he built up the Freezis Firm.

## Character Connections

Mikina Freezis: Keel's wife. Keel loved Mikina deeply, with the two running away together and supporting each other in their mutual hardships. He treated her as a partner in running the household, the latter having a strong influence over him to the point of it looking like he was under her thumb, and he would often follow her advice in difficult decisions.

Yukina Freezis: Keel's eldest daughter. Keel was proud of Yukina's skill in writing stories and had a close relationship with her, often spending time with her and giving her gifts. Fiercely protective of her, Keel initially wanted to stop her from discovering the truth to keep her from harm. He eventually grew to appreciate her quest and gave her aid, although missing her dearly when she left.

Germaine Marlon: A good friend of Keel's. Keel was vexed with Germaine's foolishness in regards to Clarith, which sparked the White Hunting, but had been and remained a close friend of the Marlon queen. He would often aid her using his connections as a merchant and enjoyed having her over as a guest.

Clarith: One of Keel's maids. Keel was impressed by Clarith's singing voice, and her hard work as one of his servants; over the course of her employment he began to consider her a member of the family. In the White Hunting Keel had been protective of her even at the cost of countless innocent lives, and great grief at her death, holding himself responsible.

Michaela: One of Keel's maids. Keel grew to care about Michaela as a member of the family after she worked for him, appreciating her excellent cooking and the care she showed for Yukina. After the White Hunting he became concerned for her future plans and hoped to help her move on from Clarith's death.

Rin Avadonia: Keel was interested in Rin's viewpoints as one of the common people of Lucifenia, finding her to be of an honest character. During the White Hunting, Keel trusted Rin enough to tell him Clarith's location, recognizing that she also prioritized protecting her loved ones. He felt regret, however, for placing such a burden on her.

Shaw Freezis: Keel's only son. Keel loved Shaw and often doted on him; he grew to trust the boy with heavy responsibilities, such as being his messenger to bring Yukina back to Marlon and later running the Freezis Firm in after Keel's early retirement. During this time he became a mentor figure to his son and worked hard to develop his business acumen.

Aile Freezis: Keel's youngest daughter. Keel loved Aile and prioritized her safety as he did for all his family.

## Trivia

### Conceptualization and Origin

* His surname, Freezis, matches the first few characters for the word "freezing", フリージング (*furiijingu*).
* Keel's name is partially inspired by the name of his representative Vocaloid, Kiyoteru, with Keel's romanization containing the "ki" and "ru" in it.

### Curiosities

* Among the items in Keel's collection are clockwork dolls, likely a reference to Meta Clockworker.
* Despite his older origins, Keel is curiously listed as sharing the exact same birthday as his wife, Mikina.
* He shares the same birthday (December 4th) with his Vocaloid.
* In Epic of Evil: The Son of Evil Fanbook, Keel was voted as the fifteenth most popular character in The Son of Evil Series by Japanese fans, along with Ayn.

## Appearances

* Tree Maiden ~Millennium Wiegenlied~ (appears in PV)
* The Daughter of Green (first indirect mention)
* Handbeat Clocktower (appears in PV)
* Master of the Heavenly Yard (appears in PV)
* Waltz of the Departed (appears in PV)
* The Son of Evil: Clôture of Evil (first appearance)
* The Son of Evil: Wiegenlied of White
* The Son of Evil: Praeludium of Yellow (appears in flashback(s))
* The Son of Evil: Praefacio of Red
* Deadly Sins of Evil: Gift from the Prince who Brought Sleep (mentioned only)
* Deadly Sins of Evil: Judgment of Corruption (mentioned only)
* Deadly Sins of Evil: The Muzzle of Michelle (mentioned only)
* Deadly Sins of Evil: Master of the Heavenly Yard
* Original Sin Story: Crime (indirect mention only)
* Entr'acte of Evil: The Son of Evil Worldguide
* Epic of Evil: The Son of Evil Fanbook
* The Son of Evil Schedule Book 2013
* Seven Crimes and Punishments (story) (alternate timeline)
* The Son of Evil: Novelette of Green
* The Son of Evil: Retrouver of Crimson (appears in flashback(s))
* Aku Musu (non-canon appearance)
* The Son of Evil (manga)
* Quartets of Evil (non-canon appearance)
* Outlaw & Lychgate (mentioned only)
* Prelude to Forest (indirect mention only)
* Evils Forest (indirect mention only)
* Evils Kingdom (indirect mention only)
* Four Melodies of Evil ~The Son of Evil Novel Music Collection~
* Seven Crimes and Punishments (album)
* Master of the Heavenly Yard (album) (mentioned only)