Anom explained his plan and Loreana couldn't help but agree that this was the best strategy they could use right now. Given that Anom could pull it off without alerting anyone.
"Don't worry. I don't like to brag, but I won't undermine myself when it comes to the skills I specialize in." Anom assured them.
Loreana took out something like a map from her storage pouch. It was the blueprint of this estate.
She spread it on the table and explained about all the security points to Anom. He had to do this in absolute secrecy with not even the non-hostile people finding out anything.
The plan was set as Anom decided the order in which he would go snooping around. He also wanted to take this chance and ask about the power levels of all the suspicious people. That would give him a better understanding of how much effort he needs before he can reach the next level.
But then he decided that maybe it would be more interesting to spy on them this way. The unknown is scary, but it can also be exciting.
Besides, he could read all the information he wants when he enters the Safaira family's library later.
As Anom was about to leave the room, Crystal spoke worriedly, "Be careful."
Loreana also explained the security situation to him again while Luna just stood there while looking at him with a face full of concern.
Although Anom was confident in his skills, he still appreciated their worries about him.
He patted Luna's head, making her smile. He then moved towards Crystal, and after she could react, she felt a wetness left on her cheeks.
Her cheeks turned red as she lowered her head while wanting to hide somewhere after being kissed in front of her mother.
Meanwhile, Loreana, who had seen most of the things, couldn't help but be amazed at Anom's speed. She could hardly follow him even after he was in front of her all the time.
A part of her was also angry at him for kissing her daughter's cheek so shamelessly. But another part of her was feeling a sense of loss as she was the only one who hadn't received anything.
Startled at her own thought, Loreana shook her head. 'What the hell am I thinking about? Maybe I was just excited after seeing the lively scene between the kids.'
"Ahh!" Loreana was pulled out of her daze by a cute scream. She looked and found Luna looking at a piece of fruit in her hand with her mouth opened in confusion.
Luna knew that it must be Anom who had put this slice of fruit in her hand, but she didn't understand the reason he did this.
But unlike her, Loreana was aware of the reason. She smiled. 'That rascal.' He didn't even forget to tease her even at such a time.
Anom left the room without being noticed by the servants who were circling this area regularly. Some of them might be on their way towards various places around the estate, but Anom detected many of them paying attention to Crystal's house. They were all acting stealthily, thinking of themselves as cunning to be able to do their job without being noticed by anyone. But how could they know that someone had passed by them just now and could have killed them all before another person could walk past them.
Anom left the place and moved towards another part of the estate.
He followed the route where there was a low chance of being discovered by anyone. This route was suggested to him by Loreana.
Although Anom was sure that he could pass along any other route just the same, one can never be too careful. So he followed the route instead of barging into the unknown areas.
He soon arrived at the house where his first target lived.
The building was about the same size as the one Crystal lived in but was a little less dazzling than hers. The lights of all the rooms, except for one, were off.
Anom passed the front yard and arrived outside the window of the still-bright room. He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes to focus on his hearing. But he was not able to hear anything.
This didn't make Anom disappointed, as Loreana had already told him about the insulating barriers and materials used in the buildings here. He could put more focus on his hearing, but that might make others aware of his presence if his concentration on his stealth waned.
But he had a better solution. It was something he had thought of recently.
Anom was excited as he closed his eyes again and went into the same state he had reached while training his energy. All his senses were focused on trying to find and study the presence and movements of the energy inside his body.
He focused his soul to study energy the same way and received the same results. Della had told him that his strong soul would be his biggest advantage when he reached the stage where he needed to study the changes in external energies. But it was still too early for him to do that and his soul could only help his spirit in studying his internal energy for now.
But that didn't mean that his spirit or his will were on the same level as his soul. Presently, he was not able to utilize his soul to its full potential and would have to wait till he got the inspiration from a higher state.
Anom understood all this but there was another thing that he could do with his soul.
He stopped focusing his senses on the energy inside his body and used them to study his surroundings instead. Although he wasn't able to study the energy in his surroundings, he still got a hazy picture made of many kinds of energies mixing together.
Anom sorted through this mess and searched for the energies and frequencies he was familiar with.
Soon he found what he was searching for.
He detected a special frequency being emitted from many places around the house. He eliminated all the useless ones and focused on the ones which were being emitted inside the house.
Although the house was equipped with sound-insulating materials and arrays, there were bound to be some defects after some time.
Soon, he found what he was searching for.
Anom's forehead was dripping with sweat as he outdid his best state of focus. He moved towards the area where that frequency was the strongest. He did that while trying to keep his senses focused.
He stopped and removed all the other things from his focus, keeping only that single frequency in his attention.
Finally, he succeeded as he heard someone speaking.
He was lucky because the area where he detected the flaw was near the room where the conversation was taking place.
Anom focused and realized that it was a conversation between a man and a woman. He heard them talking about many things but didn't find anything useful. He waited for a while and soon they got to the point that aroused Anom's interest.
"…I'm glad too. But I really wonder if we will be able to survive this trial." A female voice spoke.
"Don't worry. You should believe in our family. Although we don't act tyrannically like those bastards of the Handler family, we have still accumulated power and wealth through generations of hard work. It won't be so easy if they want to jump over our heads," a deep male voice replied.
Anom knew that the male voice belonged to Crystal's uncle, Arec. So the female voice must belong to his wife Dory.
He was a cousin of Crystal's father and managed some of the branches of their businesses in Nulis City.
His character was honest and mild, and he always lived while maintaining good relations with everyone.
Anom already knew his answer from the way he talked about the Handler family.
It was not that he had excluded the possibility that Arec might be lying to his wife, but Anom had enough confidence in his ability to decipher the truth from the man's voice. He had trained such abilities before and they had helped him many times. Though there are some people who might be able to deceive this ability, he was sure that it was not possible for a person whose level was not much better than his own.
Anom left the place after a few minutes and went on his way towards his next destination.
He has six targets on his list, including Crystal's Second and Third Uncles.
Anom utilized the same strategy and eavesdropped on three more targets before he finally arrived at one of the most important places.
He concluded that all the people he had visited till now were most probably innocent. So the suspect might be among the last two targets. It might also be both, but it would be better than none as that would mean that he would have no lead to follow anymore.
Anom infiltrated the place where Crystal's third uncle lived. That fellow might be boorish, but the yard outside his house was well maintained. Loreana had told him about him before and Anom concluded that this must be the work of that boorish fellow's virtuous wife.
Anom crossed the yard and arrived outside the building and began to focus on his senses.
Surprisingly, the defence here was not much better than the other houses he had 'visited' before. In fact, only one of the rooms inside the house utilized an isolating array while the other parts were only utilizing the basic sound-isolating materials. But that single array was of a higher quality than the ones he had felt before. Anom was sure that he would not be able to bypass it with his current level of control.
Thankfully, he didn't need to do so as that room was empty. He concluded that the secure room could be used for private conversations and the other rooms didn't require much attention. After all, who in their right mind would go spying on one of the most influential people in the family?
Anom didn't even need to focus as he was easily able to hear everything clearly.
But when he heard the sounds and words that were being transmitted through the walls, Anom frowned.
But soon he chuckled as he couldn't help but think, 'That's one interesting way to have a conversation with your wife.'