The snows are starting to melt, showing the bare ground. Green colors begin to replace the whites. Lush flowers begin to sprout from the ground just like magic. Spring had come again and a new year starts. It was noon, the Cross family is ready for departure towards the capital.
"Okay, Adrian. We will depart first. We will expect you to arrive at the capital next week, alright? Ralph, please take care of my baby boy." Amanda gives Adrian some kisses on his cheeks while reminding Ralph of his duty.
"Yes, madam. You don't need to worry. I will be next to him." Ralph nods and accept the request.
"I'm not a kid anymore mom." Adrian struggling from the kisses.
"Take care of him Ralph. Adrian, take care of yourself." Malcom said his goodbyes after packing their stuff on the hippogriffs.
"See you later, big brother." Marylyn hugs Adrian.
"Okay, dad. Yes, Mary. I will join in soon. Have a safe trip." Adrian hugs back.
"As you will, master." Ralph bows to Malcom.
Two hippogriffs set off to the skies. Adrian waves goodbye to his departing family who is getting smaller in the distance.
"Alright, Ralph. Let's head inside. Our meeting with Kathleen will be in a few days. Dad gave me some money it should be enough as a start up investment." Adrian said while walking inside.
"I don't quite understand what you mean young master." Ralph shows a confused expression. He is not proficient in business. He did help Malcom and late grandfather, but he just assist in finding documents, sorting and give his stance on from a commoner's perspective. He also did not involve in town management. He involves in border management when he is helping Malcom.
"That is fine. Follow me." Adrian did not mind of it and just asked Ralph to follow him.
Adrian walks through the halls, it feels empty but there is some maid roaming around to keep clean of some sections of the estate. It is just empty to Adrian.
"Alright here it is. One second." Adrian stops in front of a door. He scans the door and notice it is lock with a mana signature. So, he begun to try crack the lock while preserving the mana signature to lock it back again. Like nothing ever happen.
"Young master! What are you doing? This is master's office. You should not tinker with the mana signature. You can get the maids executed." Ralph said with a low voice while looking around to see if there is anyone witnessing the act. He is very nervous right now. This is breaking in a confidential area. The penalty will be death.
"Quiet down, Ralph. I was just curious. You know? Anddd... There." Adrian manages to crack open the lock while preserving the mana signature. With his Pseudo Primordial constitution, controlling and sensing mana is easy as counting.
"Huh?" Ralph felt confused seeing nothing happen. As far as he knows, if a mana signature is broken an alert will be sent. Either a signal in the sky or a huge explosion or both will happen. Seeing nothing happen made him puzzled.
"Hehehe… Come inside quickly, accomplice. We are partners in crime now. What we do is bad but best we keep it a secret to keep our heads sticking to our necks, right?" Adrian is fanning the flames of guilt to Ralph.
"Epp… Is this my end?" Ralph screamed internally while holding his neck.
"Quick before someone see us." Adrian pulls in Ralph and close the door with minimal sound.
"Okay, now we need to look for the reports from the guards and the borders from late last year. Come on, get a move on accomplice. Remember to keep the volume small." Adrian tells Ralph his purpose while reminding that they should not be there.
"O..okay. Bu… But…. Sigh… I will search for it now." Ralph wants to reject the request but what's the point. He watched Adrian break the lock and already inside. He is totally an accomplice.
After 30 minutes of quiet search, they compile all the reports they found at the desk.
"This is going to take some time." Adrian commented upon seeing the stacks of paper on the desk.
"What are you looking for exactly, young master?" Ralph was curious of Adrian's objective.
"Ralph, you know me since I was a baby. Right now, I want to be a grown up and help out. But for that, I need you by my side for a while to do this and keep this a secret between us." Adrian looks at Ralph with a serious face.
"…." Ralph is thinking of what to do and stay silent for a while.
"I will assist young master if needs be. I have made an oath to serve you until I die. I was also in your debt young master. If young master need anything just say it to me. Even if it is a promise of silence." Ralph puts his right hand in his heart. Staying loyal.
"Thank you, Ralph." Adrian smiles seeing the servant's agreement.
"I want to look for reports of mutated creature or bleeding monster. If you see those descriptions or anything close to it, make a separate stack of it. Now let's begin." Adrian tells Ralph what he is looking for and collect all of the information based on the reports.
"I see… As you will, young master." Ralph now understood why the sudden secrecy and get to skimming through last year's report.
It was already evening. The 2 men are still looking through the reports for 4 hours. Dinner should be served by now. The maids must be looking for them but will never expect the two of them is in the main office. Seeing Ralph is also missing they thought that the young master is with him so no one made it an issue.
After making a new pile, it looks like it is 70% thinner than the original stack.
"My god. Young master, those reports. Are they true? Are those monsters more ferocious? How did you know about this?" Ralph could not believe it after reading the reports. He was a former mercenary. He knew the threats of monsters. How about the one that is more aggressive?
"I notice it a few months ago. I was practicing and the feeling of mana become a bit weird." Adrian lies about it to not get many questions. He remembers to hide the 'old man' attitude and be more serious to make it more believable.
"I understand." Ralph notices the lie but did not delve deeper.
"Good. Now we just need to write down the locations the monster is last seen. We need to exterminate them before the day we depart." Adrian took a piece of paper and begin to write down the location and the description of the monster that is written in the report.
Information of what he will be facing will be advantageous in a battle. But before he can write down the location with his quill, a hand stops him from doing so.
"Wait, young master! Are you seriously thinking of confronting those things? I might endanger your life. Please stop. I'm begging you. Let others handle this matter." Ralph shows a sad and apologetic expression.
"You already read the reports, right Ralph. This is a serious matter. If let it be the town or the county will be in peril. I know I'm just a kid and you think to let the adults handle this. Right?" Adrian said the words in low voice but the tone is angry.
"Let go, Ralph. This is an order. Don't stop me and force me to kill you right here. Don't ever look down on me." Adrian threatens Ralph and pours out his Full Moon stage mana, supressing him.
[Name: Park Jae Sung] [Age: 10] [Level: Full Moon Stage}
[STR: 465] [AGI: 470] [END: 498] [INT: 650] [Mana: 7405]
[Affinity: 10 Elements]
This the results of the Pseudo Primordial constitution. The mana heart and mana vein made Adrian become stronger passively in the Moon Stage as he is just collecting 'power' for now.
"Ughk…" Ralph kneels on the floor after feeling the sudden surge of mana. He looks at Adrian with disbelieve. A 10 years old boy at Full Moon stage already.
Adrian sure knows how to cover it up, he only let out a short burst enough to make it unnoticeable by the others outside the office.
The Pseudo Primordial constitution suppose to not let anyone detect any mana from him but Adrian manages to squeeze out exactly 2 Star Stage mana to be detected by someone else. This is the work of his 'Parallel thought'. It seals the hidden portion and just revel what needed.
"Get out now. Go make dinner, I will come down after this." Adrian said with an expressionless tone and gets back to jotting down the locations and descriptions. He already checked the 'Map' if anyone is close to outside the office. Luckily, there is none. They must be having dinner so it's a perfect time to kick Ralph out.
Ralph nodded and gets up preparing to leave. Putting his hand on the doorknob, Adrian say something that made Ralph thinks again of Adrian's decision.
"You have not gone to the tavern in a long time. We should pay Lily's Tavern a visit later. Let's see if it is lively like always or…. 'The numbers don't add up'." Adrian said in a solemn tone while keep writing.
*Kachak*
The sound of the door close quietly as possible. Ralph walks the halls with a heavy heart.