Alex noticed a brief show of hostility on Oliver's face as he reached out for a handshake.
Searching through the memories available to him, there was no recollection of his current identity meeting with Oliver.
Of course, there was a faint sense of familiarity.
Like the kind, one would get if they had seen someone somewhere before.
But that wasn't surprising since the character before him was a young noble with an eye-catching appearance.
It wouldn't be shocking if 'Alex' had heard of him in passing before.
This meant the current show of hostility was unwarranted…or at least, that's what Alex thought as he reached out to accept Oliver's hand.
Oliver's grip was tight but not enough to cause Alex discomfort as he flashed a smile.
"Nice to meet you. I didn't think collecting the reward would elicit a response from a person like you."
"Haha, it's just formalities." Realizing his actions were meaningless, Oliver quickly pulled away to avoid getting beat at his own game.
"I see."
Oliver gestured casually after which the lady stepped forward and handed the black bag over to Alex.
Alex accepted the bag with a calm expression before opening it to find bundles of green-colored paper within.
The bundle in the black bag Alex was with, consisted of 50 Kobo notes, numbering 50, making for a total of 2500 Kobo.
"You may count it if you want." Oliver calmly said
Alex shook his head. "No need. I trust your bank to be upright in their dealings."
"Haha, that's good. May I suggest saving some money with us, it only takes a 0.5% processing fee."
Alex flashed a smile. "Thank you but I'll have to decline your offer."
"I see," Oliver muttered regretfully.
"I'll take my leave now."
With a bow, Alex got to his feet and walked out of the office, leaving Oliver and the young lady behind.
The latter had a strange expression on his face as he watched Alex leave but didn't allow it to remain as he recovered his previous demeanor.
With a smile on his face, he got to his feet and left through the way he came.
***
After Alex left the banking hall, he boarded the private coach and gave a single instruction.
Move.
He planned on touring the city and scoping it out as best he could.
There was no sense of safety in a place where he could barely make out his surroundings.
He needed to know the ins and outs, the highs and lows…
Committing them to memory, such information could save his life at any moment and even if it turned out to not be necessary, Alex always had a saying… No information was completely useless, no matter how small.
Even if it were useless, it would still tell something about the person that shared it.
That was one of the few principles he lived by.
In any case, it took him the whole day, and apart from a few places the coachman was too scared to pass through, Alex had a significant portion of BoneHaven mapped out in his head.
By the time he got back to the Sanders manor in the central district, it was already nighttime.
"Ah, Alex my boy, you are back. I was starting to think you had fled the city out of fear of being married to my wonderful niece." Arthur teased with a mischievous grin as Alex came in through the front door.
"Uncle!" Despite staying with him for quite some time, there were occasions when Nadia couldn't keep up with the old coot's thought process.
Alex was too exhausted to make a facial expression but deep down, he was amazed by Arthur's jumpy thought process.
Nadia walked over and attempted to place a kiss on Alex's lips, a gesture the latter declined as he instead brought her in for a hug.
Not thinking too much of this, she asked. "Did you get it?"
"Yeah," Alex replied while revealing the black bag he was given.
Taking a moment to ponder, he asked. "Also, for reasons unknown, the vice chairman came personally to hand the money over and I couldn't help but notice his hostility towards me."
"Oliver?" Nadia raised a brow.
"Yeah."
"Tch, don't mind that fool." Nadia didn't bother to mince her words. "He is only jealous that I picked you over him."
Ah, so that's how it is… Alex mused.
For a foreign beauty like Nadia, it was understandable that she would be sought after by the rich eligible bachelors of BoneHaven.
Picking a man like him over them, Alex wondered why Nadia had done so.
However, it was only a passing curiosity and he didn't intend to ask about it.
"Would you be having dinner with us?" Nadia asked, to which Alex respectfully declined.
"I am quite exhausted. I think I'll retire for the night."
"Oh, okay. Well, Emily is already asleep so would you be sleeping in your quarters?"
Alex shook his head. "I'd rather stay with her. Who knows what might happen if she wakes up in the middle of the night and I'm not there?"
"...You are right." Nadia could only take a step back.
Her plan of visiting Alex during the night to spend some time with him would, unfortunately, have to be postponed.
But she had noticed something.
The Alex she knew and the man before her… something was different.
Revealing a wry smile, Alex planted a peck on Nadia's cheek before leaving for Emily's room.
"He is still in shock and blames himself for what happened to Douglas and Emily. It's understandable if he wants to focus on his family for the time being." Arthur suddenly spoke.
Nadia turned to face him.
Even without saying anything, he had read her innermost thoughts.
Despite being an old coot, he was still her most trusted confidant.
Nodding her head, she replied smilingly. "Shall we head to the dinner table?"
"Indeed we shall." Arthur happily obliged with both heading to the dining hall.
***
Madeline sat at her desk, brooding over the conversation she had with Ambrose earlier today.
Parasite.
That word kept playing in her head so many times, it felt like she'd go crazy.
Tapping her pen on the table, she glanced at the file in front of her.
It was the report on the protest that happened today.
Her eyes flickered with a strange emotion as she read through a certain line.
'Five injured, one dead.'
She had written it but even then, she couldn't believe it.
At the end of the day, the protest had gotten violent, and naturally, the Royal Blue and Enforcers had responded in kind.
It was terrible how the law enforcement of the state treated its citizens worse than livestock and didn't feel anything wrong in doing so.
"Oi, Captain is asking for the report. Aren't you done yet?"
She raised her head to find a male Enforcer at her desk.
He was the same one that had interrupted her conversation with Ambrose earlier on.
For a moment, she didn't reply, instead staring into his eyes.
".... Hello?" Waving his hand, he snapped her from her strange state.
Madeline pursed her lips. "Yeah, I'm done. Here you go."
With that, she handed the file over and quickly left before the other party could question her.
Her thoughts were a mess as she stepped out of the wine store.
Taking a moment to consider, she hailed a coach and directed it to head to the western district.
More than an hour passed before she arrived at her destination.
Passing through the area where the protest took place, Madeline controlled her emotions.
After walking for a while, she arrived at a rundown shack somewhere deep in the slums.
Knocking twice, the door soon opened and a blind man ushered her in.
Once inside, she was led down a stairwell to the sewers of the slum.
The stench that assailed her nostrils could have choked her but she was already choked enough by her emotions.
The smell mattered little to her.
They walked for quite sometime, crisscrossing a number of paths while slowly going deeper into the sewer.
Upon arriving at a metal gate embedded in the wall, the blind man knocked twice, leaving a space between each knock.
If not for her mental state, Madeline would have wondered how the blind man was able to navigate his way so easily without tripping.
It felt as though he wasn't blind, to begin with.
Just then, the metal gate creaked and opened to reveal an underground hall large enough to fit more than a hundred people.
On the walls, various illustrations of an eye were drawn and at the top corner on the wall the furthest from the metal gate, an illustration of an open eye illuminating the world with its glorious light remained.
The hall was currently filled with people of different genders, wearing different attires.
But one thing they all had in common was that they were all blind.
In a low tone, they hummed a tone Madeline tried to understand but couldn't.
Gulping nervously, she wondered if she was doing the right thing.
Before she could regret her decision, there was a voice.
"1... A little boy, barely 6. His mother was being beaten by an officer and so he rushed to help her." It was a man that spoke.
Unlike the others, he wore a robe with a massive illustration of a pupil on his chest, and his face was covered up in bandages, obscuring his identity.
Madeline could sense his aura which carried a sense of tainted holiness.
"A single blow to the head." The man continued as he slowly walked toward Madeline. "... Now his mother is hospitalized and the boy… gone from this plane before he had a chance to enjoy life."
"I know," Madeline said softly.
The man nodded. "I know you do. However, I felt the need to recount the events.'
"This city…"
"No, not this city, Madeline." The man cut her off. "The Empire as a whole has been destroyed by discrimination. The nobles do what they want and the poor… they have to suffer with no chance of survival."
"...Is there no hope?" Madeline was close to tears at this point.
The man sighed. "I wondered that in the past as well. Why have eyes, use them to see the sins of this world, and yet… still ignore them?"
Pausing in his tracks, he pondered before he continued. "Then there's no need to see. At least then one can say that they didn't know."
Madeline pursed her lips. "Is that why you created the Evil Eye brotherhood?"
"...Some see it as a cult but I… see it as salvation in a world sullied by the unsightly things humans have done to their fellow man." The man remarked. "The Evil Eye is not evil because of what it has done. No, instead it's evil because it takes on the sins of the world and tries to wash away their atrocities."
"But what you plan to do…" Madeline didn't dare say more.
The man took a few more steps forward and upon getting within arm's length, reached out and held her hand. "I plan to cleanse this world using the glorious light of the Evil Eye. Once its light shines, all sins will be cleansed, and starting from BoneHaven, we can make the world a better place."
"Is there no other choice?"
"I wish there were… but you have seen for yourself, haven't you?"
As tears welled up in her eyes, Madeline remarked. "Promise me one thing."
"Tell me, child."
"Don't harm the innocent."
The man chuckled. "Only sinners will be brought to justice."
Nodding, Madeline said. "Then I'll do as you've instructed."
"Good." The man muttered as he moved closer and pulled Madeline into his embrace. "You have made the right choice, my child. I'm proud of you."
"..." Madeline closed her eyes.
"Four weeks from now, on the Emperor's birthday… that day will herald the birth of the Eye of Truth."
Just as the man finished speaking, those in the hall began to chant loudly.
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The beholder is indeed great!"