He swept his gaze all over the captives and then asked, "Wasn't there supposed to be a Virax?"
The instant the nobleman said this, Anita, whose heart had calmed down, felt it nearly stop beating. With distress in her eyes, she turned toward Anna, seemingly asking what to do.
"Calm down," Anna reassured her.
She wasn't overly concerned about the fact that the man had noticed Anita's absence. In the worst-case scenario, they might attempt to find her, but could they really succeed? It was unlikely unless a level 5 were to search for them.
Anna's ability allowed her to hide from the world, and even those a level above her couldn't spot her. However, like anything in the world, her ability also had its limitations. She couldn't fool the senses of someone two levels higher than her own. Thus, a level 5 could spot her the instant he looked towards her.
However, remembering the words of the skinny man about the fact that due to an emergency the majority of their group had left, she was pretty certain that there isn't a level 5 currently. And if there is one, then she could always try to drag things out while waiting for Alex. That's why the instant the noble man spoke about Anita missing, she took out the talisman that Alex had given her and was readying herself to call him.
"Hmm?" The bald man turned his head and scanned the crowd of captives. He also noticed that Anita was missing, but since he wasn't someone suspicious like his friend, he just shrugged it off and said, "Perhaps the others took her with them when they set out."
"Why would they bring her with them when they are going to fight that monster?" The noble man questioned while his gaze was still scrutinizing the group of captives.
"Perhaps they will meet the client on their way back?" The man proposed.
"But why not wait until they are back? I don't think we need money so much that they would risk getting her killed just to sell her on their way back," the noble man continued.
"Ahh, don't ask me. Why are you so suspicious anyway? It's not like someone can infiltrate our base," the bald man said.
Hearing what he said, the nobleman remembered all the safety measures meant to secure their base and sighed, "Yeah, you are right. It's just that I am on edge because of her," he pointed to the woman on the bald man's shoulder.
After a short pause, he added:
"Her disappearance is going to cause many troubles to arise, and there's even a chance that I might be discovered. That's actually what is stressing me."
"Haha, don't worry. No one will link her disappearance to you. After all, you are 'a man who would never hurt a fly'," the bald man erupted in laughter when he said that.
"Humph, you don't know that woman as well as I do. She is not easily fooled, but you are right. Even she would find it difficult to link her daughter's disappearance to me," the noble man smirked evilly.
The bald man nodded, then pulled out a small knife hidden at the side of his waist and made a small cut on his finger. Using the blood, he wrote the same characters that the skinny man had written on the door. The characters glowed with a blood-red color, and then the door began to open.
"I wonder how those two idiots are doing; perhaps we should pay them a visit?" The bald man said.
Understanding whom he was speaking about, the noble man shook his head, "There is no way I'm going to get mixed up with such lowlives."
"So why are you putting up with me?" The bald man glanced back at his friend, "After all, I'm also a 'lowlife.'"
"You know you are different, and even if I wanted to get mixed up with the members of the group, which I don't want to, I would still avoid those two. Each time I speak with them, I feel like my IQ is decreasing," the noble man said with disdain.
"You exaggerate, they aren't so bad," the bald man chuckled.
"No, and you know it. Those guys are a complete waste of human genes," the noble added.
"It's not like you value human genes that much anyway," the bald one shrugged.
"True," the nobleman chuckled, "still, I would rather avoid those vulgar idiots."
"Alright, alright, let's just—" Just as the bald man was speaking.
AAAAAHHHHH...
"Here we go again," the bald man sighed.
"That freak is at it again, huh?" The noble man spoke with disgust in his voice.
"Well, that's his job. Anyway, let's go see him. Perhaps he will be able to transform your niece into a perfect creature~" the bald man teased.
"You mean a monster?" The noble man's eye twitched.
"Hey, hey, we don't know, perhaps she has great potential."
"Let's just go," the noble man said, pushing his friend into the room.
However, before going in, he cast a glance in Anna's direction again, then turned around and stepped inside the room, closing the door behind him.
"Haa, they finally left," Anita sighed in relief.
"Still sure you want to go save your friend?" Anna said with a cold smile.
"Umm, yes-no... I don't know," Anita said.
Anna sighed, and her thoughts drifted back to the unconscious woman the bald man was carrying, 'With what that other man said, I'm now certain that it's her.'
'Her presence here might be a boon to us; either way, Alex needs to know,' Anna decided.
Infusing mana into the talisman that Alex gave her, Anna waited for a little moment for the contact to be made.
Communication talismans were very similar to Earth cellphones; the difference here lies in the fact that you need to infuse mana into the talisman instead of using batteries in a cellphone.
"What are you doing?" inquired Anita with a curious expression on her face.
"Calling my master."
****
"Hmm?" Alex felt a slight warmth emanating from the talisman in his hand and took it.
"It seems that Anna has encountered some problems," he informed everyone.
Immediately after he spoke, everyone abandoned what they were doing and gathered around Alex.
Injecting his own mana into the talisman, Alex brought it to his forehead and pressed it against it. 'Can you hear me?'
The moment Alex affixed the talisman to his forehead, he heard Anna's voice directly in his head!
This was how communication talismans functioned; upon contact, you could hear everything the other person was thinking. Of course, this was true for basic communication talismans. There were upgraded versions that allowed you to shield your thoughts, letting the other person hear only what you wanted them to hear. However, Alex and Anna were using the basic version of the communication talisman.
"Yes, I can hear you. Is there a problem?" he asked with a serious expression.
"Not quite. I did find Cedrix's daughter, and we are currently together," Anna shared.
"What is it? Can't you return?" Alex inquired.
"No, we can return. It's just that I thought you needed to know about this," Anna explained.
"Go on, what is it?" Alex prompted.
"The heiress of the Drazen family is here; she has also been kidnapped," Anna shared with Alex.
"....!"
Alex stiffened for a moment upon hearing Anna's words, but his expression quickly turned into a wide smile.
"What is it? Why are you smiling like that?" Amelia wondered.
With the same grin on his face, Alex shared the information Anna had just provided.
Aside from Cedrix, who didn't understand why Alex seemed happy upon hearing about someone's daughter being kidnapped, and thus maintained a confused expression, the others immediately grasped the reason behind Alex's joy.
"Hmm, I guess we have good luck," Lilia smiled, "if we save their heiress, then the Drazens would most definitely grant us the right to display our products at their auction."
Amelia and Alex nodded in unison.
The Drazen family auction was where Alex had the intention to showcase his smoke potions, but he didn't know how to convince them to display his potions during their annual auction. He was just going there, hoping that he would find something to convince them, but ironically, it was that "something," or rather, someone who had found him.
'Can you save her?' Alex asked.
'This...' Anna explained to Alex what was going on inside the mountain and why she couldn't save the Drazen heiress, at least alone.
'Hmm, I see,' Alex thought for a moment, then he replied, 'we are coming to-'
"AMELIA!" Alex suddenly shouted as he sprang to his feet.
Taking Lilia in his arms, he leapt off the branch they were sitting on.
Amelia, reciprocating his actions took the old man and leapt off the branch.
A split second after they jumped off the branch, the whole tree exploded.
Boom