While we were walking to the church dungeon Talia owned, I felt a sudden chill going down my spine.
My eyes shifted left to right to see what it was.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. At least, I hoped that this was nothing I had to worry about right now.
Deciding to pretend that everything was going well.
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"Did he see us?" A shadow walked out of an alleyway that Pal had just walked past. Talking on a phone.
Magic Radios using Mana Communication looked like they'd become more silent these days.
Easier to use for stalking.
Perhaps those more into this line of work would have an earpiece, but they didn't have that sort of thing. The duo who had been watching Pal and Simon ever since they left the bar were ordinary.
At least, from a societal perspective on their place.
"We're not even MagiKnights. Should we even be doing this sort of detective work? I'm sure this is considered stalking right now." The more rational voice was that of a girl that had little interest here.
The young man that walked out of the shadows of that alleyway nodded, but his mouth twisted.
Eventually retorting: "Squires are knights too."
With that, the young woman over on the phone accepted that answer despite how shallow it was.
She knew he wouldn't falter.
"Alright, what's so great about this guy?" The girl knew the only reason they were here was due to it.
Those eyes the young man had awakened.
Purple flashes of lightning subtly defused around his iris. Despite not improving his range, his sight had widened to an incredible level. Even being able to see secrets going beyond the level of Mana Sense.
"I promise, Janette. I wasn't seeing anything. His body... It's as if it's existing as a glitch. The more I looked, the more it was twisting. Trying to become something my eyes could 'see'." This was the first time the purple haired young man felt like this.
"And that matters because?" Still, the voice on the other side was indifferent: "If that's all you got, then sorry. Fred, you have to stop messing with your family and come home already. This is far enough."
"..." Fred didn't answer her immediately. Instead he sent her an image that showed two perspectives.
One was an image from the camera alone, and the other was directly linked to his 'Laplace Pupils'.
The proud Innate Gift of the Serpent Digital's successor. The leading figures in smart technology.
Even the phone he held being a fruit of their design.
When Janette got those pictures, she immediately recognised that afro she'd seen way back then.
"How did you find him?" She whispered on the phone. Making sure no one around heard her.
"Do you know him?" Fred hadn't expected this.
"That's the brother of George Radcliffe." (Janette)
"That rising star that became the first entrepreneur in ages? I heard you had close ties to that-" (Fred)
"Shush! Don't follow him anymore." (Janette)
"Why not?" Fred found his curiosity picked.
"...I have my reasons. Nothing good will come out of getting closer to him." Janette said no more.
Information was a valuable commodity.
"Fine. I won't get closer, but I'm not sure if your boyfriend is going to think the same." Fred laughed.
His ominous words caused her to flinch. Slowly, her mind started to calm before a storm of deductions.
"Why'd you say that...?" They weren't on bad enough terms that she'd have to buy this sort of information.
Slowly, the amethyst eyed man made a decision.
He closed his eyes, then spoke something he knew would cause a big reaction out of her when he said it.
And just as he'd predicted, she reacted: "WHAT?!"
"I called your boyfriend first. There's no point in keeping this a secret. He hired me to tell him this sort of thing first." It almost seemed like Fred was pleading his defence to get out of any future conflict.
He just did his job.
"Then why phone me?" Janette calmly asked this.
"I thought you'd want to know as well. Knowing your boyfriend's personality, I knew he'd say nothing even if the sky fell down." There was a softness to his tone as if he was speaking to an old friend of sorts.
"...Thank you. But I still advise you to stay far away from him. Especially now. I can't save anyone who gets caught in the crossfire." Janette gave her ultimatum and hung up before he could speak more.
This wasn't an argument. It was an order.
If he wanted to live, he had to give up.
Fred looked in the direction Pal disappeared off to and sighed. Looking like he was a bit regretful.
The memories of how 'normal' Pal seemed overlapped with what he heard about the person.
He wasn't sure what was right in situation.
How and when the Phoenix Corporation would catch this man by the tail was out of Fred's control now.
All he could do was hope the man would give up.
Because if he fought against the forces that were about to drag him behind bars, then he wouldn't survive. Especially when it came to the employer he'd shared Pal's data with first and foremost.
Whether he'd survive or not was up in the air.
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,
That feeling on incongruity became even stronger as time passed. I felt my stomach churning for a while.
"Hehehe~ You as drunk as me?" There was a lack of awareness in Simon's voice when he teased me.
Not understanding the situation I was in.
My eyes looked up to see a red pop up on the screens of the system. The text only lasted a brief moment.
But I read it fast.
[Traveller's identity is being compromised. Further unravelling your identity will cause a system error.]
This was the first time I was referred to as 'Traveller' by the system, but I couldn't understand it's meaning. What did it mean by my identity being compromised? What would happen if it does error?
These questions were only growing.
I wasn't confident of being strong enough to deal with a situation if it happened. My strength was frail.
Because I lived in a civil society, my Skill Acquisition became useless. It also looked like I couldn't evolve.
Like my Job Class was stuck on UnLife Rioter.
The only way I could improve now was by improving my understanding over my abilities themselves.
And Simon was my best bet to do just that.
We walked into the Church. I'd concealed everything I felt about that recent pop up and acted confident.
Because the moment I lost my momentum, she'd likely consider me a failure and try another plan.
Discarding a worthless pawn.
When we saw her, she was standing in front of the surreal statue of the Graces amalgamated into a religious idol. There was no clear face, but the meaning behind it was clear enough to understand.
No one Grace was special.
At least, this was only the largest branch of the religion group. Some worshipped only one Grace.
Not that I would know where these other religions branches were. It had nothing to do with power.
Still, I could appreciate that she was as beautiful as ever. Pure and light as a floating cloud in the sky.
She turned her head to look at us.
I expected a normal greeting as usual. After all, there was no way she'd know this random drunkard here.
But the moment she looked at him, I could see an expression on her face that never appeared before.
Talia's eyes had widened. Her breath had hastened until she finally couldn't control her expression.
Yup, she definitely knew him.
But how...?
"You drunk as well?" The dense bastard didn't seem to notice whatsoever. Holding his bottle to her.
I could hear her whisper: "No, it can't be him."
Those words stuck under her breath before she smiled like usual. Looking like a regular nun.
"Are you a guest?" Talia played it off coolly.
I wanted to ask what was up, but we weren't close enough for her to give me a direct answer to that.
"I needed a good teacher." I told her straight.
"You have me here." (Talia)
"He's a better teacher." (Pal)
"If you say so... but what's the price." (Talia)
"Booze." I pointed at the old man who took another sip of his bottle and let out a satisfied breath.
He patted his chest and spoke loudly: "BOOZE!"
Stars were floating around his head as he laid down on a nearby seat. Not caring about the place or time.
"Understood, but... Why not prove yourself worthy of teaching first?" Even though Talia said that, I could tell she was acting. The way she put her hand on her cheek and that way she posed was deceit.
That uninterested look was a big fat lie.
There was no way someone who made such a disastrous expression would have no interest in him.
"Hah..." Simon sighed, then showed his occasional clumsy understanding of his situation and touched my shoulder. He didn't do anything, but I felt my internal energy shiver. Almost like it was touched.
He then spoke to me: "Fire had melted Death into Darkness, and Evil lurks beneath the veil of Light."
I had zero clue what he meant by that.
His shaky eyes made contact with mine. Almost looking like he pitied me for some odd reason.
"What's wrong?" I raised an eyebrow slowly.
Simon's reaction had felt strange.
"You wanted to die?" His inquiry made my eyes sharpen dramatically, but I managed to hide it.
The surprise of him instantly figuring me out.
I really hit the jackpot.
"Not anymore." When I spoke that, my eyes shifted to see Talia looking at me with a strange expression.
As if to ask what Simon was talking about.
Since the times he was clearheaded enough to talk were rare, I ignored her to take this opportunity.
"Four Attributes... Hmmm... What direction do you want to work in?" Simon spoke while checking me.
He groped my arm and back muscles freely.
"Killer." I spoke my mind
"What are you really hoping to kill?" The look on the old drunkard's face became colder at my words.
"Does that matter to you?" Even though I respected his deep teachings, I didn't feel like respecting 'him'.
Even though he was useful, this guy was a Damn drunk that had no relationships and drank all day.
A parasite who'd turn useless after teaching me.
I wasn't planning on doing anything to him, but I also wasn't planning to treat him like a comrade.
This was simply a trade.
"As long as you give me booze, it doesn't. Alright, I gotta test ya a little bit. Ya rude lil' shit." (Simon)
"Then speak up more." (Pal)
"'What's the 'difference' between the power of Evil and Darkness?" Simon asked before taking a swig.
"The 'Dark Attribute' is the nature of shadows, while the 'Evil Attribute' is the concept of ruin." (Pal)
"Wrong." (Simon)
"What?! That's the dictionary definition of-" (Pal)
"WRONG!!!" Simon interrupted me loudly.
He entered my personal space and tapped me on the cheek. Making me visibly angry on the surface.
'This damn drunk geezer...!' I almost went berserk.
"The nature of Evil is to be selfish. The nature of darkness is to be comfortably cold and empty. They may seem similar, but they are different. Those who are Evil despise other Evil entities. Those who are Dark understand other Dark entities." Simon spoke.
I felt like those words were directed at me.
After all, I too knew my selfish and evil self didn't like other 'evil' people. I hated disloyalty the most.
Those who only knew how to take advantage of the weakness of other. And those who were cowardly.
One of my points overlapped with George, but he was doing it to others... so I didn't mind as much.
"Is it possible to grow?" I changed the subject.
"Listen to me and train. As long as you listen to my teachings, you will never lose." Simon hit his chest.
If it wasn't for the bottle spilling on his shirt, I might have actually found him cool for less than a second.
I shifted my eyes to look at Talia, and she nodded at me. Accepted him. Preparing his payment herself.
Just as I was about to ask for the details, I gasped:
"You fell asleep standing?!" My mind was a mess when I saw how he wasn't followed common sense.
It looked like he'd become my headache.