Knock, knock, knock.
Someone knocked on a wooden door.
No answer came.
Creak.
The door opened slowly, and an immaculately dressed person stepped in. It was a man with white hair, but it was a bit difficult to discern his age. Even though he had white hair, which obviously came from old age, there were no wrinkles on his face. If one only looked at his face, one might believe that he was rather young.
However, appearances often deceive people.
If someone heard of this person's age, they wouldn't be able to believe whoever told them.
The man looked around the room with professional eyes.
It was a small study filled with all kinds of books, scriptures, tomes, and papers. An unbelievably soft, violet carpet was strewn across the ground, and a cozy fire crackled in the fireplace.
The man's eyes looked at the back of the room.
Another man was sitting on a chair behind a wooden desk. Several papers were strewn across the desk, and the man practically lay in his chair, his head looking upward.
The man at the door slightly shook his head and walked over.
Bang!
He slightly kicked the table.
"Oh, wha- huh? Oh, good morning, Thomas," the man who had just been sleeping said after recovering from the shock. He was the head of the business titan, and everyone who saw him would believe him to be a nice man.
"It's evening, sir," Thomas, the butler, said to the old man.
"Oh, already?" the old man asked in confusion as he looked around his room. "I was working on this year's reward for the Hunter's Tournament. Guess I lost track of time after that long ceremony earlier on," he said.
"Mhm," Thomas uttered, deciding not to comment on how he had found his master napping.
"What? You don't believe me?" the old man asked with an offended expression. "Look! It's over there," he said.
A white ball made of pure energy started to float from the desk and stopped in front of Thomas.
Thomas slightly moved his finger, held the energy ball on top of his palm, and scanned through it.
"An S-grade ability and an invitation to enter the business titan?" Thomas commented. "You didn't read the dossiers about the situation, did you?" Thomas asked.
The old man felt like he had been found out.
BANG!
Thomas put his hands on the stacked dossiers on the table, making it impossible for the old man to peek at them.
The old man groaned. "Fine! Fine!" he groaned, "but it doesn't really matter, does it? Just the S-grade ability alone is more than enough for them anyway."
"Sir, this is not the problem I'm referring to, didn't you see the article of news about the key to open the next S-grade gate?" Thomas commented.
The old man groaned again. "Ehh? Wait, Thomas you not being serious right?"
Thomas put the S-grade ability under his arm but didn't comment on the old man's words.
Silence.
The old man felt a bit awkward as his butler only stood before him, not saying anything.
"Hahahaha!" the old man burst out laughing uncontrollably, and within only a few moments, tears were already flowing down his cheeks like a stream.
Silence.
"What's so funny about my words sir," Thomas said, a bit confused about his master's reaction.
The old man was a bit taken aback as he looked at Thomas skeptically. "Open the next S-grade gate? Haha, don't worry Thomas, such a thing will never happen without our interference"
Pausing for a moment, the old man muttered in amusement," Not even the absolute three dare to say they can open the next S-grade gate confidently, much less this kid."
"It seems like the information I gave u was unnecessary then," Thomas said, his body slightly shaking.
The old man noticed the small change in his butler aura after he mentioned the Absolute Three, but he didn't dwell on the matter and brushed it off, choosing to not interfere in his own life.
"Now tell me about your real purpose for visiting me here, you surely don't think that I'm unable to sense your fear, right?" the old man asked, a hint of confusion flashing past his eyes for a split of a second.
Wester knew his butler for a very long time, thus he could easily tell when something was troubling him.
At this moment, Thomas gave those same vibes to him.
Yet Wester couldn't come to pinpoint the reason his butler would be feeling afraid.
In fact, and since his butler got to reach that tier of strength, Wester could swear that he never sensed his butler feeling fear in the slightest during the past hundred years.
Yet, an emotion that Wester could swear got killed inside of Thomas back then, now resurfaced in the open again.
'This can't be something simple. Aghh, my peaceful carefree days are about to be ruined again.' The old man inwardly cried out, feeling great sadness from this sudden change.
He could already feel the sense of doom upon his normal life coming to an end with the next words Thomas uttered. Helpless, he awaited his butler, trying his hardest not to think about such things.
Thoma's face turned deadly serious after hearing his master's words.
Thud!
Boom!
With a move of his hand, a book carrying thousands of pages dropped to the ground as heavy as a car could drop off a bridge.
Nevertheless, such a sound didn't make the two men flinch in the slightest. Instead, they both carried a cold look in their expression, their hearts beating faster by the second.
Heavy pressure generated by Wester's unstable aura made the room tremble slightly.
The atmosphere in the room would make anyone who wasn't an experienced S-ranked hunter faint on the spot.
Thomas on the other hand didn't feel anything, his behavior making it look as if the terrifying aura was nothing but a cool breeze of wind.
The book title placed between Thomas and Wester, even though looks quite antic and scary, only carries a title consistent with two words.
Yet, a supposedly harmless title only placed there to give more information about the book's content somehow made these two old monsters rethink their future for some time.
Ancient Constellations!
Wester quickly regained his calm composure after muttering these two words and slowly shifted his gaze to his butler," What is the meaning of this Thomas, explain the situation."