The girl eventually spilled the beans.
She claimed that all her group members were rogue mercenaries trying to make quick money by taking on some assassination tasks. She further said that they had gotten the assignment to assassinate Andrew from an anonymous masked individual about three weeks ago.
What was interesting was one particular point. The anonymous individual had contacted their group again only fifteen minutes ago and informed them that Andrew would be heading to the Red Cloud Merchant Guild in a few minutes.
The mysterious enemy had then allowed them to liaise with the town guards and quickly clear the street leading to the Red Cloud Merchant Guild to make it more convenient for their group to complete the assassination. Such was the power the enemy commanded in Heathgate Border Town.
'It should be one of Caleb's men who hired this group,' Andrew thought after hearing the recount of events from the girl. 'He must be afraid that my presence in the empire will affect his hold over the various family businesses.'
Caleb Robinson was the youngest son of Morgan Robinson, Andrew's eldest uncle. The family council had sent him out of the family dimension after he awakened a medium-tier human-grade totem three years ago.
Like all the exiled Robinson heirs, Caleb still yearned for powerful sorcery abilities with the end goal of reclaiming his honor within the family. But he could only chase after his desire by embezzling profits from the family businesses he supervised to fund a few forbidden rituals and experiments. That fact compelled him to become ruthless to anyone who could threaten his position, whether kin or friend.
Andrew had suffered because of Caleb's targeted schemes during his previous life. Had it not been for Freya Mayfair, one of the Robinson family contacts operating in the empire who was also the rank-one sorcerer managing Red Cloud Merchant Guild, he would have perished just after he left the family dimension.
'I now know who leaked my movements to the enemy.'
Caleb was a talented social animal who held sway over many individuals in crucial positions in the southern part of the Dartolonian Empire, which also happened to be the territory of the Robinson family. The guy had many contacts in the military, the merchant guilds, and even the mercenary groups.
But most of those couldn't have known Andrew's movements as he had remained secluded in the hotel room to train for the past three weeks. As such, the only person who could have leaked information about him was someone close to Freya Mayfair, the only individual he had informed that he would head to the Red Cloud Merchant Guild.
Of course, Andrew didn't suspect Freya herself, as the woman had saved his life many times during his previous life. If she had wanted him dead, she would have ignored one of the attempts on his life, and he would have met his maker.
Andrew turned his gaze back to the girl after thinking things through. She looked even more pitiful after being at the receiving end of his slaps. But he wasn't about to let her off the hook, especially since he had long developed the motto of responding with the same ferocity to any attempt on his life.
"So, where did you obtain this orb?" He asked while observing the orb he had confiscated from the girl. He was intrigued by the artifact as he couldn't understand its runic inscriptions even while relying on the vast experiences from his previous life.
"This..." the girl stammered, "Will you spare my life if I tell you where I obtained this orb?"
"I'll think about it," Andrew replied nonchalantly. "Just tell me."
"I won't believe you unless you make an oath," the girl whined while putting on a stubborn front. "I won't say anything unless you make an oath on your totem emphasizing that you won't hurt or kill me."
"So noisy! Why would I make an oath to someone that wanted to take my life? I will 'just' fish for the info I need from your head."
Andrew stopped wasting time on the girl. He placed his hand on her head and executed a mystic soul art he had learned during his previous life.
It was an occult technique outside the mainstream spell-casting system that those with a powerful mentality attribute could execute on those weaker than them to read their memories. It was an archaic art developed to interrogate enemies by an ancient branch of sorcerers that called themselves soul shamans.
"Soul Search!" Andrew mumbled and invaded the girl's consciousness through some occult soul law.
Bits and pieces of the girl's memories started appearing within Andrew's mind as the mystic soul art began operating. He expertly sifted through them until he reached a particular recollection when the girl and her friends obtained the mysterious shadow orb.
He 'saw' the girl's party running away from a pack of blood-eyed wolves while heading deeper into a forested area. He witnessed all the details as they jumped off a cliff to escape the pursuit of the ferocious beasts before falling into a pool of water.
It was then that they chanced upon something incredible. They came upon an inheritance ground left behind by an ancient coven of sorcerers and entered it.
They couldn't explore the entire place with their meager powers since it contained many powerful magical constructs left by the ancient sorcerers. But they still successfully explored the outer area of the relic before eventually retreating with a few treasures, which included the shadow orb and their daggers.
'The inheritance ground should be within the interior of Ashwood Forest. I should be able to reach it if I follow their recollections. Hopefully, I'll get something useful.'
Andrew smiled and crushed the girl's neck after obtaining the information he needed from her memories. He then performed another soul search on the last remaining thug to confirm whether the details from the girl's mind were authentic before mercilessly sending him to meet his maker.
Andrew had a lot of bitter experiences from his previous life. He had long understood that eliminating his enemies before they brought him more trouble was the way to go. That being the case, he didn't even bat an eyelid before ending the assassins who had come to kill him.
Andrew then went about cleaning the scene of his killings. He expended about three points of mentality and a bit of mana to cast the Aeon's Blessing of Death spell, which successfully devoured all the corpses and bloodstains in the shadow space.
The spell circle converted all the enemy corpses into energy for Andrew's book totem without leaving even a trace of spilled blood on the scene. His 'origin energy' reserves increased from 292 to 387 units. However, the fate energy accumulated in his book-type totem, even after killing the four assassins, only changed from zero to 0.004 units.
That was how difficult it was to acquire fate energy for his totem. He could accumulate it by severing the fate or, in other words, killing other strong beings. But the amount obtained would always be meager unless he killed those beings with extraordinary fate lines.
For instance, he would acquire more fate energy if he could assassinate the head of a hidden sorcerer's family and even more if he could slay the emperor of the Dartolonian Empire.
By killing and devouring such remarkable individuals using Aeon's Blessing of Death, he would take over their extraordinary fate and acquire more special energy for his book totem's use.
"I should leave here before things get complicated."
Andrew skillfully branded his soul imprint on the shadow orb to make it his personal artifact before withdrawing its shadow domain. The darkness shrouding him receded, and the familiar sight of the cobbled streets of Heathgate Border Town appeared before his eyes.
His perception tingled with alarm, and he immediately turned towards another side of the street. He could see a troop of armed soldiers quickly heading towards him.
Andrew didn't know whether it was Caleb, his ruthless cousin brother, or the military sorcerers monitoring the town who had sent them. But he wasn't willing to stay and find out.
His agility exploded, and he took off like a specter from the scene before the soldiers could reach him. He disappeared in an alley at the end of the street before going around the Glamorous Delights Brothel again.
He continued on a roundabout route to ensure his safety and finally arrived at the Red Cloud Merchant Guild's rear gate in about ten minutes.
"I have arrived at the rear gate of the Red Cloud Merchant Guild!" He didn't enter but sent a telepathic message to the Robinson family contact he had talked to before through his runic bracelet.
"Okay," the familiar feminine voice sounded in his mind. "Wait a bit. I will send someone to fetch you."
"Understood." He ended the call and waited before the gate.
The small street behind the Red Cloud Merchant Guild's premises bordered a garden and some warehouses. It appeared deserted and seemed like a place that was the perfect spot for an assassination.
But Andrew was calm as he knew that Freya Mayfair, a rank one sorcerer acquainted with the Robinson family, was nearby. He was confident that no rational assassin was stupid enough to offend such a powerhouse overseeing a large merchant guild in the Dartolonian Empire just to kill an eighteen-year-old nobody.
A few seconds of waiting elapsed before Andrew eventually heard heavy footsteps from the Red Cloud Merchant's Guild's premises. The rear gate soon opened, and a fat man with a protruding potbelly appeared in his sights.
The fatty was sporting polished black shoes, a sleek black trouser, a blue gentleman's shirt, and an expensive golden watch. He exuded an aura of wealth.
"Hey kid! Are you the one that Madam Freya was waiting for?" He asked with arrogance as he turned his shifty gaze towards Andrew.
"It's you!"
Andrew didn't answer but narrowed his eyes on seeing the fatty. He couldn't believe that he was once again face to face with someone who had given him a lot of hell during his previous life.
Feelings of anger bubbled within him, and he acted without care for any decorum. He suddenly took a step forward and punched the fatty's protruding stomach.
"Ah! Enemy attack! Enemy attack..."
The fatty groaned in pain and knelt on the ground while yelling at the top of his voice. He was howling like a pig in the slaughterhouse after being on the receiving end of the heavy punch.
Andrew didn't feel any pity for the cunning fatty, though. He knew that the crook was somehow involved in the attempt on his life that had happened only minutes prior. He gave him a loud slap and sent him tumbling to the ground before grabbing his neck to stifle his cries.
"Who is so daring to attack an employee of my Red Cloud Merchant Guild? Do you want to die?"
A majestic voice suddenly sounded from the Red Cloud Merchant Guild's building.