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Darn it!
Hobert hurriedly tidied up the table. "I'm fine!" he called out, before rushing to open the door in a fluster.
Outside stood Christian, concern written all over his face. It couldn't be helped; Hobert's family members were just too prone to losing control.
Christian gave Hobert a thorough once-over before finally relaxing. Seeing that no one else was in the hallway, he whispered, "Just now, I clearly sensed a surge of powerful energy."
Hobert half-truthfully replied, "I was just experimenting with my abilities."
Seeing that Christian still looked skeptical, Hobert quickly shifted the topic. "Could it, maybe, have something to do with what happened to me yesterday?"
The doorway wasn't the best place for a conversation, so Christian led Hobert into the study, where Hobert briefly recounted his experiences from the previous day.
Hearing it involved the Aurora Order, Christian immediately became more serious, giving Hobert a thorough examination from head to toe. After concluding that there were no issues, Christian reminded Hobert to constantly monitor his condition in the near future. At the slightest sign of anything unusual, he was to come to him immediately.
If an evil god had indeed taken notice, there might be no apparent symptoms at first, but over time, Hobert could gradually become corrupted, with the effects erupting at some point.
Christian also agreed with Hobert's assessment. The Aurora Order wouldn't go after him, a mere peripheral member, for revenge. Besides, Christian, as a commander of the kingdom, wasn't afraid of any retaliation from the Aurora Order.
After spending more than an hour in the study, Hobert was finally free again.
Back in his bedroom, Hobert realized that having a Mid-Sequence powerhouse at home did indeed provide some protection.
Just like with the wealth he acquired yesterday, he could leave it safely at home without having to constantly keep it on him, unlike Fors.
But that came with its own problem: his secrets were at greater risk of exposure.
Previously, he had performed a prayer ritual to the Evernight Goddess, but it was relatively simple and didn't cause much of a disturbance. Besides, since the Goddess held dominion over "Concealment," Christian hadn't noticed anything.
However, the experiment he had just conducted was different. Hobert couldn't yet precisely control the power projected from the Nation of Disorder into the external world, which caused the surge of energy to spill beyond the wall of spirituality, where Christian sensed it.
Hobert quickly calculated his finances and decided he could afford to rent a place outside. This way, he would have a safe spot to attend the Tarot Club and conduct his experiments in peace.
After waiting for another half hour without further interruptions, Hobert once again used the Reverse Walk method to enter the Nation of Disorder.
The Beyonder characteristic of the Secrets Supplicant was still there. Hobert decided to leave it for now—he wasn't about to perform a bestowal ritual at home.
He then proceeded with his daily observation routine. Since it was already quite late, Raffet had already started watching some inappropriate content.
Hobert quickly moved on, turning his focus to Elliot.
It wasn't that Hobert had a voyeuristic habit; he was trying to determine whether Elliot and Raft could be trusted. Once he was confident in his conclusions, he wouldn't observe them so frequently.
Elliot was having dinner at a restaurant with two companions. The food looked rich and had a distinct Southern Continent flavor. The three of them were eating quietly, savoring the meal, unlike the other diners who were loudly conversing at nearby tables.
Hobert glanced at the restaurant, noting its strong local Southern Continent style, with beautiful feather decorations and wooden pillars and beams quite different from Northern Continent architecture.
Just as Hobert was about to move on, he noticed a man dining alone in the corner who looked familiar.
After thinking for a moment, Hobert remembered—the man had been at the mercenary guild gathering, recruiting a teammate skilled in communicating with spirits!
Their mercenary team had been tasked with a mission to retaliate against the Feysac Empire in the Southern Continent!
Hobert's thoughts raced. General Anthony was secretly supported by the Feysac Empire, which meant the mercenaries had chosen his territory for their revenge!
While Hobert's mind was whirling, the middle-aged man had already risen to pay his bill.
Hesitating for a moment, Hobert made up his mind, imprinting the man's image into the star that represented Elliot, before speaking in a supreme voice, "Follow him."
As long as he didn't channel power into the star, only Elliot would hear his words.
...
In a restaurant in Kansel City, Southern Continent.
As Elliot ate, the mighty figure seated on the iron sword throne suddenly appeared in his mind. He then saw the image of a middle-aged man dressed somewhat sloppily, followed by that supreme voice: "Follow him!"
Elliot almost jumped out of his seat. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves.
That strange and powerful being had been watching him all this time?
At the same time, he saw the middle-aged man in his mind standing up to pay the bill.
Suppressing his fear and excitement, Elliot tried to act natural. He thought about his sister playing in the grass and his good friend's angelic daughter, whose 12th birthday was coming soon.
In the end, he decided to obey the mysterious being's command!
One of his companions, noticing something off, asked, "Choked on a bone?"
"No." Elliot forced a smile. "I just remembered something. I'll be back later tonight."
Not waiting for his companions' reactions, Elliot stood up and left the restaurant through a side door.
He carefully tailed the middle-aged man, afraid of being noticed.
Kansel City, the second largest city under General Anthony's rule, wasn't much more than a commercial district with a few intersecting streets and a basic wall around the outskirts.
In the Southern Continent's small cities, walls were essential. You never knew when war might break out.
Within the city, following the man wasn't too difficult. But when the man climbed over the wall and left the city, things got trickier.
Unable to follow too closely, Elliot had to rely on details like trampled grass to track the man's path.
Tracking was something Elliot had practiced since childhood. In the dense forest, he was confident he wouldn't be detected by a higher Sequence Beyonder.
After following for some distance, Elliot noticed from the footprints on the grass that the middle-aged man had gathered a group of people in the forest, and they were all heading in the same direction.
After over an hour of careful tracking, Elliot found himself near the road leading out of Kansel City. In the distance, he heard the sound of hooves—there was a sizable convoy approaching.
Elliot guessed the middle-aged man's target was the convoy. Just as he found a hiding spot, two figures glowing with black light dashed out from the grass and toppled one of the carriages.
Next came the sounds of "Imprison," "Exile," "Distort," and "Weaken."