The newspapers belonging to the other consortia mainly questioned the price of the set by Dudian. However newspapers under the wings of Mellon and Krylov consortium directly called it outrageous. They used extremely sharp words such as 'arrogant', 'young and frivolous' and other words to describe Dudian.
Moreover the offending didn't end by just those simple words. One of the newspapers took the initiate to describe Dudian in way that people's hatred would arise. Their comment was: "For architect Dean to put such a price is mainly because of the 'epoch' medal. He doesn't put masters in his eyes and thinks that his research can go beyond the work of a master!"
Dudian indifferently smiled as he read the newspaper. In a few days this so-called 'beyond the work of a master' speech would be a slap in their face. After the truth is published no one will be able to ignore him. Although he had expected to get negative comments from Krylov but didn't think that they would go to such length.
He thought about Granita who had come over not so long ago. Dudian thought that the woman was familiar but he couldn't get exactly who she was. Right now it was clear that Krylov consortium was angry at him because of bailing out Sergei.
Granita was the famous beauty who was almost 'raped' by Sergei. There are many painters who has drawn her portraits. All those pictures are in collections of many wealthy businessmen and nobles.
"However, its unlikely that Sergei would be enough for Krylov consortium to be enemies with me. Perhaps the source is the conversation with Granita. I think they are angry that they weren'y able to get rights for military crossbow." There was a faint smile on his face as Dudian put the newspaper down. He began to gently rub his ringers as he delved into thoughts.
Nicholas who stood beside Dudian swept over the newspaper. Although the newspaper was inverted but it didn't him to quickly and accurately see through the information written on the paper. His pupils shrank when he read the two words: 'epoch' medal. He didn't think that Dudian's identity would be so high in the Temple. No wonder, the consortia tried to pay close attention to him and tried to get close to Dudian.
Nicholas secretly looked at the boy as his fingers gently gripped his sleeves.
Sergei, Gwyneth and the others came down.
Sergei's chest was wrapped in white gauze. The place where the spikes were nailed were a little dark but the blood hadn't spread around the other places. Nicholas's eyes lit up as he looked at Sergei. The healing ability of the magic marks from the 'Steel Dragon' were amazing.
Sergei's eyes swept over the dining room. His eyes narrowed the moment his vision fell on Dudian's body. His footsteps paused for a moment before continuing to step down the stairs.
"We will exercise this morning and rest in the afternoon." Dudian indifferently said as he looked at gloomy Sergei.
Sergei was stunned as the gloominess in his eyes was replaced with happiness. However he soon realized his expression so he spoke in an arragonat tone: "You are quite lazy."
Dudian glanced at him: "Am I?"
Sergei saw the faint smile on Dudian's face. He sneered and sat on chair. He shouted at Nicholas: "Stupid old man! Where is my breakfast?"
Nicholas slightly stifled as his lips twitched. He turned towards the maid: "Get him his breakfast."
"Yes." The maid replied immediately.
After the breakfast Dudian went back to the training ground to exercise. Scar and Jin joined him up. Scar said: "We are idling all the time and scared that our bones are going to get rusty."
Dudian didn't stop them but still reminded: "Don't overdo your training. We will soon be going outside the giant wall to hunt so I hope both of you will be in top condition."
Both of them nodded in confirmation. However they didn't practice the way Dudian did. Instead of reverse frog posture they used other exercise to strengthen their legs, arms and flexibility.
Although a 'blessing of God' was able to strengthen them physically in one go more than 10 years of practice but through exercise they were able to master various parts of their body. Moreover they were able to temper their willpower.
Sergei didn't care much about Scar and Jin. His obligation was to teach Dudian. He was too lazy to teach the others and would ignore them at all costs.
In the blink of an eye the time passed. It was afternoon.
All four of them came back to the castle as they were tired. After the lunch Scar and Jin went back to the training field to exercise according to skills that they had learned in the past.
However, Dudian, Gwyneth and Sergei moved the steel to the basement. The order was scheduled to arrive this morning and it was brought on time. There were several basements under the castle meant for storage of goods. Dudian had used one as an alchemy room.
Dudian let the others leave after the materials were stored in the new alchemy room. Dudian warned Nicholas that no on could disturb him during his research time.
After the door was closed Dudian began to carve the generator's parts and make their models form the wood. He used the knife with the right hand to make precise models.
Dudian felt that the flexibility and control of his right hand had increased a lot after the previous experiences with the left hand.
...
...
Shortly after Dudian entered the alchemy room Nicholas, Gwyneth and Sergei were in another quaint room in the castle. Nicholas said: "We three are in the same boat. The other two have been in the same layer as the little devil back in the prison. Their relationship is extraordinary and they are meant to follow the little devil for good. We can only unite and hope that we can recover our freedom from this little devil's hands."
Sergei looked at him with interest: "Do you have a plan?"
Nicholas looked at him: "At present we know nothing about his background. So making any plans is nothing but waste of time. First of all we have to find the bottom line of this little devil. As far as we know, the kid is not only a hunter but an architect too. From these two identities it can be inferred that the little devil's family is civilian. However they have to be a wealthy one."
"But if the little devil is a hunter then it means that there is no force behind his family. Moreover at one point his existence was irrelevant to the aristocracy."
Sergei chuckled: "Is this all?"
Nicholas spoke in a ridiculing tone: "Yes it is all. You should talk now. The day before you went out with him. Don't tell me that you didn't get any harvest." There was a trace of coldness in his eyes.
Sergei lightly sneered: "At least I know more than you. The little devil took me to raw material market to buy steel the day before. At that point I knew that he was an architect of the Temple and his position is quite high as Green consortium personally sent a messenger to invite him yesterday. I estimate that even though the little devil's status is not of a master in the Temple but it is something close to it."
"The most important thing is that there is no power behind the little devil. He is the mastermind!"
"No one supports him from behind the scenes?" Nicholas was slightly startled.
Sergei answered: "The little devil took me to the Ryan family. According to the rumors the Ryan family is a declining noble family. So there is no way for them to have enough money to bail us out. The source of the money is certainly the products sold by the little devil. According to my guess, after the jailbreak the kid has hijacked the Ryan family. Afterwards using his hunter identity has signed a contract with the Ryan family. On surface everyone thinks that there is some shady figure in Ryan family who is pulling the strings but in fact the little devil is the one who is controlling the Ryan family. Moreover who could help him out to escape from the prison? It's his own effort!"
Nicholas looked at him and nodded: "That's pretty good but we have get more information. Be cautious."
Sergei grunted but didn't reply.
Nicholas looked at time: "We can't stay together for long. The servants would be aware of our meeting."
"Alright, I'll go out first." Sergei shrugged his shoulders as he left the room.
Nicholas came towards the door and put his ear to listen to outside. The footsteps echoed gradually from far away. He turned back to the silent Gwyneth: "What do you think about his speech?"
Gwyneth looked at him quietly: "What do you think?"
Nicholas touched his chin: "The little devil was too friendly with Sergei as they came back from the market. His attitude had a big change. It makes it impossible for me to trust Sergei."
"That alone is not a definite proof." Gwyneth whispered.
Nicholas nodded: "Yes but there are many things that Sergei said isn't clear whether they are true of fale. Maybe he was already bought up by the kid while they were out. Let's say everything Sergei said is true. The little devil is really the mastermind which lurks in the shadows. Let's assume that he hijacked the Ryan family. The where did he leard the ability to invent things? Civilians can enter the libraries but they don't get their hands on valuable information. Moreover it is just impossible to escape from the prison alone without any backing. It is likely that one of the six consortia is behind him. Even if its not a consortia then it is one of the top noble families. "
"Moreover how could Ryan family shelter the imp on its own?"
Gwyneth replied: "Sergei could have been lying."