The child’s mouth hung slightly open, the light in his eyes fading at a speed visible to the naked eye.
However, he didn't stay dejected for long.
The speed with which he adjusted his mindset left Elias clicking his tongue in amazement.
"Whatever!"
"With the little money I have left, I could only afford a novice like you anyway."
He convinced himself in an instant.
"At least you look somewhat clever."
Elias felt like he had taken an arrow to the knee.
As an adult with a modern soul, being looked down upon by a brat felt quite surreal.
He raised an eyebrow with some annoyance and countered, "I'm a novice, so what about you?"
Elias crossed his arms, looking down at the other party.
"If you were so experienced, would you really have run to the Society of Freemen to beg for help?"
"At least I'm stronger than you!"
The kid puffed out his narrow chest and spoke with total confidence.
"I'm Scale Two!"
Elias blinked, as if he hadn't heard correctly.
"?"
"What?"
Elias hurried to activate Spirit Vision.
The intensity of the spirituality was roughly the same as his own.
It was indeed Scale Two.
"How old are you?"
Elias felt his throat go a bit dry.
"Twelve."
The child answered bluntly.
Elias fell silent for three seconds.
"Respect, little boss."
"What?"
The child was taken aback.
"Nothing, it's a term of respect."
Elias waved his hand dismissively.
At that moment, having heard that a twelve-year-old was Scale Two, Elias had already been mocking the old antique in his mind for a long time.
'Old Ed, did you see that?'
'Is this the "path of transcendence is full of hardships and obstacles" you kept talking about?'
'He’s twelve! Twelve years old! Scale Two!'
'And you still have the nerve to brag about your glorious achievements back in the day?'
'Were you also twelve when you reached Scale Two?'
This string of questions aimed directly at the soul made Old Ed break down in Elias's mind with fury.
"Shut up! You ignorant hillbilly!"
Old Ed roared in exasperation, his voice vibrating so hard Elias's brain hurt.
"Nobles and commoners are not the same!"
"Do you have any idea how many resources those noble lords dump into raising an exceptional heir?"
"That's built on a mountain of money!"
"It’s bloodline! It’s heritage!"
"What do you know?!"
Old Ed seemed to have been genuinely poked in a sore spot, rambling and cursing for a while, even making a gesture as if he were going to unilaterally disconnect the mental link before Elias finally let it go.
After all, there was no benefit to annoying his resident old fossil to death.
"Fine, fine, fine, this is a victory for pay-to-win players. I yield."
Elias raised a white flag in his heart, then looked at the true meal ticket standing before him.
Even if he looked like a little beggar right now.
"Shall we begin fulfilling the commission then?"
Elias asked, his attitude becoming slightly more professional than before.
"First, tell me the specific details of your 'dear friend's' disappearance in Miller's Lane..."
Just then.
The doors of the Society of Freemen were pushed open roughly.
Several figures walked in against the light.
They were men wearing brown coats and felt hats.
The brims of their hats were pulled low, revealing only sharp, hawk-like eyes.
They didn't head to the reception desk or the commission wall like other guests; instead, they stood at the entrance, their gazes sweeping through the hall like searchlights, seemingly looking for someone.
Such a scene wasn't particularly rare at the Society of Freemen.
After all, this was a gray area where black and white intertwined, with various transcendents coming and going every day.
The transcendents in the hall merely glanced up before returning to their own business; it wasn't something worth making a fuss over.
But the moment the little boss beside Elias saw those people, his entire demeanor changed.
His previously smug expression froze on his face, and his body trembled uncontrollably.
He was like a cat under stress, instinctively looking around for a place to hide.
But he quickly realized that in the center of the hall, there was nowhere to hide.
"What's wrong?"
Elias keenly noticed his employer's abnormality and frowned, his hand discreetly slipping into his coat to grip the handle of his elemental revolver.
The child snapped his head around, staring dead at Elias, his eyes filled with terror and fury.
"It's you?"
The kid gritted his teeth, his voice kept extremely low yet carrying a hint of hysteria.
"You led them here?!"
Elias was a bit dazed by this sudden accusation.
"Me?"
"What are you talking about?"
"I've only known you for less than ten minutes!"
"Who are those people?"
Anyone who was framed as inexplicably as Elias would find it both absurd and irritating.
Did this brat have a persecution complex?
However, just as Elias was about to argue back, the voice in his head that had been indignant suddenly turned serious.
"Something's wrong."
Edmond's voice was low and urgent.
"Stop arguing with the kid."
"Look at those men at the door. The spiritual fluctuations on them... are very similar to Firth's."
'The Mist Veil Society?'
Elias's heart skipped a beat.
Old Ed's timely warning allowed Elias to calm down instantly.
Arguments were arguments, but business was business.
In their time together, the two had already formed a strange but efficient tacit understanding.
After all, they both knew that whether they were talking trash or saying unpleasant things, it was just a way to kill time.
When actual danger appeared, the old man was more reliable than anyone.
"Regardless of who they are, let's get out of here first."
For now, Elias could only act according to the necessity of the situation.
He grabbed his employer.
This was a walking pile of gold crowns; he was counting on this little boss to make money!
If the kid was taken away, his first pot of gold would go down the drain.
He threw an arm around the other's shoulder. Although the kid was short and they looked like a strange father and son, who cared about that now?
"Don't move!"
"If you want to live, listen to me!"
Elias barked in the child's ear. The unquestionable tone caused the panicked boy to steady himself slightly.
The two walked with their arms linked, pretending everything was normal as they headed toward the stairs deep in the hall.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Edmond asked in his mind, his tone full of disappointment.
"Going to the second floor to hide!"
Elias answered as if it were obvious.
"Isn't the second floor the archive room? There are plenty of bookshelves there to hide behind."
"Hide your ass on the second floor!"
Old Ed started cursing immediately.
"There's only one staircase there!"
"Going up is a dead end!"
"If they block the stairs, you two will be sitting ducks!"
"Go out through the other door! You road-blind idiot!"
"The Society of Freemen has two exits. Use the front door!"
"What the hell are you thinking?"
Elias's footsteps faltered, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
"I forgot!"
He argued back righteously, but his physical reaction was lightning-fast.
Without stopping for a moment, he used the momentum of his turn to force a change in direction, twisting his body to lead the little boss toward the wooden door on the other side of the Society of Freemen hall.
That was the side door leading to the world of ordinary people.
Fortunately, because there were many transcendents gathered in the Society of Freemen, quite a few people were heading out.
Elias and the little boss blended into the crowd, using several tall followers of the Dragon of Eternity as cover. Keeping their heads down, they hurried out with the rest of the transcendents.
The moment they pushed the door open, the noisy clamor and blinding sunlight hit them.
This was another street adjacent to Jester Alley, already within the boundaries of the Central District.
Elias vaguely recognized a tavern nearby with a sign featuring a rusted iron anchor.
"Inside!"
He hurried to lead the boy through the tavern's spring-loaded door.
The interior of the tavern was dimly lit and smelled of low-quality malt beer.
At this time of day, there were few people around, and the bartender was even dozing off.
Elias walked straight to the bar and tossed 10 Shillings to the bartender, pointing toward a corner.
"I want a small booth facing the street, somewhere quiet."
The bartender was jolted awake by the clinking of the coins.
"Right away."
The two quickly slipped into the booth shielded by a heavy velvet curtain.
Once seated, both let out a long sigh of relief.
Elias did not let down his guard. He carefully pulled back a corner of the curtain.
This position was chosen perfectly, just enough to see the front door of the Society of Freemen.
He activated Spirit Vision once again.
His field of vision instantly transformed into a world of black and white.
After a short while, the side door was pushed open.
The five men in brown coats walked out.
They paused at the entrance, appearing somewhat confused about where their target had gone.
After all, the spiritual traces inside and at the exits of the Society of Freemen were incredibly chaotic. Coupled with Elias's and the kid's spirituality mixing together, it caused the group to hesitate for a moment.
Elias narrowed his eyes, carefully observing the men through the gap in the curtain.
'One Scale Three, two Scale Twos, and two Scale Ones.'
He quickly assessed the enemy's combat strength in his mind.
Just then, something strange happened.
Suddenly, Elias's Spirit Sensing reacted.
In his Spirit Vision, the air around the lead man, which had been calm, suddenly rippled like water.
A spirit world rift tore open out of thin air.
Immediately after, a translucent, twisted spiritual body dripping with slime struggled out of the rift.
It had no discernible facial features, only a long, thin tentacle that respectfully handed the man a slip of paper.
The leader seemed long accustomed to this, accepting the note without expression.
In the moment he raised his hand to look at the paper, his sleeve slid back, revealing a pale forearm.
Elias's pupils shrank violently.
On that man's forearm, a complex black pattern was clearly tattooed.
It was identical to the pattern he had seen on Firth's corpse at the beach that night!
'It really is them,' Elias thought to himself.
Then, as if they had received some definitive news, the group turned in unison.
They didn't continue searching the main street but instead slipped into a nearby dead-end alley.
Elias adjusted his angle and saw the leader crouch down, gripping a heavy cast-iron manhole cover with one hand and lifting it as easily as if it were a sheet of paper.
"What? Do cultists have a side business in stealing manhole covers?"
Then, the five men dropped in one by one, like dumplings into a pot.
Elias couldn't help but frown, his mouth twitching.
"Are they going to the sewers to find four mutant turtles?"
Seeing that his joke went unanswered, Elias turned back, feeling bored.
The little boss was currently huddled in the corner of the seat, his face as white as paper.
"Why are they chasing you?"
Elias stared into his eyes and asked seriously.
"I don't know."
The kid shook his head and fell into silence after speaking.
Elias looked at his distant, defensive expression and laughed out of sheer exasperation.
"You certainly are quite charming."
Elias set down his glass, his finger lightly tapping the table.
"To have five members of the Mist Veil Society chasing you... your worth is certainly something. Tsk tsk."
Upon catching those three words, the kid snapped his head up to look at Elias.
"You know about the Mist Veil Society?"
Rate on N.U.
