Enemy or friend?
"Did they say anything else about the stone tablet?"
While Sean was still pondering the other person in the room, the bodyguard of the prince before him asked urgently. He spoke on behalf of the prince and always had such an impatient tone, making Sean feel that they too were searching for the secrets of the Cain Stone Tablet...
"They didn't say much. I only remember that wizard named Weissman kept emphasizing the power of the stone tablet, then used magic to mutate Count Hamilton. After that, we started running out of the room..."
"You managed to escape from a high-level wizard?" the bodyguard asked with [doubt!].
Sure enough, they would still question every little detail.
Back then, he had only escaped by using a magic that lifted restrictions.
"I'm not sure either. The monster Count Hamilton turned into was terrifying—just standing in front of it made your mind start to wander. Later, I heard the wizard call for his companions to help... I didn't dare stay, so I kept running!"
Sean tweaked this detail slightly. While they might know he had some magical ability, he didn't want too many people to know exactly how far it went. If he later studied at the Sky-Covering Wings, gradually improving would give him a legitimate reason, otherwise, the source of his magic might be dug into, and he and Lucille could be discovered... Although they had always practiced magic in secret, many people had seen the archaeological team's battle when they went to rescue at Creek Village.
Sean didn't doubt the investigative capabilities of this country.
Or rather, he didn't doubt the deductive abilities of the smart people in this country...
There were never few smart people in this world, so there was no need to challenge them all.
"I can vouch for that. I've fought all kinds of strange creatures, but only that one left me feeling a bit scared. When I later went to investigate, I found no trace of that wizard. I think he probably didn't expect to summon something like that either." Freya, who had been standing by, finally spoke up.
"I see!" the prince nodded.
It seemed he trusted Freya quite a bit...
Just then, the door was gently pushed open, and the steward who had brought them in earlier set down two cups of tea on the table near Freya and Sean. He nodded with a smile, bowed to Prince Philip, and then turned to leave.
Above the prince's head, a [praise!] status appeared.
Huh?
What kind of act was this?
Sean looked at the two of them with some confusion. Was this praise for a subordinate? Or something else...
"Freya, tell me separately about your work before you went to Koga City. Baron Weigel, just have some tea here. It must be tiring for you to come so late. I've already had the kitchen prepare some late-night snacks; we'll eat something before heading back." The same smiling tone.
"Huh?" The sudden order surprised even Freya.
She glanced back at Sean.
"Go ahead, I'll wait for you here." Sean nodded with a smile.
So that's how it was.
Sean finally understood. These people still didn't trust him and wanted to test him with someone else.
Probably the one testing him was the person silently observing from behind!
As the three walked into another side door in the room, Freya even looked back with a [worried!] glance. Sean waved his hand to signal her not to worry.
Since the rooms in the prince's mansion were mostly connected, going through the side door led to many other rooms.
Sean sat alone, drinking tea...
Waiting for the 'silent observer' to reveal themselves.
Sure enough, just as Sean took his second sip of tea, the door opened again. A man about thirty years old walked in, holding a long-handled magic staff, clearly a wizard.
[Level 11, 5500/5500, Neutral] He was even an Order Keeper at level 11.
This prince's mansion really was full of experts—no one who walked in was below level 10!
The man sat across from Sean without speaking, and Sean smiled and nodded at him.
Acting as if nothing was wrong... waiting for the other to speak first.
"Baron Weigel really is a man of few words," the man finally couldn't help but say.
"And you are? How do you know my name?" Sean asked, feigning ignorance.
"Of course. I've heard quite a bit about you... One of my disciples keeps praising you, while another keeps cursing you. So I had to come see for myself."
Disciples!
Sean suddenly looked at him seriously.
One praises me, one curses me!
Who else could that be but Erenta, Ygunia, and Warren?
So this guy was the leader of the Erenta in Koga City they mentioned, Aishu.
He even remembered the name, which Ygunia had mentioned many times... and she had said this mentor had gone north.
"So you are..."
"Erenta wizard, Aishu," the man introduced himself.
It really was him.
"Lord Aishu." Sean had to show some respect to Ygunia's mentor.
But the other waved his hand and said...
"Niya mentioned your matters in her letters. We'll discuss those slowly later. Right now, I'm more interested in the monster you described. Niya also told me some things in her letters, but it might be better to ask you directly," he said.
The status above his head was [confused!] rather than testing, meaning what Ygunia said probably didn't go beyond what Sean had already described.
"Hard to describe..."
"You can talk about its appearance and the effects it triggered," Aishu pressed.
"It was like... its whole body was tentacles. Its muscles weren't like any ordinary creature's muscles we know, and it seemed to be constantly flowing—flesh yet like liquid."
Even recalling that thing, Sean still found it terrifying.
"Oh, and just as it disappeared, I saw an eye, a huge single eye."
"Chaos!"
"What?" Sean looked at him as he muttered a word to himself.
"Eye of Chaos. So that's what it was."
"You know what that thing is?" Sean was a bit surprised. Even Freya hadn't been able to name it back then, yet this Erenta wizard could call it out.
"Based on your later behavior and the eye you just mentioned, I'd say that's probably it!"
Aishu frowned, clearly showing a [unease!] status.
"What exactly is it?"