Rowan stood in silence for a while.
“Let’s go.”
The words had barely left his mouth when he was already by the door.
Holden and Rin looked toward one another and then rushed after Rowan.
It was one thing to make the trip to Thistle Brook City. That was an annoyance in itself. The travel, even with the fastest steeds, would take days. Who wanted to be on the road for that long just to deal with an ant?
But if Theron was in the Imperial Capital… that was a different matter entirely. They had their own pride as well.
**
Theron’s head was practically tilted up to the skies. But there was no sea of blue and streams of clouds above him. No—there was a ceiling that certainly seemed as tall as one, though.
The Main Imperial Academy made the Thistle Brook branch seem impossibly small and tiny. As he passed by streams of people, he felt like he picked out a Gold Mancer at least once every ten or so, a ratio that made little to no sense.
He had thought a bit about how to accomplish this mission that Dean Thistle had given him. What was amusing to him was that such an important mission was only handed out because Dean Thistle believed he had run into the end of his potential. Otherwise, as foolish as Theron thought the Dean was sometimes… there was no way he would give him this opportunity.
The more Theron thought about it, though, the more he felt that the more frequent vulnerability the Dean was showing these days was only because of one reason.
Burne’s death.
Even Theron had underestimated just how much the patriarch relied on Burne, and clearly, the Dean himself had underestimated it. The intuition of a Spirit Mancer with the path affinity Burne had was more important than a few words could describe.
Ironically enough, Theron had taken out a pillar of the Dean’s strength before the latter could even rev his engines properly.
’I would have realized this a long time ago if I had my current mind. But before
These days, things just felt so much easier. Things that would normally take him weeks or even months to grasp before took minutes at times and hours at worst.
The faults in Dean Thistle had only become more obvious, and he was quite certain now that he just might come across something in the Imperial Capital that he could take true advantage of.
Theron was entering his endgame. He had no intention of wrapping himself up in the Nightingale Province for a lifetime. Once he retrieved his father’s sword, he would be leaving.
He would only return when he reached Gold Mancy and could enter the Luminance Realm once more.
It would only be another two weeks or so before Raiden was released from his punishment. When that time came, Theron would take his head.
A chilling aura seeped out from Theron as he approached the desk.
To call it a desk was a bit of a stretch. It was more like an enormous counter, dozens of receptionists dealing with one stream of disciples after another.
The receptionist across from Theron was a young woman with her hair done into a bun. But the smile on her face froze when she sensed the sharpness that came from Theron. Soon, however, she felt like she had to rub her eyes, wondering if she had seen wrong.
Theron’s chilliness had vanished, replaced by a gentle, almost adorable smile that made her want to pinch his cheeks and call him little brother.
What happened?
“Hello. I’m from the Thistle Brook Imperial Academy. I’ve reached the threshold for challenge and would like to make a bid for a position in the academic stream of the main academy.”
The young woman blinked. “—Oh! Right, right… a moment…”
With the commotion in the lobby, no one heard Theron, so it didn’t raise any uproar. But that was also why it was so surprising when Theron suddenly turned back as though he had sensed something.
Almost immediately, Theron picked out the Bordeaux’s.
In the stream of people, they were a bit hard to pick out, except for the fact they were the only group moving in a block of more than a dozen.
Theron felt the instant a subtle, fluttering sense touched him. And rather than ignoring it, he reacted. His eyes shifted until it landed on Rowan.
’Hm. Third Resonance.’ Theron was about to nod to himself when he saw an unassuming maid following after them.
His eyes narrowed.
This maid was unassuming only because of her demeanor. But her beauty itself seemed to warm the room. That demure cadence to her gait and the sway of her hair, the slight, cute chubbiness to her face, and those innocent, deer-in-headlights eyes.
She was the textbook girl next door.
Unfortunately for Rowan, she was also an assassin.
The first thing that caught Theron’s attention was the Light Mana she had suppressed very well. But the moment he sensed those fluctuations, he recognized them.
That girl was the very same assassin that tried to kill him.
Thanks to his study of [Soul Escape], Theron’s soul control was on a level far beyond those of the same cultivation level. When this was added to the fact he awakened it before Silver Mancy, allowing it to undergo a double awakening…
Well, his Third Eye wasn’t something Silver Mancers could even fathom right now. The assassin girl, despite her own sharp senses, didn’t even seem to realize that Theron had picked her out.
Interesting… Coincidence? I doubt it.’
Theron’s gaze flashed. It seemed that one of his plans was bearing fruit.
The hardest part about leaving this province wouldn’t be Dean Thistle, it would definitely be the Patriarch and the old man.
But, if he could find a method to deal with them or at least distract them for long enough…
It seemed that his opportunity was here.
Rowan came to a stop right in front of him.
“Holden.”
A young man stepped out from behind him and a fist flashed toward Theron.