Rosie froze, and then frowned, then decided to double down.
"Isn’t that even more reason not to trust him. You can’t possibly expect that he’ll be able to make a blueprint on his own, right? Our Holy Empire does not have a person who can do such a thing. At best they can tweak an existing blueprint, but to fundamentally make a new one is impossible. It requires a moment of enlightenment, and he has no way of knowing if he will have one.
"He is scamming you."
Petri chuckled. "Maybe. He did not ask for much anyway, now did he?"
"That depends on how you view things." Rosie said coldly. "Maps are extraordinarily precious. It will not take much for someone of your stature to gather them all, but that is because you are well respected and have earned your place amongst the higher society of the Holy Empire. You are invested in the military and have been on the front lines many times before.
"But giving it to an unknown is highly dangerous. An enemy can learn many things from maps alone without any extra context or information. And why did you not bother to ask him what he is looking for?
"And others might not know, but I understand the current circumstances you face, Petri. What if this Grey does something untoward toward the Princess? What if he harms her? What if your enemies take the opportunity to make it look like he harmed her? What will you do if that mud stains your name?
"He is clearly a perverted ruffian with no bottom line. Is that really someone you want to attach your name to?"
Petri only chuckled again, nodding away as though he agreed with everything Rosie was saying. But Rosie knew Petri too well by now. She knew that he would just do what he wanted anyway.
Even his master couldn’t really seem to control him.
"I just want to see how this plays out. It could be interesting, don’t you think?"
Petri’s laughter filled the halls as he sped up. "He has asked for a day to prepare, so I will give him a day. Tomorrow, we shall see what this Grey Temolt is made of."
"Petri!" Rosie called out.
His laughter grew louder. "I would protect your rose gardens a bit more if I were you, Rosie. I have a feeling that Bas isn’t going to let this go unchallenged, and I also have a feeling that Grey isn’t going to take kindly to being poked and prodded at relentlessly, so there might be some collateral damage."
Rosie practically jumped out of her skin. She picked up her long, dragging white robes and started to run toward her precious bushes.
"That bastard! I’ll kill him!"
**
The Boundless looked out stormily.
He hadn’t been physically present at the battle, but he had been watching nonetheless. In fact, the senses of the other Guardians—with the exception of The Immovable—and even The Pope and Head Nun had all been present.
This was by design. The Boundless wanted this to be seen, but he didn’t expect his disciple to lose so... handily.
The battle had looked close on the surface, but something about the way Grey fought made it feel like he was just constantly revving his engines, constantly learning and adapting. It was almost like even if Pandro had been twice as powerful, things would have ended the very same way.
A fear-inducing thought couldn’t help but creep up in The Boundless’ heart.
Was Grey also able to defeat his eldest disciple right now?
He and Petri had their differences, but their goals were very much similar. It was hard for a father to not love his son.
However, while being on opposing sides with Grey was, indeed, the goal, being humiliated in this way was another matter entirely.
After a moment, though, The Boundless relaxed, picking up something at the edge of his senses.
If this happened, then maybe some of the sting would cool a bit.
Grey strolled out of the Church, half surprised they let that happen so easily and half relieved. But then he was suddenly scratching his head about what to do.
He was broke now, his Cyber Cores were pretty much all used up after his battle with the alien bastards, so he had no real form of useful currency left at all outside of what he could hope to sell.
But all of the powerful items he had on his person were all useful to him. He had nothing to sell anymore in that regard, not since Ma Famille had become useful to him.
And all the items he did want to get rid of were too weak and pitiful to make a dent in living in a place like this.
He had been around the city a few times. Living here was worse than living in prime real estate in New York City or London. It was bad.
"So, do any of you guys have any money?"
Brad and Mauve gave Grey a blank look. Money? They had been living in the same free housing as Grey before, and all the credits they got went toward their improvement.
Grey looked toward Amunet, but she scoffed. "Don’t look at me. I didn’t take care of the finances. I had a whole group to consider, so we pooled the money together for the most part. All I have is what’s in you know what."
Amunet didn’t mention her inventory out loud for good reason. They were probably still stingy with the spatial items out here too.
"Welp, looks like we’re homeless, guys. Anyone like camping?"
They walked down the wide stairs of the Church and into a long front courtyard that stretched with paved roads, lush greenery, and beautiful white rose bushes that lined the far left, right, and the center as well.
Grey suddenly looked up and a behemoth of a very familiar man soared over his head, the shadow blocking out the sun for a moment.
BOOM.
Bas landed in front of Grey, his body practically steaming with battle intent.
Grey grinned. "Oh look, everyone. Our benefactor is here. Don’t forget to say please and thank you."