Chapter 294 This is how to do it
Noman was younger and less experienced than Nero, but that did not mean he was stupid. He did not understand Nero's purpose in saying all this, yet what he was certain of was that Nero's relationship with Vanessa was not so straightforward.
At the same time, he seemed to be confirming that Vanessa's interests were not exactly aligned with the mission they had. Then again, their only mission was to protect the researchers, so technically it didn't matter what she did in Perilith - they just had to protect her.
But technicalities were concerns for lawyers, not soldiers. They all knew that they were only here to retrieve precious ingredients, so that's what she should have been doing. It wasn't as if they were wasting time, but as someone who had been studying Vanessa very closely, Noman could tell that her actual interests seemed deviated from the actual mission.
But as ambiguous as the situation seemed, Noman stayed and watched as everything unfolded.
Vanessa stared at Nero for a few minutes, trying to decipher what his intentions were, before sighing.
"You all are looking at me as if I've conspired to kill everyone going to Perilith or something. That is hardly the case at all. In fact, believe it or not, I've done more than anyone to ensure that the number of casualties we suffer is as low as possible."
"Why do I find that hard to believe?" Noman asked, aggressively, but his tone caused Nero to shake his head.
"Truly spoken like someone who knows his father will protect him," Nero said, admonishing Noman. "But it's not always possible for your father to protect you. Your fearlessness is misplaced. There are other ways of asking the question, without attracting attention. For example, 'can you elaborate on your claims, Vanessa?'"
Nero's tone while speaking to Vanessa was a little more formal than it usually was, but then again, they weren't in an entirely private setting.
"You all were told that Perilith is a brand new dimension, and that there's no knowledge of its existence prior to this recent discovery, but that's not entirely accurate. It's more accurate to say that Kolar has no prior information about it. In exchange for some help, I provided the army with a lot of very critical information about this dimension, including details of the very ingredients you've been told we're looking for. Without my aid, the army wouldn't have even known to look for them. In exchange, the army promised to help me find certain items I require within Perilith."
Noman was taken aback by the news, looking at Vanessa with disbelief. One of the reasons why he was so suspicious of Vanessa was because he had overheard his father complaining about working together with people from Nova, which they absolutely did not need.
He was of the impression that he had somehow blackmailed her way into her position, but if it was a genuine trade, and the army really was benefiting from the information she shared, then she might not have been the villain he imagined.
"Your superiors all know my objectives, and have given their consent, which is the whole reason for other teams to begin with. They will focus on retrieving the other ingredients while we search for my personal objective. Of course, if we run into any ingredients required by Kolar, we will obviously collect them as well.
"So you see, I have been completely fair in my cooperation with Kolar. There is no greater proof of this than the fact that I am going inside with all of you, risking my life as well to get what I want. Compared to some of the actions of your actual superiors, I'm a saint."
"What do you mean?" Noman asked, his tone once again aggressive and full of doubt.
This time, Nero did not correct him. He had already been told to address the way he spoke, but he didn't. That meant simple instruction was not the way to teach him. Instead, he turned to look at Vanessa, for he was also interested in learning what his superiors were up to.
"The old Colonel, James Carter, is up to something very suspicious. His innate ability is very befitting his profession as a scientist, for it allows him to observe the flow of aether in anything his skin touches. That means if he touches a person, he can see the spell model of that person's innate ability.
"Generally, that's a very useful ability for a researcher studying spell models and aether. The problem is, I can confirm that I've seen him shake hands with every Neophyte who has been assigned this mission.
"There's nothing wrong with shaking hands, and it's not like he's harming anyone in any way. But I find his obsession with studying the spell models of young Neophytes very disturbing. I don't know what his agenda is, but it certainly isn't as straightforward as he's making it out to be."
Nero did not show any reaction, but he was certainly alarmed by this information. He was sure that the old man had been a creep, and now it had been proven to be true. But as long as Nero kept his distance, there should be no issue. He especially had to take note not to ever let the old man shake his hands if he had Virtuous Moonlight active.
"Let's put these matters aside and focus back on the mission," Nero said. "Can you share what it is you're looking for? How can we find it, and how can we find the required Sage ingredients as well? I think the ideal outcome would be to find all the Sage ingredients as well as what you're looking for."
"What I'm looking for… is a very special pond. The problem is that I can neither tell you the exact location of the Sage level ingredients, nor the pond. I can only tell you the kinds of characteristics of the locations where these items might be found. Realistically speaking, considering the limitation of only visiting during the daylight, it'll be very difficult to search anywhere too far, which is why the army has taken the approach of process of elimination.
"They are, one by one, investigating any point of interest close to the entrance to Perilith. Even I don't have a better solution. We are just going through all our marked locations, going from least dangerous to most dangerous, believe it or not."
Nero certainly hadn't expected that they were actually going from less dangerous to more. That Exarch certainly didn't feel less dangerous.
"That sounds like a good strategy, but it's not taking into account my strengths and speciality," Nero said, leaning forward.
At this point, he was no longer focusing on educating Noman. The kid would watch, and if he learned anything, that would be good for him. In truth, Nero was just trying to embed the idea that Noman needed to be more flexible in his thinking in the kids' head. It was like preparing for a rainy day.
Now, though, he was genuinely focused on how he could complete his task.
"What you consider more dangerous might not actually be so for me. My confidence in facing curses is very high, so we can alter our approach. The team can act as backup while I venture in to face any potential curses to search for our objectives."
Vanessa's eyes flashed, as the idea appealed to her very much. Compared to everyone else, her faith in Nero was much greater, and she was much more willing to work with him than follow the path set by the Kolar army.
"In that case, we can…"
Vanessa and Nero started to discuss the new approach they would take. If Nero was really willing to risk facing the more dangerous curses, and had the confidence to face them and come out unharmed, then instead of checking the least dangerous places, they could start looking in the most likely places they could find what they were looking for.
Noman, who was originally there to confront Vanessa, was left there sitting awkwardly as the very two people he was doubting just minutes ago finalised the plan that would ensure the greatest chances of completing the mission while putting themselves at the most risk.
He suddenly felt embarrassed, recalling the instances when he was aggressively interrogating her. Nero was right - he had no right to be the one questioning her. It was just that when he thought about how someone might be risking Kolari lives for their personal benefit, he was too aggravated.
He took Nero's lesson to heart, though he didn't exactly lower his guard with Vanessa. If anything, he became even more doubtful of her, though he just tried to hide it better.
In the background, the sounds of a tough fight could still be heard, though the sounds were heavily insulted. They had lived and grown up in a time where they were constantly at war, so a sudden siege by surrounding curses was not nearly as surprising as it should have been.