Although Ghirlandaio spoke out the name of Suuankou and the rest, Nieusel did not want to bring him directly to the players.
It was not that he wanted to collect money or deliberately add trouble for Ghirlandaio.
Instead, this was common and necessary vigilance among the underground folks.
Ghirlandaio did not look like an assassin or a spy and was a big shot. However, there seemed to be loopholes and contradictions surrounding this “Ghirlandaio”.
What if he was not Suuankou’s leader but an enemy?
Then, wouldn’t that mean he had betrayed Suuankou’s group if Nieusel brought him over?
Compared with the Secret Eye organization that promised to change the underground world, the Suuankou trio had significantly contributed to Sporeggar Mill, including their soul and life.
If Nieusel put aside those who had contributed a lot and tried their best to help just to get more assistance, that would undoubtedly be a shameful betrayal.
Even if Nieusel did not get more help because he neglected Ghirlandaio, he would never blame Suuankou’s group for it.
Nieusel had seen too many examples of kindness turning into hatred.
Even if Sporeggar Mill’s nightmare was not purified in the end, Nieusel had already decided never to express disappointment to them.
After all, the nightmare of the underground world had nothing to do with them. If the nightmares were not purified, their interests would not be harmed. Likewise, it would not benefit them to have the nightmare purified.
Yet, they were willing to come here to purify the nightmare. No matter the outcome, Nieusel had already considered them his friends.
Worse came to worst, it was just returning to the current situation.
Occasionally, Nieusel would reflect on it. Perhaps, he never believed that they would purify the Sporeggar Mill Nightmare.
As long as he had no expectations, there would be no disappointment. Conversely, if there was no disappointment, could it also be treated as he had no hopes at all?
“What?” Lin Yiyi was overwhelmed with surprise, but she complained in annoyance, “His High… His Excellency Ghirlandaio is finally here! I have waited for a week, and he has not arrived. The snacks I bought for him have expired! He promises to be here soon, but ten days have passed.”
“‘I thought he was ditching us.”
Jiu Er patted Lin Yiyi’s head and comforted her friend gently, “Sister Hyphen, how are you so innocent and cute?”
“Is this a proper consolation? Didn’t you all believe him too? Am I the only one who believes the promise?!” Lin Yiyi complained.
Have you ever seen this situation where an NPC solemnly said to you, “Let’s go back here to gather after shopping”, and then the person just disappeared for two weeks before rushing over, satisfied with “I have done shopping”?
If there happens to be, it can only be Ubi’s game.
[TN: A common slang in the Chinese gaming community. It’s an innuendo regarding a game company that tends to release unfinished games filled with bugs.]
In the past few days, Lin Yiyi ran to the subway station entrance to see if Annan was there, worried that Annan might not find them when he arrived. She felt she was about to become a loyal dog Hachiko [1].
As a result, she waited for almost a week, but the person she longed for did not arrive.
However, Annan came a few days later when she stopped waiting for him.
She was quite annoyed.
“Since he has yet to arrive within two days, he must not be shopping around to catch fresh air. Therefore, something must have happened.”
Suuankou, who was walking behind, whispered, “Didn’t I persuade you the day before yesterday to eat that snack quickly?”
Lin Yiyi, “En?“
The “danger” signal popped up above Suuankou’s head immediately, but he still responded, unfazed, “But don’t blame my sister. After all, the boss has never been late, so there must be something unexpected this time. Since the boss didn’t do it on purpose, it is normal that we didn’t expect this.
“Considering the status of our leader, it’s reasonable for him to encounter a problem that needs to be solved immediately.”
—After all, his real identity is Annan·Austere-Winter.
In the land of the Austere-Winter Dukedom, sudden emergencies were expected.
Whether it was an assassination, urgent government affairs that required attention, being brought home to inherit the Grand Duke’s throne, or even being arranged for a blind date by the Grand Duke, these were all expected.
Instead, since it only took ten days to come back here, Annan must be busy.
Suuankou could imagine that Annan must have rushed over immediately after settling the matter.
Considering that Nieusel was still by his side, Suuankou did not say the second half of the story.
Nieusel, walking at the side, was also aware.
This must be something the group could not tell him.
However, this was expected. After all, the group only acquainted him for less than two weeks.
In the underground world, staying vigilant at all times was a virtue. It would prevent the betrayal of one’s relatives and friends. After all, there was no upright deity church in the underground city and no government. At the same time, many heretics believed in the Venerated Skeleton and the Black Widow.
It was a perk to be more vigilant.
“Alright, here we are,” said Nieusel.
He put his hand on Suuankou’s shoulder, looked forward, and pointed with his chin, “That’s Mr. Ghirlandaio. Next to him is a werewolf female companion. First, see if you recognize them. Are they your acquaintance?”
It was a tavern.
Ghirlandaio and Doreen sat near the window, but strangely, they were not face to face. Instead, they sat shoulder to shoulder, facing inward.
This was the seat Nieusel deliberately arranged. Since testing them directly could be too rude, Nieusel had already laid his hands on their arrangement.
This prevented Ghirlandaio from seeing them first.
But the moment they saw Ghirlandaio, Lin Yiyi and the others breathed a sigh of relief.
“Yes, he is Ghirlandaio,” said Lin Yiyi in confidence.
Nieusel nodded, “Then, you should talk to him first and confirm his identity. Also, don’t go with the three of you.”
“Why do you want to be so troublesome!?” Suuankou asked in surprise.
It was almost like the rendezvous of spies.
“This level of vigilance is necessary.” Nieusel shook his head. He was used to the naivety of the people above ground.
“In the underground city, this kind of deception of ‘Who are you, it’s me, have you forgotten me?’ is typical.
“Besides, Shaping Magic and Idol Magic allow people to disguise themselves as others. It’s easy to change appearances using illusion and ritual. You should first check to see if they are your acquaintances. If they are indeed, then call the rest of the group over. We should set a secret code first so we can run away once if things don’t look good.”
Nieusel said patiently, “After all, he is a Silver Rank Transcender. If it becomes confrontational, you have to run away. I can’t save you.”
Nieusel had seen this plot of pretending to be an acquaintance and assassinating the target immediately after approaching.
“This place is chaotic.” Jiu Er sighed.
Nieusel shrugged and lowered his voice, “That’s our situation here.”
Another interpretation of freedom was lawless. Different cities had different laws, making it impossible to arrest the lawbreakers in one city after they had entered other cities.
—You are the Wise of other cities, so why do you arrest people from our city? Are you trying to extend your authority to our place?
Especially the underground city had such high traffic. Everyone here had been to other cities. If someone claimed a person to be a fugitive from their place and someone else tomorrow, that would seem like robbing away people from other cities.
Based on this concern, waiting for the Wise of other cities to express their opinion before arresting the suspicious person was not feasible. The Wise had to make their own judgment. For example, “if this person is left here, will other citizens move away” and if other situations would happen.
After all, in terms of the legal system, the status of the Wise in different cities was equal. Each Wise was the supreme ruler in their city.
There was no competition among them, and wars were not allowed. The development of cities depends on their capabilities. Because of this, it was better to say that the underground world was a federation of many small countries than many cities in one country.
The underground world was not a federal state, after all. This place did not have a unified constitution and laws, and there was no president. The underground world did not even count as a confederation because most underground cities did not have independent finances and military, so they were not counted as independent sovereign states. The transportation and freight between these cities were shared, and no one dared to use them alone, let alone cut them off.
Occasionally, Nieusel found the situation strange.
Why did the so-called “Twin Goddess Republican Federation” neither have two deitydesses nor a Federation?