Wright had been tidying the girl's hair when he looked up and t Saul's gaze, pulling a difficult smile across his pale face.
He had already repaid the one hundred credits he owed Saul in full, but ever since then, he had been deliberately avoiding him—sotis even staying out on missions for long stretches. Whatever he was worrying about, Saul had no clue.
A few seats away sat another familiar face.
It was Kujin, the forr manager of the second storage room. After his first attempt to trick Saul into removing candles from the storage room had failed, Kujin never approached him again.
Most likely, he’d been spooked by the disappearance of his partner, Ferguson.
The burly Kujin now sat at the side, carefully withdrawing his peering gaze. But his massive fra still made him stand out sharply in the room.
There were many other familiar faces in the lounge, though Saul couldn't quite recall most of their nas.
But Byron was nowhere to be seen.
"Looks like the senior really is keeping his distance from the Mutual Aid Society."
Saul casually choose a seat not far from the door.
One seat away sat a skinny Second Rank apprentice, whose skin on both face and the back of his hands glinted with a tallic sheen.
Sowhat similar to Keli’s current condition—probably another apprentice specializing in tallic elents.
Not long after Saul sat down, Jero—who had been putting on a show at the door—staggered in.
Lokai and Kongsha followed shortly after.
So, in the end, Lokai hadn’t managed to stop Kongsha from coming.
Kongsha, well aware that she wasn't welco, chose a spot where there were three consecutive empty seats on either side.
However, Jero, who had entered first, looked around before walking straight to Saul and plopping down between him and the tallic-skinned apprentice, crossing his legs with flair.
The apprentice on the other side visibly tensed, while Saul—unfamiliar with Jero—rely lowered his head and remained silent.
Lokai was the last to enter. As he closed the door behind him, he said, “Right on nine o'clock. Looks like the others couldn’t make it. Still, we’ve got over a dozen people here, and several senior students just returned from outside missions. We’re bound to get so good insights.”
But just then, as the door was halfway shut, a hand stopped it.
Lokai instantly plastered on a professional smile. “Which senior is it? Perfect timing—just a mont later and the door would’ve been closed.”
He stepped back half a pace to let the newcor in.
As the person stepped into the lounge, Saul distinctly heard soone gasp. Even Jero beside him stopped jiggling his leg and shot a glance toward the door.
Turning his head, Saul saw Haywood—blue-purple heterochromatic eyes gleaming under a wide cloak—striding in slowly.
“Seems I got lucky,” Haywood said, locking eyes with Saul and nodding slightly.
But he didn’t co Saul’s way—instead, he walked over and sat near Kongsha.
They were familiar with each other, so it wasn’t surprising.
What caught Saul’s attention, however, was that although Haywood sat to Kongsha’s left, he deliberately left an empty seat between them.
Soone else might chalk that up to social distancing.
But Saul rembered—whenever Kongsha stood, her eyeballs always stared off to her left.
As if soone were actually standing there.
Now that she was seated, most of her eyeballs still gazed to the left, like that person was sitting right in that empty seat.
Despite a few minor hiccups, the high-level Mutual Aid Society exchange finally began on ti.
Lokai shut the door, and a parchnt scroll at the center of the room unrolled on its own.
Drawn upon it was a golden magical formation.
When Lokai recited the incantation, streams of golden light flowed from the formation to the walls. After intersecting a few tis, they converged at the door, forming a magically sealed independent space.
This caught Saul by surprise—he had been planning to sit near the door for a quick escape.
Apparently, high-level exchanges like this one were nothing like the casual swap ets he’d attended before—you couldn’t leave early.
But seeing everyone else remain composed, Saul relaxed and sat back down.
“Alright, today’s full of surprises, so let’s get started. First on the agenda: updates on our ntors’ experintal projects, as well as so changes among the apprentices,” Lokai clapped his hands and got to business.
“First, my ntor—ntor Anze. Things have been busy lately. A new composite material has been discovered. If we’re lucky, you won’t have to worry about food during future missions. Just one small bite of this material can sustain you for a whole month.”
Saul hadn’t expected this so-called exchange eting to actually involve real academic exchange. Especially not secretive stuff like their ntors’ research projects.
But was ntor Anze really the type to research compressed rations just to replenish energy?
He quietly observed everyone. Their expressions remained composed.
No excitent over new information, nor boredom at aningless gossip.
Jero, sitting closest to Saul, tilted his head slightly as if watching him. Saul didn’t et his gaze.
Instead, he deliberately ignored the senior who had forced himself into his space and looked toward Wright across the room.
Wright was ticulously fixing the skirt of the little maid on his lap, expression solemn and without a hint of embarrassnt.
Beside him, Billy still wore a gloomy expression, staring blankly at the ground, seemingly uninterested in anything Lokai was saying.
On the other side, Kongsha’s eyeballs rose and fell continuously. The mont Saul glanced over, one of them instantly locked back onto him.
“Kongsha seems tense, nerves tightly strung.” Saul nodded slightly at her and shifted his gaze.
Haywood, sitting one seat away from Kongsha, wore a relaxed smile.
He didn’t look at Saul—instead, he watched Lokai with great interest, as if genuinely engaged with the information being shared.
Taking in everyone’s reactions, Saul began to analyze what might be hidden beneath Lokai’s words.
“ntor Anze appears to be developing so kind of composite material. But surely his goal wasn’t to make food. So this so-called breakthrough might actually an... the experint failed?”
Lokai moved on to other updates, most of which concerned apprentices.
Especially in his Mutual Aid Society, where new apprentice intel was always being circulated. Those gifted kids were quietly being brought into the sights of high-level apprentices.
Whether that was a good or bad thing... was hard to say.
Then, Lokai suddenly ntioned a na Saul knew all too well.
“…The last promising new apprentice is nad… George,” Lokai said, glancing at Saul as he spoke. “A rare one-soul-two-consciousness type. He might be new and clueless, but I bet many of you are already interested in him, aren’t you?”
The mont Lokai finished, the previously quiet lounge erupted into hushed whispers.
But the voices were faint and indistinct—seemingly masked by the formation, which suppressed all unofficial discussion.
Even whispers beca inaudible.
Lokai raised a hand to silence the room.
“If any of you are eyeing George, I suggest you drop it now,” he shrugged. “Soone’s already stepped in to guarantee his safety—for at least a year.”
“Hmph!” The scoff was loud and clear—soone clearly unhappy with that statent, deliberately raising their voice to express discontent.
Before Lokai could respond, Haywood suddenly spoke up. “You have a problem with that?”
His eyes locked onto a Third Rank apprentice—pinpointing the speaker with unerring accuracy.
The targeted apprentice froze, then quickly lowered his head in submission.
“No… no complaints.”
Haywood smiled. “Good. George has a rare talent. I’d like to observe him for a year—before deciding whether he becos material… or the one who commands it.”
He swept his gaze across the room. “Anyone else have objections?”
“Of course not!” Jero, seated beside Saul, suddenly chid in loudly. “Who’d dare offend our esteed storage master?”
It sounded flattery, but Saul couldn’t shake the feeling Jero was mocking him.
He glanced at Jero again—this guy had the gall to confront Haywood directly. He must be one of the stronger Third Rank apprentices.
(End of Chapter)
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