Loren could also see what William was trying to do—he wanted to prop up his younger brother. If Loren got to know him, things would go much smoother for him from then on.
But Lane was likely going to disappoint him.
After thinking for a long ti, Lane still couldn't co up with any solutions:
"The information gap is too big. He knows us very well, but we know nothing about him."
"Even if we capture people and interrogate them one by one, we won't get any useful answers. Since he has that cognitive interference ability, there's no way he'd let others realize these rumors ca from him."
"Right now, our only option is to quickly mass-produce the magical potions you developed."
Loren nodded, sowhat acknowledging Lane's idea.
"Alright, no ti to waste. Go and start producing the potions imdiately."
After finalizing the plan, Loren chased them off.
As they left, Gwen quietly trailed behind Lane.
"Loren, what are you going to do next?"
Laila was well aware that Loren didn't truly trust those few people—he definitely had other plans.
"Did you mark them?"
"Yes."
Laila nodded. If Loren wanted, she could snipe them from ho right now.
Without exchanging a single word with Laila during that ti, she had already understood Loren's intentions.
"Next, keep an eye on their movents. If anything's unusual, report to imdiately."
"Understood."
As they left, Movila also began her move. A flock of crows followed in their footsteps.
That was when William suddenly looked up at the crows:
"Did Nofica Theocracy always have this many crows before?"
Movila sensed William's attention and circled in the air as if nothing was wrong.
"They might be raised by Master ntor. He's always been fond of birds—so much so that you got shot down hard last ti you tried giving him a gift."
Lane didn't hold back in his rebuttal toward William. He certainly didn't treat William with the sa kindness William showed him.
William's attitude didn't change at all. He still looked at his younger brother with doting eyes, treating this entirely like a child throwing a tantrum.
"Then let's suspend the family business involving wildlife trade. From now on, we won't actively disturb wild animals."
It was as if William had no temper at all. He kept finding ways to please Loren.
"William makes a good point."
Yvonne chid in to back up William's words. Lane didn't argue, which counted as his silent agreent.
Gwen eavesdropped on them from right beside them. With the enhancent of the Hermit card, even if Gwen was right in front of them, they couldn't detect her presence at all.
The Hermit card's rank far exceeded that of the Outer Gods. No matter how strong William's intuition was, he could never see through the Hermit card.
...
"Let's go. We'll head out for a stroll and eat dinner outside."
After keeping tabs on William and the others, Loren planned to take everyone out.
"Right now? We're at the center of a public opinion storm. Is it appropriate to go out so openly? Won't they just find more reasons to spread rumors?"
Hearing Laila's doubt, Loren explained:
"That's exactly what I want. The more they talk, the more mistakes they'll make, and the easier it'll be for us to catch their slip-ups."
"What I'm afraid of is if he just goes silent and stops."
Loren stood firm on his decision and resolved to take everyone out.
"What are we eating?"
Compared to Laila's hesitation, Anna was raring to go.
"What do you want to eat?"
Loren didn't have much of a craving for food, and everyone tended to indulge her, so usually Anna got to decide.
"Fast food."
Compared to those upscale restaurants, Anna preferred fast food.
"Alright."
After deciding where to go, they set off without hesitation. Loren wore his black robe without showing his face, and the Witches naturally had low presence anyway, so even without Loren using cognitive concealnt, hardly anyone noticed them.
A few people did recognize them, but they didn't make a scene—they simply silently distanced themselves from Loren.
Maybe they'd badmouth Loren once they left, but Loren couldn't care less about that.
With so many deaths not long ago, the streets were still pretty quiet.
"Hey, did you hear? Loren tead up with so nobles to sell so kind of magical potion. Before selling it, they'll spread fear first, then trick us into buying so useless dicine..."
"No, the version I heard is different. That potion isn't useless—people who drink it get controlled by him..."
Loren had sharp ears. He could even make out the whispered gossip of passersby.
"Moving that fast?"
Loren's magical potions were indeed effective, so much so that the person behind this didn't dare let Loren's potions take effect.
Moreover, his impatience also narrowed down Loren's search. He had to know about Loren's plan to produce magical potions in order to spread corresponding rumors. So, he most likely ca from one of Loren's students' families.
"Not Lane?"
From the mont Loren returned, Lane had never left his line of sight. Lane only learned about this because Yvonne had just told him.
So Lane had no ti at all to spread rumors.
That eliminated one suspect, but it also narrowed Loren's target and gave him a new direction to work with.
"I should start investigating the families of those students..."
Loren continued toward the restaurant, brushing past those spreading rumors.
...
"What happened to your face?"
The two people who had just been chatting noticed sothing wrong. One pointed at the other's face, where a cut had suddenly appeared. Blood seeped out, and the wound kept expanding.
"What's wrong with my face? And wait—when did you get a wound on your face?"
They both touched their faces at the sa ti and ca away with blood on their hands.
Then they both started screaming at the sa ti. By then, Loren had already arrived at the restaurant, but he could still hear their cries.
Loren was soone who would never let a slight go unanswered. He would never allow himself to suffer even the smallest grievance.
"Let's order first."
Loren didn't look at the nu. Instead, he simply ordered one of everything on it. After Anna tasted which ones were good, they'd order more of those.
"Alright. Mr. William previously deposited a generous amount here. He said that if you ca, all expenses would be on him."
"Hmm. Got it."
By now, Loren was used to William's gestures. In fact, if William hadn't greased the wheels here, Loren would've found it strange.
At that mont, Lane was in the laboratory researching Loren's magical potions, with Gwen watching from right beside him. Lane didn't make any sneaky moves—everything was above board.
Right then, soone burst into Lane's laboratory. Loren didn't recognize the newcor, but judging by his expression and clothing, he seed to be Lane's subordinate:
"This is bad! New rumors have already started spreading. People are starting to boycott the potions we haven't even released yet!"
"What?"
Lane stopped what he was doing and rushed out imdiately:
"Hurry and investigate the other nobles! This is our chance!"
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