“So, Faruga runs the sa routine on every new rune maintenance recruit?”
Lynn raised his brows slightly as he confird this with Adeline, who sat across from him.
“That’s right, without exception,” Adeline replied.
“Faruga doesn’t usually co here to the Greenvine Restaurant for breakfast. But whenever there’s a new rune maintenance mber, he shows up right on ti, orders a ‘Morning Dew Breakfast,’ and then just sits and waits.”
Lynn shook his head with a wry smile.
“That does sound exhausting.”
He figured Faruga must have polished this little intimidation routine over and over. Even those cutting remarks were probably carefully rehearsed. When he thought about it that way, Lynn almost found it admirable how much trouble the man went to.
“Exhausting indeed,” Adeline agreed with a laugh.
She had never liked that particular mber, Faruga.
Strictly speaking, though, she wasn’t supposed to speak so freely about a third-rank apprentice of the Society. But sohow, whenever she was talking with Lynn, her guard just slipped away without her realizing it.
Adeline thought quietly to herself.
Perhaps Lynn hadn’t noticed, but she had. She saw that before coming here, he’d tidied himself up; there was a faint trace of dampness in the strands of hair at his temple. At the sa ti, she could sense that this wasn’t vanity or pretension on his part. Rather, it was simple courtesy… or refinent.
Adeline had never seen a wizard show this kind of respect to an ordinary mortal.
And during their talk, she could tell Lynn wasn’t putting on an act. That’s just the kind of person he was; he carried sothing she had never seen in anyone else in this world.
Perhaps that’s why this conversation feels so pleasant, she thought.
They talked about quite a few things. Lynn learned that Adeline’s aunt was the wife of a third-rank mber of the Golden Shadow Society. That connection, combined with her ability, was why she’d been able to beco head attendant of the Greenvine Restaurant.
Adeline, in turn, learned that Lynn himself had once been a mber of a scholarly faction.
“Still, Sir Lynn, I should remind you of one thing,” Adeline said suddenly, her tone cautious.
“Based on Faruga’s habits, he’ll likely try to put pressure on you again very soon.”
Lynn was unconcerned. He just smiled faintly.
“Then let him co.”
anwhile, in the largest private room on the fifth floor of the Greenvine Restaurant…
The northern division of the Hossens Faction’s outpost in Eraldwood City was holding a gathering.
“Yesterday afternoon,” soone reported, “that unfortunate second-rank apprentice, Ido, was officially declared dead by Lord Sean. His life signs are completely gone.
“A classmate of ours is gone, and worse, he died here in Eraldwood City…”
First-rank apprentice Kaharman sat at the head seat. His face was stern as he swept his gaze across the assembled apprentices and spoke in a deep voice:
“We should be furious!
We must hunt down the lurking ‘Erald Shadow’ responsible. That is our duty as the Outpost Guard, and it is the very reason our Faction sent us down the mountain!”
Officially, the outpost was under the nominal command of two first-circle wizards. But in practice, for the sake of their cultivation, those wizards remained on the mountain most of the ti, only coming down if sothing truly serious happened.
That ant the day-to-day leadership of the outpost fell to three first-rank apprentices.
They were powerful, just a step away from becoming full wizards, and so people called them the Pinnacle Apprentices. Without the intervention of a true wizard, they were the strongest individuals here.
When they combined their strength, they could even hold off an ordinary first-circle wizard for a short ti. Against a particularly weak hedge-wizard, they might even kill him outright.
One of these three Pinnacle Apprentices was none other than Kaharman, who was now delivering his speech. He commanded the northern sector of the outpost.
Today’s banquet was his initiative, effectively the outpost’s first team-building event.
As Kaharman continued his speech before the al, Elena sat not far to his right.
She looked like she was listening intently. But in truth, her mind kept drifting back to the scene she had witnessed when she entered the Greenvine Restaurant earlier.
Lynn… had advanced to beco a wizard’s apprentice?
And that young, beautiful girl sitting across from him…
Elena had to admit that Adeline, dressed up so carefully, was indeed radiant.
Especially that silvery-white hair of hers, paired with those mismatched yellow and blue eyes; they gave her an exotic charm that was hard to ignore.
But what shocked Elena far more was the fact that Lynn had successfully advanced to beco a wizard apprentice…
“Elena…”
“Elena.”
She suddenly realized that Dani, sitting nearby, was calling her softly.
Elena ca back to her senses, blinking in slight confusion.
“I recall you were part of the 1852 cohort of preparatory apprentices, weren’t you?” Dani asked in a low voice.
“That’s right,” Elena nodded.
“Then you should know that the eliminated apprentice Kaharman ntioned earlier, the one who discovered the Erald Shadow, Lynn, correct?”
Before Elena could respond, Kaharman, seated at the head of the table, suddenly looked over with a smile and said:
“Elena, I’m curious about the sa thing Dani just asked. You know that expelled apprentice, don’t you?”
Dani’s voice had been quiet, but as a pinnacle apprentice with a body-type specialization, Kaharman’s senses were far too sharp. Nothing that happened in the room could escape his ears.
Elena rose calmly to her feet and answered,
“I do know Lynn, but I’m not familiar with him, Lord Kaharman.”
“Not familiar, hmm…” Kaharman nodded, not doubting her words.
In truth, Elena didn’t know why she lied. She simply did.
“According to the latest information from the Faction, that expelled apprentice nad Lynn has now joined the Golden Shadow Society…
“And if I’m not mistaken, this Greenvine Restaurant is one of their establishnts, isn’t it?”
No sooner had Kaharman finished speaking than the ring on his finger pulsed with a signal. He gestured, and the private room’s door swung open.
A waiter entered, carrying a steaming dish.
Kaharman’s gaze flicked toward the man. Sothing occurred to him, and he suddenly asked:
“Is the Golden Shadow Society wizard stationed here at the Greenvine Restaurant available?”
“You an Lord Orlando? Yes, he’s here in the restaurant right now,” the waiter replied respectfully.
“Call him here,” Kaharman ordered coolly.
The few apprentices familiar with him weren’t surprised by his reaction.
Kaharman was always decisive, and ever since coming down the mountain, he had been filled with zeal. He had secretly vowed to drag the hidden Erald Shadow into the light as quickly as possible, to prove his abilities to the senior mbers of the Faction.
That was why he treated every scrap of information as important.
The waiter didn’t hesitate and agreed imdiately. The managent of the Greenvine Restaurant had already given repeated instructions: these Faction apprentices’ demands must be t without question.
Summoning Orlando, the stationed second-rank apprentice, was naturally included.
After all, the real masters of this territory were still the Hossens Faction.
Orlando soon arrived at the private room. Smiling, he asked Kaharman,
“How may I be of service, my lord?”
“Do you know Lynn Kent?”
Orlando froze for a mont, then nodded.
…
A few minutes later, under Kaharman’s lead, the group left without even touching their food.
They stord straight to the first floor, where Lynn was dining.
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/AetherTL
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