354: Chapter 66 – The Suspicious Person_1 354: Chapter 66 – The Suspicious Person_1 “Alright, alright.” Pannis turned to look at the cloaked man who had just helped them, sighed and said, “What do you want to know?
How I spotted you?
I’m sowhat a rogue, and I have high perception.
You were blatantly lingering around the entrance, of course I noticed.”
“What?” Everyone initially felt curious about the sudden appearance of the cloaked man, so no matter what they were doing, their ears were tuned into Pannis’ conversation.
But when they heard what Pannis had said, they couldn’t help but reply, “That obvious?
Do you think we’re all blind?”
The cloaked man didn’t overly dwell on this.
Being discovered by soone with high perception wasn’t a great embarrassnt.
His real concern was about sothing else: “Who are you?”
“Er, we’re just passing by.” Pannis scratched his face, chuckling sowhat awkwardly, “We just happened to end up here.”
“Pannis, stop ssing around.” Catherine pulled Pannis behind her by the collar and nodded to the cloaked man, “Thank you for your assistance just now.
I’m Catherine of the City of Knowledge.
These three are my teammates and the others are representatives from various churches.”
“You’re Catherine?” The cloaked man sounded incredulous, “So you really are the ones who ca here.
But aren’t there supposed to be only two of you?
Shadow Hand authorized only two of you, so why are there suddenly so many of you?”
“Their appearance was accidental.” Catherine explained, “They were tracking so other people and they ended up finding their way here.”
“Are you talking about the Sands of Ti that the man just ntioned?” The cloaked man had been listening all along.
He figured out the gist, “But there’s no record of you entering here.
Are you saying the teleportation brought you here, just like he said?”
“Indeed, that’s the case.” Catherine nodded, “We teleported all the way from Dirsaron.”
“Who would believe such a preposterous story?” The cloak man scoffed, “Dirsaron here is a thousand kiloters away.
What kind of teleportation array could achieve that?
I may not know much about magic, but I do have so common sense.”
“If you don’t believe it, go see for yourself.” Pannis chid in from behind Catherine, “The array isn’t going anywhere.
So who’d use such an easily debunked lie to fool others?
See, this is why I find the people of Shadow Hand so troubleso – their first reaction to anything is suspicion.”
“Indeed, if you don’t believe it, we can take you there to see it for yourself.” Catherine offered, “But we need to finish our task here first.”
“Your mission is already complete.” The cloaked man said nonchalantly, “Those who conducted the evil god’s sacrifice are all dead.”
“No, we have only completed half of our mission.
Whether or not it’s completed is sothing our client should assess, not you.” Catherine retorted, “And if we’re getting technical, we still don’t know who you are – what’s your identity?”
“It’s pretty obvious if you think about it.” Muir, who had been resting not far away, chid in without lifting his eyes, “Not every mber of Shadow Hand would be so pedantic with their questions.
It’s definitely their leader, the one code-nad Suspicion.”
“Tsk, elf.” Suspicion grunted discontentedly, “If you insist on eting your client, you can, but I must monitor you until you show how you got here.”
“You’re certainly suspicious enough.” Catherine said helplessly, “Suit yourself.
We’re returning to the City of Innocence next to et our client anyways.
Feel free to tag along.”
Unlike the other six high-ranking leaders, Suspicion was the only one born in the City of Innocence.
He grew up in the City of Innocence and burst onto the scene in a firefight one dark night when he was thirteen.
He jumped directly from being an ordinary person to a Bronze Rank rogue.
Shadow Hand noticed his astonishing talent and recruited him.
He started at the very bottom and, after twenty years, advanced to Legendary rank at the age of thirty-four.
In the sa year, one of the original leaders, Grumpy, died under mysterious circumstances, and Suspicion took over his position, becoming one of the seven leaders.
Compared to the other leaders, Suspicion did not have an extraordinary combat record, but his standout abilities made him hard to ignore.
True to his na, Suspicion was skeptical.
Growing up in the City of Innocence molded him into an extrely suspicious person who didn’t trust others or anything.
He only trusted what he saw with his own eyes.
Thanks to this habit, he had managed to avoid nurous deadly traps and sches, surviving until now.
In the long run, alliances amongst the remaining leaders ford and broke over countless cycles, yet Suspicion never fully allied with anyone.
The deepest level of alliance he ever committed to was a brief period of information exchange.
“Hey, did we forget sothing?” Pannis suddenly clapped his hands and exclaid, “Sothing very important.”
Thanks to months of close cohabitation, the girls had developed an uncanny synergy with Pannis.
The mont Pannis spoke, they understood what he ant.
Lina slapped Vivian on the head and cried out, “Darn it, Pansy and Mimosa are still waiting outside.
We need to hurry up and get out there before they get impatient.”
“Idiot.” Vivian rubbed her head and grumbled angrily, “Hit your own head, stupid Lina.”
“Don’t sweat the small stuff.” Lina urged Vivian downstairs, “The two mages who left earlier said they had sealed the entrance.
I guess only a genius like you can break it.
Hurry up.”
“Well, let this genius save you then.” Vivian propped herself up on her magic staff with a smug expression, then jabbed it hard into Lina’s foot, “Idiot, do you think I’d say that?
Just because you praised for being a genius, doesn’t an I’ve forgotten that you just hit on the head!”
“Hey, I say.” The whole crew noisily made their way downstairs to open the door, while Pannis, Muir, and Suspicion stayed upstairs, “Shouldn’t people of your captain’s rank have better things to do, why are you here?”
“Why should I tell you?” Suspicion asked coldly, “Catherine is your teammate, and she’s hired by the other captains, why should I trust you?”
“Hey, don’t be so cold.
We fought side by side just a mont ago,” Pannis ca over in a playful manner, “and, Catherine and Vivian are the ones hired, I am in charge of a separate commission.
It’s different from them, so you telling is no problem.”
This was the first ti soone had dared to approach Suspicion with such audacity since he joined the Shadow Hand.
Holding back his imdiate urge to stab Pannis, he sidestepped slightly and said, “I’ve seen too many people stab you in the back the mont the side-by-side battle ends, but telling you doesn’t really matter, I guess everything should be resolved once we get back to the City of Innocence.”
“What kind of result?” Pannis, taken aback, asked: “Is sothing about to happen?”
“Didn’t that dead Aide already ntion?” Suspicion asked, “Out of the seven captains, there is a mole.
Don’t think I don’t know, Catherine was hired by Indulgence and Passion to find the mole.”
“Do you know who the mole is?” Pannis asked, “The ‘result’ you were referring to, is that concerning the mole?”
“I don’t know who the mole is or rather, none of the higher-ups, including the three presidents, care who the mole is,” Suspicion sneered, “For the Shadow Hand, the presence or identity of the mole is inconsequential.
It won’t affect anyone.
It’s all just an excuse to weed out the opposition.”
“So, you’re telling us that Indulgence and Passion hiring Catherine and Vivian is just to gain power?” Muir asked, “They intend to use them to eliminate the mole’s influence?”
“You’ve completely missed my point.
I’ve already made it clear that no one cares who the mole is, including Passion and Indulgence,” Suspicion said dismissively to Muir, shaking his head, “Elves are so naive.
All they need is to use you to take out any enemies they want gone.
Whether those enemies are the moles or not doesn’t matter.
Losers don’t have the right to defend themselves and nobody is interested in their explanations.
What others are interested in is only the power left behind after the losers’ death.”
“But the directive from your presidents, Indulgence, and Passion, is to investigate the mole,” Muir asked, “Why are you saying that they also do not care?”
“That depends on how you interpret it,” Pannis patted Muir’s shoulder, explaining on behalf of Suspicion, “Their presidents want to investigate, perhaps only to convey a ssage, to tell them that the sacrifices have crossed the line and should be stopped.”
“That’s exactly it,” Suspicion nodded, “So everyone is suspicious, including Passion and Indulgence.
Who knows, maybe they commissioned you guys just to cover up the fact that they are the mole?”
“So, this includes you too?” Pannis asked, “You could also be the mole, mysteriously appearing here, perhaps to silence us?”
“Indeed, I’m a suspect too,” Suspicion admitted unabashedly, “And the liaison that Aide ntioned earlier, he is my subordinate, so my suspicion is quite high.”
“I really can’t understand what you guys are thinking.” Muir massaged his temple in exasperation, “Must it be this complicated?”
“You don’t understand because you’re not a thief, and you haven’t lived in the Shadow Hand,” Pannis replied.
“But, Mr.
Suspicion, you still haven’t answered my first question.
Why are you here?
According to what you said, things are about to be resolved.
You should be in the Guild’s headquarters preparing to share the spoils.”
“Indulgence and Passion miscalculated this ti, the ga is no longer under their control.
Or rather, it’s no longer under anyone’s control, and all the other six captains have been involved.
The current situation is in chaos,” Suspicion said, “Sharing the spoils is a good thing, but being divided up as spoils isn’t exactly pleasant.”
“So, you’re here seeking refuge,” Pannis gleaned, “As long as you’re not dead, no one dares to pin the guilt of being a mole on your head.
That seems like a good solution for you.”
“Hmph,” Suspicion gave a cold snort, “I owe them this favor.
If they die by my hand in the future, I will mourn them for a few seconds.” (To be continued.
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