Cain and Takeshi entered the alchemy shop, they were greeted by the Halfling owner, “Oh, white-haired guy, going after her man…I see!” she started laughing. Takeshi looked at her with a puzzled face. He took some time to catch up.
“Ah, you mean that day when he came here with Yamauba? I was following them so it wasn’t a problem!” Takeshi’s words struck Cain hard, how relaxed he was to miss him that day. This burly man stands out like a tree on fire, ‘I must have gotten used to peace.’ Cain released a wave of his Mana to keep his surrounding monitored.
Cain quickly got surprised. Four different individuals were following them. He only recognized two of them. Yamauba and Sofia, the other two were unknown to him.
“So, I want to build an alchemy lab in my house. I would like you to provide all the supplies needed.” Cain said he was still going to finish what he came for.
“Then I need to prepare for the plague. Just joking, what will you need exactly?” Cain felt that her jokes were starting to get heavy, he know of some people who mistakenly created deadly poisons or diseases through alchemy. There was no way he will make such a mistake.
Cain just gave her his address, “Send someone there to inspect the room and prepare everything that is needed to start. All the basics, from vials to tools.” Cain did not want to prolong the conversation, as he wanted to deal with annoying stalkers.
~Takeshi, we are being followed. Stay on high alert~ Takeshi kept a straight face as Cain explained the location of the stalkers and that they need to capture them alive.
Cain wanted to bait them out by going to a back ally and pretending to be sick, they didn’t react at all and kept their distance.
~They aren’t amateurs, they are following us for information~ the safest way was for them to just run away. Cain suddenly grabbed Takeshi’s hand and [Mist step] teleporting several times in a row was enough to lose them quickly.
Takeshi seemed surprised as Cain’s teleportation felt different from Yamauba’s. Cain explained to him that the concept they used for teleportation was different.
Yamauba usually opens a portal that links two different locations, teleporting would feel like walking through a door with a slight change in pressure. Cain on the other hand created a small dimension pocket that he could enter and exit at a different location, doing it many times can give some people nausea.
Cain wanted to investigate more about what was going on but he decided to return home for the day, he was far too weak to confront a large group of people and he did not want to risk it.
…
Back home, Alice and Selena were awaiting his return on fire. Cain woke and left without them, they were worried sick to the point they sent Sofia and Yamauba after him.
“I’m home,” Cain said as he entered with Takeshi. One of the maids bowed to them and said, “Master, the ladies are waiting for you upstairs, please check with them first!”
Cain swiftly walked to see them while Takeshi headed inside to check with Daraku about something. The mansion seemed to be more relaxed now that Cain was out of the danger zone. The maids are walking quite cheerfully except for one who seemed to be still angry at him, Jemima was still thinking about Suzan.
Alice awaited him in her room with Selena, the door was tightly closed with Gracie standing guard. The moment she saw Cain she opened the door for him, to her surprise he asked her to enter as well.
Time quickly passed by as they talked about his health, what happened when he was knocked out yesterday, and what he intended to do.
Sofia arrived shortly after and joined the conversation. Cain refrained from talking about the stalkers as it may embarrass her.
Soon, Cain brought up the prisoner in the basement topic.
“Alice, one of the intruders, a woman is in the basement,” Cain said as he took a seat on the bed.
They all looked at him with a strange look. Tilting their heads to the side as Alice replied. “We know, I mean we live here. What do you intend to do with her?” Alice’s eyes showed concern, She knew well they can’t take another slave.
“You can use her as a training dummy to test your magic, Gracie, and Sofia as well. As for Selena and me, we still need stronger opponents.”
“Are we taking more quests-nya?” Selena asked with sparkling eyes, she had missed the joy of hunting alongside them. With her main strategy being to sneak around her prey and attack at a critical moment, Cain who provided easy opportunities like that was unreplaceable.
Cain thought about what happened in those two days. The timing was just too strange to be a coincidence. “I think that one of the nobles here is after our heads, we have to be careful and act as a group.” He then explained his reasoning. The time frame was just too short between yesterday’s attack and today’s stalkers, the one ordering them must be close.
Sofia gave him an awkward look as she thought he mistakes them for stalkers but he shook his head. Explaining that the stalkers were different.
If Ourals Lord influenced Jack, it wasn’t strange for him to have his hands on other people as well.
Cain then explained how they suspect Ourals’s Lord to be the one behind everything. And about the possibility of war.
Alice frowned at the thought. She knew very well how harsh the winter is and how much of a disaster a war will be.
“Firewood, low supply of medicinal plants and food, the difficulty of moving troops and setting up defenses. It will be bad for both of us.” Alice said what was in her mind, she made the point of it being bad for both sides. Cain thought it will be worse for Ourals since they have to march their troops here.
“Winter or not, a war is bad,” Sofia exclaimed at the two of them discussing the topic nonchalantly.
“No, if it wasn’t for the winter I will be taunting them to come. A whole army’s worth of Exp will save me a lot of headaches thinking about how to level up.” Cain’s words made Sofia’s face turn pale. Selena on the other hand was excited at the thought.
“Hunting a herd of people, it will be fun-nya!” her tail wiggled left and right and then stood with her nya.
“Master, it’s been a while but I believe that the maids have prepared a bath for us. Can we finish talking there?” Gracie who has been silent for a while spoke.
They all looked at her at the same time. Cain’s mind quickly jumped into something other than the bath. They haven’t done it in a while since he was sick, he was now itching for some action despite still being weak.
“Us?” Alice gave Gracie a weird look, she wasn’t joining them was she? She had already read Cain’s expression and know what he intended to do, having Gracie be there to watch felt weird.
“She is right, I don’t feel like you being with us is normal,” Sofia added, agreeing with Alice’s concerns.
“I don’t mind-nya!” Selena didn’t seem to mind, she didn’t seem to have picked up on Cain’s intention and is thinking about Gracie being useful in case he felt sick again.
Cain laughed trying to smooth out the mood, “You will be on the menu if you came with us.” That was a joke, Alice and Sofia recognized it as a joke. Selena gave Cain a weird look Gracie isn’t food-nya!” She exclaimed.
“I don’t mind.” Gracie’s cold and straightforward answer felt like a fireball exploding out of nowhere.