“Alright! The break time is over. We will take some rest after the next grid gets finished. Let’s go.”
Jaime and his party soon left their campsite after extinguishing the fire. Eren stayed still for some time even after they left to confirm their departure for good. Only then did he come out.
“Damn!”
Eren came out and said this out loud after he understood what he had done.
Eren had made fake Dom say all those things about his mysterious backer, the disappearance of hunters, and the kingdom’s involvement to throw his pursuers off the track. He would have never imagined that what he thought to be bullshittery was true.
Eren had angered a lot of people in the big leagues by making the fake Dom say all those things out in the open. Sure, it had thrown his current pursuers off his trails.
But by doing so, Eren had allowed himself to be the target of even more sinister enemies. His only advantage so far was that they were thinking of him to be someone else. A hidden powerhouse that had the power of ruining the plan of another of their kind and status.
Therefore nobody would think about someone like Eren who was just a teenager and still rankless to be the mastermind they were looking for.
The OWB had gone scot-free in his crimes so far. And he wanted to keep it that way for as long as he could.
In Eren’s defence, he couldn’t even think in his wildest dreams that a backwater place like Osan woods was a stage set for bigger powers. He had only done what was right and most optimal at that point.
Eren simply did not have enough information about Dom to know about this hidden plot.
“So that’s why in my previous life, Dom shifted to the kingdom’s capital after his taming of the demon beast. He got involved in this mess. He didn’t go there himself.
Dom was forced to relocate to the capital city of Edinburgh by these people.
Dom was accommodated into those guys’ plans because he didn’t cause any incident like me. He didn’t become the whistleblower.
Of course, he wasn’t aware of everything from the get-go. But slowly and surely that all changed. And Dom kept his mouth shut even after knowing about this mess.
Haah! There’s just so much about the previous Dom that I don’t know. I thought I had everything figured out when I took this step. But turns out I was just a naive fool. I need to be more careful than I already am.
These guys are from the LA academy. I need to keep my eyes on them when I enter the academy’s grounds. They will lead me to the truth.
In any way, I don’t regret making Reen my demon beast. I thought she was worth every risk. But her worth is maybe even more than what I had already anticipated.
Thank the devil, I heard about there being artefacts planted at my crime scenes. I was planning to visit those places out of curiosity.
Staying in this forest anymore or planning to come back here will be a mistake. These guys won’t find anything with the grid search because I didn’t enter the woods from any other side.
But they CAN find me eventually if I keep on lingering about in the forest.”
Eren was talking to himself. He had already left the campsite and was now heading outside the forest the same way he came from.
“So there’s more than what meets the eye about you, Reen. What secrets are you hiding in your belly?”
Eren asked Reen who was busy contracting and expanding on his torso under his shirt.
“Eh? Are you talking about food?”
Reen was puzzled at Eren’s question. Eren knew she was a blank slate regarding the whole matter. So he skipped asking about it:
“Haha! Nothing. Just forget about it. Whatever you are hiding, I’ll come to know about it eventually.
I was planning to visit the forest one more time, but I should scrap that idea as well. No need to take risks creating more trails for the treasures that are just F Rank.
Ronald’s party has already completed scanning this northern side area for the OWB’s traces. But they might think about doing it again on the spur of the moment.
Plus, that drunk woman Linda doesn’t look normal to me. Is she a historian or someone else? My methods of masking my trails might not be enough to mislead her if she gets a fresh print.
If I have to forget about collecting the forest’s treasures, I might as well put all my efforts into taking the last step with aunt Nina in these last days.”
Eren had this thought and smirked. He had what he needed the most. The F Rank herbs expedite the creation of mana pathways.
These herbs would spell trouble for rankless entities who didn’t have a mana core. But they would be extremely helpful for those who did.
With his herbs secured in the ID stone used by Reen, Eren returned home early in the morning. Nina was just done fixing breakfast and was about to call Jack Sullivan to ask him about Eren when the latter showed up.
“Erni, why do you look like you’ve run a mile in the forest?”
Nina’s enhanced senses told her Eren was out in the wild. There was no point lying about his whereabouts. Eren needed to lie differently.
“That’s because me, Jake, and his servant had gone for a campfire at Green Dunes just outside the southern city gates. We spent the night there and came back just a few minutes ago.”
Eren immediately came up with a different lie. Lying came as easy as breathing for him because of his past life.
Eren didn’t care if his lie got caught in the future or not. He was sure he’d be able to come up with another bullshittery at that time just as quickly.
“Little rat, you didn’t even tell me about the plan. I might have accompanied you guys at the campfire.
Anyway, go get fresh. Have some breakfast. You are up for another elementary potion order.”
“Eh? We didn’t have this order when I left. Are you punishing me for ditching you?”
Eren looked at Nina with a mix of suspicion and smirk.
“Hmph! A scoundrel like you needs to be taught a lesson. Go do as I say!”
Nina had a pout on her face. She didn’t think Eren would be gone for the entire day. Her anxiety peaked when she realised his absence would become semi-permanent for at least five years.
It looked like Nina was punishing Eren. But she only wanted to look at Eren for more time.
By making him work at the lab, Nina would be able to see him in front of her eyes. That was her passive-aggressive way of showing affection towards him.
“I’ll walk on the path of fire for you m’lady. This much is nothing. Just let me get fresh. I wouldn’t want to stand near a stunning lady like you with this attire and state.”
Eren took Nina’s hand in his and kissed the dorsal side while bowing a little. Nina’s heart immediately softened at that gesture. She smiled at him and pulled his cheeks.