Mr. A's Gathering

Mr. A's Gathering

Hobart did not know what Xue and Fors had discussed, but after they rejoined him, he felt that Miss Magician's hostility toward him had diminished considerably.

Under the servants' guidance, the three of them met Viscount Glynt.

Glelint looked at Hobart. "Have we met somewhere before?"

"Yes, Viscount." Hobart smiled. "At a banquet, I had the honor of admiring your elegance on the dance floor."

Christine was, after all, a Commodore, so he naturally attended or hosted certain banquets. Hobart had encountered Viscount Glynt at several of them.

However, one was a noble, while the other was a Commodore's descendant. They had no real connection, so they merely looked familiar to each other.

Glelint said with a chuckle, "At the next banquet, I will definitely notice you."

Then he asked, "You... you are one as well?"

Hobart smiled. "That's right, I am also an enthusiast of Mysticism."

Glelint revealed a smile that said, "I understand."

Just then, the butler came to the door and said, "Young Master, Miss Audrey has arrived."

Glelint personally went to greet her at the door. "My dear Audrey, every time I see you, you possess a different kind of beauty."

Audrey entered the room wearing a hood and leather boots. "Glelint, your style of praising others is becoming more and more like the way those elders compliment people.

"Oh, Mr. Hobart, I did not expect you to be here too."

Hobart stepped forward to greet her. "Hello, Miss Audrey."

He explained, "I just completed a commission with Xue, and we happened to be attending the gathering together."

Glelint suddenly said, "I remember now! You're that lawyer who got Miss Hugh bailed out in just one day!"

Audrey smiled and shook her head. "Viscount, your memory is becoming like those elders' too."

Everyone burst into laughter.

After a brief round of small talk, the five young people went together to attend the gathering organized by Mr. A.

This gathering was nowhere near as safe as the Mercenary Club, so Hobart borrowed a hood from Glelint and entered the venue with it draped over himself.

Audrey and Glelint had come to purchase Potion Recipes, but unfortunately, they did not get what they wanted. No one here was selling the formulas for Spectator or Pharmacist.

Hobart, meanwhile, had mainly come to assess the quality of the Extraordinary Materials traded here.

Relatively speaking, the Extraordinary Materials traded at gatherings held by the Mercenary Club were of a higher grade. There were even Sequence 5 materials, while those traded here were basically Sequence 8 or Sequence 9 materials.

Of course, at a gathering lacking such trust, anything valuable was generally traded in private.

At that moment, a transaction notice loudly read out by the waiter caught Hobart's attention.

The waiter said, "A gentleman wishes to find a way to defeat his past self!"

One of the gathering participants laughed twice. "Perhaps strangling yourself to death is the best way to defeat yourself!"

His words drew laughter from many people.

However, when Mr. A cast them a cold glance, those who had been laughing felt as if they had fallen into an ice cellar and immediately could not laugh anymore.

Once order was restored, the waiter continued reading the other transaction notices.

Hobart stroked his chin. Defeat one's past self? That's rather interesting.

He raised a hand and summoned the waiter. "I wish to trade with the gentleman seeking a method to 'defeat himself.'"

Xue, Audrey, and the others were slightly stunned. They had heard that transaction notice too, and it had made them sense the mystery of the Beyonder World. Could there truly be a way to defeat one's past self?

Hobart's reaction surprised them somewhat as well. Could this lawyer truly know how to defeat his past self?

Xue quickly reminded Hobart, "Transactions here are not a game. If you deceive another gathering participant, you will be punished by Mr. A!"

Hobart smiled helplessly. "Am I really that unreliable in your eyes?" As he spoke, he gave Fors a meaningful look.

Xue was slightly taken aback. Hobart had already shown how reliable he was yesterday. Y-yes, Fors had kept telling me not to trust him. I actually gradually lost faith in him. He was a Beyonder who even knew Ritual Magic.

Audrey suddenly said, "I would like to observe this transaction."

Hobart had left a deep impression on her through Xue's case. More importantly, she was also curious about what method could defeat oneself. Oh heavens, that was one's past self! How could it be defeated?

Hobart said to the waiter, "Please convey my companion's wishes."

The waiter agreed and walked toward a room with its door tightly shut. Before long, he returned. "That gentleman has agreed to your request. Please follow me."

Hobart walked in front, with Audrey close behind him. Xue and Glelint followed as well, both equally curious about how one could defeat one's past self.

Fors muttered, "You always know so much." Then she followed too.

There were many enclosed rooms at the gathering venue, specifically for the convenience of one-on-one transactions between participants.

The person inside clearly had not expected so many observers to arrive. His first reaction was to stand up and flee, but after seeing that neither the waiter nor the others bore any hostility, he gave an embarrassed smile. "This reminds me of a surgery I once saw. There was only one patient on the operating table, yet so many people watching."

Hobart smiled. "Sorry, but the question you raised is quite complicated. We may need to have some necessary discussion."

The other party wore a hood, revealing only his chin, but he sounded rather young. "Indeed, this problem is not easy to solve. I have attended several gatherings already, but I have not received the answer I wanted. I hope you will not disappoint me."

Hobart nodded. "Can you explain in more detail? Why do you want to defeat yourself? What aspect of yourself do you wish to defeat?"

He spread his hands. "We all know that a person cannot return to the past and defeat their former self. There would be no point in doing so.

"However, in Mysticism, defeating one's past self can have many interpretations. For example, overcoming a psychological shadow left by one's past self can also count as defeating one's past self."

Xue and Glelint did not quite understand what Hobart meant, but Audrey and Fors seemed to have realized something. Beneath their hoods, both wore thoughtful expressions.

The other party immediately straightened his back. "You seem very professional. That makes me look forward to your answer."

He continued, "There was once a gentleman who committed many crimes in his youth, but then one day, divine guidance awakened his conscience.

"From then on, he abandoned his life of murder and arson, became a priest, continuously spread the glory of the gods, and helped many people through difficult times.

"Yet his younger self continued tormenting him, preventing him from attaining final redemption. So he desperately wished to defeat his past self."

Hobart's first thought was: The Giant Bishop of the Earth Mother Church? Please vote with recommendation tickets~