United

Austin walked down the street with Gelosk. The Gift of True Knowledge bestowed by the Lord allowed him to clearly sense that quite a few people were watching him.

Many of them harbored filthy thoughts because of his overly exquisite, beautiful appearance. The rest were watchers.

"Tell me about those two," Austin asked Gelosk, paying no heed to the gazes around him.

"Oh, right." Gelosk was briefly stunned before continuing. "One is named Jason Todd, a mercenary. He's a brutal fellow, but he keeps his word to the letter. He only came to Rea this year, and supposedly he's been searching for the people who killed his family."

"The other is an odd assassin. All we know is that his name is Jack. Every so often, he comes out looking for work. By his own words, as long as the price is high enough, he'll kill even the k... ahem, the king for you," Gelosk said.

"As for the others, they might manage in a battle with the wind at their backs, but if you send them up against Negary, they'd probably switch sides at the first opportunity," Gelosk explained. "Of course, there may be some who've hidden themselves too deeply. These are the only two I know."

"It's fine. Those people will probably find others as well," Austin said with a smile. He and Gelosk first headed to Jason Todd's residence—a tavern.

It was not that Jason Todd drank like a fish. Rather, most taverns also handled mercenary commissions and traded intelligence.

Jason Todd had originally come from an ordinary family. Following the path laid out for him, perhaps he would have gone to the docks to haul cargo, or become a carpenter or blacksmith. But a pirate invasion shattered everything.

His family had not been wealthy, but they had been happy. Then it was torn to pieces. After narrowly escaping with his life, he returned home only to find his father beheaded, his mother collapsed in a pool of blood, and his younger brother and sister violated to death.

Those pirates had no scruples when it came to meat or vegetables. Unable to accept the truth, Jason could only embark upon the road of vengeance. After learning the killers' distinguishing features from another surviving woman, he began tracking that band of pirates, madly training his body and combat skills.

Unfortunately, after an encounter at sea, most of those pirates had been killed or wounded. The survivors disbanded and went ashore, intending to clean up their pasts and settle down somewhere small as estate owners or the like.

Jason found one of them and forced him to reveal the names and whereabouts of those murderers, then continued the hunt. That pursuit lasted seven years. In those seven years, Jason grew from a young man into the burly man he was now. His inability to exact revenge for so long made his methods increasingly violent, but perhaps because of what had happened in the past, he valued promises greatly. Once he swore an oath, he would see it through no matter what.

As Austin walked into the chaotic tavern, his face drew the attention of many people. Yet the Divine Grace Church priest's robes he wore made most of them abandon their dirty little thoughts, limiting themselves to merely staring.

"That's Jason Todd," Gelosk said, pointing at someone who was eating with great concentration.

The phrase "eating with great concentration" sounded strange, but anyone who saw Jason eat would agree that it fit.

Jason placed food into his mouth bit by bit, with extraordinary seriousness, as though it were some task that had to be completed. He was utterly serious. His expression remained blank; even if bugs had been mixed into his meal, he would eat them without changing expression. It gave people the feeling that it did not matter what the food was like. He was merely ingesting food, not having a meal.

Jason wore a black vest, and his short silver hair framed his face. His weapon rested beside him. A dull, brutal man like him had no companions at his side.

"He really leaves an impression," Austin remarked, pulling out the chair across from Jason and sitting down.

"Something you want?" Simple and direct. Jason seemed to have no intention of wasting even a second.

"Yes. I have a difficult commission I'd like to entrust to you," Austin said with a smile.

"Fine." Jason agreed immediately without even raising his head.

"You know what I intend to hire you for?" Austin asked, slightly surprised.

"In fact, anyone with decent information already knows." Jason swallowed the final mouthful of food, then lifted his head to look at Austin. "Didn't you notice that none of the tavern attendants came over to serve you?"

"Then why did you agree?"

"One of my targets may have become one of the Crow Men. Even if you hadn't come to me, I would have come looking for you. Also, if you intend to look for Jack, there's no need. I already looked for him. It seems he accepted a job and left Rea."

"Very good." Austin nodded.

At the same time, Chris watched Nara head downstairs to continue feasting, his expression complicated. Back when he had learned the Breathing Method, he had also been guided by an elder, yet it had taken him more than a day to barely grasp it.

But Nara had learned nearly all of it in just one afternoon. As for the more advanced Breathing Method techniques, Chris had not taught them to her. Those techniques depended on individual comprehension. Once one had learned the fundamentals, the advanced techniques could be mastered as soon as they were understood.

The Breathing Method was still the same Breathing Method, yet no two masters used it in exactly the same way. Of course, Breathing Methods passed down through noble families came with other secret arts. Those were not things that could be achieved through comprehension alone; they were crystallizations of generations of wisdom.

Chris did possess one secret art, but it was unsuitable to pass on to Nara. Perhaps there would be a chance in the future.

After seeing Nara off, Chris seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. After all, she was the Saint of Salvation from the prophecy. Now that she had learned the Breathing Method, she at least had some means to protect herself.

"Come out. You've listened for so long—what are your thoughts?" Chris's expression turned solemn as he spoke toward an empty spot on the other side of the room.

The light in the empty space twisted, and a person wearing a Kingdom of Roas uniform emerged. He gave Chris a slight bow. "Smick Lanche of the Light Flow Method greets Sir Chris."

"Chris Mordo of the Firewood Flow." Chris's expression grew grave. Those who inherited the Breathing Method addressed one another by their secret arts' Flow Methods.

"Negary is far too dangerous, so we're joining forces?" Chris asked seriously.

"His power is growing ever larger, which is detrimental to the kingdom." Smick nodded. "Joining forces is beyond question."

"Then what are your intentions toward Nara?" Chris asked slowly.

"Abiding by the ancient agreement, one rhythm will never extinguish another rhythm. I will not make a move against that little girl. That is also why you taught her the Breathing Method even though you knew I was here." Smick spoke seriously. "So what if she is the Saint of Salvation from the prophecy? Under His Majesty's leadership, even fate itself will be trampled beneath our feet, let alone a mere prophecy."

The third update was complete. Please bookmark and vote.

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