Hill studied the Archmage seriously.
He realized he had run into an old acquaintance: the Ninth-Circle Archmage who had summoned him into this world back then.
Then, struck by inspiration, Hill found a certain duck-voiced man among the fleeing crowd—the Mage Kayo, who had an Eighth-Circle grandfather.
Hill remembered that Kayo had been around Sixth-Circle back then.
His judgment of Mages at that level could sometimes be off, but he was certain Kayo had not been Seventh-Circle.
Yet now, Kayo was a somewhat shaky Eighth-Circle Mage.
Hill carefully searched his memories for every impression he had of the young Mage and quickly determined that Kayo must have advanced through the random mode.
Although Kayo was Gilbert's age, he was not particularly gifted. His personality was fairly easygoing, and he could occasionally sound rather naive... And he was Gilbert's age.
Everything fit the special setup of someone with no great abilities, yet considered a good person in Despair Tower.
Clearly, he was not truly as unimportant to his Eighth-Circle grandfather as he claimed.
It was not easy to secure residency rights in certain special places for him.
An Eighth-Circle Mage, even one with extensive connections and considerable wealth, could not accomplish that alone. Even if obtaining the Fruit of Wisdom depended on luck, it was still not something he could manage by himself.
That proved one thing... the Ninth-Circle Archmage, Kayo's teacher, definitely held considerable influence in matters concerning the Fruit of Wisdom.
Perhaps his faction was Talona's collaborator.
That also matched the conversation Hill had overheard between Kayo and his companions... when discussing visitors from beyond the stars, what they wanted most was to study them themselves.
Anyone Talona's followers were willing to approach would certainly be deeply knowledgeable about "medicine" and "potions."
Hill watched the white-bearded old man in