Crisis Draws Near (2)

Meanwhile, word spread among Landon City's well-informed upper circles that Green had saved Penny and killed two cadres of the Tower of Yin Spirits.

Because Green had instructed Penny to deliberately conceal the Holy Son's existence from the police and the Anomalies Bureau, the rumors did not mention him. Even so, it was shocking enough: a fledgling Novice Necromancer Apprentice had killed two powerful Supernaturals. Most importantly, one of them had been the notorious mass-murdering Blood Mage Jones.

People had not known Green's name before, but they had long since heard of Blood Mage Jones.

"Knock, knock, knock~~~"

Just then, someone knocked on the door. A bright voice followed: "Big Brother Green, may I come in?"

Green recognized Penny's voice, but the way she addressed him as "Big Brother Green" sounded rather awkward. In his memory, he had never heard the girl call him that.

"Come in~" Green replied. He casually pointed toward the door, and a wave of invisible magic stirred faint ripples in the air before striking the door. With a click, the tightly locked door automatically opened a crack.

The non-elemental first-circle spell Gergana's Lock was an extremely practical spell. Mages of any school could use it to seal a room's door or an important chest. Although its magical strength was not high enough to withstand brute force, it could issue a warning to alert the caster.

Magus Gergana had first developed it five hundred years ago. By now, it had become a compulsory spell for nearly every mage. Along with Kaisela's Ray and Wendirnai's Cleaning, it was known as one of the necessities of a mage's daily life.

Penny pushed the door open and entered. She had changed into casual clothes, and her injured shoulder was wrapped in bandages, but she showed no awareness of being a patient. Her large eyes blinked repeatedly as she stared unblinkingly at Green, as though she wanted to discover some treasure hidden on him.

Green did not feel uncomfortable under her gaze. Smiling, he pointed to the chair opposite the tea table, then turned a cup upright on the table and poured Penny some tea.

"Thank you, Big Brother Green." Penny sat down with a beaming smile and immediately began questioning him, asking Green all sorts of questions. Green chose a few to answer. Penny listened with rapt attention, repeatedly making a fuss in amazement, the admiration in her eyes impossible to conceal.

Over the next two days, Penny became a frequent visitor to Green's place. As her injuries healed, she grew lively again. Having forgotten the pain as soon as her wounds scarred over, she wanted to continue investigating the Tower of Yin Spirits and even tried to drag Green into it with her. Green was left laughing and crying at once. He simply gave her a knock on the head, making Penny wince and cover her forehead with one hand as she puffed out her cheeks angrily.

Green's expression turned serious. "My Lineage and I will certainly continue investigating the Tower of Yin Spirits' kidnapping of Lillisa. However, this matter involves a great deal, so we must deliberate carefully. If we act rashly, we may well end up in an extremely dangerous situation like this time."

Penny pouted, unconvinced in her heart. But when she thought of how far Green's strength surpassed hers, she could no longer bring herself to make those high-minded declarations. She could only lower her banner and settle down for the time being.

Green finally gained some peace. Over the next few days, he familiarized himself with the newly recruited troops and drew up several contingency plans according to different situations. What formation should they use against a melee enemy? What formation against a ranged enemy? What formation against a squad capable of both offense and defense? And how should they deal with a gigantic monster, or with a strange, mysterious, and cunning anomaly?

Based on his experience in these battles, and after consulting Doctor Wilkins on many matters, Green organized a battle plan exclusively suited to himself.

In fact, although Green had defeated the Tower of Yin Spirits' Saint Son, who was like a little giant, it had been a narrow victory. He was not satisfied with his performance, especially since he had lost three Ghouls for no reason without even displaying the combat strength he should have possessed. If he had already prepared these contingency plans back then, he would certainly have been calmer when suddenly confronted with an encounter battle and would have maintained control over the entire rhythm of the fight.

"My current strength should roughly be enough to deal with Supernaturals below Formal Rank." Green reassessed his own strength. "However, the anomaly that killed Baron Lonanks and the entire adventurer party remains a hidden danger. It may belong to the Tower of Yin Spirits, or it may belong to another faction. But as long as it remains in Landon City for even one day, there can be no such thing as safety. And then there's the anomaly capable of influencing the weather..."

Thinking of the anomalies hidden in Landon City, Green's expression darkened. He still felt that his strength was insufficient.

It was not that anomalies were necessarily stronger than Supernaturals. In truth, the world's definition of an "anomaly" had no clear boundary with Supernaturals. An anomaly's greatest strength lay in the unknown—in being impossible to understand, impossible to perceive, and impossible to analyze. If an anomaly was completely exposed before the public, it would no longer be an anomaly; it could be specifically classified, such as a Supernatural, Magic Beast, fairy, ghost, demon...

At this thought, Green suddenly remembered Lola. That unreliable woman had promised to help him find the Tower of Yin Spirits' base several days ago. Apart from sending a message midway asking him to give her a few more days, she had vanished without a trace. It even made one wonder whether the woman had died.

Moreover, over the past two days, Green had noticed that Viscount Paul's complexion was growing worse and worse. It was the grave expression of someone facing an unfavorable situation. For Viscount Paul, who usually kept his emotions hidden, to show such an expression meant that he had surely encountered an extraordinarily difficult predicament. He had even sent the Viscountess and Lillisa away from Landon City under the pretext of returning to her parents' home for a visit. If not for some reason that made it impossible to send Vincent away as well, Green guessed that Viscount Paul would likely have sent his son away from this place of trouble too.

This situation made Green realize how serious matters had become. When he had first learned that the Tower of Yin Spirits had kidnapped Lillisa, Viscount Paul had still remained calm and collected in the face of that mad evil cult. For Viscount Paul to act this way, the threat must certainly be even greater—more powerful and deadly than the Tower of Yin Spirits.

Green had once tried to ask Doctor Wilkins about it, only to discover that the sly old fellow had already left. Supposedly, he had gone to Royal Capital University for an exchange visit.

As the Wilson Family's private Attendant, Doctor Wilkins's behavior was somewhat dishonorable. But then again, an Attendant was not a death warrior. Given Doctor Wilkins's status, if he believed the situation was extremely dangerous and might threaten his life, there was indeed no need for him to risk his life for the Wilson Family. In the end, the two sides were merely bound by a commercial employment relationship.

Doctor Wilkins's departure, at the cost of his reputation, gave Green an even stronger feeling that the crisis was drawing nearer.

Finally, at that very moment, he at last received word from Lola...