Science/Magic

"Miss Regina, are you two lovers?" The question that came from Gerald was completely unexpected.

The dining room fell dead silent.

Liu Ying and Erika perked up her ears instantly. They moved their gaze between Regina and Bloed with curious expressions.

However, Regina did not show any expression besides flinching slightly.

"… We are not." She said calmly. "I'm master's servant. I don't dare to call myself his lover."

"Oh, that is good." Gerald smiled. "I thought my little sister doesn't have hope, but it looks like I was mistaken."

"Brother!" Erika turned completely red. She then peeked at Bloed from the corner of her eye to see his reaction.

To her disappointment, though, Bloed just smiled wryly and laughed it off. "I'm sure that miss Erika is not interested in an uncultured person like me."

"N-No, I..." Erika did not know how to reply. Regina, on the other hand, smiled triumphally.

After that, the dinner was enveloped in an awkward silence.

Fortunately, the city lord quickly came to the rescue.

"It is good to be young." He said with a small smile. "Let's talk about another topic. Bloed, if I'm not wrong, you are around fifteen years old, right?"

"Sixteen."

"Sixteen, huh. Very young, however, you are already at the peak of C-Rank. There are not many young people as talented as you in the kingdom. I'm curious about the person that managed to teach someone like you."

The ring Bloed crafted before entering the city had the ability to turn psychic waves into mana waves. In other words, although Bloed was a C-Grade ESPer, he looked like a C-Rank magic user in the city lord's eyes.

Reaching peak C-Rank at sixteen years old was a great accomplishment. Although it was not top-class in the continent, it was enough for Bloed to be considered as a promising genius. No normal force could train someone like him.

Even Gerald, the city lord's son, had the same cultivation as Bloed despite being two years older than him.

So, when the city lord asked about the person that taught Bloed, he was actually trying to get information about his background.

However, Bloed was not so naïve to fall for that trick. Of course, revealing some thing was not a problem.

"I was taught by my mother." Bloed replied vaguely

"She must be a great woman."

"… She is." Bloed said after a moment of silence. "She is the greatest woman in the world."

"… It looks like you admire her a lot."

Bloed just smiled without replying. He then smiled at Regina to indicate to her that he was alright.

The city lord narrowed his eyes. He wanted to continue asking, but Regina opened her mouth at that moment.

"By the way, have you learned anything about miss Erika's attack?"

"… Nothing." Gerald smiled wryly. "We searched all the city for clues, but it seems like they disappeared completely."

"Hmph! They are underestimating me. Nobody can attack my daughter in my city without suffering the consequences." The city lord said arrogantly. "They can hide for a while, but I'll definitively find their rat hole."

Bloed was not so sure about it. No matter how he saw it, those assassins did not seem that simple.

According to Bloed's observation, they seemed like the kind that was after a clear goal. If they dared to go against the city lord, they surely had something they could rely upon.

Well, that had nothing to do with him.

The rest of the dinner continued like that. The city lord tried to get a bit more information out of Bloed and the girls' mouths, however, the three of them were very careful with their words. Until the end, they did not reveal anything they could not reveal.

To be honest, Bloed found the meal uncomfortable. Not only was the food not as good as Regina's, but the city lord's constant prying was distasteful.

Bloed would have preferred to use this time to finish Liu Ying's weapon and enjoy Regina's homemade cooking.

Unfortunately, he could do nothing about it.

Instead, he swore he was not coming back to this place ever again.

Finally, the dinner ended. Bloed suppressed the urge to sigh in relief and stood up.

"City lord, I think we will leave already. Many thanks for the dinner."

"Oh? You are already leaving? So fast?"

"Yes, it's already late after all and we don't want to impose."

"I understand." The city lord nodded. "Okay, Gerald, Erika, accompany our guest to the door."

"Yes, father"

"Okay, dad."

Bloed and the girls then were led to the exit. Erika and Gerald kept talking about random topics during the way until they reached the carriage.

"Young master Gerald, miss Erika, once more, thank you for the invitation."

"It's nothing." Gerald smiled. "Now that I think about it, you promised me to invite me a meal last time, right?"

Bloed was startled. Thinking about it, it was true.

"Mmm… Why don't you come with us tomorrow then? Erika and I are going to the outskirts of the city to hunt some magic beast, and I'm sure Erika will love it if you go with us."

Bloed frowned. "Outside the city? After she was attacked?"

Gerald smiled wryly. "I will not lie to you. In truth, father is trying to use this opportunity to fish out the culprits."

"Is it so?"

Bloed then looked at Regina and Liu Ying.

Both girls were indifferent. To be honest, after spending a long time surrounded by magic beasts, they found the idea of going to hunt them unattractive.

Moreover, both of them could feel something strange about this invitation.

However, Bloed did not refuse instantly.

Instead, he thought for a moment before nodding.

"Okay."

"Great! We will meet at the south entrance tomorrow morning!"

"I'm looking towards it."

After that short exchange, the group departed.

When Bloed and the girls were gone, Gerald separated from Erika and walked towards the city lord's office.

"Father?" He knocked on the door.

"The door is not locked."

Gerald pushed the door open and looked at his father. "It's done." He said.

"Good job. They did not suspect anything, right?"

"Nothing… But father, are you sure about this?"

"… I'm not. It's obvious their background is not simple. Perhaps they come from a hidden family or are the disciples of a demigod. However, I can't confirm it."

"Then…"

"However, a demigod artifact is too attractive."

Gerald fell silent. He could see the greed in his father's eyes.

"Don't worry, we just need to be careful about not injure them and erase all the clues linking us to the matter. At worst, we will return the artifact if the situation gets out of control. I don't believe they dare to kill a city lord of the kingdom if I insist it's a misunderstanding."

"I understand."

"We will make the first move tonight. If it fails, then we will implement plan B tomorrow."

...

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