In the barely rattling carriage, Samuel woke up. About to open his eyes he sensed two presences within the carriage with him. He was suspicious at first, but feeling he had fully healed, he opted not to open his eyes. Thus avoiding a potential kill of his benefactors.

“You're finally awake!”

A young sounding voice sounded from across the carriage from him. The voice was warm and kind, akin to that of a sister or a mother. Even though he didn't know this person, she brought him the feeling of comfort. As such he decided to be more ‘soft’ in how he was going to approach this situation.

“First of all, thank you for healing me. I appreciate it. Now, I must ask, who are you people? Why am I here? What is the purpose of me being here? And where are we going?”

Slightly taken aback by his straightforwardness, the young lady searched for her words for a bit before answering.

“Well, you see, um. We hit you with our carriage causing you to pass out. Seeing you were quite injured, we couldn't just leave you there to die. If not by your wounds, then by others. As such, I found the best course of action to be to heal you and bring you into the carriage to keep you safe. The region has been quite tumultuous recently. Oh well, the previous region, we're in an entirely different place right now. We're currently heading towards the capital of the Phoenix Empire. We've been tasked to help protect a certain individual residing in the city. The shadow organizations are making a move.”

“Young miss should not be disclosing such details. This is supposed to be a covert operation, where only the people within the organization are supposed to know about our presence there. This man is not part of our organization. For all we know, he might be part of the shadow organizations that we're supposed to be protecting someone from. Now we might have to get rid of him.”

“Stop being so uncouth old Wilhelm. He asked why he was here and where we were going, and to fully answer that I had to disclose certain details. Also, I did not mention who we’re protecting or what organizations are making a move. You're thinking too much. But since I have answered all his questions, it's time for him to answer mine. That's only fair, right?”

“Ask what needs to be asked. I am an open book.”

“Well, that's not very great. You see, an open book is still stuck to just two pages. I'm interested in the things on the other pages. I needed a book that can be read. And I hope you can give me satisfactory answers. Because if we do find out you are actually from some shadow organization, I am afraid we'll have to, well, deal with you. So, first question. What is your name and where are you from?”

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Samuel was quite unsettled by how she was basically analyzing his every word. ‘Who put so much thought into being an open book? It's a saying! Is she unstable? Is this warmth only a facade?’.

Samuel was not afraid of the lady, but he was rather unsettled by the person sitting next to him, the so-called old Wilhelm. The man did not emit any aura. However, the spatial presence he possessed was akin to that of a mountain. Indicating his power was far superior to his. As such, he did not find it pertinent to lie or not answer the questions properly. The problem was, how was he supposed to tell them where he was from without lying?

“Well, my name is Samuel, and I am from a place far, far away. A place you will never have heard of. It's not quite relevant. I hope you do not take offense, but I mind my privacy. Just like how I didn't ask where you were from or who you are. This is not to hide that I'm from some shadow organization, I can promise you that. Those damned pieces of shit need to be ridden from this realm. Especially that Black Lotus. God damn that Black Lotus. I hate them. I hate them so much. You know, they tortured me. They captured me for seemingly nothing. They just tortured me for information. I didn't even have any information because they didn't ask about what they truly wanted. They just kept asking me who I was, where I came from and why I was with certain people. And God damn it, I did not know those people well. It was so dumb. For three months. For three months they kept me in a dungeon, tortured.”

Samuel, remembering the unfortunate situation he was in previously, started ranting, hard. So hard, in fact, that both the other passengers of the carriage were stunned and speechless. Since when did a person that just encountered two new people, start ranting in front of them like they were old friends? Samuel was about to continue his long, long rant about the Black Lotus. But before he could, luckily, he was interrupted by the young lady.

“So, you have enmity with the black Lotus. Well, you'll probably be glad to know that someone just attacked their stronghold. Well, two of their strongholds really, and even killed one of their peak protectors. Someone's doing something about it, If that's any relief?”

“What are you on about? ‘Someone’s doing something about it?’ It was me. Why do you think I was so battered? The guy ambushed me. He pretended to be a level five true cultivator, but he was actually a peak one. It didn't make any sense. Also, he said he knew I was going to be there, but how would he know? It took two minutes from when I attacked the first stronghold to the second. How could he possibly know I was going to be there? I think it was just waffle. Not only did I suffer injuries at his hand, but I also had to kill him. And to kill him I had to push my body to its limits.”

“Wow, you're so powerful? You also seem quite young. How come I haven't heard of you before? I pride myself in knowing most of the talents, even people who can remotely be considered talents, in all of the Shattered Realm. And someone of your age, capable of defeating a peak true cultivation stage expert is not someone I would not know of. Also, I have to thank you. The Black Lotus is the organization behind the attack on the person we're protecting right now. They're not powerful enough for us to be mobilized, but they leaked information to the rest of the shadow world and people are acting on it. It makes sense as the information is quite pertinent. Whoever receives it will be able to dominate the realm.”

Samuel, who was originally panicking about how to explain how he was not famous, heard that the Black Lotus was the origin of an attack the entire shadow world was behind. Not only that, but there was also a powerhouse coming to reinforce the organization defending a person who lived in the capital of the Phoenix Empire. Without even thinking about consequences, or anything for that matter, Samuel blurted out: “wait, are you moving to protect Merling Strand?

Silence Descended upon the carriage instantly.