Evenon looked at the bowing man in front of him with a heavy frown. He spoke.

“Are you certain?”

His voice carried a clear edge. The bowing subordinate trembled.

“Y-Yes, boss.”

Silence. Evenon looked at the ceiling.

“You can go.”

The man bowed repeatedly before virtually running out of the room.

How did this happen?

The contents of the message were simple. The City Guard had managed to discover and raid two more dealing spots of Dust and had even started talking to the students of the Magic Academies. It would only be a matter of time before they found his customers. It was impossible to predict how long it would take; the City Guard moved as if they already knew who to look for.

Fucking Vaard family.

He was sure that on the surface, he was completely clean. Even though the Guard had found the dealing spots, there was no way to connect them to him. His subordinates were paid extremely well to keep their mouths shut, even when pressured. It had taken him a long time to recruit a large number of the exact kind of person who valued money over their integrity.

However, that did not apply to the students. Whether they were commoners or of noble background, they were merely young people who got their drugs from him. Their network kept allowing him to get new customers, but it was also a vulnerability. He had made a point to wear a mask and use magic to slightly change his voice when dealing with the students, but there were a few who were aware of his identity.

I’ve covered my bases, but one of them is going to crack.

It made no sense for the City Guard to already know which students to target. It could only mean one thing.

Someone talked.

And not only that, but it had also been someone with vast knowledge about his criminal activities. His men only knew as much as he allowed them to know; it was a second protective layer. That, coupled with the money he paid them, meant that it was unlikely for the person to have been one of his subordinates. There were only two other possibilities: the Lady, or a knowledgeable customer.

There’s no reason for Isabelle to stab me in the back like this.

He sent her new women to exploit regularly, and she shared her profits and customers with him. There was no reason to disturb this mutually beneficial relationship. The talker had been a customer. Evenon mentally listed the possibilities in his mind. He looked at his greatest treasure. The staff lay on top of a table on the left side of the room, still looking as beautiful as when he first saw it. The images of the flying birds were enrapturing.

At that moment, a face appeared in Evenon’s mind. Rylan Flameheart. His brow furrowed. Why had he remembered the kid? His current problems merged with Rylan’s face in his mind. He blinked, surprised at his own train of thought. What was even more surprising was that it was logical.

If Rylan talked, the City Guard’s movements would make sense.

He combed his memory for recent news about Rylan, remembering the talks about how Rylan had hunted down monsters alongside the Flameheart family’s soldiers. The possibility that Rylan had talked was unthinkable, but so were the news about his current actions. It bordered on nonsensical. The Rylan he knew was someone completely incapable of doing anything that even resembled those news.

Evenon breathed deeply. He needed to calm down. Rylan Flameheart was the single person who benefitted the most from Evenon’s criminal enterprise. The kid had spent untold amounts of money and even given Evenon an heirloom. As Evenon had noticed before, Rylan also displayed absolutely no desire to escape his lifestyle. It made less sense for Rylan to sabotage him than even the Lady. He was Evenon’s most faithful customer.

It wasn’t Rylan. He’s pretending to have changed to fool his family and get some money, and then spend it here.

Even if everybody else turned their backs on Evenon, Rylan was the sole person who wouldn’t. He believed in the young man’s addiction more than he trusted Isabelle. Rylan’s dead, unfeeling eyes flashed in his mind. That’s right. The kid would never have talked.

Evenon drummed his fingers on the table, staring at the floating staff.

He might already have the money by now.

He was fully confident that Rylan would be willing to do anything to get the staff back. After all, if he didn’t, he would no longer be a Flameheart. Even if it meant cheating whoever it was, he would get the money to buy the heirloom back. If he were disowned, he would lose all of his backing and be arrested in less than a day. Evenon spoke to himself.

“I’m going to send someone to him.”

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At the same time, he would ask Rylan if he knew who had talked. With the young noble’s help, he would have an easier time fixing this situation. Rylan was familiar with basically all of his criminal activities and many of his customers. Of course, Rylan wouldn’t share the information for free.

“I’ll probably need to give him plenty of Dust or Glamour.”

After all, they were the only thing Rylan cared about. Nodding to himself, Evenon let out a sigh. He felt as if there was a noose tightening around his neck, ever so slowly. Nevertheless, that didn’t mean he would just roll over and wait for the City Guard’s blade to reach his throat. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers. The sound echoed, much louder than it should have been. After a few seconds, a short man entered his room. He was one of Evenon’s closest aides. The man bowed.

“Abandon the less profitable dealing spots, focusing on cleaning everything up,” Evenon said. “Reach out to every single one of our contacts. We need to find the rat. Tell the men to increase the prices of Dust and Glamour by thirty percent, but only for the rich clients, and to make it clear it is in retaliation to the Vaard family’s movements.”

The man nodded and bowed again, then left the room. Evenon looked at the plain black ring around his right ring finger. As his mana surged, it trembled. He closed his eyes. The mana revolved within him, extending his awareness. He activated Whisper and opened his eyes. His eyes were glowing blue.

“It’s unusual for you to contact me out of nowhere. Is this about the City Guard?” The Lady’s voice resounded in his head.

Yes. I need your prostitutes to get information from their clients about who started this.

“It’ll be difficult.”

Many of them have their clients wrapped around their finger, and they have no choice but to follow your orders. Use them.

“Very well,” she sighed. “I’ll talk to them. It’ll take some time.”

I’m already looking into it through other methods. Just trust me.

The connection was cut off. Evenon’s eyes stopped glowing as he drummed his fingers on the desk. He was completely confident that he could overcome this and continue to be a businessman. He would show the Vaard family that there were consequences to targeting him. Isabelle would certainly get the prostitutes to do her bidding, since they couldn’t go against her. He had made sure of that. As long as they could get worthwhile information from their clients, he would be able to fight back even harder.

I can make my men start causing trouble in the town.

If anything, it would help him create a smokescreen that would divert the City Guard’s attention. Even if they were after him, they couldn’t ignore obvious conflict. It would slow them down. He could also make sure that the subordinates who got caught wouldn’t pay for their actions. He had all the resources he needed to discover who had talked and to overcome this situation. The damage to his enterprise would be kept at a minimum.

His power went beyond his Circles and he worshipped money alone. His childhood had been miserable enough. Since everyone had exploited him, there was nothing wrong with exploiting others for his benefit.

***

The days ticked by.

Rylan sat on the bed with his legs crossed, absorbing mana with his eyes closed. Part of his thoughts turned to his past few days. He had sparred against Gerard twice more, quickly becoming more familiar with what Mages were capable of. Each time, his father had used different spells and tactics. The experience had been invaluable.

He also helped me with mana absorption.

Rylan’s knowledge had been too superficial to achieve good results, while Roland hadn’t been familiar with mana. He needed to learn about its workings from the ground up. Gerard’s help had arrived just at the right time. Patiently and clearly, his father helped him absorb more mana efficiently, as well as taught him how to make that mana his own in the shortest time.

At the same time, Rylan mixed this new knowledge with Roland’s memories, improving his mana circulation at a breakneck pace. His mana started to resemble Aura more and more. It meant that he became able to do more with it.

My main goal should be to get to the Second Circle.

The more mana he possessed, the more mana he would be able to circulate at once. By manipulating it as if it were Aura, his results would improve rapidly. At the same time, he hadn’t stopped training his body. Every day, he joined Jack, Scott, and the other soldiers. He guided them in swordsmanship and exercised to his very limit without injuring himself. Naturally, there had been days where he was forced not to push his body so much, but there had also been days where he had gone further.

The hard exercise, coupled with his good diet and the rest he got while absorbing mana, made him develop quickly. The speed still wasn’t up to his standards, but he was definitely improving faster than when he started out. He was getting used to this weaker body.

I’ve been able to integrate more sword styles.

Roland’s memories were a veritable treasure trove. The man had dedicated his entire being to swordsmanship for almost a century and had made a point to learn as much as he could. He had created many sword styles and Sword Arts; while the best one for the current Rylan still was the Stormcaller Sword Style, there was no need to limit his options. He was knowledgeable enough to mix the movements belonging to different sword styles according to his needs. It meant that he could cover the weaknesses of one style with another.

As the outside mana entered his pores and gathered in his Mana Core, part of his conscience turned to other matters. He was now waiting for Evenon to reach out to him. He predicted that the man’s patience had already run out, especially given how quickly Rylan had shown up with money in the past. Now, all he needed to do was wait. Tomorrow, he would leave the estate with the soldiers; one of Evenon’s men would likely approach him then.

He needed to be prepared when that moment arrived. Letting out a breath, he opened his eyes. He beheld his bedroom, comforting as it was. Sarah was sitting on the chair with her eyes closed. He perceived the movements of the mana in the atmosphere, realizing that it was being drawn towards her.

Unwilling to disturb her mana absorption, he said nothing. He looked through the window. The sun slowly sunk beneath the horizon, bathing his room in orange light. He had always liked sunsets in both lives. In fact, Roland had gone so far as to create the Setting Sun Sword Style. It was powerful, but he couldn’t use it yet. His body was too weak.

Now, to prepare for the follower’s possible questions.

He rubbed his chin. He tried to imagine every possible, likely scenario. He needed an answer for whatever Evenon’s subordinate would say. After his sparring with Gerard, he was now ready to face Evenon in battle if the need arose, but there was no harm in letting the City Guard do their job. What mattered the most was securing the heirloom.

At the same time, he wondered if he should fight Evenon. It was sure to be a good experience, albeit dangerous. It would be this life’s first real battle against a human. His heart didn’t even waver as his thoughts reached this point. Roland had fought too many people for too long for this to affect him. Either way, his response the next day would determine the future.

Tomorrow, the rest of the plan would begin.