Chapter 65: Warning

The group carried the heavy bags of meat from the animals they hunted down. Not only were Teo and the others forced to kill, they also had to watch as Gina taught them how to skin and butcher the animals for meat.

With her knife skills and years of working in a kitchen, she was the perfect instructor.

As they headed back, they dropped the meat off at the restaurant Teo used to work at. Many restaurants would buy meat directly from hunters but since Gina worked there, she decided to store it there while they got cleaned up.

“Get washed up then meet up back here. Me and Teo are gonna cook us some dinner.”

The three nodded but clearly had no appetite at the moment. Although they had seen the gore from the city’s arena, today they would eat the carcass of an animal that they had killed. Eating something they had recently killed was not too appetizing

….

As Teo, Lia and Windle arrived. Rowen had already sat down and reserved a table.

When Rowen saw them enter the restaurant, she waved her hand to draw their attention.

“Teo you’re late! Gina is already waiting for you,” Rowen said with a smile.

Gina was usually pretty kind and friendly but had a very sharp tongue and unrestrained personality. In the kitchen, she was a fiery demon, especially with a knife and pot behind a stove.

“Finally, you’re here! Quickly cut these up, Teo. Then peel that and that, and wash those extra pans, we’ll need them.”

There were two boiling pots and two frying pans being used at the same time!

Gina was creating the sauce and preparing the meat, all at the same time!

“Okay, but...isn’t this a little too much?”

“Nah it’s fine, a few more people will be joining us later. Keep moving Teo!” Gina said as her swift and fluid motions moved from one pot to the next.

Gina was a master of multitasking, her speed was no joke!

“Right! But aren’t we using too many ingredients?”

“Oh these? I traded some of today’s spoils with the boss so we can use some of his stuff,”

Teo was quite familiar with the boss. Although he was strict during working hours, he was pretty chill with his workers afterward.

Within 20 minutes, the first batch of food was already finished cooking. Teo quickly grabbed the finished dishes and brought it out to the table. He recognized the new people that Gina invited. It was Kali from the Martial faction and Riss.

“Little brother-in-law! Since when did you start working here again? Hehe, I guess I’ll have to visit this place more often,” Riss said in a loud and cheerful voice.

“Hah, sister-in-law, I’m just helping out for a bit,”

“Teo, don’t encourage her,” Rowen said with a helpless expression. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry whenever Teo played along with Riss’ teasing.

Soon one entree after another filled the table and finally Gina left the kitchen.

“Let’s eat!” she said as she proudly sat down

“Arm ammum murm!” Riss spoke while her mouth was full

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Gina scolded.

Riss paused and swallowed everything she was chewing and said, “Gina, your food is exceptionally good today!”

The fragrant smell of the cooked food also made Lia, Windle, and Teo’s mouth water despite their gruesome hunt today.

“Of course it’ll taste good! What do you think I’ve been doing in my 7 years working here?”

The group laughed and chatted, but when they got to the topic of today’s hunt. Teo and the others became queasy. Eventually, the topic of conversation flowed towards the recent news of the “high” tier shoes.

“If I had those shoes, maybe I can buy senior Aran’s affection,” Riss said.

-cough cough-

Rowen who was currently eating was suddenly caught off guard.

“Riss! Don’t make jokes while I’m eating! Also, my brother isn’t some cheap whore that can be bought!”

“Haha haha.”

“Those shoes alone are bringing so many people to this academy. All the inns inside the academy’s grounds are already so full that the visitors started taking over the inns in the city as well,” Gina said

Riss suddenly had a mischievous look on her face and she looked around the restaurant to see if anyone outside the table could be listening.

With a whispered voice she said, “But you know, everyone is more interested in the one who created these inscriptions. In fact, some of these people are hunting for him!”

Everyone sudden became quieter as they felt that Riss’ whispers were something of a secret.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, many different groups want to invite this crafter into their group. Even the Imperial family is looking for them!” Riss continued.

“That’s amazing isn’t it?”

“It is amazing, BUT it is also very dangerous for this person. Some of them will probably kidnap that person and force him to join! They would even take his person’s family and friends hostage!”

Teo who was listening broke into cold sweat. He might have brought trouble to his friends and family again because he did realize the full repercussions of his actions! He suddenly had the urge to punch himself in the face.

“But if he joins the Imperial family he should be okay right?”

“He could be, but his family might not be. If I wanted something, After finding out who they were, I would find their weakness,” Gina said.

“Actually, even the imperial family was willing to use this method as well. So no matter what he chooses, it will bring disaster upon himself,” Riss said

“That’s only if he has family! These kinds of people usually spend their whole life in research and isolation. Besides, how do you know that the imperial family would do something so shady?” Rowen questioned Riss.

Her goal was to become a respected figure in the Imperial city, and thus regarded the imperial family like the gods.

“The branch chief heard it directly from their own mouths! The elders even told us to spread rumors to warn this mysterious figure, but it’s quite hard finding him,” she sighed

Then Lia suddenly thought of something!

“I think I might know who it is!” she said with a smile.

“Who?” everyone suddenly paid attention.

Teo suddenly became nervous. Although he should not have revealed any indication that it was him, he could not help sweat a bit.

Lia let the suspense build up before she answered.

“It might be instructor Deacon! He is the best inscriptionist in the whole academy!”

The others nodded at Lia’s logic, Teo sighed a relief but Riss shook her head in disagreement.

“No, it’s very unlikely for instructor Deacon to be him”

“How can you be so sure senior?”

“The Emerald Pavilion is very good with information and since this person sold his wares to our place, we know more details about him that other people don’t know!”

“Details like what?” Windle asked

Everyone was becoming more interested in finding out this person’s identity but no one knew that that person was already sitting at the same table as them!

Riss smiled as he loved knowing what others didn’t. The information of the eccentric had already leaked out to the major powers that were in the academy. One of the Emerald Pavilion’s trade was information and only common students like themselves were kept unawares of the many secrets of the world.

“Well from this person’s height, we can tell that it surely isn’t instructor Deacon since he is too tall. If my guess is correct he should be a short old man!”

“Short? How short is this person?”

“Hmm, this person is probably as tall as Lia, maybe shorter. You can bend your knees under a robe to make yourself seem shorter, but if try to make your height taller, your arms will look very awkward and even the branch chief took special attention to this”

“I see..” most of them became convinced but Riss quickly interrupted.

“But of course, there are other possibilities as well. It could’ve been his apprentice or servant that delivered these shoes, but if it really was instructor Deacon, why would he need to use this method?”

The conversation continued and Teo was deep in thought in his own world.

Teo who listened to the previous conversation became grateful to the Emerald Pavilion’s warning. If he suddenly contacted the Emerald Pavilion, he could’ve gotten caught without being aware of the whole situation. It hasn’t been that long since he had caused that crisis from before, but now he might’ve caused another one.

Initially, Teo felt tempted to accept an invitation of such powerful groups. The benefits would’ve been massive, but he would have to risk the safety of his friends and family. Not only that, but there was also the matter of the soul binding contract he had. He could not reveal that these “inscriptions” were actually arrays!

….

Within a large secluded house, Deacon was sitting on his couch with a face full of exhaustion.

‘These people keep bothering me about some inscription I didn’t make!’

He was exhausted by the sheer amount of people coming and asking him questions about the recent emergence of several saint tier shoes. Many of them tried to give him gifts and formally invite Deacon to their faction, and some even tried to blackmail him!

If not for the royal guards placed to watch over him, he might have already been kidnapped.

He was the most likely person who could create such an item that lived in the academy. Deacon was also known by others as a very secretive person, which added more fuel for others to suspect him. Even if he did not match the description provided by the Emerald Pavilion, he could have had someone deliver it for him.

But luckily for Deacon, he had no family. His parents were long dead, and he was a lone child. As far as his uncles and aunts, he no longer had any relationship with them even after he joined the academy. The only thing he cared about was his research and teaching. Although he had a few close colleagues, they were not close enough to force to make a decision he did not want to make.

‘If it was really me, I wouldn’t hide my identity at all! I would travel straight to the capital and reveal it there. Hmph, these idiots!’

He really would have loved to take credit for this work, but he had his own moral code and pride as an inscriptionist and as a researcher. Besides, if he took credit for it and could not deliver, he would never see the light of day again.

The emergency auction was going to be held in just a few more days. He had also heard of these saint tier inscriptions and wanted to see them, but the Emerald Pavilion refused to let him study it.

He was lucky enough to take a look at one when he was invited by the Imperial envoys to be thoroughly questioned. Although he was annoyed for being suspected for someone else, they gave him a chance to inspect a pair as to observe his reaction.

He tried observing it as best as he could, but the level of concealment techniques used was far too advanced for him.

Until this ordeal was over, he decided to stay home and wait it out.

[edited by: thisisnate]

[Author’s note: Yes, Lia is currently taller than Teo atm. From childhood, it seems that girls grew taller much earlier than boys did, or Teo is just inherently a shorty.]