Edward was surprised that Leyla had come back to Gobéliard with the adventurers, but in a way, he was also glad that she was there.

“This piece of news is indeed interesting to me,” he replied to the beggar. “Can you wait for a bit of time, I have a message to send them.”

Edward hurried into the tavern and asked for a piece of paper and a pen, he then went to an unoccupied table to write the message.

I need to meet them somewhere outside of the adventurer guild. Edward thought of the arena but remembered how the Vega family had found him there the first time they inquired about him. Let’s meet at the small temple. I doubt the main families are assiduous in worshipping gods. With their ego, I wouldn’t be surprised if they considered themselves gods. It should be a safe place.

With the message written out, Edward gave it to the beggar and asked him to give it to Charles or Leyla. He would have told him to give it to any member of the group but with how much animosity Briand had towards him, he couldn’t be sure of his reaction.

Seeing the inquiring look of the beggar, Edward realized that he probably already knew who he was. A stranger asking to send a message to a group of adventurers mourning a friend. There is no need to think hard to discern that I am that friend.

It should be fine. The deal I made with the families was never made public. And although Quintus wants me dead, it’s not like he has put a price on my head. Still, let’s buy his goodwill just in case.

“Once you deliver the message, I will give you five silver coins as a bonus,” Edward added.

The beggar thanked him before leaving with the letter.

Edward spent the rest of the night in meditation and thinking about what was to come

*****

The next day, he went to the rendezvous point at the small Scandinavian temple. Charles’ group of adventurers and Leyla were already there.

“You are alive!” Leyla exclaimed gleefully. “I would have been mad at you if you had made me come all the way here only for you to be dead.”

“Well, it is understandable that the expedition thought of me as dead. But I must say that it turned right for me.” Edward answered with a smile.

Aquamarine noticed that Edward wasn’t accompanied by his bodyguards this time. “You managed to escape from the main families?” She asked hopefully.

“Not really. They let me go thinking I’ll just die. I had to come back to prove them wrong.” He smiled. “The Vega family will hunt me down when they learn I’m still alive. The good news is that I’m ready to fight them now.”

“You are ready to fight them! Don’t joke around, the Vega’s head of the family is at the predator level. It’s not something that we can match. Why do you think the main families can do whatever they want? Because nobody has the strength to oppose them or to replace them.” Brian interjected.

Edward winked at him. “Maybe, I am on that level too.”

Brian’s jaw dropped open in shock.

“You are at the predator stage? How did you manage to do it?” Charles asked, surprised by the news.

“Let’s just say I killed a lot of monsters, including a big one recently, that managed to push me over the edge,” Edward answered without giving many details.

“The predator level…how many monsters did you kill exactly?” Brian added still having trouble believing him.

Edward brushed his head with his hand. “To be honest I lost count. Ha-ha. How did it go on your end? You had a safe journey?”

“We were attacked several times by wolves, but it was nothing we couldn’t handle,” Charles explained.

“By wolves? While you were still on the path?” Edward demanded.

“I saw it myself. Guards from the village also confirmed that they stopped encountering Bloodmaws and that the number of wolves was increasing instead.” Leyla answered before Charles could reply.

The Bloodmaws must have culled the wolf population. Now that they are gone, their numbers are getting increased by the surge just like the other monsters. I should check on Agripin once I’m done here.

“Monsters are expanding everywhere. I don’t know if this is the reason why the path is not a deterrent anymore, or if it is because of the Bloodmaws having trod on it. Anyway, thanks for coming.” Edward added gratefully.

“So, I brought several copies of the runes booklet as you asked me. What is this all about? Your friends told me you were in conflict with the local big families.”

“Carlson is here,” Edward replied grimly. “He is in cahoots with the Vega family. He somehow convinced them that I was the one who killed Marc. Also, they realized that I knew some runes. To escape their pursuit, I managed to make a deal with the whole three families governing Gobéliard. By trading some runes, I managed to create a fragile balance between the families, they don’t trust each other enough to let one family take hold of me, and since they are getting the runes anyway, they are happy with this development.”

“So, that’s where he went.” Leyla harumphed “I knew his disappearance was hiding something.”

“What’s your plan?” Charles asked him.

“I will distribute the runes booklets to the Gobéliard minors’ families. This will destroy the monopoly that the main families are holding, severely weakening them in the long term. However, they will never accept that. I plan on taking Quintus on a one-on-one by myself. This should remove the Vega family from the picture. I hope the other families are clever enough not to press the matter once they realize that I can hold my own against them.” Edward told them.

“That’s a bold plan.” Aquamarine stated concerned.

“Looks like you will need your new armor,” Leyla revealed with a knowing smile.

“You managed to finish it!” Edward exclaimed surprised by the news.

Leyla unpacked the armor. It was pitch black and consisted of several pieces. Truth be told, it looked more like a tunic than armor, the metal easily pliable. There was even a helmet included, it looked like a fencing helmet. It had no openings and would cover the whole head, Edward had to wear it like a balaclava. Curiously enough, he was able to see through the metal as if it wasn’t there.

“As for your current armor, I mixed a durability rune and another one to make it malleable. The most elaborate part is the helmet where I managed to blend the third rune in to make it transparent from your side. You will be able to see through it as if it wasn’t there.” Leyla declared proudly.

Edward was standing in his new armor, black from head to toe with no visible openings. It was disturbing to the sight, especially for the face which had no discerning features. Only a smooth black surface was looking their way. Truth be told, if you ignored his size, Edward could have been mistaken for a Teleportcrow.

“It’s amazing!” Edward exclaimed while moving around. The armor was not hampering his movements in the slightest.

It won’t protect me from aura-enhanced attacks unless I reinforce it with my own aura, but it should stop normal attacks. With armor like that, I could walk unharmed through a Murlocs crowd, or even through Lusus naturae as long as they can’t use aura.

The rest of the adventurers looked at the armor in shock and slightly envious, having never seen anything like that.

Leyla gave the runes booklet copies to Edward, he would be the one in charge of their distribution. It was still too risky for Leyla and the adventurer group to be seen with him until he took care of Quintus. So, he told them to withdraw for now. Although he asked Leyla to continue making copies. For now, the runes would be shared with the minor families, but Edward intended to make them public knowledge.

Edward changed back into his clothes and went back to the tavern. He would wait for the night to distribute the runes booklets. Running around in a faceless black outfit during the day was not a great way to stay inconspicuous.

Once the night had fallen, Edward teleported from his room to a roof on the other side of the street. He had his armor on and was pitch black except for his backpack where he was keeping the runes booklets and the city map.

He ran silently on the roofs, unnoticed by the few passersby still outside at this late hour. He aimed straight for the closest family. Although they had a nice mansion with even its own little courtyard, it didn’t bother Edward in the slightest. He extended his aura, just enough to pierce through the mansion’s walls, and he teleported inside.

The room he appeared in was empty, the occupants were currently either sleeping or confined in their room. Edward noticed the numerous decorations and ornaments. Even as a minor family they don’t seem to lack money. He didn’t deploy his aura in the whole mansion for fear of being detected. The further one progress in levels, the less one needed to sleep. Even though it was less noticeable at the lower levels, Edward couldn’t ignore the possibility of an inhabitant still being awake. After all, he himself spent lots of time in meditation rather than sleeping.

Edward simply dropped the rune booklet on the middle of a table in what seemed to be the dining room. Not losing any more time, he teleported outside and headed toward his next target.

Everything unfolded without incidents. Local inhabitants were not used to teleportation powers. Even the mansion who had guards keeping watch over them didn’t notice Edward as he simply bypassed them to teleport directly into the building they were guarding. I bet it will be a mess when they wake up and realize a precious book just appeared in the middle of their home with nobody knowing how. Edward smirked. I can already imagine their face when they make more inquiries and realize it happened in all the minor families. I don’t know if they will be happy to get such a precious present or if they will get scared instead that someone was able to invite himself into their home with no one the wiser.

Now the only thing left is to confront Quintus.