How the hell is my luck so bad?
To think the first person I'd meet from the past would be her. She looked straight at me.
I'm hoping the crowd made me blend in enough that she would be unable to describe my appearance clearly, because if not, I'm screwed.
I let out a sigh of frustration as I retraced my steps through the alley and headed back into the market I had left not long before.
I decided to roam around a bit and stay in a populated area for a while, at least until the imperial family made it back to the castle so the road would clear.
Now, I'll have to be a lot more cautious while going around the capital.
Sigh...
How annoying.
I wasted some time walking around aimlessly, observing the merchants trying to sell their wares, or scam some unfortunate victim in some cases, letting the bustling noise help me clear my head.
By the time I started making my way back, the sun had already disappeared beyond the horizon and the moon had taken its place high in the sky.
I'm not even going to talk to Lia. I just want to go to sleep at this point.
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I woke up the next day to the rays of the sun hitting me right in the eye.
I groaned before turning toward the direction of the perpetrator and saying:
"I don't know who's worse, you or those two idiotic younger brothers of mine back at Shrek. Can't you let me enjoy some more rest? It's the second time in two days."
"Somebody has to make sure you don't slack off, master."
Even with my eyes still squinted from the light, I tried my best to transform my expression into a deadpan that I hoped would make her feel some hint of embarrassment.
I failed.
"What are you doing with your face? It doesn't matter anyways. You have a lot to do, master, and you didn't even tell me why you were so annoyed yesterday. You just took the room keys and headed straight to bed."
"Sigh... Alright, just give me a second and I'll... Wait. How did you get into my room?"
"A girl has her secrets," she said with a radiant smile and a twinkle of mischief in her eyes.
I didn't need Fafnir to know that she wanted to annoy me and tease me.
It's too early in the morning for this.
"Fine, I'm up. Now get out so I can get dressed properly."
"How preposterous! I'm your very reliable and trustworthy star subordinate. It would be a disaster if I didn't help you dress yourself properly, as it is my solemn duty, my very dear master."
I didn't respond.
Or at least, not verbally.
I quite simply kicked the covers off myself, walked calmly to her side, and gave her a firm kick onto her backside that had her flying out the door.
"If you come back in, I'm sending you back to base."
I ignored her half-offended, half-whining cry of "Master~~" and began the usual morning ritual.
A quick fifteen minutes later and I was out of my room, only to be greeted by the sight of a crying puppy knelt in front of my door.
Oh, never mind, that was just Dahlia.
"Get up already. You're gonna draw attention. We need to speak in private and it's urgent. Does this place have any private rooms we could use?"
Her expression turned serious in an instant as she replied, "Yes sir. Follow me and I'll lead you there."
I followed Dahlia as she led the way downstairs and toward the front desk, not even blinking at her rapid change.
"Go ahead. I'll wait for you here."
She nodded and headed to the front desk to talk to the person manning it.
A lot of thoughts went through my head as I observed her interacting with the man.
So much happened in so little time and I was a bit confused.
Chaos.
I love it when it's happening to those that I hate, and I hate it when it happens to me or those that I love.
I hope Dahlia can help me figure things out a bit.
It was so easy to set things up in Suotuo, where the strongest person is the Dragon Duke who doesn't even care much about what's happening. It was so easy to do whatever I wanted to do, and now Yamigan is an organization that, while lacking in strength, has some of the most skilled spies and assassins on the continent.
But this is the capital. Uncharted territory. Dangerous territory.
I didn't trust myself enough to not mess up, not when so much was on the line.
The moves I'm going to make aren't something that a normal Spirit Ancestor would do, but...
As Master Jashin said, I'm not normal. I'm the inheritor to the Evil God. A reincarnator. A genius.
I could hear his voice now:
"Be more confident! You're my disciple and heir. A twin martial spirit user. You might not be the child of destiny, but you'll be the one to break it, so hold your head up high and trust in yourself."
Before I could go deeper into reminiscing, I felt a finger poke my cheek, bringing me back to reality only to witness Dahlia standing next to me with a slight smile on her face:
"You're spacing out again, master."
"My bad. Did you get us a private room?"
"Yes! This hotel doubles as a restaurant so they have some private rooms that are free since it's still so early in the morning."
I nodded at her and gestured for her to lead the way once again as she marched forward to the room she had just reserved.
Only a couple minutes later and we were seated inside the room.
I unleashed Fafnir and utilized my spirit power to block the noise so none could hear us outside.
Dahlia sat quietly until I nodded, signaling that we were in the clear, before she asked:
"What happened, master? Why did you come back so annoyed yesterday?"
"Qian Renxue. You remember what I told you about her?"
"An agent of the Spirit Hall who's infiltrating the Heaven Dou Empire as an imposter prince, right? She's also a member of the Qian family which leads the Spirit Hall and possesses a divine inheritance similar to yours."
"Yes, you got the most important parts about her. I saw her yesterday, and she sensed me."
"Sensed you? What do you mean? Did you reveal yourself on accident, master?"
"Am I that unreliable to you? Our attributes are extremely rare and border on the divine, and we both have God-level martial spirits. That connection, if you want to call it as such, makes it so we can sense each other if we are close, and it makes it so we feel a sensation of rejection and danger when near each other, which means—"
"She's now looking for you. She'll probably try to capture you to understand why her martial spirit reacted this way and to maintain her identity. Did she see you?"
"Not entirely, I believe. I was in the middle of a crowd so I don't think she was able to detect me precisely. I wanted to inform you so you can raise our caution level. Make sure all agents are a lot more careful and have them keep their ears and eyes open. If they see any strange activities from the first prince's mansion, you know the drill. We can't risk confronting her and those behind her. We'll leave immediately and come back another day."
"Of course, master. I agree with your decision. I would recommend for you to change your appearance. Maybe cut your hair and wear a blindfold. You've done it before to train your other senses because of your martial spirit's abilities which grant you enhanced senses. Doing so will make it harder for her to figure you out."
"That's a good idea, Lia. I'll rely on you to take care of it and help me with this 'disguise.'"
"Yes sir. Anything else you wish to order?"
I took a sip of water from the cup in front of me to hydrate my parched throat before replying:
"I'm moving up the schedule. I'll go meet the Strength Clan tomorrow. For now, just focus on getting some new recruits. You know the drill for that, I trust you can deal with it accordingly."
"I'm on it, master," she said before standing up and heading toward me.
I raised a brow at her approach.
The next moment, my other brow joined the first, creating an expression of surprise on my face, born out of the gesture she had just made.
"Don't worry yourself, master. Everything will be fine," she said while caressing my hair.
I took a moment before smiling softly at her in thanks, which she returned with a smile of her own.
Time to begin our partial takeover, though not really, of the capital.
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Author's note:
Hey guys,
Sorry again for the inconsistencies in my release schedule. I've been getting ready for my first semester at university and recently moved into a new apartment closer to campus. On top of that, I'm also wrapping up my summer semester at CEGEP (if you don't know what that is, just look it up, it's a Quebec thing), so things have been a bit hectic.
The only reason I managed to get this chapter out is because I got a sudden burst of inspiration, which helped me write it pretty quickly.
I'll do my best to keep releasing new chapters, but if I don't, no worries, I'm not dropping the story. And if I ever do decide to stop (which is unlikely), I'll be sure to let you all know properly.
This chapter was pretty simple, more of a filler with a bit of (attempted) comedic relief before we dive back into the action. I also tried switching up my writing style slightly and relied less on AI editing this time, so let me know what you think.
Thanks again for your patience and support and see you in the next one,
Peace.