Close to midnight, Jules returned to his room after exploring around a bit.
As someone introverted by circumstance in his past life, he was filled with curiosity!
After washing up and changing into comfortable clothes, Jules sat in front of his desk, fully thinking back to earlier.
Green… That person changes their name depending on the situation…
As expected from a member of one of the strongest factions of the underworld. Well, a former member now.
Jules wore an amused look as he muttered, "They'll be useful to track down the traitors eventually."
"They'll be skeptical about me for now, and they'll probably even be observing me.
"But, as long as I show a sign of usefulness, I won't be discarded easily!"
At that moment, the sound of clicking pulled Jules out of his thoughts.
Ryan walked in with a tired look, his body smelling of alcohol.
"Hey, young master," He said as he walked like a zombie and fell on his bed.
Alcohol… As Jules recalled displeasing memories, he said, "Go wash up. You reek."
"Tsk. No form of pity," Ryan whined before replying, "I'll do that after I report."
Irritated, Jules shifted his gaze from Ryan as he said:
"No need to report you partying. Unless there's valuable news, only report when you've found the person you're looking for."
"That's why I'm reporting. I've found him. It was eventful—he even got detained!"
"Huh?" Jules couldn't suppress his shock. "You found him so fast?"
He didn't arrive till later this week in the novel!
What if we had taken a longer break? I would have missed the easy chance to form a link with him! His thoughts spiraled.
Could it be his lucky trait? Meeting me is his current lucky event?
Jules had forgotten how bizarre that trait actually was!
Just my existence alone has started to influence the plot!
Before Jules could think deeply, he heard a loud voice in his ear, "Snap out of it goddammit!"
Slightly startled, Jules immediately composed himself as he faced Ryan.
Ryan sat upright, his annoyance evident. "How did you even space out just like that?"
This was a common habit of mine back in child care…
Jules smiled tensely, then cleared his throat. "You were saying? You saw the person?"
Ryan sighed as he replied, "I saw him at the biggest Pub. He apparently got provoked by some travellers and he beat them up. They were mocking his height and accent."
"This…" Jules remembered something similar happening in the novelExcept that he didn't beat them up.
Seeing Jules act as if he had heard something unbelievable, Ryan decided to add, "I even made sure of his name for final confirmation. Finn."
The protagonist, Finn, was just recovering from losing his whole world two centuries ago, and he was bottling up a lot of emotions.
In the novel, Finn wanted to use them as a medium to vent, but the being in the system stopped him then!
What has changed now? I don't believe this is related to his trait…
"What happened next?" Jules asked.
"A commotion started and he got detained by officials because of how big it got. That small dude really took down 20 people!"
"Do you know when he'll be released?" Jules probed.
"Of course. The morning of the day after tomorrow."
"Good job."
As Ryan heard the acknowledgement, he was about to assume he was released from this task.
"Cultivate your core tomorrow and continue paying attention to him when he's released." Jules instructed.
Ryan's lips curled downward before he acquiesced. "Alright…"
Hearing this, Jules occupied himself with his thoughts again.
Finn is supposed to be looking for the underworld to obtain beast cores so he can feed his system.
If he acts as he did in the novel, he still has a being in his system, if he doesn't…
Jules didn't want to think that far yet.
- - -
Six days passed by in a blink.
Aside from the duo becoming aware of people who were observing them, nothing odd happened. Jules had attributed it to Green's people and just ignored them.
Jules had dedicated this time to his practice as planned; even using his Heart skills.
He hadn't yet absorbed the skill Freya gave him because he didn't want it to hinder the growth of his other skills, which in turn affected how much of the Heart he comprehended.
He believed the Heart had more to offer than that skill so he only kept it in his inventory for now.
Ryan was also faithful to increasing his core stage—he didn't need to work as much on battle skills like Jules, he had almost 2 years of actual battle experience.
Additionally, he had been taught by his father for years now.
Ryan was also carrying out his duty to observe Finn, the protagonist, which improved both his soundwave manipulation and the new skill Freya had given him.
Based on reports, Jules had confirmed that Finn was still acting in line with the novel, making him glad.
His plan to form a bond with Finn would still be carried out.
Jules was going to collect his items from Green today.
Dressed similarly to before—white mask under a cloak—he went to the Green Stream Apothecary.
The room was in a similar position to the last time, but Green, dressed in a black suit with green patterns, was the one behind the counter.
The five-feet-five man was standing behind the counter with his hands crossed.
"Hello, Veil," Green said.
"Sir Green Stream," Jules said, "How do you do?"
Green seemed to tweak for a second before he replied, "As good as I can be."
Jules found Green's reaction amusing. Heh, when I'm under a mask, I can say most things without worry.
Without delay, Green stretched his hands over the counter and using a storage device, he pulled out various items and dropped them on the table.
You know I'm coming, you could have prepared them down. Did you just want to show-off your storage device because it's 'rare'?
Jules chuckled and picked up the consumables.
One was a blue leaf dotted with glowing droplets. Another, a glass bottle filled with a yellow liquid streaked with white rings.
The last was a small case holding two blue orbs—dense with mana. There were a few other ones, but they weren't as strong as the previous four.
All of them were for Core Cultivation.
Expensive, yes—but worth it. These resources had only begun appearing in recent years, thanks to deeper exploration.
Without them, cultivation would take far longer. It was no wonder this generation was stronger than the last.
Nodding with satisfaction, Jules brought the items under his cloak, one by one.
Green's head tilted slightly, as if he were trying to see where Jules was putting them.
Seeing this, Jules chuckled aloud again!
Wanna show off? Two can play at that game!
Ever since they met, Jules, or rather Veil, and Green were in a form of battle.