Chapter 39

As the genre was romance thriller, Hestia was also surrounded by all sorts of danger. She was endangered by kidnapping just as much as Anne-Marie, she was almost killed by villains….

So wasn't it possible for a child to be traumatized by such events?

No, a normal child would 100% be traumatized. The same was true of the kidnapping episode that might be coming soon.

For this reason, I concluded it would be better to just eliminate such episodes. Which is why I never removed the thread I secretly put on Hestia at the festival and have actually been checking her location from time to time. Although that meant I was illegally tracking her location without her guardian's consent.

Of course, if I stopped Hestia from being kidnapped, the fateful first encounter of the male and female protagonist might not happen.

But I knew nothing was more important to Anne-Marie than her sister's safety.

So just like I removed Lakis Avalon from Anne-Marie, I was planning on meddling in the original story when Hestia was in danger. Well, somehow I felt like that would make things troublesome.

But as I lived with the sisters as next-door neighbors I both wanted and didn't want, I hardly thought of them as letters on a paper. Besides, if the protagonists were destined to be connected, wouldn't they meet anyways even if I intervened?

Moreover, since Kalian was the main male-lead of the novel, I figured he'd be able to manage even if there were disruptions from an extra like me.

And as for my favorite character…

Honestly for him, not getting involved with Anne-Marie was the path to a long life.

Clatter.

Suddenly, I recalled something and momentarily stopped wiping the glass cup in my hand. Lately, maybe because I saw Lakis at home every day, I strangely thought of my favorite character much more than before.

In fact, if I were to investigate as Arachne, I might be able to find out where and what my favorite character was doing right now but I didn't do that.

Well…

I suppose you could say as a reader who was once a fan, I wanted to keep my fave character's secret since he didn't want to reveal it. Of course, it has been so long since I read the book, plus my emotions were dulled so I didn't have much interest or affection for him as before.

But still, since I liked him quite a lot at the time, I figured I might as well keep my loyalty in a sense. But somehow, I had a hunch that my favorite character was the Snow from the coffeehouse, so I took some realistic damage.

Well, naturally. The two of them should be very far apart.

Caw!

While I was feeling unsettled, the small cry of a crow came from above the store. The crow cried out exactly four times.

Moments later, I finished wiping the cup and tidied up the area. Then I picked up the trash bag in the store and went out the back door. I placed the bag down in the garbage dump and pick up a feather. It was engraved with small, faint letters not visible to the average eye.

[Three days, the usual.]

It was a message from Odin to meet at the usual time and place in three days. It was most likely for the thing I commissioned him to do last time. Seeing as he didn't ask me to meet him immediately, the request was not yet complete.

After confirming, I squeezed the black feather in my hand. Then it turned into smoke and vanished without a trace. I turned around and reentered the store.

"I'd like to order!"

Just in time, a new customer who entered called for me. Mr. Gilbert was dealing with another customer.

I headed for the customer while wondering what Odin would tell me in three days.

* * *

–

The atmosphere in the Alchemist Tower was dark and gloomy as usual.

"Damn it, it was actually real this time."

The reason for this was the man who was currently walking down the hallway, spreading the chill.

Everyone who worked in the Alchemist Tower were required to wear the same uniform, but he wore his own clothes as if he never cared about rules. This man was none other than Damon Salvatore.

He was in a particularly foul mood because he had been forcefully dragged to a family meeting. This was also why he was wearing a stifling formal suit.

Damon slightly loosened the tie gripping his throat and irritatedly ruffled his oiled down hair. Of course, the fact that he'd just been in an uncomfortable meeting contributed to his violent mood, but he had actually been emitting this chilly aura since he came back from the secret auction.

On top of being an outstanding influence within the Alchemist Tower, Damon's family was also a great aristocratic family well-known in the East. So everyone had no choice but to be tactful with him.

The reason Damon was in such a bad mood was naturally because of the last item that had been stolen from the auction.

'That ghost-eyed bastard.'

In addition, his unexpected encounter with that man was still on his mind and it made him annoyed.

'I thought he buried himself in a rat hole after being expelled. But no, he's walking around completely fine.'

Damon entered his personal lab and sat down with his feet on the desk. His frown deepened on his face then he called someone and gave them an order.

"Find out what Genos Sheldon is doing lately."

"Genos Sheldon?"

But the person receiving his order had a somewhat odd reaction. Damon knit his brows and asked:

"Why? You know something?"

"That…"

The person sounded hesitant for a moment but with Damon's urging, they finally spoke.

"I heard the agenda for this central conference was reinstating him."

"What?"

A twisted smile emerged his beautiful face.

"Are those old fools growing senile? It wasn't that long ago they personally chased him out, and now they want to start this bullshit?"

Biting remarks shot out of his mouth.

"So? Is that bastard coming?"

"I don't know that yet. Apparently, they still haven't made a decision."

Damon once again recalled the deer-masked man he saw at the auction house.

Genos Sheldon, the Guardian of the East.

The Crawford family was essentially the king of the east, and the Salvatore family which Damon belonged to, was the pillar that supported the Crawford family.

However, after the appearance of Genos Sheldon, the mediocre Sheldon family advanced rapidly, surpassing even the Salvatore family. Of course, that glory disappeared with the destruction of Genos Sheldon.

"Anyways, look into what that guy is doing these days. I thought he was wasting away in a backwater, but it seems that's not the case."

"Yes, I understand!"

"Also, keep looking for that thing from the auction, the philosopher stone or whatever they call it."

"Oh, you still haven't given up…"

"What? Don't tell me you haven't been looking for it?"

"Ack, no, no, definitely not!"

"This f*cking—. You think this is a joke…!"

Damon Salvatore exploded with a horrendous aura. After which, the sound of something being smashed echoed from his room.

It was another noisy day at the alchemist tower.

* * *

"Ahh!"

It was huge four storey building with usually tight security. Inside, was an untimely intruder.

"G-Guards!"

Someone hurriedly called for the guards, but it was already of no use. As soon the man in a frog mask entered the building, he incapacitated the people guarding the place and reached the center.

He was none other than Lakis.

While Yuri was at the coffeehouse, Lakis went out to cause trouble at the auction house. His purpose was, of course, the philosopher stone/ruin's fragment which they had displayed in the auction on the day of the festival.

"You know, this is the third time I'm asking this."

A cold voice came from behind a cute frog mask which looked like something kids would use.

Unfortunately, the first auction house Lakis ransacked didn't give him the answer he wanted right away. Instead, it was only after a harsh beating that the administrator there told him they had gotten the philosopher stone from somewhere else. So he went there and after threatening and torturing them, they also said he had to go to another place.

Which is why Lakis was standing here right now.

"I'm very annoyed and pissed off right now. So I'd prefer if this is the last place."

Lakis spoke with mock gentleness as he bent down and tapped the cheek of the man he was stepping on.

But the man was already terrified by this situation when he saw that no one was coming to his aid. So he trembled and nodded repeatedly like he would answer anything.

"Right. You have to give me a good answer."

Lakis nodded as if saying he would give him a chance.

Then he asked, "That philosopher stone you put in the auction, where did you get it?"