Meeting Again? (2)

Emily didn't expect his appearance, but he had saved her once more. She appreciated his help, but she also couldn't help feeling suspicious of his intentions. Her saviour showed a wry smile to her suspicious gaze, but he only shrugged. He was glad that she grew up, but still sad that she couldn't be the same smug girl that he remembered.

While the young man looked back at the memories he had of her, the girl spoke up.

"I'm sorry and thank you but, I thought you weren't going to help me anymore."

"I changed my mind."

It was a simple and vague response but before she could question him anymore, the young man turned back to the assassin who had let go of the dagger and looked at him with caution. The young man honestly didn't know who they were or who sent them, but even though they were in the same business he couldn't spare them. While still looking at the one in front of him, he called out to the girl's senior brother.

"Hey, you over there. I'll handle the rest."

At the same time, he waved his hand and cut off the arms of the assassin holding the rope that bound the senior brother. No one could see clearly how he did it, but they all recognised his strength. The girl's senior brother felt reluctant to simply stand back, but the young man didn't give him a chance to intervene. He kicked the assassin in front of him into the other one and then pummelled both of them. While he was taking care of them, the girl's senior brother approached her and asked who he was.

She shook her head and replied, "I don't know. I met him while I was running away and he seems to be helping me on a whim."

Both of them thought that he was a shady character, but there wasn't much they could do about it. As they and the other survivors from the carriage began to think about finishing their journey to Paraj, Shui secretly tried to read the memories of one of the assassins, but it was to no avail. The moment he slipped into their mind, their memories were automatically wiped, making them useless. However, he found a thin bronze seal with a mask on one side and a heart on the other.

'The Tower of Killers. Just great, another coincidence. There's no way this was at random, could they have been aiming for Emily?'

Shui wanted more time to think but once he was finished with the assassins, the senior brother and junior sister pair approached him. They still thought that he was suspicious, but the girl insisted that they at least be polite. Her senior brother gave into her demands, but either because he was worried or he had 'other' thoughts, he was the one to speak to the young man.

"I'd like to thank you for your help on behalf of everyone. I don't think we would still all be alive without you."

"It's fine, I just felt like it."

"Even so, thank you. My name is Adrian and my junior sister here is Emily."

Adrian stretched out his hand for a handshake which the young man accepted.

"Shui."

The pair hoped to learn something from his name, but neither of them had heard of him before despite the fact that he was definitely a genius in the Earth Realm or maybe higher. Therefore, they assumed that he was using an alias of some sort.

"I see. In addition to helping the rest of us, I heard that you also saved my junior sister, I really don't know how to repay you."

Adrian tried to act polite, but Shui could see through his dissatisfaction. It would be easy to solve things here, but he didn't want to interfere too impulsively in Emily's life.

"It's fine. I only did it on a whim."

Shui cared little for Adrian, but he continued to show a faint smile for now. He also glanced at Emily, but it didn't seem like she would suddenly remember what happened in that space, which was no surprise.

After a bit of small talk, the two let go of each other's hand and Adrian asked.

"By the way we're heading to Paraj, what about you?"

It was an easy to understand invitation. Adrian and Emily didn't fully trust him, but it simply made sense to go together if they were heading in the same direction. Thinking the same thing, the previous occupants of the carriage were also still nearby.

Shui was going to Paraj to rank up as a member of the underground guild, so this was no pleasure trip, but he had already decided to help Emily. Even if she had no connection with him in this life, he didn't feel like ignoring her when fate brought them together like this.

Shui agreed to go with them and so the three of them took the lead while the other three trailed behind. They also thanked Shui, but he had purposefully used a colder smile to reply to them.

Along the way to Paraj, Adrian restrained himself from touching on the topic of Shui's identity, but he didn't.

Quiet enough so that the three behind them didn't hear, he asked, "Do either of you two train in a secondary profession?"

It wasn't a strange question, but Adrian internally clicked his tongue before responding.

"Yes, I'm an alchemist while my junior sister is an array master."

"I'm only an apprentice array master," unable to accept the title she was given, Emily butted into the conversation.

However, Adrian disagreed with her.

"Oh come on, junior sister. You're a tier 3 array master, if you call yourself an apprentice then how can others call themselves experts?"

Shui raised an eyebrow when he heard that Emily was a tier 3 array master. He didn't care for these rankings since he believed that any array could produce astonishing results based on who used it, but the tiers of arrays were useful as they were decided by their power. If it could affect someone in the Mortal Realm then it was tier 1, if it was someone in the Soul Realm, tier 2 and if it was someone in the Earth Realm, tier 3. As Nikolai was a tier 3 array master and had a prestigious title, Shui was surprised that Emily seemed to be in such dire circumstances despite her skill.

"Even if I am a tier 3 array master, I can't call myself one without the approval of my master or the Array Association, so I'm still an apprentice."

As Emily said this with a solemn expression, Adrian showed a wry smile and Shui connected the dots in his mind.

'Could Nikolai have passed away?'

He was sure that Nikolai was her master in this life as well, and though there was a chance that he was simply reluctant to acknowledge Emily's talent, Shui had a feeling that something more went on. He considered getting information from the underground guild when they reached Paraj, but he changed his mind since the other participants in the rank-up exam could be watching the branch.

'I'll have to do some digging myself.'

The next option was to read Adrian's memories, but that was a risky move as well. Since both options were off the table, he would have to wait until he found another lead.