Waiting for a response.

" I'm going to take a cold shower now."

.....

" Ah…. My head ….."

" Good morning, you're up earlier than I thought." Early next morning, Neil was sitting on a chair facing the window, he seemed deep in thought, when suddenly he heard Carol's whiney voice .

Carol was holding her head with one hand and supporting her body with the other, her hair was a mess. She looked exactly like someone having a hangover from drinking too much. When she heard Neil's voice she was confused, then she looked up and saw him smiling at her.

" Aaah, where….where am I …..!?"

" Hey, calm down, you were really drunk last night and passed out, I didn't know where you live so I brought you here. That said, if you can't handle alcohol then why drink so much ? "

Carol took a glance at her clothes, when she noticed that they looked normal and nothing seemed missing, only then did she sigh in relief and calm down.

" Jeez, what do you take me for, do I look like the kind who would take advantage of someone unconscious ?!" Neil said with indignation when he noticed her checking her clothes.

" Sorry " Carol looked really embarrassed, she usually doesn't drink but she didn't have a choice last night, it was an order from her boss and she couldn't afford to lose her job, " Thank you for taking care of me ."

" There is a shower in here, go wash your face. Breakfast will be here soon. "

...

" Are there any organizations that specializes in information in the city ? " while eating breakfast, Neil suddenly asked carol who was eating in silence, she seemed still embarrassed about her behavior last night and this morning.

" Ah, yes, well they don't specialize solely in information but I've heard that for the right price anything can be bought there."

" Miss carol, would you please be kind enough to clarify more, like what are you talking about." Neil didn't want to laugh at carol who was obviously flustered.

" Ah, yes, it's an auction house called the treasure pavilion, they sell and buy all kinds of cultivation resources and treasures."

Sigh, Neil sighed in his heart, this girl seemed afraid of him, but he can understand why, commoners when faced with noble clans or sects descendants could only camply no matter what was asked of them. So, Everytime he opened his mouth she'd be afraid of him asking for something she didn't want to do, they were alone in a bedroom after all, and Neil passed behavior of looking at her chest without care for the world showed his interest.

" Thank you miss carol for accompanying me, I am sure your family is worried about, so you should leave, else they'll start looking for you." After asking her a few more questions then told to leave, he that she wanted to but was afraid to ask him.

" Why do you look like you care about this girl ?! " After carol left, little fairy asked him this, confused.

" At first I only wanted her company, but the more I look at her the more I felt something familiar about her, but I just can't put my finger on what it is. " Neil said with a slight frown on his face. " Forget it, it's time we do some investigating."

" You're going to that auction house ? Do you think they could be of any help ? "

" I don't know, but I have to start somewhere. If they can provide me with the smallest of clues, that would be enough to start from." Neil said while taking of his clothes.

" Why are you undressing so suddenly ?! Don't tell me your little brother is acting up again and you want to punish him ?!" Little fairy said, amused.

"Hmph, you certainly do have a perverted mind." Neil was still a bit ashamed of what happened last night, especially when little fairy was teasing him whenever she had the chance. " I'm changing my clothes and appearance. I still don't know who my enemy is, so it's better if my enemy doesn't know who I am as well, at least not until the moment I want him to." Neil's logic was pretty simple, if he were going to start investigating that incident then there was a good chance he might alert his enemy.

After taking his clothes off and storing them, he took out a new set of clothes that were black in color and wore them, then his body started to change, normally Neil looked like a young man in his mid twenties, but now he looked like a middle aged man who gave off an imposing and dignified aura.

Finished changing his appearance, Neil opened the window and disappeared.

The treasure pavilion auction house holds an auction every month to sell precious commodities and treasures either owned by them or caumitioned by others but that doesn't mean they're closed on other days, because they also operate as a shop that buys and sells cultivation resources, weopens and even treasures that aren't worth being auctioned by their standards.

The auction house was situated in the central area of the city facing the central plaza. The land here needed more then gold to be bought, which testified to the treasure pavilion' ability.

Coming here, Neil was a bit hopeful because carol had told him that the treasure pavilion could be found in half of the continent's lands which was testimony to their connections and strong backing, and that was exactly what Neil needed, an organization with Strength and connections.

Entering the white seven stories building that could be considered a landmark of the city, Neil was greeted by a young man with a businessman like smile.

"Welcome, esteemed sir." The young man was courteous which was not the norm for every customer, by the contrary, the place was bustling with people and it would be a struggle just to make it to one of the counters, but the aura and demeanor Neil was emetting that made people unconsciously move out of his way, made the young man pay special attention to him. " My name is Jane, if there is anything we could help you with here in the treasure pavilion, pray tell."

" I wish to seek information." Neil had an expressionless face and kept his words to a minimum.

" Esteemed sir, please follow me inside." The young man then led him to a room that looked like it was there especially for business discussion, in it there were two sofas in the right corner, a table in between, in the left corner was a black door. There was little decorations in the room. " Esteemed sir, please take a seat, the manager in charge of information will be here shortly. In the meantime, would you like anything to drink ? "

" No need."

Not long after, the black door opened, and a beautiful woman wearing a black dress entered, although the black dress didn't reveal anything, it still outlined her vivacious body which made her look even more enchanting, she had arched eyebrows, small eyes, small nose and full lips.

Neil found himself checking her out which made him think that his inexperience with women might be his weak point.

" Hello, my name is Reina, I was told that mister has something to inquire about." Reina said after sitting on the sofa facing Neil, she had a faint smile on her face.

" I'll excuse myself." The young said after the woman gave him a glance.

" Yes, I need information on the Fitzroy clan incident twenty nine years ago." Neil said, his face becoming even colder for an instant while getting right to the point.

Reina was surprised for a moment but her facial expression didn't change much. ' Why would he be asking about such a thing ?!' . Her interest was picked.

The Fitzroy massacre as people would call it, was something that made even the royal clan bewildered, because whoever did it didn't leave a clue behind other than the bodies of the deceased.

The Fitzroy clan was one of the top five powers in the kingdom and to massacre them in one night without leaving evidence or alerting anyone, even the royal clan would have to move all they're core strength and it'll still be hard to do it so cleanly.

But that said, this happened years ago and although all the powers of the kingdom were alarmed back then, things have settled down and been considered as a mystery that might never be solved. So, why would this man in front of her be asking for answers, what's his goal ? Could he be related to the Fitzroy clan ?

" I am willing to pay a high price for any kind of information on the incident." Neil added.

" This happened long ago and it would be hard to dig any information on the incident, but if there are any powers that can do it, then our treasure pavilion is definitely one of them, but it'll still take a while and it definitely won't be cheap."

" Alright, I can wait."

" Good, you'd have to pay a five hundred mid-level energy stones as a fee, non refundable. If you agree, then mister can leave us a way to contact you and we'll make sure to inform you when we have an answer."

" No need, jus give an estimate on how long it would take and I'll visit you then."

" No problem, it would take a week at least and half a month at most."

" Alright, half a month it is then." Finished speaking, Neil got up, took the fee and put it on the table then without saying anything else, left. Whenever talking about his clan, Neil's mood would become really bad.

After Neil left, the young man who received him entered the room again.

" Send someone after him, I want to know everything there is about him." Reina said with an expressionless and cold face, way different than what she looked like facing Neil.

" Yes."

…..

Less then an hour later, the same young man entered a room which only had a desk, a chair and a bookshelf. Reina was setting behind the desk writing something on a piece of paper. Without lefting her head she asked " what is it ?"

" Old shadow lost track of the target."

Reina put the pin on the desk then looked at him without saying anything, but the young man seemed a bit scared of her as he continued " Old shadow said he just disappeared into thin air while he was following him and he couldn't find any traces of him whatsoever after that."

Reina looked at the young man for a while then picked up the pin and started writing again, the young man didn't move one step from his standing place, he didn't even breath loudly.

" Send it to the main branch." After a while, Reina folded the paper she was writing on then put it in an envelope and gestured to the young man to take it. She was in deep thought for a while after he left.

....

After leaving the auction house, Neil immediately returned to his room in the inn, changed back to his normal appearance and sat down on the chair facing the window. It was still early in the day but because his mood wasn't that good, he just sat there looking out the window.

" Are you going to stay like this forever ?"

Ah, Neil was startled awake by little fairy's voice." What am I supposed to do, you've heard her too, I'll have to wait half a month before getting an answer, if there was anything."

" And you're planning to just sit there the whole time ? Weren't you really happy to get out from that place and looking forward to enjoy yourself ? "

" You're right, I shouldn't act like this. What's destined will come eventually." Saying that, Neil stood up and took a deep breath, his usual playful smile returned to his face.

" That's more like it, what's your plan then ?"

" Well, it's lunch time, so let me taste this city's delicacies first then maybe hit the bar again." What can he do other than enjoying food and alcohol.

…..

" So this is the best restaurant in the city ! It looks normal from the outside tho." Neil was standing in front of a two story building that looked normal other than the glass exterior of the second floor that you couldn't see through from the outside. When he asked in the inn about the best restaurant in the city, he was directed to this place." Let me taste the food first then I'll see if it deserves it's reputation."

" Welcome sir, do you have a reservation ? " When Neil had just stepped inside, he was greeted by a middle aged man that looked like butler.

" You need a reservation to eat here ? " Neil asked with a smile.

The middle aged man was the host of the restaurant, usually only people who were considered high class can enjoy the restaurant's services and he knew almost all of them, but the young man in front of him was alone, had no insignia of any kind on his robes and most importantly he couldn't sense his cultivation at all, the only reason he was courteous was because the young was dressed finely and had a certain aura of confidence about him that made the middle aged man hesitate to just drive him away.

" Yes sir, our restaurant is not only the best in the city but one of the best in the whole state, people from everywhere come here to enjoy our specialties." The middle aged man said with confidence. " So a reservation is necessary."

Neil got closer to the middle aged man and handed him something, the host was confused at first then shocked and after taking a roundabout look to make sure that nobody saw anything, he smiled at Neil and said " but of course we have tables prepared just in case an important guest such as yourself comes. Please follow me."

Neil followed the host wile thinking that money was also a form of strength and could make a lot of things easier.

The restaurant from inside didn't look normal at all, not only was it really clean that you could see your reflection on the floor, but everything from the decorations to the chairs and tables looked outrageously expansive and nothing seemed out of place.

Neil was led to the second floor where he was seated in corner with a panoramic view of the main street and the city plaza, it was a good view .

' worth the bribe ' Neil thought while laughing.

After seeing him to his seat, the host started boasting about how great the specialties they prepared were for a while then handed him a menu and returned to his post, a server came after the host left to take his order.

Neil took the host for his word and ordered the restaurant's specialties and wine, he wasn't familiar with good and bad wine so he ordered the most expansive one they had on the menu. It didn't take long before the servers came back with the dishes of well prepared delicacies and wine.

" Well, he didn't lie, this is truly delicious." In front of Neil was a table full of food, people would think that it's probably for four or five people but he was all alone, plus he was eating with no particular order, tasting a little bit of this and a little of that, he looked out of place compared to other people in the restaurant with their noble like eating manners, which brought him many questioning looks, some even had disgust in their eyes.

Suddenly, Neil stopped eating and turned his head around looking at the direction of the stairs leading to the second floor, there was a young man and young lady coming up the stairs,