Chapter 034

A train slowly pulled into the central station of Backlund, and immediately the platform was overwhelmed with the huge crowds pouring out of the train.

Among these many people were three Beyonders, a Seer, a Hunter, and a newly promoted Planter. These were of course Cheryl, Alvin and Naomi.

"You did take a week off from the University. It's been only 2 days. Are you sure you want to go back? I mean we can't go to the carnival, but we can go somewhere else" said Alvin to Naomi.

"No need. I would rather go back to the University now that I am already here. And I want to practice acting as soon as possible, and the empty space in our backyard is the best place to start I guess" said Naomi.

"You need to be careful about exposing your powers. We could get some leeway since I am an informant for Nighthawks, but it's still better if we don't expose ourselves" warned Alvin.

"Yes. You said that several times already. And I have very little external manifestation of powers. Whether it is channelling the power of earth towards plants to promote harvest, or channel powers away from them to do the inverse, it can hardly be detected unless someone always has their spirit vision on. And I won't control plants to attack anyone yet, because like you already pointed out, the number and strength of plants I can control are hardly worth mentioning at Sequence 9" said Naomi rolling her eyes.

"Very good. I know that the Sequence 8 I the pathway is Doctor. If you manage to digest the Planter potion, I will see if it's possible to get the formula and ingredients and gift them during your graduation. You can open a clinic to act as a doctor then" said Alvin.

The three of them hired a trackless carriage and went back home.

Alvin then checked started checking on the information network he had cultivated to see if the was any interesting happening.

The information network that he had cultivated was through a mystical item called the Mirror of Omniscience. It was seemingly an ordinary mirror, and did not affect the outside world, nor did it have any notable negative effects. It just looked and felt like a beautiful mirror that you would keel starting into unless you had good willpower or we're alerted by someone else.

It had only a singular function. If a piece of paper was kept very close to it, it would turn into a reddish colour. And if anything was written on the paper, it would be vaguely reflected in the depths of the mirror.

The paper themselves looked and felt ordinary, hence even though quite a number of them were sent out into the hands of lots of people, it was very difficult to find something about it. Plus, as it was, if the Coin of Wonders was kept close to the Mirror once in a while, the divination blocking effects of the Coin would extend to it too.

The reflected papers would only last a few days, and the Mirror wouldn't reflect papers beyond a certain distance. Other than these limitations, the Mirror was the perfect mystical item to run an intelligence network.

There were a few messages left in the Mirror that Alvin hadn't seen. Alvin regarded them one by one. Most of them weren't anything worth noting down. But one of the latest ones was from Frank, the bartender who looked after Half an Inch bar. It read, "The kid from before is looking for Mr Hunt again" dated the previous day.

Alvin remembered that he couldn't speak about the encounter he had on that day to anyone, probably because he agreed to keep it a secret. While he could circumvent the restriction inside the Red Castle, he felt it wouldn't be wise to do so, as this possible involved a mid or even a high Sequence Beyonder.

But on the other hand, he had the feeling that whatever the mess that was going on there was a huge opportunity. He couldn't properly explain it, but he felt he had to be involved in the matter.

Alvin then sorted put things at his home, and got some sleep before he went to the bar.

"So what's new?" asked Alvin to Frank as soon as he walked in.

"Miss Xio was looking for you. But it didn't seem urgent. The little guy, Evan Rosier also came by yesterday. He seemed just like the first time, nervous, unconfident, and afraid. He asked for you. I told her you weren't here, and he left, saying he would come back the next day" said Frank.

"I see. Anything else?" asked Alvin.

"Nothing of more other than that" said Frank.

"Have you had people monitor the Rosiers?" asked Alvin.

"Yesterday we had a few people. But some of them found something, but couldn't tell me what. I pulled the operation immediately after that" said Frank.

"Casualties?" asked Alvin.

"None sir. The affected people just can't speak of the incident. Other than that, they have had no side effects. I asked them to take a week off and spend it in their respective churches, doing volunteer work, as per procedure" replied Frank.

"Are those affected people alright?" asked Alvin.

"Yes sir. And preliminary investigation suggests that there are many people who come into contact with the Rosiers often have secrets they cannot tell. But such people are also unaffected in other ways till now.

"Good. Send me all you already had on the Rosier before the operation was discontinued. Also, don't monitor them again unless you receive a specific command. I will pay a visit shortly to see what's up" said Alvin.

Frank nodded, and went into the back room, and handed a file to Alvin.

After reading the file Frank had prepared for him, and making a few other preparations, Alvin wore the Null Mask and his hunting outfit and snuck out of the bar.