"Who is that
pretty
boy, Miss Adams?" He asked, jealousy and attempt to mock Max clear in his voice.
The woman, who Max would have immediately recognised as Aki, the Innkeeper of the Inn Ling Han used to work for, shook her head and said, "Just someone who I know, but we donât need to pay him any attention."
"How could that be done, Miss Adams?" The man retorted, "He is your acquaintance, so itâs only right if we go greet him."
"Brother Evan is right, Miss Adams. We should greet him." The other man nodded in agreement, his narrowed gaze fixed on Max.
They both were trying to impress Aki, wanting to get closer to the Adams family through her. So, seeing she was familiar with Max, a more handsome guy than them, they felt threatened and decided to team up to keep Max at bay.
A crafty glint flashed in Akiâs eyes seeing this. Sighing, she put on a bitter look on her face and, "Sir Evan, Sir Finn, even though we can be considered acquaintances, I donât want to meet him because he..."
She didnât finish her sentence and shook her head instead, "Letâs just forget about him and be on our way."
Evanâs and Finnâs eyes flashed when they saw this and quickly asked, "What did he do, Miss Adams? Please tell us. If he has offended you, weâll make him regret doing it."
Aki put on a look of hesitation on her face before she said, "He humiliated me a few days ago in the border town."
After saying this, she hastily added, "But you canât touch him, Sirs, because he has an Emperor Mage accompanying him."
Evan and Finn had revealed enraged expressions when they heard the first half and seemed as if they were about to charge toward him but when they heard the part about an Emperor Mage accompanying him, they froze in place and looked at each other awkwardly.
It was true they wanted to impress her to curry favor with her family, but... were they willing to offend an Emperor Mage for it? The answer was a big
No
.
Seeing they had lost all their enthusiasm, Aki sneered inwardly before thoughtfully saying, "But it seems that Emperor isnât with him right now, how strange! Anyway, thank you for accompanying me for these two days, Young Sirs. Now, let me be on my way."
Swoosh!
"Miss Adams..." The duo tried to say something but she had already rushed away, leaving them gnashing their teeth in frustration.
"This manipulative bitch!" Evan cursed in anger and while Finn stayed silent, his expression was dark.
Both of them were aware she had just tried to goad them into fighting Max to take revenge. If they had done as she desired despite knowing Max had an Emperor behind him, she might have kept them with her for a little longer but since they did not, she didnât hesitate to leave.
"Wasted two days for nothing, fuck!" Evan continued to curse for a while before turning to look where Max had been but realized he had already disappeared from their sight.
"What? You wanted to fight him?" Finn asked when he saw this.
"Tsk!" Evan clicked his tongue in annoyance and turned to leave, not bothering to answer.
Finn opened his mouth to say something, but didnât after hesitating for a bit.
"Forget about the bitch and just focus on entering the Beast Emperor Hall. If we can become core or even Inner disciples, it would be enough to support us until the King Mage realm."
Leaving these words behind, Evan disappeared.
Finn stayed in place for a few seconds before turning around and leaving... in the direction Max had left.
...
Max left a small store after buying the seeds for spirit grass, a few low-grade spirit trees and flowers and headed back toward the inn.
While they could live in the palace inside the tower without feeling uneasy as they wouldnât be able to see the desolate space, he wanted to revitalize it and these seeds were going to do it. Even though the fog would still be there, with grass, trees and flowers, the space would be easier on the eyes.
Halfway to the inn, Max arrived in a somewhat secluded street and stopped in place.
"Why donât you come out now and tell me what have you been following me for?" He called out, turning around to look at a corner.
Not long after he left the craftsmen market, he had sensed a gaze trained on him. At first, he thought it was either someone from that young master who he offended in the morning or a thief.
But after a while, he became puzzled because he wasnât able to sense any ill intent from his secret watcher which meant the possibility of either being the case wasnât high.
As for why he didnât think it could be the Emperor accompanying the young master who kidnapped Ling Han since, being an Emperor, he would be able to hide his emotions from his senses... well simply because he would be able to hide his presence from him too unlike the watcher.
A moment after he called out, a young man materialized in the corner he was looking at, looking at him with a surprised and wary look in his eyes.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Max calmly asked.
The young man took a breath and slightly bowed his head toward him in greeting as he said, "My nameâs Finn, Young Sir. I have a piece of information that would be of use to you."
"Oh? So, you have been following me to give me this information?" Max asked, amused.
Finnâs expression remained the same as he nodded, "Thatâs correct, Young Sir. If you are willing to owe me a favor, Iâll tell you the information."
"Hm?" Maxâs eyes flickered with interest when he heard he wanted a favor instead of mana stones.
âDid this guy also sense something from me like Ling Han? I hope not.â
He sighed inwardly. If everyone could sense he was
special
, he wouldnât be able to live for long.