Chapter 109: Another Eye - IV

I blinked.

"A week...?"

[Absolute Awareness].

[Perfect Estimate].

It had been a week already?!

How...

Well, I knew how, but was that the cost of these deductions of mine? Did the toll on my mind grow so immense that I’d lost myself in its depths for so long?

Kuvie’s reprimand continued:

"Yes. A week! We kept trying to talk to you, but the only stimuli you responded to was when we put food and water in your hands. I really want to know what led you to be like this."

Hearing her, I rubbed my forehead, still reeling from the shock.

"I was accessing information."

Reazue popped in, a rather dangerous curiosity shining subtly in his eyes. "Information about what? <Angel’s Bane>?"

My eye twitched. "...No. I was trying to figure out why I felt such an immense unease the night we left."

Reazue tilted his head, providing a calmer counterpart to Kuvie’s exasperation. "So did you find out what it was?"

"Yes and no. I did not find out what was giving me such unease, but that fact alone narrows it down. We’re being schemed against." I paused. "Not really us... but Clementine herself is the target. Taylor and Lillie are going to be collateral damage."

I glanced at Reazue and Kuvie. A hint of concern already appeared on their faces.

"As for us, well—"

Stepping off the carriage, I felt the faint chill of a higher altitude.

"Since we’re going to them, then we’re also going to be a part of that damage. It’s not all bad, though. Our current advantage lies in the fact that those schemers don’t know we’re around."

Reauze and Kuvie felt my gaze and alighted from the carriage. They looked around, and it was clear from their gaze that their surroundings were familiar.

After a moment of reminiscence, Kuvie looked sceptical. "I thought we were going to Clementine. Why are we here in Hispe?"

"A few things," I replied, gesturing for them to follow.

Despite this being my first time here, I had already done a bit of studying.

"The first thing we need is a new set of faces."

The Vielour Family was joining the centennial Snakespawn conference. This meant that they were going to publicize their recent achievements in medicine, poison, botany, as well as related works of art:

Terrariums and gardens were going to be brought to the function through spatial cubes, while innovative concoctions were going to be up for sale and testing.

It was something that Lillie was certainly obsessed with, given her new body and her growing understanding of emotions and feelings.

...And something that Kuvie, Reazue, and I had to prepare for. My plan to retrieve the next Colored Eye of Bhulmasine hinged on it.

Furthermore, it was impossible to join the conference without being a Snakespawn. Taylor could go because he was treated as an assistant to Clementine and Lillie. One was a pure-blooded Snakespawn, and the other was a noble High Snakespawn.

If the three of us wanted to accompany the fated trio without losing our advantage of being in the shadows, then we needed a new set of names, some research or works of art, and a fresh face with tangible records.

Thus.

We walked through the chilly air.

The hustle and bustle of the myriad races hadn’t changed. The only difference between the Soulless City of Grakkis and the Living City of Hispe is their legendary history.

Grakkis was an Elder Lich who ruled a kingdom of undead, creating the Soulless City.

Hispe, on the other hand, was a Grand Druid who cultivated a city that grew on its own. She spent her entire life caring for a single tree, turning it into the backbone of a massive natural metropolis.

Now, however, her legacy had been altered.

Greatly.

The white and grey theme of the Walvaskaz Empire had been built around every growing branch and root from the main tree. Ginormous vines supported a variety of precariously balanced structures.

Bridges and roads snaked across the sky, connecting organic curves to rigid geometric buildings.

Chaos brought about even greater chaos.

The Living City’s uniqueness lay there: The branches, roots, and vines were in constant flux.

Every decade would change the roads and force buildings to adapt. The layers beneath this city were even more chaotic than those of the Soulless City, allowing the underground world to flourish.

Thieves, assassins, information brokers, forgers, and various gambling dens proliferated en masse.

Sighing at the sheer magnitude of suspicious activities in this city, I wondered how the Empire’s Guards kept order from faltering. Clearly, there was an open conspiracy for this city’s existence.

Otherwise, there wouldn’t be an explanation as to how this region continued to exist.

There were beings here capable of decimating this entire part of the map. If they wanted to change the environment to make organized crime difficult to pull off, then they most certainly could do so.

I wanted to check—

But alas, it was barred by <Fate’s> threads.

One of the players in the Game of Walvaskaz might have used this city as a base of operations.

Wary of attracting their gaze due to our proximity, I exercised a pinch of prudence this time.

I avoided throwing my senses around too wantonly or using my deductive techniques to test them.

If, for some reason, our proximity allowed me to cut on the mana expenditure and thus gaze at them directly...

Well.

That would swiftly become a problem. I’d get rushed in the next instant.

Thus, I led Kuvie and Reazue around a few winding streets and across tall, arched bridges built out of either steel or stone.

I couldn’t help but notice how drastic the different architectural styles were whenever we walked to a new block.

The underworld was thriving, yes...

But construction was everywhere. Architects loved and hated this city.

It allowed them to create numerous works of art, but it also buried their work after a few measly decades.

Still, looking at the different races of stone masons at work, using their biological uniqueness as a brush to express their creativity, I understood a little better why it was given the epithet of a <Living City>.