CHAPTER 113: NEWS

October 15.

In the modern world, news travels at an astonishing speed. However, valid, verifiable, and highly important news does not tend to do so in this place.

In recent years, the Awakened have stopped believing in the news that reaches them through internet networks or news programs, most of which are manipulated by competitors or harmful individuals.

For example, cyber hackers who develop hacking skills thanks to the System always seek to deceive the Awakened with fake news, even defrauding many.

It is said that, on average, these hackers make 500,000 attempts to deceive people every week across the country. Many are deceived, even if the hacker has to flee for the rest of their lives.

But for them, who awaken abilities that are almost useless for competitions, that’s fine. As long as they can steal hundreds of millions from those rich awakened ones, it’s completely fine.

For this reason, many of the Awakened have stopped using technology and have returned to the old ways. They use small animals to carry information from one place to another, or pay informants or family members who can deliver information quickly and reliably.

Although information tends to take longer to arrive, the possibility of fraud is significantly reduced.

Furthermore, this is a better way to carry information in a world full of dangers and mysteries.

And the Great City of Tanafler is one of the main destinations for these informants during tournament season.

In a room inside Tanafler, some informants were kneeling behind a young lady looking out the window, drinking wine as red as the color of her beautiful dress.

"Miss Janna, your sister, Miss Jenna, has been spotted in Loen City. She won the Stars Tournament there and was awarded the title of 2nd Star Knight of the City." One of them spoke.

Janna turned to look at him. "Which seedbed is she in?" she asked casually.

"Angelic Wave."

"Hm?" Her eyebrows rose in confusion. "And what is that?"

"It’s the only seedbed the Rune Kingdom has within the territory of the Arce Kingdom. They are enemies of the Academy, Broken Leaf, the Clarks, and also, presumably, the Hawk Fury."

Janna frowned.

’A member of a full-fledged enemy guild? Tsk, little sister. Sometimes you’re the one who forces me to be ruthless.’ She shook her head, sighing.

"Well, at least she’s shining." She smiled.

"But..." One of the informants tried to speak, but stopped.

"But? Is there something else?" Jenna asked, confused.

"...They killed..." The man couldn’t say it out loud; he was forced to stand up to whisper it in her ear.

What he said made Janna’s eyes open wide for a moment. Then she closed them slowly, thoughtfully.

There were so many things on her mind that she didn’t respond.

-

In the same city, elsewhere.

"You’re saying my younger brother died at the hands of that scum?" Tyler squeezed his informant’s neck, momentarily cutting off his air supply.

"S-sir, it has nothing to do with me. I’m just doing my job..."

Tyler stared at him momentarily, then threw him to the ground.

"Talk. How did this happen? Who died?"

"Cough... cough." After clearing his throat with a cough, he spoke again.

"Sir... this is what happened. John challenged the other team to a duel to the death at the Tournament of Stars. No one expected Elliot to actually be a summoner, as he had been playing the role of a swordsman throughout the tournament. Thanks to that, they wiped them out."

"They killed the Young Master and several cousins. We couldn’t do anything, because they had the protection of the guild..."

Tyler clenched his fist fiercely and smashed the chair beside him to vent his rage.

"Damn it. Things always get complicated when I’m busiest."

"When will you be able to return, Young Master? By December?"

"No." Tyler shook his head. "It will be after the Leveled Leagues."

"I understand."

"You may go. I have important things to do." Tyler turned and left the room after dismissing him.

-

A ruined city built on trees came into view. Its peculiarity was the exquisite architecture used in its construction.

Perhaps not as famous as Tanafler, but the Ruined Tree City had its own charm for nature lovers. Ruled by elves and with a strong alliance with the Kingdom, it is a tourist destination.

Or at least it used to be.

Since it fell into ruin, few people come here during the holiday season.

No one knows who currently rules the city, but rumors are flying about an organization called Altarcitus.

Who are they? What do they do? Where did they come from? No one knows.

Deep inside a dark room within one of these tree-castles.

A small meeting was taking place between several people with pointed ears.

"Now... let’s move on to the matter of Loen, " the man sitting on the main seat said.

"Everything looks good there recently, except for one small problem," replied another.

"I heard that the Clarks and the Academy have lost many important members."

"There are also problems with the Misfits."

"What’s going on with them?" asked the first speaker, looking at the last one to speak.

"Many spies and key figures have been killed."

"Oh? At whose hands?"

"That’s the problem, sir. We don’t know."

"Ohh." He immediately became interested in this, but just as quickly lost interest.

"Well, take care of it then."

"Yes, sir. There are already people there who will take care of it."

"Good." He replied. "Then let’s get to the main issue. The Clarks and the Elemental Academy. I sent people to support them, but I feel it won’t be enough."

"Hmm..." Another of them who had remained silent spoke up. "If I’m not mistaken, they’re having trouble dealing with a former Clark, right?"

"Yes. The son of a saint."

He nodded gently.

"Although saints are really troublesome, I can think of a way to resolve this that will satisfy us all. Furthermore, if the saint finds out, we will have nothing to do with whatever that person may do."

Everyone stared at him intently. They were interested.

"Speak, tell us your plan."

The man smiled, stood up, and leaned close to the leader’s ear. "It’s simple..." Then he whispered a few things.

The leader looked at him for a moment, surprised. But he soon realized that it was feasible.

"The Clarks have better bloodlines than those guys, so it wouldn’t really matter. Right?"

The leader smiled and nodded. "Then let the little kitten believe he’s a tiger for once. We get rid of one, and then the other will probably disappear. That would be good for our plans. I like it."

"Hahaha, I’m glad you like it."

"You’re clever, boy." The leader praised him. "It’s not for nothing that I promoted you earlier. Your plans are good."

"I’m flattered, sir..."

"Well, enough flattery then." He said. "Let’s do it this way. But first, send a message to those in that city. There is good news."

"I’ll do it, sir."

"Good."

The leader then discarded the scroll and grabbed the last two...

"Well, we have some small problems this time," he said. "Lately we’ve been feeling the breath of a saint on the back of our necks, haven’t we?"

"Yes. Have you been able to track him down?"

The leader nodded. "Yes. And he’s dangerous."

"It’s not Clark, right?"

"No." He shook his head. "But he’s well known. He’s the King."

"The King?" Everyone frowned.

In the Kingdom of Arce, the King was not a saint, but their father.

Then...

"You mean..."

"Yes."

"Tsk."

"He seems to be investigating something."

"What is it, now?"

"A ruin."

"A ruin?" Everyone’s eyes lit up with interest. "Where is it?"

"Next to Loen City."

"Huh?" Almost everyone exclaimed in shock.

But one of them frowned and looked at him.

"Could it be in the three great forests?" he asked.

"I knew you’d notice." Smiled.

"Legend has it that those forests weren’t there initially, but a ruin caused them to grow. I don’t know how much of this is true. Because of the curse, I can’t remember much from more than 300 years ago. But I am sure that powerful presences were felt there." He replied.

The other nodded. "Those three forests are only home to beasts of Rank B or A at most, but if you say they are powerful presences, do you mean those above Rank S?"

The leader nodded.

"How much more powerful?"

"I don’t know for sure. But they felt more powerful than the beasts we have down there."

When these words left his mouth, everyone finally frowned. This time, no one said anything, no one protested, no one considered that it might be false.

Because signs of such power are not easily missed.

The issue is...

"That would be too powerful."

"We must hurry everything up," said the leader.

The others nodded.

"We need more corpses."

"Should we loot?"

"We could try."

Once again, silence descended on the room for a long time.

"Well, well, let’s not be pessimistic," One said. "Let’s investigate that ruin first and avoid the King’s men. If we find anything dangerous, we’ll loot it and leave Loen to his own devices."

His words brought his companions back to their senses.

"Haha, right. Let’s do that. We don’t need to get sidetracked anymore."

"If that’s the case, then it’s decided. Preparations will begin as early as tomorrow."

--