"Huh? Has it to do with me?" Mera pointed at herself, as if asking, "What does it have to do with me?"

"That's right, and more accurately, you helped us this time."

Kain leaned against the railing and began to explain.

That strange "challenge your intellect" stall Mera had dragged him to before, Kain had vaguely guessed, was set up by a wealthy or even a noble family in urgent need of someone intelligent. An ordinary person wouldn't rent a stall just to not make money. You see, in Adia, land is a resource, a place of business. A merchant couldn't just lay out a mat on the street to sell their goods; they had to pay for a proper spot.

So, setting up a stall with no profit either meant a rich person was doing it for fun or had another purpose. Linking this to the noble resource distribution game in Faith's letter, Kain thought he had figured out the purpose of that stall.

"Also, this once again helped me confirm something."

"You're right, Mera, we're too small compared to the nobility in terms of power. But what if in this game... power is only a secondary factor?"

"In the letter Faith sent, although he never mentioned the rules or content of the game, the very fact that he invited me is a kind of information in itself."

"If both of us know we're too weak compared to the nobility, then there's no reason Faith wouldn't know that. However, his invitation was still sent to me, which proves that what he needs from me in this game isn't power, but intellect."

"It's the same with that girl's stall. Challenging intellect is to find a potential person."

"But..." Although Mera saw the truth in what he was saying, she still asked, confused, "Would the nobility of Adia really be willing to stake the distribution of resources on a game of wits?"

It wasn't that Mera's thinking was limited, but power was always a factor that couldn't be ignored in this world. And Mera didn't think the nobility would be willing to give up that advantage just to play mind games with each other.

"There are two possibilities," Kain speculated.

"First hypothesis: the nobility is indeed very powerful, but there isn't just one dominant family, but many equally strong ones. This balance forces them to avoid fighting because the losses would be too great, so they have to resort to other methods. However, this hypothesis is weak because even if they are equal, the nobility still controls the rules of the game. This would lead to many complications, such as not allowing outsiders to participate, which would make Faith's invitation to us meaningless."

"Second hypothesis: what if the nobility isn't doing this willingly, but is being forced to distribute resources this way?"

Kain's second hypothesis completely surprised Mera.

"That sounds absurd. How could any force..."

Mid-sentence, she suddenly stopped, clearly thinking of the same thing as Kain. It was a good three seconds before she hesitantly spoke.

"The government... the Akazac Empire."

"Exactly. That's the most logical explanation I can think of." Kain gave a slight nod, agreeing with Mera's assessment.

The nobles of Adia were remnants of the old era's power. Although it was unclear why they were still allowed to exist, it was a logical move for the government to take measures to prevent any single noble faction from becoming too powerful and upsetting the balance, thereby forcing them to keep each other in check.

Therefore, the government forced the nobility to distribute resources through a game of wits, as a game of wits effectively stripped the stronger families of their massive advantages and put everyone on an even playing field. No one was completely superior to anyone else.

"What you said makes sense... In Adia, the government controls the outer city while the nobility controls the inner city. And this seems to be so certain that throughout our time in Adia, we didn't see a single noble. Come to think of it, isn't this a form of disguised house arrest?" Mera narrowed her eyes and stroked her chin, then turned to Kain with an eager expression. "So, Kain? Is my assessment correct?"

"You're very right," Kain replied with a smile, reaching out to pat Mera's head. A glimmer of joy flashed in his eyes; he was happy to see Mera "maturing" more each day.

Because they traveled by steamboat, Kain and Mera didn't take long to get back to Adia. The difficult part was finding that stall again. Although Kain had a prodigious memory, it didn't mean he remembered every single thing he'd ever experienced, especially things he didn't pay much attention to, like the location of a stall.

So, as soon as they got off the boat, Kain led Mera, following his memory, to the last place they had stayed before leaving Adia. From there, they continued searching along that area. Even though he didn't remember exactly where the mysterious girl's stall was, Kain did remember that not long after leaving it, he and Mera had found a place to eat dinner and stay the night. This meant their accommodation wasn't too far from the stall.

After a while of searching, they finally spotted the stall, with the same girl still tending to it. And, of course, there were still no customers.

One could say that this method of recruiting talent was quite foolish. But if it weren't there, things would be difficult for them.

Kain and Mera exchanged glances and nodded, walking toward the stall together. Seeing Mera approach, the girl at the stall clearly recognized her and became happy. However, this time, Kain was the one who stepped forward.

"Let's begin," Kain said flatly, with no need for pleasantries. He needed to get to the game as quickly as possible. The girl at the stall was a bit confused because last time, besides Mera, Kain hadn't seemed to pay much attention.

However, a task was a task, so she honestly set up the bowls and began the game.

She went through the same movements as before. After a series of actions, the girl successfully hid the ball in her cupped left hand, a perfect concealment. But the trick she was so proud of was a transparent book in Kain's eyes. He had already figured out how she hid the ball the last time Mera played the game. So, the moment the girl successfully hid the ball, Kain reached out, grabbed her left hand, and held it up, revealing the ball pressed into her palm, much to her own shock.

"How... how did you..."

"The introduction is over. Let's move on to the main part." Kain cut off the girl, his calm tone and decisive action demonstrating that he had exposed her trick. And he was right.

The girl felt a bit wronged that her hard-practiced trick was so easily exposed. But, as she said, a task was a task, and she had a duty to lead potential candidates to her master. And so, the stall was packed up, and the girl led Kain and Mera to another place.

According to the girl, she was just a servant in a noble family, one of many sent out to open those "challenge your intellect" stalls. The purpose was to attract smart people to do something she didn't know about, only her master knew.

Kain and Mera said nothing more, silently following the girl. They were led into a carriage and then driven straight into the inner city of Adia. Getting in here did indeed require an escort, and the girl had played that role.

Compared to the outer city, the inner city felt much more stifling and was clearly divided into different areas belonging to various families. The carriage carrying Kain and Mera stopped in front of the entrance to a lavish estate, where servants were already waiting to greet distinguished guests like them. It was very clear that this time, the noble family was inviting talented people to help, so there would be no situations of disrespect, at least not on the surface.

Afterward, they were led into a large room in the mansion located in the center of the estate. The room, aside from being beautifully decorated with paintings and sculptures, was otherwise empty except for a large round table in the middle, surrounded by many chairs. However, only about ten people were scattered around, including four women and six men.

Seeing both Kain and Mera enter, they were surprised, as no couple had ever arrived at the same time. Nevertheless, no one said anything, because if both Kain and Mera had made it there, it meant they had already passed the screening.

Kain and Mera showed no reaction, casually taking the two nearest empty chairs. Kain just glanced around once, then withdrew his gaze.