CHAPTER 446: CHAPTER 291: SUPPORT_1

However, this situation was actually good news for Lance because it gave him more room to maneuver, ensuring he wouldn’t be hopelessly entangled.

Therefore, he proposed a solution that even Tamara found inconceivable.

"Is there any possibility that you could rejoin the organization?"

"Ah!" Tamara was completely unable to follow Lance’s line of thinking, her face etched with shock.

"Actually, if you think about it, the relationship between you and the Seeker of Omens isn’t irreconcilable. First of all, between you..."

Lance analyzed the situation for her.

His idea was simple: Tamara had left the Seeker of Omens before completing her training, meaning her skills were still somewhat half-baked.

Her current condition obviously couldn’t meet Lance’s requirements. If she was to be useful, she needed to become a true Astrologer, and she also needed to get her hands on the remaining Sacred Object.

There was only one way to fulfill these two conditions: allow her to rejoin the Seeker of Omens so she could continue learning from her mentor.

She had indeed missed some time, but with her talent, it wasn’t impossible for her to catch up and even secure a seat on the Elders’ Council.

That was right. Lance planned to support her.

As an intelligence organization, if he could have someone of his own inside the Seeker of Omens, he could utilize their power.

Not to mention, Lance had always coveted the Romani’s spatial ritual techniques.

Even if, in the worst-case scenario, Tamara wasn’t under his control, by supporting her ascent to power, he would still have cultivated a degree of goodwill. This connection would make future interactions more negotiable.

However, Lance didn’t disclose any of this, instead consistently emphasizing that this was all to save her.

But Tamara didn’t see it that way. This was equivalent to asking her to go back and admit her mistakes. If she had been willing to submit, she wouldn’t have run away in the first place.

Impossible, absolutely impossible!

Of course, Lance could sense her strong resistance. After a moment’s thought, he understood her reluctance, and the words then tumbled out, "You don’t need to apologize. I’ll talk to them."

Tamara looked at Lance, somewhat surprised. She had mentioned before that she actually still harbored good feelings toward the organization; if face could be saved, she was willing to accept a return.

Seeing her waver, Lance immediately encouraged her further.

"Think about it. As long as you can return, you’ll once again have the upper hand over Amanda. That’s even more satisfying than killing her."

Everyone has their obsessions, and clearly, Tamara’s obsession was Amanda—the one she had initially suppressed but who had now turned the tables on her.

After hearing this, she didn’t hesitate much longer and nodded at Lance.

"Okay, I agree."

At the mere thought of Amanda’s expression then, an inexplicable sense of satisfaction welled up within her.

But she knew it wasn’t that simple. "Amanda will definitely not let me return, and the factions behind her won’t allow it either."

"Factions?" Lance inquired with interest upon hearing this. "Can you tell me about them?"

"Inside the Seeker of Omens..."

As Tamara explained, Lance came to understand the political structure within the Seeker of Omens. Essentially, the Elders’ Council was responsible for making organizational decisions, with various departments handling the execution.

These department heads were, in fact, candidates for Elder positions. To secure entry into the Elders’ Council, these individuals formed several factions, each aiming to promote their own people.

Simply put, it was like mob families vying for power, a struggle for influence that even the Romani-formed Seeker of Omens couldn’t escape.

Lance, however, found all this rather dull. Human schemes always seemed to follow the same few patterns, utterly lacking in novelty.

"My mentor and Amanda’s mentor are both candidates, originally from different factions. Just as I once suppressed Amanda, my teacher also held an edge over hers on the Elders’ Council. But..." Tamara trailed off. She then revealed the true reason for her bitter relationship with Amanda: "Her teacher also played a part in forcing me to flee."

Lance then understood why she harbored such intense animosity toward Amanda; from the beginning, they were from rival factions.

The underlying conflicts were likely far messier than he had imagined.

But for Lance, this was rather good news. The existence of factions indicated that the Seeker of Omens wasn’t a monolithic entity, giving him an opportunity to leverage the situation.

"Can you contact your mentor?"

"No, that would require special ritual tools. I fled without any preparations. Amanda definitely has them, but she would never lend them to me."

Without a means of contact, Lance felt as though he had strength but nowhere to apply it. He remained silent for a moment before bringing up another issue.

"Amanda’s opinion doesn’t matter. The real difficulty is that, at the end of the day, you fled with the Sacred Object.

Such a transgression is hard for any organization to accept. If you want to return, you need an excuse and, more importantly, a bargaining chip the organization cannot refuse."

"So what do we do?" Tamara understood this simple logic but couldn’t devise a solution herself, so she could only place her hopes in Lance.

Perhaps she wasn’t even aware of the dependency she had begun to feel for this man.

Lance didn’t hurry to speak but instead fell into thought, his fingers unconsciously tapping a rhythm.

What bargaining chips did Tamara have now?

Apart from the Sacred Object, it seemed she had nothing else; otherwise, she wouldn’t have been driven to the point of almost "selling" herself to him.

The rhythmic tapping of Lance’s fingers suddenly stopped. "Nothing," he stated, looking up at Tamara. "Right now, you truly don’t possess a single bargaining chip that would compel the organization to abandon its principles."