Chapter 1431 (1/2)

Taking every precaution to make extra sure there wouldn’t be any adverse reactions, the first thing that Randidly did when he exited the Dungeon and returned to Kharon was release a huge pulse of Aether that covered the surrounding area. The Aether density of Earth was already extremely high, but he didn’t want to take any chances. Especially for the children he brought into the Dungeon, Aether Sickness would be extremely detrimental to their growth. So he tipped the scales a bit in their favor.

Of course, the Aether he released would gradually disperse outward and affect the surrounding area. But since the Orchard would soon be home to the duos tournament, the extra Aether couldn’t be considered favoritism toward the Orchard. Everyone who came to fight for glory would unconsciously absorb the pure Aether in the air and rapidly improve.

Randidly suspected that a few years down the line, many power individuals would trace their beginnings back to this tournament. Or at least, he hoped that would be the case.

The second thing Randidly did after arriving on his island and releasing the large contingent that had gone into the Dungeon was glare around at the surrounding melodrama. Because his subordinates were too excited to have returned.

“It’s like finally breathing clean air after living next to a trash heap for a month!” Ed Dugg announced with his hands on his hips. Then his expression briefly darkened, as though he recalled something unpleasant.

Helen nodded and glanced around at Randidly’s mist-covered island. “Truly… who would have known that high-level images would cause such… well, for lack of a better word, pollution…”

Flicking his fingers at them, Randidly hopped off his island and proceeded to Kharon City Hall. The various groups had already figured out what they would do next. The teachers would go to the education facilities and introduce themselves to the children. Especially for the groups from the Alpha Cosmos, they were excited to start work as soon as possible.

The kids that had now been trained by Ed Dugg would be going with him to work on other projects in order to get more practical experience before the main event. The Riders would return to the Borderlands to patrol and play out their endless competition amongst themselves. Sam would continue his research and the police force would return to their previous role in Kharon, hopefully with a longer and firmer reach.

A quick brush against Kharon’s image confirmed that while there was some agitation that wasn’t there previously, nothing of significance had happened while they had been gone. The midday sun was warm on Randidly’s skin as he landed on the roof and descended through the familiar passageways toward Tatiana’s office. Talking with her would be the quickest way to catch himself back up.

Immediately as he entered, Tatiana passed him a cup of iced mint tea and then gestured to several piles of papers that were on the table. Light slanted sharply down through the windows and filled the stuffy office with life. “So, want the quick or the long version?”

Inwardly, Randidly sighed. Tatiana’s good mood and preparations meant that things weren’t as simple as they appeared. “Let’s just start with the short version. Exactly how long were we gone for…?”

“About 28 hours,” Tatiana replied with a smile. “A pretty small amount of time, although it does mean the Duo Tournament preliminaries are scheduled to start tomorrow. Is Clarissa prepared for that?”

“Yea, we will go ahead with plan A, thank god,” Randidly rubbed his chin and took a sip of the tea. The mint was cool on his tongue, leaving a lingering taste of bitterness that remained long after he swallowed. Tatiana certainly had nailed his taste. “So, the short version?”

“A fifteen-year-old boy was carved up on one of the side streets in the residential area of Kharon. Luckily the boy survived and the culprit was caught. But because of our lack of codified laws… we haven’t yet figured out how we wish to punish him.”

Randidly chewed on his lip. Then he narrowed his eyes as purple-black energy flashed across his pupils. “Huh… You think this was arranged? No, you would have gotten a confession or launched a larger investigation otherwise. This man was nudged into coming here. Hum. Let Helen return the favor by slashing him a bit and then drop him off in the Wildlands.”

Tatiana cocked an eyebrow and pursed her lips. Randidly couldn’t help but laugh. Just like you seem to have a sixth sense regarding me, we’ve worked together for so long that I can tell when you think I’m being hasty even if you try to hide it…

Randidly said aloud, “It’s a blunt response, but I think the more we think about this the more time we waste. And I assume you are already working to put out laws that mean this won’t happen again. What else?”

Moving with an easy grace, Tatiana walked to the piles of paper on the table and tapped her fingernail against them. “The statements are recorded here, but several malcontents were gathered as they tried to infiltrate Kharon. A man whose cologne business was bankrupted by competition with Kharon, a woman whose boyfriend left her to pursue a dream of joining Kharon, a few individuals who didn’t pass the recruitment criteria and bore a grudge… small things, but I believe they were also nudged into acting now.”

“A bunch of coincidences, huh…” Randidly pressed his eyes closed. Although he had been rather annoyed by their glee earlier, the people were correct that it was somewhat refreshing to be away from that Dungeon that had been so thoroughly soaked in his image. The scents of other images were sharp and clear in comparison. It was an ecosystem of images with no hegemony. So he could search carefully through Kharon for these people who came to cause trouble.

Their images weren’t strong, but they were so different from the general image of Kharon that it was easy to locate them. Once he locked on to the images, he carefully brushed the relatively gentle roots of Yggdrasil against those images. Although he couldn’t find anything definite, his Grim Intuition told him that there was definitely a common element between them all.

Randidly opened his eyes. “Who caught them?”

“Derek and Hydie. Honestly, even I was surprised by how good of a team they are turning out to be,” Tatiana replied. “Do you want to speak to them directly?”

Randidly opened his mouth to say no but his Revelation energy hummed to him.

Congratulations! Your Skill Revelations of the Atramentous Threshold (T) has grown to Level 321!

“Actually, yes. That sounds like a good idea.”