10 World Government Hub (1/2)

Turning around, Edmond was just about to quickly head out of town when he found his way blocked by a tall, stocky man wearing yellow clothes.

He didn't recognize him, but Aaron did. It was the Body Practitioner who had demonstrated his power before.

”Excuse me,” he said, trying to find a way around, but as he looked to the side, he saw that the other directions were blocked, too, by two other men.

Seeing this, Aaron inched closer as he wanted to see what these men might do to this man.

Till now, he had quite enjoyed being the spectator. Yet, now, he decided that it might be time to take active action and find out more clues so that he could challenge the Chief.

Woof, on the other hand, was incredibly bored. So, it just stayed near Aaron and idly looked around, wondering when whether it could have another meal of those fluffy items from before.

Aaron had been hoping that he might obtain some information or the other from the fight, but sadly, that had been a bust.

All he knew right now was that for some reason, exiting the ring that was depicted on the ground using some sort of rope meant defeat.

Why was that?

As soon as he got close to the pompous man who was blocked by those three men, he heard him asking, ”What's wrong, gentlemen? Why have you blocked my way?”

The one with an apparatus on his head who had shot the gun before answered.

”The Chief would like to speak to you.”

Gulping, Edmond stayed put, but when he looked to the side, he saw Aaron looking at him.

Beside Aaron stood that white dog, seeing which Edmond had been quite amazed before.

Momentarily, when he had first laid eyes on it, he had gotten a feeling that it looked very similar to a Tera that the City Lord, a figure who was revered by thousands, supposedly owned.

Yet, that was impossible. Surely, a Tera in the possession of the City Lord would be above even Rare-grade. There was definitely no way that a Tera of that level could be here.

Feeling a hand fall on his shoulder, Edmond turned around to find that the Chief had reached him.

He felt a little bit of fear begin to spread in his mind, but he assured himself that this was someone authorized by the World Government. Yes, someone like that would definitely not engage in something illegal…such as fleecing him for all his money just because he had acted like that before.

Remembering the matter of the Fox, Edmond almost felt like crying.

It seemed that his slew of bad luck hadn't ended yet. After successfully escaping the city, he had headed from town after town while being frugal with the money he had. Yet, that Tera vendor's words about a Rare-grade Bewitching Fox had completely captivated his mind.

After seeing an impressive display of power, he hadn't hesitated to fork out all of his savings, following which he had headed to the farthest Hamlet he could find: this one.

He couldn't let anyone get suspicions about why he was here, so he had put up that act. Well…it wasn't too much of an act, as he did like to act in that way.

So…a lot had gone wrong, but Edmond struggled not to remember what had happened in the City.

Closing his eyes, he braced himself for a beating, but it never came.

”Did you really think I would hit you or something? Come on, kid. I'll help you report the fraud. Maybe you'll be able to get back some of your money.”

A voice with a kind tone entered his ears, which made Edmond open his eyes with shock.

The Chief…was offering to help him?!

He couldn't believe it!

Aaron was surprised, too. He had watched as a bunch of emotions cycled on the face of the youth wearing the red vest, yet one of those had stood out to him: it had looked exactly like the expression of Woof. On nights with a clear sky, Woof would often resort to stand and howl while facing the heaves. Whenever he touched the Tera, a strong emotion of loss would assault him which would make him feel like tearing up, too. Later, he had found out that Woof had lost its family, including its mate and 8 kids on the day it found Aaron.

This man…had definitely also lost something.

Aaron had never managed to understand that feeling very well, as…he didn't know what he had lost. He did know how it felt to not know anything about himself, but that was more frustration which caused pain, rather than sadness.

Even if he had parents or loved ones whom he might have lost, he didn't remember how it must have felt to be with them, which meant that he had no reason to feel that sadness.