[MGM]: 89 - Different

"The most strange thing is that the lady suspects the Baron of doing illegal activities," Aldrin said.

Cassia replied with a shake of her head. "No," she said, "the most strange thing is that she knows the Baron is in cahoots with the Cult."

"Isn't that the same thing?" Aldrin asked, frowning.

"It's not," I replied.

For a moment, I let the tension hang in the air, with Aldrin staring at me intently. After a moment, I finally decided to answer.

"We've had our suspicions for a while now, and we believe the people responsible for destroying the Rune Core—the one that acts as the central distributor for the Barriers—managed to disable it thanks to Corrupted Mana."

"Corrupted Mana?" Aldrin asked.

I nodded. "It's what Amara dubbed the Mana found in the End Forest—it has a... let’s say, foul quality to it. But that's not the point. The question is, how did it end up frying the arrays installed in its place?"

"The Baron once mentioned to me whether someone could have covertly accessed the hidden room in the Keep," Aldrin said. "I now understand why he was concerned about that. But what I don't understand is how the two situations could be related."

I smiled, but instead of answering, I looked at Cassia. She took my cue and started speaking.

"From what I've gathered so far, Captain Aldrin," she said, "the Cult seems to be a much bigger problem than the Kingdom would have you believe. I mean, they're capable of creating Chimeric creations from already corrupted monsters... How can someone twist something already vile without having proper control over it?"

Aldrin's eyes widened at her words, and I took the opportunity to lean closer and ask, "Tell me, Captain, do you suspect anyone who might have been responsible for corrupting the Rune Core?"

"I..." Aldrin shook his head. "I wasn't at the Keep at that time. We had been alerted about the monsters, so I had to leave early. I couldn't even greet young Lord Cardin properly."

I frowned. "Wait," I said. "This Cardin—he's the guy we saw leaving the Baron's study that day, isn't he?"

"Yes," Aldrin replied. "Cardin Rosenthal is the son of Count Arthur Rosenthal."

"Captain Aldrin," Cassia said, moving closer, "could you tell us a bit more about him? I mean, what exactly was he doing at the Keep?"

"Hmm, sure," Aldrin replied, nodding. "You know that the young lady used to be an alumna of the Hunters Academy?" We nodded. "Cardin Rosenthal also studied there. Most young noblemen and noblewomen—with sufficient talent—would enroll in the prestigious academy. And he became quite close with the young lady there."

That wasn't the feeling I got when Arianna saw him, but I decided not to interrupt.

"Then things happened, and the Baron, fearing the Royal Family might use the young lady as leverage against him, decided to bring her back. Only it was too late, and the King had already sent an invitation to all nobles and people of renown, requiring them to answer his call within a set timeframe. The Baron had already left by the time Cardin Rosenthal arrived, asking to meet him."

"But why would he come then? Arianna wasn’t there at the time, right?" I asked.

Instead of Aldrin, Cassia responded.

"That's because he wasn’t there to meet with her, right?" She looked at Aldrin, who offered a nod.

"Yes. As the nature of the summons was immediate, Lord Cardin must not have received the news. When he arrived, the Baron had already left nearly half a day earlier, and I instructed the servants to keep him company and tend to his needs until the Baron returned."

"Quite the coincidence," Luna noted; I nodded, finding it a bit too convenient.

"We can't confirm it yet," Cassia said, "but Cardin is likely our guy."

"Hmm?" Aldrin raised his brows in surprise. "You can't be foolish enough to suspect the son of a Count without proper evidence—especially Count Rosenthal, who is one of the only three powers that stands to lose much if the Barriers were damaged. Your theory wouldn't hold."

Cassia smiled a foxy grin. "Sure it would," she said. "You see, I'm not only suspecting him of being responsible—I’m also theorizing he's associated with the Cult of Acheron."

"That's insane!" Aldrin hissed, trying to refute it but finding no argument.

"For now, let's assume Cardin is our guy," I said. "But that's not what's important—the origin of those rumors is."

"Do you suspect Count Rosenthal to be responsible?" Luna asked me. As I expected, she hadn't put two and two together yet.

"Not exactly," I said. "Well, not directly at least."

"What do you mean?" Luna asked, frowning.

Cassia decided to reply in my stead. "We believe someone is trying to take advantage of Baron Feylance’s incapacitation and the collapsing state of his economy," she said. "Besides the Guild—which likely wouldn't resort to such petty tricks—and Count Rosenthal, who definitely wouldn’t want to meddle more than necessary lest he attract attention to himself, there’s only one party remaining."

Luna frowned. Aldrin said, "Leroux Barony."

"Bingo," Cassia said, clapping her hands with a dazzling smile.

"What are we going to do?" Aldrin asked.

I shared a look with Cassia before replying. "For now," I said, "we're going to sleep. But when we wake up tomorrow, it'll be with the purpose of seeking something nefarious."

"In other words," Cassia said, "we will be going hunting."

...

We had a mission; we needed to save a life. Any deviation or derailment could cost us dearly, so why bother chasing after a lead that might or might not exist?

"Can we not postpone this until after we return?" Aldrin muttered, unsettled.

I could understand his worries—they were my worries too. But confirming our suspicions was just as important.

"You want us to seek out the source, right?" Luna asked. "What do you two intend to do in the meantime?"

I glanced at Cassia, who was wearing a long cloak to hide her sensuous figure. She replied, "We are going on a side quest," and offered a wink as some sort of hidden message. With Aldrin present, we couldn’t exactly voice our thoughts directly—not without revealing some secrets.

"We're off then," I said, offered a terse nod, and turned to leave. Cassia walked beside me, and soon the two of us had disappeared into the moderately bustling market, with only the natives running around and about.

We walked in silence for the duration of our journey. I had expressed my concern that the trip might prove more dangerous than expected and that we needed more personnel. Thankfully, my rank advancement was drawing near—I only needed five more levels before I could become a B-Rank hunter.

Cassia was strong, but even with her experience and prowess, the most she could match was an S-Rank hunter—barely. With my Level at 71, it was just about sufficient to provide the power needed to face off and triumph over those at Level 200 and above.

It would've been different if we had Amara.

Shaking my head, I sighed.

"What's wrong?" Cassia asked me.

"Nothing," I replied with a shrug. "Just thinking."

We fell into silence once more, moving away from the crowded place into a more secluded area.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" I finally said.

"Hmm?" Cassia responded.

"I don't like to rely on the Favorability meter or anything, but I noticed how your Favorability rarely moves up." It was an intriguing prospect that I found myself drawn toward. I couldn't help but wonder about the difference between her and my other summons.

Cassia hummed, tapping her index finger on her chin. "Now, whatever could the reason be?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Stop acting ignorant; you and I both know that’s not going to work."

She looked at me with a blank expression for a moment, then curled her lips into a soft smile. "Why the sudden interest, Markus? You never cared before."

I frowned. "That's not true," I replied. "I think I just never had the chance to ask you formally. But you're different. I know the numbers I'm seeing aren’t some illusion like Amara tends to show—they’re real. What's your deal?"

"I don't know," she replied with a shrug. "Guess I'm built different. Why? Are you wondering how come your charm failed to ensnare another girl in your honey-dipped claws?"

I sighed, looking ahead. It would seem that Cassia had no intention of speaking openly.

Seeing I didn’t follow up with another question, Cassia kept quiet as well. We arrived at an empty glade, and after confirming we weren’t being spied on, I used my Spirit Ascension talent to instantly raise her attributes by 50%. She used her enhanced magic to open a large rift in space, and then I channeled my mana into the Void Step and grabbed her hand.

Then we jumped into the void.