Vicente didn't want to ask this creature any questions because she had no reason to answer him. But since the Lamia was talking to him, he had no reason to ignore her.
He showed her the portrait of Casey's father and asked. "I heard that this man came to see you several times recently. What did you talk about? Do you know anything pertinent about him?"
Looking at the portrait of Casey's father, the woman narrowed her eyes, and slowly, a smile formed on her lips.
"Him? Why do you want to know about him?" She looked Vicente in the eyes with interest.
"I don't know him, but he's planning something against one of my men." Vicente didn't lie.
"He is indeed up to something, haha." She laughed in agreement. "But boy, is it worth it for you? I'll give you a tip because you are cute. Don't get close to that person, or you'll regret it."
"Why?" Vicente made a strange expression.
She gave him a smile and said nothing about what he wanted to know.
"What did you talk about?" Vicente changed his question.
"Nothing much. He was looking for preys. I told him about the people in this place and led him to better preys." She looked around and said mischievously. "There are hardly any interesting people here. This place sucks."
Vicente clenched his fists when he realized she wouldn't give him anything useful and turned to leave.
But the Lamia called out to him. "Hey, kid, why don't you buy me?" She smiled at him as she leaned seductively against the bars of her cell.
Even though she was in this terrible place, poorly dressed, she was still provocative enough to stimulate the male desires of a man like Vicente.
Vicente looked at her and realized why Lamias were so dangerous.
"Not today, Lamia."
She laughed as she answered him. "I hope you don't regret it... But don't forget what I said, boy. Put this person aside and do something else with your life."
After walking away from the cell where the Lamia was, Vicente's subordinate took a deep breath and said to the black market employee. "Damn. What's wrong with this place? Why weren't that woman's powers blocked by her cell? I was about to lose control of my senses!"
The vendor bitterly laughed. "Actually, her powers are very much suppressed. If it weren't for our formations, she probably would have hypnotized all of us."
"Just looking at her, I feel something strange... She looks so beautiful." Vicente's subordinate commented.
Vicente looked at this guy and said. "If you were alone in a room with her, she'd devour your body, Peter. She doesn't want you the way you want her."
"I know. That's why it's so weird..."
"Sigh, thanks for your help anyway." Vicente turned to the vendor and shook the man's hand. "My friend and I have other local businesses to attend to. Maybe we'll come back another day and buy something."
"Hmm, I hope to see you again."
Vicente and his subordinate left the shop while Torne warned his master.
'That Lamia knew something.' The ghost said in Vicente's mind. 'She didn't warn you to help you, master. She probably wanted to pique your interest to get you to go to that man. The Lamia must have sensed that your talent isn't as simple as your gem shows.'
'Is that so? She didn't seem to be lying.' Vicente asked as he had analyzed various signs on the woman's body, looking for something that would tell him if she was telling the truth.
But he hadn't found anything that said she had lied.
'It is possible that she used the truth to ensure that you would go to this person. Didn't she talk about preys? Maybe she saw you as an interesting target for Casey's father.' Torne considered the possibility.
'It is possible...' Vicente remained silent as he walked beside his subordinate. 'But Casey is precious. Everything will be easier if I can have him by my side when I go after Lauren.'
'Of course. The boy's mental abilities are impressive. If he can become a Sovereign by the time you go in search of Lauren, he'll be able to obtain important facts that even Paragons have difficulty accessing.' Torne didn't disagree.
'That's why I can't give up on him now. When I realize that the danger of saving him is too great, I might even back down and give up. But now is not the time.' Vicente felt confident to solve this matter. 'That Lamia may be plotting against me. But she doesn't know my true power.'
Torne said nothing more while Vicente's mind was made up.
...
After returning to the rest of the investigators in the city, Vicente did not hesitate to leave the city with his companion. In contrast, the three investigators went in the opposite direction, back to the Seidel Kingdom.
Vicente and Layla followed the last clues they had about Casey's father. That was already one of the strongest areas in the state, so the two of them had to be more careful from now on.
In this state, the number of places where 4th-stage magical beings existed was much higher than in the Seidel Kingdom.
While there would be one or two areas where Sovereigns could be found in each province in the Seidel Kingdom, there were Sovereigns in practically every forest and area that was not inhabited by humans in the Chutha Dynasty.
One had to be very careful when making long journeys in this state. People traveling between cities usually had to use roads, as alternative routes were too risky.
Vicente and Layla hadn't used roads for part of their journey to the last city they had stopped in. But from now on, they would do so whenever possible, already aware of the great risks of the area they were passing through.
And so the next few days of their journey would pass quickly. Without knowing it, they were getting very close to Casey!
But they weren't just getting closer to Casey. As they deliberately follow the last traces left by Casey's father, the two naturally get closer to this person.
Casey had no idea what he was being drawn to, and even if Vicente and Layla were suspicious, they had no idea what they were in for.
But at this point in their journey, they could do nothing to change their fate. In the next few hours, they would finally face the problem they had been lured into for the past few weeks!
