Cedrick began searching for Eren.
Most of the rankers in the group were with him. Morty, on the other hand, chose to stay behind. He just told them that his House had signed a nonaggression contract with Eren, preventing him from ever taking action against Eren.
Morty was relieved to know that Cedrick and the rest bought his partial truth and left him alone. He was about to leave the abandoned facility when he saw that someone else had also stayed behind.
This was a normal-looking young man with average features that didn't make him stand out from the crowd. He always had an air of servitude around him throughout his academic years. However, this young man seemed mysterious to Morty at this point for some reason.
"Rob? Are you not joining His Highness Cedrick and the rest?"
Morty was puzzled to see Robert at the scene. Robert came to Royal Ren from a Baron house. He always stayed close to the royal scions any chance he could get. He was their yes-man and wouldn't shy away from doing menial jobs for them.
Robert especially liked to stay close to Cedrick because of the latter's supposed royal charisma and leadership. Robert's bootlicking had gotten to the point where Cedrick was annoyed by it. So all the royal scions felt relieved when they saw Robert was not following them in their mission to get rid of Eren.
"Hm? I… I have decided to do something else instead."
Robert replied simply. Morty was a bit weirded out by the way Robert spoke. There was no fake politeness to be found in his words– something that had become a part of his identity ever since he got into Royal Ren.
Robert was about to use his movement spell to leave when he heard Morty's next question.
"Rob… What do you think of His Highness Cedrick? Do you think he will eventually succeed in the royal race?"
Robert seemed irritated by Morty's question.
"Listen, man… Robert died and I killed him. This is the new me. Call me Bert. Bert Chu."
For a moment, Morty did not know what to say. He thought that Robert was taking some kind of self-hypnosis approach to reinventing himself from scratch.
"As for what I think of Cedrick, it doesn't matter anymore. There's no point in having opinions about someone who is going to be dead soon."
Robert said and used his lightning-element movement spell to almost disappear from his position, leaving Morty stunned by his answer.
Morty's face was filled with shock when he heard Robert or Bert speak so ominously about Cedrick. He quickly followed Robert and easily overtook him.
"Wait… Rob…"
Morty saw Robert's irritated face and changed his way of addressing him.
"Bert… Bert… just hold on for a moment. Where are you off to? Can I come with you?"
Morty didn't want to explore the Sansara World by himself. Especially on day one when all the teams would be searching for lone rankers like him. They were the easiest to target after all.
Morty knew Bert wasn't that effective when it came to confrontation. And there was something serious going on with how Bert behaved with him. However, Morty attributed it to the man trying to improve himself in his own way.
Bert and Morty could help each other since they were separated from their teams. It was still better to travel alone for both of them.
Bert looked at Morty carefully and pondered for a bit. He took his time to agree to Morty's proposal. Of course, he wasn't expecting Morty to keep firing question after question at him.
***
"Bert, why did you say what you said earlier? Do you think Eren can defend himself against so many talented rankers from Royal Ren?"
Bert and Morty got out of the safe zone and chose a random direction. They were hoping to find a small team of rankers they could handle by themselves. The Sansara World did not have any other means of earning Karma points after all.
Bert looked ahead of himself and sensed that there was a team not too far away, heading towards them. It was about time for them to earn some Karma points. He lowered his voice before speaking up.
"Defend? That guy didn't enter this world to play defense. And so what if they are talented? Talent doesn't matter against inexhaustible perseverance. Believe me. I had to find it the hard way.
It's smart that you play safe.
I don't know what will happen to you at the end of this event. But be glad that you did at least one thing right."
Bert said and took out his daggers, which weirded out Morty even more. As far as he remembered, Bert always wielded his spear in the ranking wars.
"What do you mean?"
Morty asked while taking out his sword. For some reason, Morty's subconscious mind started treating Bert as the leader. He started following right behind him as they approached their first target.
Bert chuckled mirthlessly before saying matter-of-factly.
"Those guys are not about to fight Eren. Not really. They are basically going to offer themselves as sacrifices for his entertainment.
Now… stop asking questions and focus. I don't want to fall behind him."
As he clad himself in green lightning, Bert accelerated himself at a faster rate. Morty was shocked to see that the docile and servant-like Bert had changed so much just by supposedly following his self-hypnosis therapy.
Morty and Bert soon clashed with a small team of rankers. Surprisingly, Morty didn't have to do much. Bert was more than capable of making quick work of his enemies. He took care of Morty's lot as well when he was done with his.
'The power of self-hypnosis is really something. He must have sought an illusion expert's professional help. I wonder if I could achieve similar results if I did that as well.'
Morty thought to himself as he watched Bert leading him to his next set of opponents. He could feel Bert enjoying his time in the Sansara World behind his serious expressions. As if graduating from this event with distinction was his long-lost dream.
Torn between astonishment and amazement, Morty failed to ask Bert an imperative question– how did he know Eren so well?
AN: Refer to chapter 700 in case the name Bert Chu doesn't ring any bells. ;)
