The news of a few odd events had reached Eren's ears when he was heading to the city of Osan from the city of Laurel. This was after settling his affairs with Agatha.
According to the city's message board at the entrance, travellers should avoid the regular route toward the city of Osan. There were signs of a mana beast horde attacking passersby under the leadership of an Ace rank one.
There was also news that the city of Osan might be put into lockdown for a couple of days for some security reasons. As a result, the travellers were advised to make plans accordingly- either don't go to the city of Osan or make haste and get there before the lockdown begins.
Eren pondered a bit and chose the latter option. His time in the Lionheart duchy was short after all. He had to make another batch of potions for his personal use before his departure to the Nightshade duchy. He could use the lockdown days to make potions and make out with Nina some more if she is home.
Plus, he had to check out the geo-coordinates saved on the array disk given to him by Lin Karr. A hunch led him to think it was related to the Osan Woods' Butcher. But he couldn't determine exactly what he would find at the coordinates.
Did you use potions to find out if any followers were pursuing us? How does that work?'
Eren was fascinated by how Layla would sometimes use potions for herself. So for a moment, he put the news about him being followed on the backburner and asked the first question that popped into his head.
'That's simple actually. I took your scent into account and eliminated it from the equation. Then I used an array to amplify the sensory feedback that surrounding rankers' scents might have on a Scent Detection potion. Currently, there are four distinct lumps in the potion that are growing as a result of four separate feedbacks. That means four rankers are still following you.'
Eren was impressed by Layla's creative potion usage. He hadn't even heard that potions could be used this way. But he quickly snapped back to reality and asked Layla via voice communication.
'What can you tell me about my pursuers from those lumps?'
This time Layla was impressed by Eren's deduction that the lumps could be used to determine which rankers the scents belonged to. She didn't take the time to tell him just that.
'Two Ace Rankers. Both are in the gaseous stage. Then there are two Novice rankers– both in the solid stage. One has just broken through into the solid stage while the other is about to step into the Ace rank. The latter is the female ranker the group has.'
Eren scratched his chin to think about who might be targeting him. But he drew a blank. Then he focused on another particular detail.
'Wait a minute. You said they are using artefacts and potions at the same time to hide their presence. All are using the same artefacts and the same potions?'
Layla took her time to perform another round of experiments with her potions. She was using the feedback the surroundings would have on the potions to figure a few things out.
'It seems that is correct. They are all using the same type of artefact and the same type of potions. But what would I do with this information?'
Layla asked as Eren kept on moving forward on his colt. The butcher smiled coldly before responding.
'See? The book smarts are useless if you don't know how to make use of the advantages you gain through them. I asked you that question because I wanted to see if it was a motley crew of bandits we are dealing with. Instead, I wanted to see a team of professionals who are used to working in sync.
The bandits are out of the equation right off the bat. They can't afford or be trained to use something like that in sync. With such perfection.'
Eren had retrieved his smoke from his storage by now. He lit it up. Took a few drags before speaking up as he rode on his colt with a relaxed speed.
'Plus, having the same kind of artefact for everyone's use might only be possible for big guilds and rankers' teams that place custom orders to the artefact forgers. Otherwise, there would almost always be some form of a discrepancy between two artefacts of the same kind.
To make two artefacts of the same rank and grade the same, the craftsmen would have to use high-grade techniques. Such techniques are highly regulated. You won't find some shabby weapon forger making them in a rundown workshop.'
Layla was confused even more than before. She wanted to ask what his deductions would have to do with identifying his pursuers. But Eren resumed speaking even before she had the time to ask about it.
'I don't think I've pissed off any guild or rankers' parties, well-known or otherwise. So they are ruled out of the equation. Therefore, I am left with only one option.
The army!'
Eren narrowed down his eyes when he said this to Layla. He was acting normally. But he was mentally preparing for action.
'Military-issue artefacts. Only army artefacts can be standardized like these. And only army personnel can be trained to use such artefacts with this perfection. Plus, I recently had a verbal spat with that brain dead Ace ranker, remember?
I just don't get how I offended him so badly that he resorted to this? It doesn't make sense. These army soldiers are acting more like cultists than the cultists themselves.'
Layla laughed at Eren's answer when she heard him say that. She replied in the voice of a young girl.
'To be honest, you have it too easy these days, Eren. In my master's era, everyone was out to cut each other's throats for profits.
The rankers' code of conduct would only be followed in the case of high-ranking entities. Rest of the rankers who were in the same rank as you were fair game.
The establishments of today may be able to enforce certain rules over rankers, but that won't change their nature. As soon as a ranker embarks on their ranking journey, they are cursed with it.
Rankers have hubris!
So don't search for reasons behind every nutcase ranker's actions. Chances are you won't always find something that would make sense to you.'
