Eren thus blamed himself more for not preparing enough for Purgatory. He didn't blame Jules for things that had happened to him.
However, there was someone else in this group who was responsible for launching a lethal sneak attack on him while he was in Purgatory. Someone who had come to visit his city under a fake identity.
It was only through sheer planning and sacrifice of one of his pawns did Eren manage to break free from the trap and keep himself alive. Otherwise, Eren would have died inside the subspace without anyone being the wiser.
Thus, Eren had a score to settle with a certain person sitting in front of him. However, he needed to confirm something first.
***
All three Illuminati members enjoyed their meal.
Eren had a seamless conversation with all three ladies after the initial awkwardness all three ladies had observed for themselves. His well-articulated words and a friendly smile made the female rankers pay close attention to him no matter what he was talking about at the time.
Jules could find it easier to communicate with Eren because of her previous connections with him. She also felt a certain pull towards him– the kind that she felt when she was in Ron Damien's company. But her subconscious mind overlooked that fact.
As such, Jules talked with Eren a lot, unaware of the fact that she was feeling attracted to him once again. Tara was no exception to this pull either. The young elf was the easiest to influence and reel in his talks for Eren.
Lady Zee had introduced herself as Catherine since her name was mentioned in the cultist bounty missions. It was her into whom Eren had to put in a lot of effort.
Eren had used a lot of mental icebreakers to get Lady Zee to open up to him. Eren wasn't as easily trusted by her as Tara was. He had to reply to a lot of her trick questions with reasonable answers for her to start letting her guard down in his presence.
Eren eventually got all three women comfortable talking with him. It was as if his linguistic skills and the way he could lie had also been ranked up along with his rank.
After that, it wasn't long before Lady Zee could feel the familiarity she had developed with Eren was enough for her to raise this question to him.
"Eren, you are an enigma, aren't you?
Who could have thought that the founder of such a glorious city was walking down the streets like a newbie adventurer? Even obscuring his ranking status!
You don't want people to recognize you by your deeds? Should I call that modesty or sneakiness? Hehe!"
Eren chuckled at Lady Zee's question before answering.
"Haha. I have done a lot of such deeds without taking credit for them, Expert Catherine. Some of my finest works' credit has been taken by someone else without me ever planning about it.
So this is not my first time staying lowkey. And I can tell you with certainty it won't be my last either."
Eren said and put down his knife and fork. He draped his mouth with the tablecloth that had been kept beside his plate and took a long breath. He then drank the White Raven ale in his mug and felt content having such delicious food.
The butcher then lit up his smoke and took a long drag. Each of his actions was effortless and adhered to proper table manners.
Lady Zee could conclude that Eren was hinting at something huge he had done in the past for which he didn't get credit. But she couldn't just narrow down what kind of scandals he might be involved in from Edinburgh's recent past. In the end, she could only give up before developing a newfound interest in Eren.
Eren then discussed the taste of White Raven ale with the three ladies and asked for their opinion. He had come up with his own theories about how to further improve the taste and effects of the ale.
At this point, the current variant of White Raven ale only stimulated the rankers' mana circuits and provided some marginal health boosts. However, it didn't positively influence the rankers' elemental attainment like the real elven ales were known for doing.
Eren ignored that aspect of the elven ale for the time being and focused on nailing down the rest of its features. Even as a knock-off, he wanted his ale to get as close to the real as possible right from the get-go.
The three ladies didn't have much to add. They couldn't articulate what they wanted from Eren's brewed ale. But every opinion mattered for a seasoned merchant who was in the business of pleasing people with his products.
So Eren noted the suggestions the three ladies gave him and thanked them for it. He also said that the ladies had paid for the meal themselves by offering to be one of the first to criticize the ale.
When everything was said and done, Eren retrieved a strange vial from his storage and placed it on the round wooden table. He took another drag and released the smoke slowly before speaking up.
"This is another concoction the White Raven guild is developing. Expert, Catherine, mind taking a closer look?"
Lady Zee was puzzled when Eren made that request. But at this point, she had subconsciously begun to take Eren's request seriously. So she smiled and nodded at him before lifting the vial with her hand. She observed the concoction's effects with her mana sense after bringing it closer to her eyes.
The colorless concoction inside the transparent vial was already changing its color to red when Eren brought it out. But the rate at which it turned red intensified after Lady Zee got hold of it.
The thing had turned dark red by the time she was holding it right in front of her eyes. Lady Zee didn't understand the cause and effect of the potion turning red. So she looked at the vial with puzzled expressions for some time before directing those same expressions to Eren.
"I don't get it. What kind of potion is it?"
Eren had a smile on his face as he watched the shade of the concoction turn dark red. Only he knew what was happening and why the concoction's color was changing.
'Sangria red hue. She's the one!'
AN: The unnamed vial of potion has been first mentioned in chapter 496.
