"Sir Kayden, we can call the head--" Henry was saying something, but the expression on Kayden's face made him drop his words.
"Just go back. We don't need any complications with the Greville family," Kayden said, looking forward.
"Who was that guy, though?" Clara didn't know about Hassan, so she was curious about who the old man was.
"Hassan Trevino, SS Rank Hunter," one of their team members explained.
"You are not from Somaria, so you might not know much about him, but he is the right-hand man of Nathaniel Greville," he said as Clara nodded.
"What about the report then?" Henry asked.
"Just tell them that we got stopped by the heir of the Greville family." Kayden was in no mood to hold this discussion any longer.
Henry and Clara thought Kayden was angry, but in reality, he was just terrified of Hassan's presence. There was some information that only people like Kayden, who had worked long enough in high positions, knew. And most new S Rank hunters like Henry and Clara didn't know about them.
And he was one of the fortunate ones who knew about Hassan and his powers. Greville had stayed in the high council for a long time, and they were the only ones among the Elite families that nurtured their servants themselves.
Most families feared that wasting resources on other people different from their own blood could lead to their own downfall, so they never tried it. However, only the Grevilles were crazy enough to have people like Hassan swear their absolute loyalty toward them.
'At least it was old man Hassan this time,' Kayden breathed in relief, as Hassan was known as the calmest one among the three SS Rank Hunters that worked for the special group of hunters they called 'Greyhounds.'
If one of the other two had come, there was a chance a few of his team members would have died before they even got a chance to speak.
***
"What is happening?!" A woman shouted with fear.
There were similar reactions from other people present in the hotel at that time. They had come here to have a peaceful stay, but out of nowhere, windows were breaking, and there was a heavy pressure in the air due to the mana of the S Rank hunters that were present there.
"Two of you, go and explain everything to them," Hassan told two S Rank Hunters to move.
They disappeared as they looked for the hotel manager, who was shaking in the lobby area on the ground floor with fear.
Hassan turned as he looked at Corey and Zach, who were just standing there.
"And you two are from the Abyss Guild, right?" Hassan asked.
"Yes, Sir!" Both of them replied instantly, as they knew about Hassan.
Corey was slightly nervous about being punished, but Zach was the one who was most anxious here. He knew that if Hassan got to know about how he had talked about the Greyhounds, even his life could have been in danger.
He was just praying that they would somehow gloss over this incident.
Hassan knew there was something off about this incident, but he couldn't question Asher about it. It was not his job nor his right to question him about what he was doing here.
"We should move, Young Master," Hassan said as he looked at Asher.
All this commotion had attracted many people around the nearby street, who were recording the whole scenario. Fortunately, Hassan was careful that none of their faces were spotted, which was not good for their public image.
Before the hour passed, Asher was back in Soran and was traveling to the Greville Estate.
Most of the S Rank Hunters had returned, as in Soran, Asher didn't need this much security.
Tom was taking Dane and Kai, who was being restrained by Garreth and a few of his men. Asher had already given Tom all the instructions for Emmy long before arriving at the hotel, so he didn't need to worry about Dane and Kai escaping.
Even if both of them were good enough in front of Emmy, it wouldn't matter. She was one of the best trackers in the world, and even S Rank hunters would not compete with her in that field.
Asher's car stopped as he stepped out of it and looked at the large Mansion in front of him.
Asher went inside, as there was still some time left before Sylvie and Arthur would come back, and he would have to answer a few questions. As he stepped towards his room, the strange tattoo on his back appeared for an instant and disappeared again.
"Welcome, Young Master," many servants greeted Asher as he approached the training grounds.
Asher stepped into the training facility when he heard a sound, so he went in that direction.
"Fireball," Lucas chanted as a fireball appeared in both of his hands.
Asher was looking at the young Lucas, who had gotten slightly taller, practicing his spells.
"Huff, huff," Lucas breathed heavily as he looked at where his fireballs had hit.
"Still off," Lucas muttered to himself.
But when he turned to pick up his towel, he saw Asher, and his face brightened up.
"Brother!" Lucas said as Asher walked closer to him.
"Are you on your vacation?" Lucas asked Asher, as Sylvie had already told him about how Asher could leave World Academy for a few days.
"Yeah, and I will return in a few hours," Asher replied.
"Okay," Lucas was not disheartened by his reply, as he already knew he would join the World Academy next year.
Though it would be in a special class, he could still meet Asher every day.
"Keep practicing," Asher turned, but he saw a little girl who was a bit shorter than Lucas come into the training room holding a greatsword in her hand. The greatsword was specially made for her, considering her size, so it was not too big for her.
"Oh, big brother is here," Livia came in, as it was her time to practice as well.
She was surprised that Asher was present there.
Asher looked at Livia, but his gaze was still indifferent.
"Are you alone?" she asked.
"Yeah, Amelia will not come here till the next break," Asher replied, which made Livia a bit sad.
"Lucas, are you still free for a spar?" Livia asked her brother.
"Ah, yeah," Lucas replied as he waved at Asher.
Asher turned as he was leaving the ground floor to train his mana to the second floor, but he sensed a familiar aura and stopped.
"They arrived early," Asher stopped as he sensed that Arthur and Sylvie were back.
At the entrance of the Mansion,
"So it was a wrong call, according to him?" Arthur asked Hassan, who nodded back.
"What do you want to do, Sylvie?" Arthur asked.
"Let's listen to his side of the story first," Sylvie replied, and Arthur nodded back at her.
They entered the living room and were about to call a servant to inform Asher, but they stopped as they saw Asher arriving at the living room himself.
"You have grown stronger," Arthur was surprised that Asher had hit D-Rank already.
"Yeah," Asher replied as he sat opposite Arthur and Sylvie.
"Congratulations on becoming Rank 1," Sylvie said with a smile on her face.
"Thanks," Asher replied with a calm face.
"So, I assume you know why we called you here?" Arthur asked.
"For the emergency call, right?" Asher replied, and Arthur nodded.
They first wanted to hear his side of the story before coming to a decision themselves.
"It was just a short trip to the Black Market in Maxzil," Asher replied truthfully, as he knew that hiding things now would not do him any good.
"How does that relate to you using that armor on two unknown people?" Arthur asked as he had already heard everything from Hassan.
Asher explained the story, but he mixed it a little. Arthur and Sylvie listened to him for a full 10 minutes as Asher warped the story completely.
"So those two were hired mercenaries?" Arthur asked.
"Yeah, and I was testing the artifact on them," Asher replied.
"And all this happened because of the two S Rank Hunters that came from our guild?" Sylvie asked, and Asher nodded at her.
Sylvie was still a bit sad about her previous quarrel with Asher, which involved Alyssa, so she didn't want to argue further.
"Okay, but make sure you always take the guards with you. I expect you know the consequences of such actions," Arthur said, but both of them knew that Asher was smart enough not to do things like this.
"I will," Asher replied, but he didn't mean what he said.
"Okay, are you staying today?" Sylvie asked.
"I will go back as I have some work related to my new company," Asher replied as he got up.
"The twins would have loved a dinner together," Sylvie said, but Asher shook his head.
"Okay, you can go," Arthur said as Asher got ready to leave the Mansion in his car.
After two minutes,
"You think he told the truth?" Arthur asked.
"I think so. From Hassan's explanation, everything aligned with what he said," Sylvie replied.
"Well, he will be returning to the World Academy, so we don't need to worry about such things for now," she said.
As the incident happened in Somaria, they were not too worried about it.
Asher's eyes went dull as he entered his car. He acted as normal as he could before Sylvie and Arthur because he didn't want them to get involved in his activities.
Almost everything was set, and Asher could finally make his moves.
'Level up, huh,' Asher thought in his mind.
