Marcus was staring at the wall, or rather, the exact position where Brown was seated.
It wasn't that he could see the knight through the wall, no, Marcus could sense him.
This was another ability that came with reaching the Entry level of the Mind's Eyes Art.
What has gotten to him?
Unaware that he was leaking a great deal of power, Marcus frowned and pushed the thought away, opening the paper up.
…
July 19th.
I followed student Eddy Lawfy to Baron Gaus's residence, where I had to observe from a distance.
He, as well as two other students, is residing in the Baron's mansion.
All was quiet that day, and nothing out of the ordinary happened.
…
July 20th.
Eddy Lawfy walks around the residence with other students, exploring the Baron's interesting items.
They indulged themselves with a game of hunting, shooting, and running rabbits down.
The night ended with little to no activities of importance.
…
July 21st.
Envoys from several families arrived in the Baron's mansion, meeting with the students.
I was unable to eavesdrop on their conversation as I was too far away.
On the same day, Eddy Lawfy left the residence and traveled south. He draped himself in a disguise and stopped by a tavern called Lesser Than Thou.
I am unsure of whom he met with, but their conversation was brief and they exchanged unknown items.
…
Zach, Eddy, and Sam staying in Baron Gaus's mansion wasn't news to Marcus.
Even in the previous life, before everyone started congregating in his estate, these three revealed that they were staying there.
As for the 20th, he wasn't interested in that. Though he was pleased that Joshua was doing his work diligently.
When Marcus read the third day's information, his fist clenched when he read the name of the tavern.
Isn't that one of the places where Devilish Intent was first found in the South? This rat!
He had just squeezed the paper when fire appeared out of nowhere and burned it.
Marcus flinched.
He had no intention to do that, it was as though a spell reacted to his anger.
His brows furrowed as he tried to figure out why.
"The imbalance in my Will… is this what it translates to? My abilities and spells leaking?"
An idea struck, making him wonder if he had unconsciously cast a spell on Brown.
That would explain his reactions.
"I'll have to figure this out soon. But for now, this traitor Eddy… the first outbreak came from that tavern which is just six days away. Today is the 22nd, Zach w
Should be on his way here to give their response."
The outbreak he was speaking about refers to when Devilish Intent becomes so potent that even normal people can feel and sense it.
It pollutes the minds of the living and their surroundings.
Marcus brought out a pocket watch, it's already 8:43 A.M.
***
Eastern District.
Maney's Residence.
Seated in his garden, adorned with many flowers of different colors. They emitted a resplendent ambiance under the late morning sun.
A white canvas stood before a seated Maney. By his side was a stool with paint and paint brushes.
His hands moved steadily, like those of a seasoned painter.
Maney had just started, when suddenly, from a shadow in the corner, a figure appeared.
"Sir, the young governor has resorted to seeking help from the students' backers… wouldn't this mean more trouble for us?" The figure asked.
"Not really…" Maney said. "Since the young lord sent word to the Royal Council about us and their response is this, it made me realize that they want the same thing as we do. But they're just too hypocritical to do it themselves."
"Sir? Do you mean?"
"Yes… They need the pandemonium. They also need an Envoy to appear, only then can they use the Envoy's energy to get what they want."
"Then, is this a go-ahead to openly operate?"
"No," Maney paused. "Not everyone is on the same page. Do not forget that a scion of El Salvador is also involved. It will serve us well to avoid that family as much as we can. Until we have summoned an Eminence, we cannot provoke them.
"The Royal Council wants to use us, and they think they know what we want to do. So let's put in an act for them and pretend that they're right. The greed of those nobles never ceases to amaze me." Maney smiled and his hand resumed painting.
"I understand, sir. How should we proceed?"
"Wait a few days, use the boy to confirm, coordinate, and orchestrate the first attack. There are still a few months till we get a blood moon. Move most of the tokens to another altar. Detonate the ones left behind and let their poor souls pave the way to the Faceless one's return."
"Understood. I'll have Gaus whisper in their ears."
The shadow vanished after that.
At this point, Maney was done painting. On the canvas was a drawing of different colorless flowers.
He smiled and stood up from his stool, walking towards his mansion.
If one continued looking at the flowers he drew and flowers in the garden, they would be able to see a face hidden on every petal.
Just then, the flowers he drew began bleeding…
***
It was an hour after noon before Marcus left his workshop.
He was tired, but a smile remained on his face.
After spending hours and mental strength, he had been able to assemble a gauntlet from the iron scales.
A small success.
Marcus had used a blade made from the best grade Marc Steel to strike the gauntlet and to his surprise, they were evenly matched.
And this was only because he hadn't started etching enchantments on the gauntlet.
My Will being imbalanced might not be a bad thing. At least it was able to provide me with some stamina.
Marcus thought.
The reason why he was able to assemble this gauntlet was because of his will.
More accurately, his newly acquired abilities were attributed to his will.
With enough will, he was able to think faster, make corrections, and readjust the blueprints of his prototypes.
It was a whole other world of thought processes that exhilarated Marcus.
"Zach should be arriving soon. Let me take a quick bath." He muttered.