Chapter 78: Runic Gates Disappearance
Everything went well for the next few hours during the group activity that Arthur designed. It went so well that Cillian couldn’t help but be impressed by how his feelings that hadn’t felt heavy at all, had become even lighter.
It was probably how everyone felt in the room, and the effect must’ve doubled for the ones that was feeling troubled inside.
There was a change in Kash and Willow’s faces, as if the troubles they had been thinking about were completely irrelevant, whatever those were. There was no need to mention Melissa and Ivy, whose appeared that their heavy burdens seemed to have been lifted. Everyone’s expression reflected exactly how this group activity was supposed to work.
One couldn’t deny how effective this group activity is.
So how come...
’How come everyone had a flag raised above their heads...?’
[White Flag x20]
[Death Flag x1]
Cillian couldn’t help but be shaken. A slight foreboding feeling continued to stir within him.
Something was happening, and it was definitely Arthur’s doing, yet he couldn’t tell exactly what was causing it.
For the rest of the hours the groups spent talking with one another, Cillian kept his system’s Nearby Flag Presence activated. And every few minutes, one flag would appear after another. It was nerve-racking to watch those flags manifest, and he was there to witness every one of them.
’How is he doing it?’
Cillian asked himself as he watched Arthur on the side while he was being surrounded by the people in the consultation room after the group activity, which had just concluded.
A deep frown appeared on his face.
’I can’t find anything from him at all. Should I start raising the playing field?’
If he had already failed twice to find anything, that was already enough for him to change his approach to doing things.
What he had been doing for both the first and this second consultation was his preliminary search for the figure known as Arthur Potter. But after having no conclusion for the past two sessions, Cillian was planning on taking a step further in prying information about this figure.
"Okay, everyone. Today will be the end of our session. See you guys next week."
Arthur announced and clasped his hands together to declare the end of today’s session.
...
"There’s this guy who’s three years higher than me in my group who said that Arthur helped him recently when he was in trouble with thugs."
"Oh, the lady in my group is also the same. But she was being chased by loan sharks because of her husband’s debts. What did Arthur offer? Solving the loan shark problem himself. He only asked to come to his therapy session if she needed it, and she accepted it willingly."
Cillian listened to the group in front of him as they walked in the same direction. It was Aster’s group, with the exception of a few absentees and Aster himself. If not for the fact that they were leaving the hospital, he would have definitely taken another route.
But alas, Cillian was forced to listen to Arthur’s goodwill to his patients that Melissa and Ivy heard from their groups.
It was even starting to irritate him because Cillian would’ve definitely thought the same thing if not for his Death Flag saying otherwise.
Right now, Cillian was inclined to think Arthur was an enemy, but rather than targeting him, he was aiming for something bigger that involved a lot of people.
Eventually, they reached the exit together before finding themselves outside the Runic Gate.
"Oh, right. Have you all heard that Runic Gate’s appearance has stopped?"
Suddenly, a topic came out from Willow’s mouth that Cillian couldn’t help but get curious about, as it involved the rampaging Runic Gates that continued manifesting in the world, only for them to stop appearing.
"What do you mean by that, Willow?"
Melissa asked the question going through Cillian’s head before Willow replied with a small questioning look on her face.
"I’ve heard my parents talking about it. They said it stopped appearing a week ago. The Elven Race, the Dwarven Race, and the Beastfolk Kingdom have confirmed it. Their territories didn’t encounter the manifestation of Runic Gates."
Cillian’s brows creased. News like that wasn’t circulating around in public, so for Willow to be saying it to the group only meant that they would release the news soon.
’But isn’t that good news?’
The disappearance of Runic Gates would reduce the collateral damage caused by their earthquakes. Even though damage was minimized due to the protocols followed when they manifested, it would be better if they stopped appearing completely.
Willow didn’t seem to be on the same side as Cillian as she answered as to why this is dangerous.
"You don’t understand. If Runic Gate stopped disappearing, that would make almost half of the current and proven theories false. We barely scratched the surface of the mysteries of these gates, and it was all thanks to those theories that we were able to advance further. But them disappearing now when we’re expecting an abundance of gates this time around?"
Willow shook her head.
"That’s not good news. It will cause problems later on. But the worst thing about their disappearance begs the question, why? Why would they disappear now?"
Kash and Ivy, who were also nobles, couldn’t help but get serious, deciding to know more about this matter once they got home. On the other hand, Melissa, who didn’t have that kind of status, could only wait for her friend’s news.
’Looks like having information around will benefit me in the long run. I’m here, merely listening to what these guys say. Do I have to take over the Whisper Broker and grab some sensitive information they possess?’
Cillian began to think that his schedule was manageable enough to be able to do these things. Well, on taking over the Whisper Broker, even if he wasn’t successful in fully taking it over, he at least wanted to be part of the important people who could see important information going around.
But if his schedule is already packed, he might have to leave taking over Whisper Broker in the future.
’Ah, well, I’ll somehow make my decision when I’ve gone through the Underworld by tomorrow.’
Cillian mused inwardly as he made a mental schedule and laid out the foundations of his plan, inserting prying into Arthur’s true background into it.
Cillian smiled.
’My goodness. I’m really getting into the character. Seriously, I’m having fun doing these things.’
Cillian let out a small chuckle before walking past the group, who definitely noticed his presence.
"Cillian."
Appearing grumpy after being called by Willow behind, Cillian flashed a smug look before tilting his head slightly to the side.
"What?"
Willow, who was now looking at Cillian in a new light, let out a short, embarrassed fake cough so blatantly obvious that even Cillian noticed it and spoke again.
"You don’t need to try so hard. You’re not good at it."
"Shut up!"
With flushed cheeks, Willow pointed her finger at him before saying.
"I just wanted to say thank you for what you did at the Academy for helping us to save Aster. I never get to tell you this directly."
Then, she removed her embarrassed face as she bowed her head slightly to appear sincere and not merely say it because she needed to.
She gave thanks because she meant it.
Kash and Ivy followed her lead, something they hadn’t done because it might look like they were being pushovers for Cillian, who clearly didn’t like being with them. But now that Willow had taken the lead, they were able to follow and also give their thanks.
’Oh?’
Cillian couldn’t help but be impressed. So impressed that if he had a camera right now, the first thing he would do is capture this image and brag to people that these nobles bowed their heads to a commoner.
Though aside from that stupid joke, Cillian doesn’t need their thanks.
"I don’t want it."
The three slowly raised their head before seeing Cillian smiling cheekily, their face slowly turning into frowns.
Cillian then demanded.
"If you’re really thankful for what I did, then give me some money."
"..."
Thankful, my ass.
Better get something valuable rather than their words that didn’t amount to anything in the real world.
But for some reason, Willow wasn’t annoyed by Cillian’s antics.
He was always like this.
A small sigh escaped from Willow’s mouth before returning the same cheeky smile, somehow making that action backfire on him.
’She’s really beautiful. The main cast of this novel is really in a different league on their own, huh?’ Cillian mused inwardly.
Then, Cillian heard Willow’s reply after he demanded payment for their gratitude instead of just accepting it.
She kept the same cheeky smile and said in an annoyed tone.
"Are you crazy?"
He had thought they had reached a mutual understanding and that their conversation would lead to this point, but he was completely wrong.
’I thought...’
He was left too stunned to reply.
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