We spent a few more minutes talking about the Demon. From the intel that Tina gathered while running around Los Angeles, San Diego, and Las Vegas, she managed to reduce the possibility of the Demon's base to two.
'B-Rank Metal Gnoll Dungeon in Los Angeles or C-Rank Mermen Dungeon in San Diego, huh?'
The second arc, the Demon re-appearance, was set in San Diego. Another party raided the Demon's base when the Demon was out of it because the Demon was dealing with the Fake Artifacts thing.
The Demon was furious when he found that Awakeners raided his base, and that was the beginning of the second arc.
However, from what Tina said, something strange didn't add up to the story I remembered.
'The Demon's appearance that she saw in the Prison is different from the one that I described in the novel.'
Demons were put into a few different classifications based on their strength and intelligence. The bottom of the tier was the Low Demon; it had the appearance of a wild beast and couldn't speak. Usually, low Demon had strength equal to D to C-Rank monsters.
Next to it was Mid Demon; they had the appearance of a human and could speak. However, they couldn't transform themselves and hid between the humans. Their strength was equivalent to that of C-Rank monsters, not too different from low Demons. However, their intelligence made them more dangerous than low Demons.
The third one was probably the Demon that Tina saw in prison. A high Demon; this Demon's appearance and intelligence were similar to humans, making them the most dangerous among the Demons.
Furthermore, they could shapeshift to hide among us. Their strength was similar to those of the B-Rank Awakeners. They were dangerous.
This type of Demon's loyalty toward the Demon King was immense; they even made the revival of the Demon King their priority and were not afraid to throw their lives in the process.
There were still two more classifications above high Demon: Noble Demon and Arch Demon. Those two classifications of Demons had been eliminated after the second Hero killed the Demon King. Or at least based on history.
Some of those Noble Demons and Arch Demons still exist in the empty second Abyss. They were waiting for the perfect time to make an appearance and throw Humanity into chaos once again.
After we had finished talking, Richard suddenly said, "Ah, right. Can I have time with Vincent alone? I have something that I need to tell him. Just the two of us." His tone was serious, to which Tina replied with a nod.
"Alright, pops. Don't take too long this time. I will be waiting outside." She stood up and looked at Chloe. "Chloe! Let's go play with the kids while we wait for my brother, shall we?" She exclaimed.
Chloe looked at me, and I answered her with a nod. "Go play with her. It will not be long."
"Un." She nodded her head and stood up before exiting the room with Tina.
They were on friendly terms, which I was thankful for. After seeing Tina, I had decided on something. Hence, I accepted the risk of being alone with Darkest Secret in his office.
After the door was closed, the atmosphere within the room suddenly turned cold and serious. Darkest Secret, Richard, fixed his posture and crossed his legs.
"Let's get into business, Vincent. I know you have some business with me, but hear me first." He said. His blue eyes, which contained wisdom that he cultivated through years of being an informant, were peering right into me.
"Yeah, go ahead." I said, throwing my back onto the couch's backrest as I looked back at him. I also crossed my legs and put my arms on top of my tights to appear professional.
This was a negotiation, a start of my real meeting with the Darkest Secret. Earlier, it was a meeting between Vincent and his foster father, and my little sister, Tina who gave me new information.
However, this time, he was acting as the informant, Darkest Secret, not Father Richard.
"Take Tina with you. She shouldn't be here." He suddenly said, surprising me.
"Did something happen?" I asked as I raised my eyebrows, trying to judge his intention.
"I used my Talent, you see." He smiled while glancing at his laptop on the work desk.
Darkest Secret's Talents. They were one of the mysteries in the world that no one but him knew about. But, from how he talked, I assumed that Vincent knew about Darkest Secret's Talent. That was why Darkest Secret just said he used his Talent instead of explaining what he did to avoid some information leak.
Of course, I knew about his Talent too; I was the author. As someone who was called the best informant, his Talents were actually something normal. But, like Park Injun, his Talents correspond to each other well and create something absurd.
He had Talents that no one would think of. B-Rank Divinity, A-Rank Hacking, and S-Rank Information Gathering. Divinity was not the Talent to make someone divine or something like a priest.
It was a Talent that allowed someone to guess the future. Combined with his Information Gathering Talent and Hacking, he could get all the information he wanted in this age of Mana and Technology. Then, he could guess the future with Divinity after he got all the information he needed with greater accuracy.
"What did you see?" I asked seriously.
"The Demon that Tina talked about earlier. He's not the only one. There is another Demon hiding in the place she talked about, the C-Rank Mermen Dungeon in San Diego, to be precise."
It was as I had expected. From Tina's description of the Demon, he had a stout and bulky figure, looking like a close-ranged fighter, whereas the Demon that was supposed to appear in the second arc had a lean body and was a Demon that used Dark Magic.
'Maybe I can use this chance to make that guy get a bit stronger. With their early appearance like this, maybe it only takes them a month at most to prepare? That would be a perfect time for Zaiden to recover. I need to make a move this time as Vincent, to take him to San Diego before the actual second arc starts.'
I grinned after I heard the information from Darkest Secret. Truly, this world had been so different from my novel, but the obstacles hindering Zaiden seemed to get stronger and stronger at a faster rate.
But what was the relationship between the Demons and me taking Tina?
"And, why did you ask me to take Tina with me?"
"Because you will need her Talents." He said mysteriously. "She's the most talented Information Gatherer among the ones that I have under me, and you do know that, no?"
'No, I actually don't.' I thought, but my head responded to Darkest Secret with a nod.
"That's why take her into your Mercenary Group. She will help you greatly with your goal."
"But…" I tried to interject, but Darkest Secret interrupted me.
"Don't worry. She's not the girl that you need to protect anymore. She can protect herself." His lips curled into a kind smile of a father proud of his daughter.
It was within my plan to take Tina with me at first, but he gave me an easy time. I thought he wouldn't be willing to part with Tina. I had been thinking of a few ways to take Tina with me after hearing that she could gather a lot of information and was seemingly good at her feet, so I was thankful that he offered to take her without needing to persuade him.
I put my hand on my chin and faked a reluctant expression, as if I was thinking deeply about whether I should take Tina in or not.
"How is it? I think she'll be happy to stay with you. She won't hinder your plan either. For now, you just need to wait, no? Also, if you are worried about her, just make her that thing. Surely you can do it." He smirked.
Plan, again. The plan he talked about was undoubtedly related to something that would happen in two months. The key to making me stronger and grow faster than Zaiden. The appearance of the Dungeon Shop in the Academy, an event that I set up for Vincent in the last chapter.
The Dungeon Shop was a shop that would appear once every few years and only served one customer.
That was why I needed money and stayed in the Academy even though I didn't need to. I got more money than I needed, and an item that fit Vincent perfectly was sold in the Dungeon Shop. The one who operated the Dungeon Shop was a Goblin, indeed, but he was a Goblin Trader.
They only took some kind of precious metals as currency, so I actually needed to exchange my money for the metal that the Goblin Trader loved, which was gold.
'And I know the perfect place to exchange gold. Black Market.'
Darkest Secret must've seen it with his Divinity and told Vincent about it. Maybe that was the reason why Vincent went to the Academy in the first place.
Vincent in the story used his womanizing ways to get more money from women. While it was true that he started to become a womanizer because of the loss of his sister, he also noticed that he could gain a lot of money by doing it, so he continued until he had enough money to get what he wanted from the Dungeon Shop.
'The cause of his womanizing ways ended up becoming the way to gain money for him. It also made him forget about his sister for a while and made him focus on money. Vincent admitted those before he took his last breath.'
After a few seconds, I nodded and answered. "Alright. I will take Tina with me. That's my intention in the first place for coming here. I have a person who can protect her from dangers in my base. She will be safe there."
"Good." He answered, and the atmosphere in the room turned normal again as Richard stood up. He walked to his working desk but suddenly stopped and turned to me.
"Ah, also. Many guilds, Mercenaries, and Dark Guilds have been reaching out to me to ask about Rai. Be careful out there. Even Memento Mori is investigating Rai. Also… Sacred Relic is investigating Vincent's background. I have taken care of that because I already have the file ready since you were raised in this place. You are clean if you want to enter the Sacred Relic."
My eyes widened a little as he told me about it. Darkest Secret was famous for not disclosing his clients' names, but shockingly, he told me all about them. That was the reason why he was called Darkest Secret in the first place. No secret came out of his mouth, and he would bury it in the darkest place.
He knew a lot, maybe almost all the secrets that he had heard from his clients. However, he never once disclosed his clients' information to someone else.
I couldn't help but smile at the information, as it seemed like the presence of Rai had gotten big and attracted the big names. I was also grateful to Richard for telling me the information and doing me a favor by guaranteeing Vincent's background. I stood up from the couch and said,
"Thanks, pops."
"It's nothing. My family is more important than money, no?" He winked and sat on his seat before the working desk. "Anyway, you can go now. I need to continue my work."
"Sure. See you again." I walked out to the exit and closed the door behind me. As I closed the door, I heard a low voice from him saying, 'See you again.'
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