After a while, Conrad paid for everything and left the bar.
After walking for some time, he entered a dead-end alley and began waiting.
One hand rested on his waist as he stood there calmly.
A few minutes later, he shook his head.
"Whoever sent you, this wouldn't be a bad time to show yourselves," Conrad said in a quiet voice.
Immediately after his words, two people revealed themselves at the entrance of the alley.
One was a woman with long hair wearing a leather jacket.
The other was a slightly bearded man dressed in simple brown clothing.
"Why are you asking so many questions?" the man asked in a firm but respectful tone.
Conrad smiled.
"Two Nen users..."
"Amateurs by my standards, but they definitely have Nen abilities..." he thought.
For experienced Nen users and people knowledgeable about Nen, it was not difficult to look at someone and roughly estimate the amount of aura they possessed or determine whether they had enough aura to develop a Hatsu.
For Conrad, it was even easier.
"Am I causing some sort of problem for you?" Conrad asked in return.
The fact that Conrad had answered a question with another question, instead of responding directly, visibly annoyed the woman in the leather jacket.
"Too arrogant..." she whispered.
A few seconds after whispering those words, a needle-like sword appeared in her hand.
"Conjuration?"
"Needle Sword?" Conrad thought.
"What exactly are you planning to do with that sword? I have no interest in starting a fight. But I do have to protect myself."
The bearded man raised a hand and signaled for the woman to stop.
"We are people connected directly to Meteor City and the Council."
"We have the right to investigate and question every newcomer."
"Any action you take against us will be considered an action against the people of Meteor City and its Council."
He smiled slightly.
"A Nen user..."
"And we can tell you're a strong Nen user."
"But this is our junkyard."
"As long as you answer my questions honestly, we have no problem with you."
Conrad let out a quiet breath.
As much as he disliked being questioned, there was some truth in what the man was saying.
"Alright."
"I simply want to gather information about the place I'm visiting."
"I think Meteor City has enormous untapped potential."
"If possible, I'd like to consider future investment opportunities."
For a brief moment after Conrad said those words, the woman in the leather jacket displayed a small trace of sympathy in her eyes before returning to a completely neutral expression.
Conrad was not foolish enough to miss that change.
"Whenever I mention investments or similar subjects, the people responsible for Meteor City's security, or those closer to the center, tend to react more positively."
"That means they're more welcoming toward investors."
"And at least some of them genuinely understand how important investment is for the city's overall welfare."
"Part of that comes from their humanity."
"The other part is probably their responsibility," he thought.
The bearded man smiled.
"If you're an investor, then naturally we're happy to see you here."
"If it's acceptable to you, let's go to the Central District."
"In the Central District, we can arrange a meeting with the assistants of the Overseer Elder, who is responsible for investment, city planning, and general administration."
"If your investment is significant enough, you may even be able to meet the Overseer Elder directly."
Conrad let out a quiet breath.
After making those statements, rejecting the invitation outright would immediately make him look dishonest.
At that point, resolving the situation without killing the other side would become nearly impossible.
"It's far too early for a conflict."
"If I create a major incident now, Lamar might flee or hide somewhere heavily protected."
"That would make this mission far more difficult."
"Alright," Conrad said.
"But I still have things to do."
"And I want to see more of the city first."
"You know the bar where I was sitting."
"Let's meet there tomorrow morning at seven."
The bearded man looked toward the woman.
After a moment, he smiled.
"Then we'll see you tomorrow."
Both of them turned around and disappeared back into the streets.
-
As the woman in the leather jacket walked alongside the man, she could not hold herself back any longer and finally asked.
"Mister Almord..."
"Why were you so relaxed and calm around that man?"
"He seemed very arrogant to me, and it's obvious that he's hiding something," she said.
Almord smiled in response to the question.
"Everyone hides something, especially someone dangerous like him who came from outside Meteor City," he said.
"You still have a lot to learn, Lindsy."
Lindsy placed a finger against her lips and took a deep breath.
"I don't think he's dangerous," she said.
Almord stopped.
"Didn't you feel it?" he asked.
Lindsy shook her head from side to side.
"He just seemed like someone who was overly confident and unaware of reality."
Almord placed a hand over his eyes and let out a quiet breath.
"You really didn't realize that we escaped death, did you..." he said.
"If Conrad, that man, had felt threatened and decided to attack us, there is absolutely no way we could have fought him. He would have killed us before any help arrived."
Lindsy swallowed.
"Against both of us..."
"Is something like that even possible?" she asked.
Almord nodded.
"Maybe you didn't notice it, but in reality, we weren't the ones letting him go."
"He was the one letting us leave because he wanted to avoid drawing attention to himself."
"If that hadn't been the case, I would have rejected his proposal and demanded that he come with us immediately and reveal the truth."
"But in that situation, the outcome probably wouldn't have been pleasant."
"And honestly, I still want to stay alive," he said.
Lindsy swallowed again, and sweat began running down her forehead.
"Mister Almord is one of the strongest Nen users I've ever known..."
"There have only been a handful of people he has spoken about like this..."
"If even he evaluates the situation this way, then I really..."
"I still have a lot to learn," she thought.