'What? I need to understand what he means before jumping to any conclusions…' Rein thought rationally
There was no way someone could know what Rein's plans in the Floren Kingdom were.
Still, the existence of Soul Sorcerers made mundane logic quite useless. There was a vast range of powers that one could possess.
Rein didn't let any unwanted emotion show on her face, and casually said:
"I haven't decided on becoming a Royal Guard, so I don't need any help yet. Thank you for the offer though."
Zhanix didn't say anything, but the words on the notebook's page quickly changed once again.
—"Please wait until the customers are gone. I'll come to your room later."—
"Okay…" Rein replied with slight awkwardness
Zhanix left with her order a moment later without saying anything else as if nothing had happened.
'He wants to talk with no one around? If he tries anything strange, I'll need to escape from here… at least I would be able to report him to the Royal Guards if that happens, since I did nothing wrong.'
'I wonder if Miriko knows what he's trying to do. If she is involved, this might be troublesome.' Rein thought
She didn't want to fight someone inside the kingdom unless she was left without a choice.
Not knowing the opponents abilities was also not ideal, but the fact that his Soul Tier was a mystery made Rein stay more passive.
Still, it was highly unlikely that Zhanix would try anything funny.
There was an unknown person who was observing Rein, so if anything happened to her, the Royal Guards would be on his tail.
Rein was confident about her own survival, as she had Ciel... and the Starlight Lantern with her at a moments notice.
Soon, her light but appetizing dinner had arrived.
She eventually finished her dinner with satisfaction and went to wait inside her room like Zhanix had suggested.
After closing the door, Ciel calmly warned:
[ This could all be a test. He could just be an agent from the Royal Guards, trying to test your loyalty and goals. ]
[ Yeah, I'll make sure I don't say anything unnecessary. ] Rein replied
Ciel summoned the Starlight Lantern, as he would be of help in case of emergency.
He himself stayed in Rein's shadow.
"You two are quite fast to use me at any moment. Stuff like this is actually quite beneath me." The Starlight Lantern said with a soft gleam of light
"Shut up. You are the one that owes us for your incompetence." Rein irritatedly said
"Artifact lives matter, you know… well, only the living ones. Or maybe just me?" The Starlight Lantern said jokingly
The time gradually passed as usual, and after a while, there was a knock on room 201's door, where Rein was staying.
Rein went up to the door and cautiously opened it.
Both Miriko and Zhanix were standing in the corridor outside.
Miriko seemingly looked a little perplexed by the situation, but was still keeping her soft smile.
"Please, come in." Rein offered
The Starlight Lantern was hidden in the corner of the room and out of sight.
Miriko and Zhanix politely nodded before entering the room and sitting on the couch.
"Sorry about this. I don't really know what Zhanix is thinking or doing right now…" Miriko apologetically spoke first
'So she doesn't know what he's up to… I wonder why he asked her to come as well if that's the case.' Ciel thought
"It's alright. So, what did you mean when you said that you wanted to help?" Rein said facing Zhanix
Zhanix took out the notebook he had used earlier.
He didn't speak as usual, but the unknown ink like substance formed letters on an empty page of the open notebook, writing out the following sentence:
—"I will help you two to complete any of your goals."—
"Okay… but why?" Rein asked with confusion
She didn't know if by "two" he was referring to Ciel or Miriko, and chose to feign ignorance.
"As you can tell, Zhanix is also a Soul Sorcerer. A Radiant Sorcerer at that. He has an Ability called "Letterseer" which occasionally lets him see into the future."
"He might have seen you in one of his dreams." Miriko explained
'A prophet of sorts… so we are entangled with him in the near future as allies?'
'Unless we're his enemies, and he's trying to trick Rein by getting her closer to him…'Ciel thought
Miriko also seemed slightly lost by the current situation. She must have known about Zhanix for a while, and was confused by his decision to reveal himself to a complete stranger.
If Rein reported him to the Royal Guards, she could easily ruin Zhanix's secrets, since there was nothing Zhanix had that could stop her from doing that.
This made Ciel feel like Zhanix was indeed an ally, or had good intentions at the very least. If not, they were both really good actors.
'A prophet is never going to be an easy opponent because they have knowledge about the future.'
'We have to be careful until we can make sure that he is a real ally.' Ciel thought, annoyed by his now tedious life
—"This is a choice I made. You don't need to trust me immediately. You can contact me if you need anything."— Zhanix magically wrote in his notebook
He then tore and passed over a piece of paper from the notebook. It was blank and looked completely normal.
'I'm guessing we just need to write on the paper for the message to be conveyed… that's kinda convenient. Is it an Artifact or one of his Abilities?' Ciel thought to himself
Still, it was nowhere near as convenient as Ciel and Rein's connected minds.
"Thanks, I'll contact you in case I need anything." Rein politely accepted the paper page
Zhanix nodded, and then looked at Miriko with a slightly expectant gaze.
"Also, about Zhanix not being able to speak… it's not a childhood trauma, but an Attribute Limitation."
"Some Soul Sorcerers may awaken a Limitation of sorts when they reach Soul Tier 2 due to their Attribute." Miriko explained
"So his Limitation is that he can't speak under any circumstances? Or is there a way that Zhanix can speak?" Rein asked curiously
"There is no way that we currently know of. Still, this Limitation has never really affected Zhanix, as he was quiet to begin with."
"I've told you quite a bit, so now you should answer my question."
Rein nodded.
"Who was Zhanix referring to when he wrote "you two"? There's no way he was talking about me." Miriko inquired
[ Should I tell her about you? You could come out around her if that happened. ] Rein asked Ciel
[ No. Just say you have a secret friend nearby. If Zhanix really knows about me, he'll tell her himself. If not, we can tell her if we decide to trust her. ] Ciel replied
Rein nodded inwardly and did as Ciel suggested.
Miriko accepted the answer and didn't ask any further questions.
[ Let's slowly reveal our end goal. If they really are allies, trust will be important. ] Ciel suggested
Rein agreed and said to Zhanix and Miriko who were about to leave:
"I have a question that I need help with."
"Is there any way for someone to legally access and take stuff from the royal treasury of the Avadonn Palace?"
"The royal treasury is only available to the royal family. No one else is allowed to enter."
"Are you in desperate need of money or what?" Miriko asked with a chuckle
"More like a cool item of sorts that I heard is in there. Though I wouldn't be crazy enough to break into the treasury just for it." Rein answered
"Too bad. There are a few events that reward money throughout the year, but an item reward never really happens."
"But there could be a chance, just don't get your hopes up." Miriko said, noticing Rein's slight mood drop
Zhanix nodded in agreement.
'So it won't be that easy' Ciel thought with regret
"That's fine. Anyways, do the Royal Guards ever bother you with tasks or are you free to run this cafe in peace?" Rein asked casually
"I am actually a Scout. I just prefer to stay here for a quiet life, while not doing any missions."
Scouts were what Soul Sorcerers or even normal humans who took on optional missions by the kingdom were called.
Miriko had chosen to avoid the missions, and just be a scout in name.
She wouldn't get paid like that, as payment for scouts only came from completed missions.
'That means that Rein can do something similar… being able to accept a mission only when feeling like it would give us plenty of spare time.' Ciel thought
"Okay, thanks for the help. You can ask anytime if you need anything as well." Rein said to Miriko and Zhanix
Miriko accepted the proposal with a smile before leaving the room with Zhanix.
Subtle kind gestures always increased trust between people, even more than trying too hard.
"What do you think of them?" Rein asked the Starlight Lantern who was listening to the whole conversation
"They don't look like the type to lie. Although the white haired guy does seem strange."
"It is extremely rare for a Soul Sorcerer to awaken an Attribute Limitation. Even you two don't have any Limitation with your strong Attributes." The Starlight Lantern said
"Is that so? Well, even his age is quite young for someone at Soul Tier 3. I wonder how he got all that Spirit." Rein said with a hint of envy
Ciel then exited Rein's shadow and stretched his arms for a moment.
"Well then, let's earn 30 Silver from missions. You should become a Scout soon. We'll completely avoid the path of Royal Guards." Ciel said as he summoned his own dinner from the Soul World
He still felt hunger in the shadow form. Rein nodded and walked with him to the couch.
He couldn't eat in the Soul World because it was just a mental projection of himself over there.
They both sat down, and activated the B2 Artifact, Broadcaster.
There was nothing much to do besides to listen in on the local news, and it was their first time trying to listen to it.
In the end, nothing really important was mentioned, as most of the topics were about noble families and what they were up to.
The Starlight Lantern was sent back to the Soul World and Rein went to sleep after Ciel had finished eating.