After leaving the "House of Divination", Altair began to reflect on the answer he just received: "Am I being too hesitant in my actions...?"
Seeing Altair's strange behavior since leaving the "House of Divination", Vera thought with her simple little head and leaned her head directly against Altair's shoulder.
Sensing Vera's movement, Altair turned to look and found that Vera was like a kitten seeking comfort.
Watching her, Altair asked curiously, "Who taught you this? You look like a poor little kitten right now."
Hearing Altair's words, Vera returned to normal and said directly, "The aunts taught me before. They said if we want to have a good life in the future, we have to provide emotional value. The people who buy us like cute people the most; doing this allows us to better reflect our own value."
"And back then, they taught us that if we didn't study hard, they wouldn't give us food, and also..."
Listening to Vera's complaints, he could only helplessly pat her head. To Altair's surprise, when he patted her head, Vera's reaction really was like a cat's.
He turned to look at Irene, curious if she would be the same. After all, the thought of an aloof, mature woman suddenly Acting like this was quite exciting.
Seeing Altair looking at her and then at Vera, Irene also sat down beside Altair... After returning home, Altair directly stated that he had already eaten dinner and there was no need to make any for him.
Back in his room, he changed his clothes and went straight to the study, picking up a random novel to pass the time.
By the time he was halfway through the book, he realized the story had clearly deviated from the original plot, turning from a detective novel into a romance novel, and he immediately lost interest.
He thought helplessly, "It seems that no matter the world, romance novels always have a market."
Putting down the book, he turned to look out the window. Even after seeing the crimson Moon for over two months, he still wasn't used to it.
Sleep, sleep. Nothing is more important right now than my warm bed.
Altair yawned as he walked into the bathroom. After a quick wash, he lay down in his soft bed... The next morning, after Altair finished his breakfast, Hahn came in to report on yesterday's events. "Freya Quinn, your housekeeper—her father died, but the debt didn't die with him. Originally, after he passed, selling the 'villa' should have settled the debt on the spot, but now someone has suddenly popped up demanding Freya Quinn repay the loan."
Altair looked at the bizarre note in front of him and asked curiously:
"Hahn, I recall that the Kingdom of Loen seems to have a law stating that for private debts, if the heirs are unaware, they can refuse the inheritance. Besides, this is a 100-pound debt; why is the demand now for 500 pounds?"
"And this IOU is just a piece of paper, not even a formal document. There's no seal on it. We don't even know if it's a forgery. Is such an IOU even valid?"
Hearing Altair's words, Hahn spoke helplessly, "After you went out yesterday, I specifically sought out Freya to get the details. That is indeed the case."
"Freya's original intention was to ask for an advance, but she felt the amount was a bit large and didn't speak up to you."
After hearing this, Altair remembered Freya Quinn's weekly salary. At 5 pounds a week, she would need to advance nearly two years' worth of wages.
Advancing that much would indeed be embarrassing for anyone to ask.
But since he didn't lack this small amount of money, he said directly, "Hahn, 500 pounds isn't a lot of money. If Freya Quinn needs it, you can just advance it to her. However, I feel there's something wrong with this IOU. Go find a private detective later to investigate and see what's really going on."
Taking the IOU from Altair's hand, Hahn also said helplessly, "I also find this matter very strange. I've investigated her family's situation before; it's impossible for a bank to issue them a loan, and they've already borrowed everything they could from private sources. Furthermore, this IOU is from a famous gang in the East Borough, but the interest shouldn't be this high."
...Watching Hahn leave, Altair was also speechless about the matter. A scrap of paper with nothing on it could actually make someone believe they owed money... Flipping through the documents Hahn brought in, Altair saw a piece of news that piqued his interest.
The Loen royal family is preparing to hold the 'Summer Hunt' event at the end of this month. Of course, this news isn't public; it's a document specifically sent by the royal family to the nobility.
It requires all nobles of the rank of Baron and above in Backlund to participate. The current document is to confirm the identities of the participants; a special ID will be needed to enter, otherwise, one will be treated as an Assassin.
If one wishes to bring guests, they must ensure the guest has a certain social status, provide a guarantee, and undergo vetting, among other strict conditions.
It can be said that those who can participate are either nobles or well-known celebrities.
A hunt around July... they aren't even afraid of the midsummer heat.
It seems I'll have to specifically practice my horsemanship; I've never learned it before... June 17, 1346, evening.
Altair watched as the life force of the person before him rapidly faded away. He felt as if his own shackles had been broken, and his body felt a relaxed comfort.
During these ten days, based on the information Hahn investigated, Altair carried out two more assassination missions—the first in the Docks District and the second just now. Each time, at least five people died at his hands.
After completing this assassination, he clearly felt that his 'Assassin' potion had been completely digested.
Altair's mood reached an unprecedented peak. After nearly two months of hard work, he had finally finished digesting the sequence 9 potion.
He thought, "Tomorrow I'll concoct the Sequence 8 potion and prepare to advance. I won't stay at this stage anymore; there's no point."
Klein digested the Seer Pathway potion in one month, while I digested four Pathways' worth of potions in two months. Although only one type of Acting is needed, the total quantity doesn't decrease. In that case, I'm quite a little genius too!
In three years, maybe I'll already be a demigod. Then I can really have some fun.
However, how to digest 'Pleasure' is truly a challenge for me. Although I won't be affected by Cheek, does the concept of 'Pleasure' being so obviously related to emotions mean I have to become a pleasure-seeker?