Chapter 56: Small World
Eren woke up the next day feeling refreshed. He was holding a palm-sized pebble with inscriptions on it.
It was the F Rank sound isolation artefact kind-hearted Matt had gifted him last night.
Eren stored the artefact in his ID. He had plenty of uses for it. Eren got ready to explore the city a little before leaving it in the afternoon.
Eren had a lot of herbs in his storage that he had collected from the Osan woods. Some of them had no immediate uses for him. He might as well sell them to make a profit.
And what other city would be better to sell these herbs than the city of Lauriel?
Eren opened his roomâs door to head out. But he found four people were waiting by his door.
âSir Lin, what are you doing here?â
Eren recognised Lin Karr among them. He realized these people must be here looking for Matt.
âOh? Isnât that madam healerâs nephew? Why are you staying here?
We came here following the traces of a suspicious person named Matt. He had come to your apothecary a few days back, so you should know him. Did you see him here anywhere?â
Lin Karr gave Eren a piece of brief information about his reason for being here. He had told the OB to assign someone to keep an eye on Matt.
The informer had relayed to them that Matt was still fixated on clearing Domâs name. He confirmed that Matt had left the city of Osan for the city of Laurel.
Lin Karr was heading to the academy anyway. The city of Lauriel was a natural gathering spot for a carriage fleet heading to the Lionheart.
It was in Linâs interest that he travels in masses, lest he gets ambushed by Isen Osanâs forces. So he decided to check up on this liability named Matt on the way.
Lin was going to try one more time talking sense into Matt. He had already told the guy to drop the whole subject of Dom as one bad deal in his life. But the guy wouldnât listen.
Lin canât always keep tabs on Matt in case he does something to resurrect the case of Osan Woodsâ Butcher, which they had buried after so many efforts. He had decided to silence Matt for good if he didnât listen this time.
âSir Lin, I havenât seen Matt. Iâm going to attend LA as a first-year student. So I came with the Sullivans. They are staying in the room next to me.
We will join the carriage fleet in the afternoon that leaves for the city of Lionheart.
But why is Matt a suspect? Wasnât he a victim of the woodsâ disturbance?â
Lin was surprised Eren was going to attend the LA. But it made sense after he thought about it. The boy must have been offered a reserved seat.
âOh! Thatâs a nice coincidence. Then you should start calling me professor Lin, boy. Iâm also heading for LA.
Let me introduce three people to you who are assigned under me. They will be joining the academy as the assistant professors.â
Lin then introduced LAâs new assistant professors under him.
They were Peter, Ela, and Julie.
***
Peter and Ela were the same party members from Linâs party that had found Isaacâs body. And Julie was the one who had recorded fake Domâs footage that had him testifying to his alleged crimes.
Julie Ekheartâs name had gotten pretty famous for this event despite her attempts to remain hidden.
Peter and Ela were also at risk because of their involvement in the OWB case that was connected to the kingdomâs big league.
Peter, Ela, and Julie would have never involved themselves in this mess had they known the OWB was connected this deeply. Even when they had buried the case after knowing about the killerâs background, their involvement had become public knowledge by now.
They were in the same boat as Lin. They needed a sturdy shelter that could save them from any possible âaccidentsâ happening to them until the heat dies down.
Lin could understand their situation and empathize. Therefore, he gave them the same option he was going to make use of.
A D-Rank professor of LA academy can hire three E-Rank entities to serve as the assistant professors under them.
Thatâs why D-Rank professor Jaime had Ronald, Linda, and Verna serving as his assistant professors.
Lin had already left the LA academy thinking he wouldnât go back to being a professor there anytime soon. His previous assistant professors have either been accommodated in the academyâs administration or hired by another professor to serve under them.
Therefore, Lin offered the trio to serve him as his assistant professor in the academy. All three of them accepted the lifesaving offer quickly before it could get snatched away.
Lin didnât tell Eren the inner details. But he informed the latter of his professorship at the academy.
Lin also told Eren that his hunter status in the OB was more like an honorary responsibility due to his relationship with the OB. He was supposed to take a break from his academic duties. But the circumstances made him resume them for the time being.
***
âHm? Julie Ekheart? Arenât you the one who took Domâs footage that served as conclusive evidence against him?â
Eren quickly âfigured outâ Julieâs identity after they were introduced to him by Lin.
Eren knew about Julie beforehand. After all, he was the one who had allowed the lady to record fake Domâs speech.
Eren would have never guessed he could meet her again after leaving the city of Osan. âSmall world!â Eren thought.
So Julie was going to be an AP (assistant professor) at the academy along with two others. He would see them for the next five years.
At least Julie looked hot among them. Eren thought he should try his luck with her. He knew Julie could be swayed with money and resources, thanks to her interaction with fake Dom.
Peter and Elaâs names were known by the hunters as the prime investigators behind the OWB case. But they were still lesser known than Julie among the common populace. Therefore Eren neither covertly nor overtly knew about them.
Julie smiled mirthlessly as Eren identified her. She couldnât wait to reach the academy now. She felt like the so-called âaccidentsâ might come from anywhere and anytime if she keeps on getting identified like this.
Even a mere brat had recognised her. It was about time she disappeared from the public and concentrated on being an AP at the academy.
âKid, Iâm a ranger. I tracked Mattâs presence to your room and then it vanished. Maybe he had entered your room while you were sleeping.
Why donât you step aside and let us conduct our investigation? We can consider that we owe you one.â
Peter stepped forward and declared his intentions. Eren nodded and stepped away, letting them enter the room.
Eren had already confirmed that whoever gets killed and eaten by Reen becomes difficult to track post their death. Their presence almost completely fades away from existence.
It seemed like Reen would also ingest and digest a part of her victimsâ auras. And that would somehow negatively impact the tracking and other such spells.
It becomes nigh impossible for rangers and historians to make sense of the residue aura and traces if they get left behind at all that is. Eren could only associate that with Reenâs special existence for now.
Reen was a perfect killing and body disposal machine for him. He had nothing to fear from an E-Rank ranger.
Just like Eren had thought before. The ranger couldnât find anything conclusive. He confirmed that there was an artefact used here or in the vicinity. But that was it. Peter gossiped with his party and Lin had to conclude their investigation at the site.
âThanks, Eren. Weâll take our leave now. See you in the afternoon. Weâll be travelling together.â
Eren smiled and nodded his head. His smiling face immediately turned serious right after shutting the door behind them.
Eren had to watch out for Jaimeâs group in the academy. Another group had been added to that list. Linâs group was more dangerous for him than Jaimeâs in many ways.
Lin knew him personally. His group had been deeply involved in the OWB case. It knew inside information about the case that might not have been released to the public.
Of course, Eren knew that Lin and his assistants were far from knowing his involvement in the case. But one slip from his end was all it needed for them to start connecting the dots.
Eren needed an insider in this group to keep tabs on them. He had another reason to hook up with Julie now.
Of course, Eren knew that Julie wouldnât want anything to do with a kid like him even if she acted like a gold digger. He needed a different approach to come close to her. Money alone wouldnât cut it.
Eren waited for a while before heading out. He was going to meet up with Jake and explore the city. Jack must have already left by now to handle his business.
If you find any errors ( Ads popup, ads redirect, broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.