Chapter 190 - Secrets Of The Union ( 2 )

"T-this… How did you know? When did you discover it?"

Seeing how Vanessa was looking at him with a sincere and confident gaze, Cyril decided to no longer act.

"Well, we just recently discovered it. Your two friends in the Silent Crawler Guild realized it after all. They're also a member of the Merchant Union and we met a couple of times."

Vanessa answered with a smile.

"Friends?" Cyril knitted his brows.

However, he recalled Asta and Kendel who are both S-Rank Awakened within the guild. Well, he didn't have any contact with the guild aside from those two after all.

"They discovered it? I thought I've hidden it pretty well. Anyway, are you also aware that they are both S-Rank Awakened?"

"Yes… The higher-ups are aware of their existence. There might be a few more S-Rank Awakened being hidden, you know?"

Vanessa hinted.

"Yeah, I thought so. However, why is it not being paraded? I read news about how our country is pitiful since we don't have any S-Rank Awakened. Why not reveal them? I think that Asta and Kendel are both powerful enough. With their power, they should be capable of handling any problems that would follow after the announcement."

Cyril said with a serious face. He can understand if they are recently Awakened since they won't have the power to protect themselves. This is like what would happen to the girl who will be murdered by an A-Rank in the next few weeks after she Awakened at S-Rank.

"That's true. We are planning to announce their existence in a couple of weeks since we thought that it was already the right time. After all, there was this unidentified S-Rank who caused trouble in Whitemore City."

"Eh? Whitemore City? Do you mean the Teutonic Knights Guild?"

"That's correct. So we thought that it was about time to reveal our strength. We initially thought that we have all the S-Rank Awakened under control so we have to change our plans after that person appeared."

'Ugh… Sorry for ruining your plans.'

Cyril replied in his mind since he knows the unidentified S-Rank who caused such trouble.

"Haa~ Anyway, does it includes me? Should I reveal myself as well?" He asked.

"No, you don't have to at the moment. There are only five people who know about your true rank. That would be the two S-Rank from Silent Crawler, me, my secretary, and my father. Your secret should be safe for now. I thought that you would want that since you seem to have plans in your mind."

Cyril was surprised to hear that there were only a few people. He thought that she already spread it to the Association's board of directors.

"I see… Thank you for your consideration. You're right. I have something to do and it's really important. I can't work as an S-Rank Awakened at the moment."

"I knew it! Hehe… Don't worry, there are a total of six S-Rank Awakened in our country right now… seven if we include you. So we should be fine. Three of them are still newbies and needed long training but the other three are quite strong already. Those three will be the ones we will be revealing to the public. As for you, it hasn't been a year yet. Although you are strong with your Artifacts, you still lack experience so we don't really mind."

"I understand now. Anyway, tell me more about the Merchant Union this time."

"Of course…"

The two chatted for a while since Cyril had many questions about this mysterious Union.

He learned about the big companies which are managing the Union and some unique things that could be found there like a stone that could upgrade the rank of an Artifact! Though the success rate was only 30%, there are still many people who wanted to acquire such treasure.

Unfortunately, it is quite rare that based on their records, only a bit over a hundred of them have appeared throughout the years.

They are calling it an Upgrade Stone and Cyril recalled something similar… He recalled the stone he used to upgrade his Identity Shroud Mask into a Rank-A Artifact!

He had never found another one like that again so he has already forgotten about it. However, it seems that he's not the only one who's aware of it! This is actually one of the Union's secrets!

Then, Vanessa revealed a few more things that he could benefit from joining the Union. It was as if she was confident that he'll accept, she decided not to hold back at all.

'No wonder S-Ranks are always strong. They have access to so much information on how to get stronger.' Cyril sighed as he finally realized how awesome this Merchant Union was.

"Alright… I'm convinced." He said.

"Great… However, there is one last thing that you should know."

"Oh~ I'm listening..." Cyril replied. He already heard many surprising things from her so he thought that he wouldn't be shocked by whatever she was about to say.

However, he was still left in shock after hearing Vanessa's next words.

"I just want to remind you that there is one member of the Demon Race in our Union. He's the one completing most of the high-value deals since Paper Contract Artifacts have flaws. You have to keep it in mind."

"A Demon?! Are you serious? Are they currently in the Human World?" Cyril couldn't help but raise his voice.

This is something very alarming. After all, he knows how dangerous they are!

He's aware that even the lowest titled rank, the Corruptor, is probably capable of fighting against S-Rank Awakened if they do not have the right Artifacts to deal with them.

Aside from that, Cyril recalled how Selma got attracted to him and they got to know each other. Unfortunately, it seems that other Demons were capable of sensing that he had some kind of connection to another Demon, which is the Blasphemed One, Xagan.

He wasn't exactly sure how Selma did it, but he knows that it's something he has to take note of once he decided to meet with the other demons.

"That's correct. However, you don't have to worry that much. As long as they are here, they have to abide by the laws of this Human World. They aren't capable of releasing their real powers and they only act with certain restrictions. I can't tell you the full details but you can trust my words…"

Vanessa confidently said as she looked at Cyril. After thinking about it, it seems that the existence of the demons here wasn't something new at all. It appears that they have been here for quite a long time already which made her confident that the demons weren't capable of breaking these restrictions she mentioned.

"Alright… I won't ask for the details. I will trust your words." Cyril replied. After all, he also has demons with him so he can't really judge them on how they operate things in the Union.

"Great! So what are you thinking of contributing to the Union? They can be rare Artifacts, Knowledge Tablets, a piece of information--"

"Information?"

"Yes, as long as you have evidence about that information and it's something really amazing, then that's alright. Of course, we have tons of great Arcane Explorers that have contributed massive knowledge to our library so it has to be something we don't know yet. The more valuable it is the better treatment you'll get."

"Hmmm…" Cyril went silent for a while as he started considering the thing he would contribute to join the Union.

'Should I consider teaching them how to use the Bead Artifacts? There are only a few of them anyway… This knowledge will also be known soon. I can also consider giving Artifacts… but it won't be that valuable… Hmm… How about the Fiendish Gold and Night Coins?'

Cyril couldn't decide easily so he decided to ask what are the things provided by other Awakened who managed to get it.

"Let's see… There was one who gave bottles of blood from the Royalties of the High Elves. There's an S-Rank who gave several kilograms Great Troll's blood. There's a recent one who gave a collection of Werewolves' Eyes A company. There is a company that gave vital knowledge about the Elven Runes. Another company provided a Rank-S Artifact… However, the one thing I can't forget is that guy who gave a conquered High-Class Arcane World."

"A Conquered High-Class Arcane World? Isn't that too valuable?" Cyril couldn't help but be shocked since he knows how difficult to find such a world. Aside from that, just surviving there is difficult much less conquering it!

"That's right. It was even a world of Giants. Right now, there are only a dozen of Giants in that world, and have become slaves. We are developing that Arcane World at the moment so every member can benefit from it in the future. You can look forward to it."

Vanessa explained with enthusiasm.

Because of this, Cyril felt even more pressure on what to contribute to the Union.. After all, he somehow felt that joining this Union would greatly increase his chances of finding the Tree of Life.