Chapter 187: Unmasking the Servant of Romastir

Chapter 187: Unmasking the Servant of Romastir

"Let's just fight them," Zae Zin Nim said flatly. "They only have about eight crystalliers, and none of them have close to 200 Power. That would be much faster."

"We don't know that for sure," Kai told her. "It's been most of a year, plus as things get more dangerous they may have invested more money in their cultivation or new weapons."

They hovered far above the city, at the very peak of the diamond star's range. From there, using their qi senses, they could get a good feel for the city. Once Kai had learned about shrouds there, but not many seemed to be using them now. Maybe in dangerous times it was easier to remind everyone how strong you were.

"You said that before, then you beat three of them with just your human half." Zae Zin Nim eyed him suspiciously. "Why don't you want to use the direct approach? I know you're not afraid of a fight, and you've been pushing us harder all this time."

"But not with everything. It's about this Servant of Romastir."

"If he's on our side, then he'll see that we've won and come out to thank us. Problem solved, no time wasted."

"That's assuming we know everything, which we don't." Kai clasped his hands together and met her eyes. "Please, Zae Zin Nim, let me try things the subtle way first. If it doesn't come up with anything, we can still fight our way through."Nnew n0vel chapters are published at novelhall.comph, fine." She sat back and began to cultivate. "I don't like all these schemes, but I can live with them. Did Omilaena put you up to this?"

.

..

.

"Let's just poison them," Omilaena said cheerfully. "Crystal cultivators are usually weak to poisons, and we can even make it look like an illness if you want."

"If we just wanted to take the city, you could have done that yourself," Kai told her. "The goal is to make this another foundational step in changing Krysal."

He'd met her just outside the city, where she'd caught up to them in a smaller crystal vessel. She didn't seem at all put off by having to travel on her own or following his orders, but she definitely wanted to murder everyone. Now she lingered at the outskirts, tinkering with what he now knew was her Lethal Artisan ability.

"I'm willing to wait, but only so long." Omilaena tapped her fingernails sharply along the side of her crystal vehicle. "I know you're excited about lifting up the workers or whatever, but it's only a matter of time before they make a mistake or act impulsively. You need to have made your move before that, or you'll have stabbed yourself in the back."

"You mocked me before for not knowing what was going on in Krysal. I'm just trying to make sure I don't make a similar mistake."

"If you insist." Omilaena waved him off and formed another syringe in one hand. "Just don't open your heart so wide that all your blood falls out."

Acid cultivation.

Kai hid his surprise by taking a drink. Not only was this person his contact, she had come from one of the acid pits. That definitely counted as evidence against this being an ambush.

The woman moved along one side of the courtyard, even spoke to a few people, while observing him from the corner of her eyes. Kai kept up his act in case she didn't want to be seen, because he was a lot more conspicuous than she was. He expected her to talk to him at best, maybe just leave a message with another location at worst.

Instead, she turned and left the restaurant.

He froze, considering his options. If this was a test, pursuing might be failure, but he thought that was the less probable option. Most likely, they had chosen this location in order to observe him, and she hadn't liked what she'd seen. Even if they expected him to wait, Kai was tired of waiting: he got up to hunt.

Even though the woman's acid cultivation was weak, it was nearly unique in the city, so he was able to track her soul even with many walls in between them. Once outside the restaurant she began moving quickly, passing through the city toward the more expensive estates.

This was definitely the trail of the Servant of Romastir now. The only question was whether the woman herself was the Servant, whether she was going to meet them, or just fleeing. He stayed back in case it was the meeting option, but kept her in his senses to interrogate her if necessary. Ideally, he would have a friendly meeting with their contacts, but Zae Zin Nim and Omilaena were right, they didn't have time to play spycraft for days.

When the woman moved into familiar territory, Kai was mildly surprised. It seemed she had some sort of mercantile license, to move freely here. In fact, she was getting closer to Unklian's estate.

Kai hadn't thought about the first merchant who had purchased his services since leaving Romastir. It would be ridiculous if he turned out to be the Servant of Romastir the entire time. Then again, it might make sense: Unklian had sent him to New Laeneria with a shipment of crystal weapons. It was possible that he fully intended for them to be captured by the workers.

The absurd theory started to seem more likely when the spy actually entered Unklian's estate. Kai pursued her in, easily avoiding the familiar guard patrols. She wasn't headed to the central buildings, though, instead one of the administrative rooms. It was night by this point, everything lit only by crystal-light, so there wouldn't be many awake.

When she finally stopped, Kai had crept so close he was on just the other side of the wall. The spy was meeting with someone who didn't have any acid cultivation, in fact they either had an absolutely perfect shroud or they weren't trained at all.

"Well?" The other person spoke, a man's voice, quiet and controlled.

"I saw him and I didn't like it. Definitely a crystallier."

"Then we may have lost our allies in New Laeneria. Make preparations to cut our losses."

Kai stepped into the room and said, "Not exactly." He'd been planning to confidently walk closer, apologize for tracking them, and explain the situation. Instead he found himself staring at the spy and the man she had gone to meet.

It was Krainuun. Kai hadn't seen the servant since Romastir and still remembered his servile blubbering. The man was as middle-aged and portly as he remembered, and he still looked like he might offer to polish Kai's shoes with his tongue at any moment. Except that now, there was a flinty steel in his eyes.

"Well," Krainuun said in a voice nothing like before, "this is unfortunate."