Chapter 439 The Celebratory Party IV: Plans For Cerul



"Indeed, it would be good if you didn't do that anymore."

Evan only chuckled lightly in reply, before turning to Malaya and posing a question she had been asked more than just a few times today.

"Still, Your Highness. I'm quite curious why you decided to come over here yourself."

"Hmm? I heard a certain person was on his way to breaking the record 'that guy' set decades ago, so I wanted to see who he was in person."

"What record?"

"Youngest A rank Adventurer."

"Ah. Those newspapers and their over-exaggerated titles."

Evan shook his head as he replied to Malaya's words, before lightly spreading his hands and continuing.

"As you can see, I am not on that level yet. I'm quite far off, actually."

""Far…off?""

Both Selah and Malaya asked at the same time while giving Evan incredulous gazes. The two women were Epic level existences and were able to perfectly discern Evan's level range without needing to appraise him, as such, they knew just where his level currently stood.

"Yeah. It's quite far for me."

"If it's 'far' for you, then I wonder how those who are twice your age yet are only level intermediate master levels would feel."

'Says the person who's twice my age but is already an Epic level.'

Of course, Evan was smart enough not to say that reply out loud, but from the way he looked at Malaya when he thought that…

"Why do I feel like I can definitely predict what you're thinking?"

"Is that so? Seems I have to get better at hiding my thoughts then.

Still, I can more or less understand your motives for coming here."

Evan spoke as he activated his appraisal skill on her, seeing her level and sighing as he continued.

"Hearing about it is one thing, but seeing it for yourself is a totally different thing entirely."

'Level 520 and 27 years old, huh?'

[The goddess 'Artemisia' says this is normal for High-Level words.]

'Oh, you're here.'

He turned around and scanned the large banquet hall, muttering a question under his breath as he did so.

"Where're Heinr and Amelie?"

[The goddess 'Artemisia' says 'Left Gallery.']

"I see, I have a few things to discuss with them later."

Evan moved his gaze back to the two women in front of him, only for Selah to ask him a one-word question.

"Telepathy?"

"…

Can I borrow your intuition skill? It's too good to pass up."

"Pfft. You asked the exact same question I did when I found out about her skill."

Malaya laughed lightly as she covered her mouth and spoke, before retelling Evan about how Selah usually just randomly guessed people's hidden intentions and questioned them about it in such a casual manner.

The three of them conversed lightly for a while, occasionally having a few other nobles and Adventurers in attendance coming up to talk to them.

Eventually, Malaya decided to ask the main reason why Evan had come up to her in the first place.

"Well…my next set of major actions require me to come over to your country, so I guess this is my way of letting you know beforehand.

So, if you suddenly start hearing talk about a certain Foreign Adventurer/Hero kid involved in a ruckus, don't be too surprised."

"So, you're admitting you're going to cause a ruckus?"

"Nahh…I have no such intention.

I just wanna grab something that's at the bottom of one of the dungeons in Cerul. Just that there's a 25% chance of someone starting a 'ruckus' before, during, and after I'm done with the dungeon.

But, worry not. It's a major dungeon city with hundreds of thousands of adventurers, C rank and above, it'd be fine."

The instant Evan said those last three words, Malaya winced lightly before pressing her fingers to her forehead and saying.

"Most time people say 'It'd Be Fine', it ends up NOT being fine."

"…That's true.

Apologies Princess, but I think I may have just jinxed things."

"This kid...!"

Evan and Selah were barely able to stifle their laughter at the sight of Malaya's expression, earning them death glares from the redhead Princess.

"Hopefully the trains would be up and running by then so it'd make the journey easier."

"The rails routes and stations have already been completed months ago; it would not be long before they start running."

"Finally, I would not have to sit in a carriage for a cross-country journey."

"You dislike carriage rides?"

Evan turned to Selah with a completely blank face before replying in a serious voice.

"With my body and soul."

"Then why not use Airships?"

"My travels required me to be on the ground, so I didn't consider them. Besides, they are still experimental."

The boy chatted with them for a few more minutes before leaving to go on to meet his next 'targets'.

After he left, Malaya still maintained a light smile on her face, however, her voice turned serious as she spoke to Selah.

"When we return, put all the dungeon cities in Cerul on close watch. From the boy's words now, there's a possibility 'that organization' has plans in Cerul."

The black-haired Margravine nodded in response as she also inferred the real reason why Evan had told them about his future plans.

'He wants us to put Cerul's dungeon cities under close watch, and in doing so, prevent the Demonic Hand from taking action easily since they'd want to move under the radar.'

Indeed, it was as Selah assumed.

The part of Cerul that the Demonic Hand had plans for was Major Dungeon City Lacertilia, the home to over a million adventurers, and the city where the 'Lair of the Lizard Lord' was located.

Each of the Disasters was something that had been planned for years, and naturally, the Demonic Hand had already begun their plans for Lacertilia's Lizard Lord, as well as the hidden boss that had a 25% chance of spawning, intending to change that 25 to 100.

However, they would find it harder to move when the dungeon cities were being monitored by the Royal Family and the Duchy.

There was even a possibility that their members could get caught, and that's something they'd definitely not want.

◇ ◇ ◇

Kieran Cooper silently sipped his wine as he looked around the banquet hall, gauging the strengths of the representatives of the various powers present with his analysis-type skill.

He analysed some of the most powerful people in the hall, regardless of affiliation, with his brows raising in light surprise when he noted that some of the S-rank adventurers and mercenaries were far more powerful than he expected.

The A-rankers also held some good seedlings with lots of potential, something that made the Teacher in him happy when he noticed some of these A-rankers were either from his Empire or Vassal countries under them.

His gaze then moved over towards the Warlord Isobel who was chatting with Duke Charles, not lingering on them for too long before moving on to the Beast Kingdom's representatives.

'That Beast keeper woman, she's a lot more powerful than I originally thought. The princess is a different case entirely, so young yet she's already on that level.'

Just when he was about to go on to his next analysis targets, his senses tingled slightly as he noticed something 'dangerous' cross the hall and stop right in front of Beast Keeper Selah.

"What?"

He witnessed how Evan suddenly appeared in front of the two women, narrowing his eyes lightly as he analysed Evan with his skill.

'It seems the kid is not all hot air, huh?

How the heck is he almost a grandmaster when he's just 13? And that Energy level…if I could not 'see' that he was not a grandmaster, it would not be weird for me to mistake him as one based on his energy alone.'

The man turned his red eyes in Laurene's direction, sighing softly as he noted how outlandish she also seemed.

'Although she's lacking in the physical department, her energy is over the top for her level. And just how many affinities does she carry in that small body of hers, I can sense at least five different elements.'

His Analysis was interrupted when one of the Representatives of a Vassal nation came over and offered him a drink, with the intention of discussing things with him.

After his conversation with the man, he carried on with his analysis, eventually spotting Luke who was discussing something with Finley and the Emperor.

'The Alpha Continent's Sword Saint, huh?'

He was about to move on when he noticed something 'off' about Luke's aura, narrowing his eyes lightly as he attempted to discern what that was.

However, Luke suddenly turned in his direction and glared at him lightly, forcing Kieran to stop as he knew that going any further would be offending the Sword Saint.

"Don't pry into Sir Luke too much. You would not like it if he gets pissed."

A youthful voice rang out from his side, with him turning to meet the outstretched hand of the boy who had been 'THE' hot topic for the past few weeks.