Chapter 82: Extended family

A couple of hours went by, and the room was now fully crowded. Over a hundred civilians had come but there were very few soldiers. The anomaly was so blatant that everyone noticed it, and a few of the honourees even began to speculate.

During this time, Nero had talked to various groups, getting to know them better while also introducing himself to them. He also assuaged the rumours that he was anti-military as best as he could, which were more widely spread among the few soldiers.

But there was only so much he could do. Although they were pleased to hear what he had to say, he could also tell that they only took his words at face value. They did not actually believe him.

It was a good start. More importantly, by talking to various groups, Nero had noticed one thing that he was not so sure everyone picked up. Although they hid it well, the only soldiers who were in the waiting room were those who were still recovering from some kind of injury. They hid it well, but when it was such a consistent pattern, it was only a matter of time before Nero noticed.

Something was definitely going on. If more soldiers were present it would have been easier for Nero to probe for answers, but as it was, no one was feeling too talkative. Contention was high right now among the soldiers, and they all had various views on Sage Haiden's recent actions, though they didn't say it out right.

Without more sources of information, Nero also couldn't figure out why he was being targeted. The handbook Invictus had, and the one he had, were not the same! Clearly the posture he had been given was different, but he did not know why.

If there was a ploy to use him somehow, or get him into some kind of trouble, then it was a poor one. He had been given more than enough time to interact with others, so it was not like it was difficult for him to find out. What exactly was their play?

He did not get the time to figure it out as the doors to the hall were opened, and everyone was escorted to an open field covered with countless chairs and a stage. The setup was fairly simple, but he finally understood what Hamid meant when he said this ceremony attracted too much attention.

Compared to the hundred or so honourees, there were well over a thousand spectators sitting and watching. It was difficult to judge the cultivation level of someone by sight alone, at least in Nero's level, as long as the other party kept their aura restrained.

But having said that, the entire flow of either in the region had changed, and was gathering around the countless seated spectators forming an unusual yet natural aura of deterrence.

Nero raised an eyebrow. That, he had not been expecting.

"You still talk to Isa? Hasn't he moved out of the orphanage?"

"He has, yes. But we Hammels, we're a family. We take care of one another. Isa has been extremely troubled since he unlocked his ability, but now, he finally has some peace."

"Family, huh?" Nero said, smirking. "In that case, do you know Irene? She gave me a really cool back tattoo."

Idris froze, not expecting that. She was one of the more... eccentric members of their orphanage.

"She's a good kid. It's hard to live independently, her tattoo parlour is the only means she has to make a living. She won't let anyone from the orphanage help her, so I guess I should be thanking you once more for giving her some business."

That had been a sort of test. Considering the orphanage actually had hundreds of kids at any one time, it was impressive that Idris knew who he was talking about.

Nero turned to look at Idris because he was really curious to see how the man reacted when he shared the next bit of news.

"She didn't really charge me since I got a family discount. She married my brother after all."

SNAP!

The armrest of Idris' chair snapped off.