Moments earlier
James, as promised, kept his distance from the kids to handle the issue. However, as a Class A hunter with divine sense, he could keep watch over them even if his eyes were not on them. He was dressed in normal clothing to not appear out of place due to his mannerisms when he was in his butler persona, he moved around as if enjoying the city view.
Suddenly, his instincts warned him of a presence. He quickly turned around and noticed a man, middle-aged looking, with dark hair and in a black suit smiling at him.
"Hello there, mind if we have a chat?" His voice was deep as the being himself. James could tell, the man before him was as strong as him, if not more.
He had no idea who the man was, so he attempted to perform a search. However, before he could begin, the man muttered once again, as if seeing through his thoughts.
"Don't bother, you won't find anything."
Regardless, James still tried and came up with nothing. His scans were telling him there was no one before him. Worse, his watch had been temporarily put shut off, and it wasn't his doing! He couldn't call for help either.
His divine sense still honed on the kids noticed the actions of Alex and Ross. They had found their target. But, with this mysterious man before him, he was able to connect the dots.
'He's involved.' The thought sent a chill down his spine. Whatever was going on wasn't a simple stalking done by some random person; they were after something or someone.
'Alex!' He didn't need to be a genius to deduce the motive behind what was happening. He wanted to quickly get to the kids and ensure their safety, but again, as if seeing through his thoughts, the man said, "Don't worry about the kids. We don't mean to cause them any harm." His demeanour showed how much control he had over their interaction.
"What do you want with the boy?"
The man chuckled a bit and replied, "No need to be overly cautious. No harm will come to them, you have my word." His words and mannerisms made him look trustworthy. But James couldn't afford to relax. The man gave him chills, even with his strength.
Of course, his divine sense was still locked on Julia. However, Alex and Ross seemed to have left the area of his reach, making him feel restless. But there was nothing he could do, except take the man on his word.
"What do you think about the boy Alex? You've been around him for some time." Suddenly he questioned, bringing James out of his thoughts.
'Shouldn't they have known that as Alex was their target all along?' He was confused. And while the information on Alex was mostly hearsay, with their reach almost everywhere within the empire, it was but a simple task to do so.
Taking a deep breath, he began to talk about Alexander. Of course, he only talked about surface information on him. However, the man chipped in here and there to ask specific questions. Some questions he answered, others he remained silent.
Naturally, the man understood what he was doing but didn't mind. He was only here to keep him company until the kids sent to test out Alex were done with him. As of now, they didn't need to bring in the kid. He was still too weak.
'Hopefully, he is the one we've been waiting for.' This thought flashed through his mind as he engaged James in conversation.
The conversation wasn't really going anywhere as both parties did not reveal much. But James was the one on edge.
'Do be careful kid.'