Chapter 129: Chapter 82: Quiet life (4)
When I think about it... what exactly am I when I go back in time to be beside little Jevan? Obviously, I’m not a ghost in the traditional sense, am I? I’ll assume that, technically speaking, I’m some kind of spirit... but even in my normal form, what exactly am I?
I shook my head and turned toward Valeric, who was sitting lazily on the couch, leaning back. I said:
"How did that boy get the Authority of the Spirit Whisperer?"
His expression tensed, but he quickly forced a fake smile and said:
"Isn’t the weather lovely today?"
"A very poor attempt to change the subject, you know?"
He exhaled shortly:
"I don’t know."
"A very obvious lie. You should’ve said that before trying to dodge the question in such a stupid way."
"Can’t you change the question?"
"The way you said that makes me even more curious to know the truth."
"And what exactly do you gain from knowing it?"
I pointed a finger at him and said:
"Would you stop dodging and just answer?"
He didn’t reply. He just sat there, silent, staring at me and blinking from time to time. It was obvious he knew something and didn’t want to say it. Even a blind man would notice that. If I had that glove with me now, I’d make him talk by force, but unfortunately, it isn’t with me. For some reason, whenever I return to the past, all the system pieces disappear.
I said:
"How about we make another deal?"
He raised his head and said cautiously:
"And what exactly is this deal?"
"You’ll tell me how that kid got the Authority of the Spirit Whisperer, and in return, I’ll grant you one wish."
"Are you an evil spirit?"
"Why are you so suspicious of me? I mean, have I done anything bad so far?"
"You’ll grant me any wish, no matter what it is? Even if I asked you to rule the world?"
"Man, you really need to lower your expectations. Who do you think I am? There are limits to what I can do."
At my words, a bit of relief showed on his face:
"Alright, deal."
"What’s with this sudden change of attitude?"
He replied:
"If you were an evil spirit trying to trick me into a deal, you would’ve lied and sworn you could make me rule the world."
"Seems like you’ve dealt with evil spirits before, haven’t you?"
"Are you ready to grant my wish?"
"Why the rush? Answer my question first."
"Do you know about the Tribes of the Spirit Whisperers? That child is the son of their chief."
"Can you be more specific? What exactly are these tribes? And what is the chief’s son doing here?"
"You’ve never heard of the Tribes of the Spirit Whisperers? Yet you know about the Authority of the Spirit Whisperer?"
"Do you expect me to know everything in life? Besides, there are things I know but have forgotten the details of."
He sat up straighter:
"In the western continent, there’s a large group of tribes that possess the Authority of the Spirit Whisperers. Those tribes unite under one leader."
I put a hand on my chin and said:
"And what exactly is his son doing here?"
He took a deep breath and said:
"It’s a long story, but to put it simply... they have a strange ritual. The eldest son of the tribe’s chief must be offered as a sacrifice to the spirits when he turns two years old. That child’s mother was my sister. Naturally, she didn’t want her son to be sacrificed, so she sent me a message asking me to save him. I ran away with him from that village and came here."
"I don’t think you chose the best place to hide."
"Actually, this is the best place on the entire continent. Many runaway assimilators hide here."
"Under the nose of the Investigation Bureau? Brilliant."
"And that’s what makes it safer. The Lower District is vast, and the Bureau’s reach here is very limited. Even if those chasing you find you, they can’t use much authority power, which gives you plenty of chances to escape and hide again."
Interesting. That explains a few things for me. Apparently, the Investigation Bureau has much more power and influence than I thought. Honestly, I haven’t seen them do anything in the Lower District until now.
And if the Bureau is that powerful, then it seems that The Controller isn’t strong enough to draw their attention, but strong enough to manipulate half the Lower District with those strange threads without the Bureau noticing.
That makes him far more dangerous than I expected. Another problem added to my already long list. How exactly am I supposed to deal with a being capable of manipulating minds?
I’ll find a way to break whatever scenario he’s trying to impose... as long as I’m not under his control, I’ll definitely find a way, no matter how hard it is.
And no, I’m not doing this out of pride or anything like that. I’m just not that kind of person. I literally have no other choice. Either I find a way out of this imposed scenario and leave the Lower District, or I run to the Investigation Bureau and spend the rest of my life hiding in one of their territories. I’d prefer the second option, but I want to go back, unfortunately, to...
I looked up at Valeric, who was sitting on the opposite couch, resting his arms on the backrest while smoking a cigarette.
I said in an overly dramatic tone:
"Go ahead, make your wish now."
He quickly replied:
"I want you to protect the children and Yara in case anything happens."
I stayed silent and didn’t answer. Not because I didn’t want to fulfill his wish honestly, I wish I could but sadly, I can’t.
In the end, I said:
"Sorry, I can’t do that."
He took the cigarette out of his mouth and said:
"Are you planning to break the deal now?"
I mixed a bit of nonsense with a little truth and said:
"No, it’s not that I don’t want to it’s that I can’t. There’s a limit to how much power I can use before I’m forced to take a long rest, sometimes lasting years."
"Can you protect them just once? Just one time?"
"Technically speaking, maybe I could. But what makes you bring this up now?"
He threw himself back on the couch again after tossing the cigarette to the floor:
"It’s just a precaution, in case something happens."
He looked completely relaxed after hearing my answer. Of course, I couldn’t let him enjoy that calmness, so I spoke in a deep, dramatic tone:
"I hate to ruin your comfort, but I didn’t come here just to ask about that boy. I came to warn you."
The moment he heard that, he straightened up quickly:
"Warn me about what?"