The Deceitful One

Wednesday, 20th November 1582.

When Charlotte had visited Bryan's house the last time, she had mentioned that the emperor wanted him to meet a certain someone. And although Bryan had asked her about the identity of this person, she wasn't able to tell him anything because she herself didn't know it.

The emperor had personally sent a letter through her and instructed her to give the letter to Bryan and inform him about meeting the person. That was all she knew.

Currently, Bryan was sitting inside his study and reading the letter by Solomon. He'd already read it a few times over already. But still, whenever he read the first half of the letter, his eyebrows couldn't help but twitch.

The first half of the letter was basically the emperor highlighting all the accolades of Charlotte from a young age until now. And how she was a prodigy with supreme-grade aptitude.

Solomon even mentioned how many suitors had tried to win her hand, but he'd rejected all of them because they were beneath her. Bryan couldn't help but laugh helplessly at the attempt of the emperor advertising his own descendant.

And he completely understood why the emperor was doing so. Bryan smiled faintly. "Nice try, emperor…."

He didn't think much about it. The main part of the letter was the second half of it. The emperor had instructed Bryan to meet his long-time friend and spymaster who also happened to be residing in Nadir.

Bryan already knew that the emperor wanted him to work with Charlotte, and in the letter, he had mentioned that his spymaster would also aid him. Furthermore, the emperor had also added that he would be generously rewarded.

The only thing that Bryan was surprised about was that the location of the spymaster was not anywhere grand like he had imagined. Instead, the emperor had told him to visit any slums in Nadir and the spymaster would find him.

"The slums…." Bryan thought incredulously. He read the letter carefully one last time before using a Rank 0 Fire Path spell and instantly incinerating it. He then got up from his seat and went to his bedroom to get dressed.

Benny and Mathew were missing as usual. At this point, Bran had stopped worrying about Benny, because the latter had told him that even though Mathew's training was brutal and that it felt like torture, he knew that he was slowly becoming stronger.

Besides, Bryan knew that with the protection from Uncle Octopus, Mathew wouldn't dare to harm Benny. Furthermore, he even had a feeling that Mathew genuinely wanted to help Benny.

With that out of the way, Bryan put on warm clothes. It had already begun to snow in Nadir, and thus, the weather was quite cold. He made sure to not wear anything too fancy since he was going to the slums. He didn't want to unnecessarily draw attention.

After getting dressed, he dissipated into shadows and disappeared from his room. He didn't have to let anyone else know. If the maids and servants of the house were alarmed at his sudden disappearance, then Donald would be there to cook up some story and calm things down.

Using his innate ability, Bryan jumped from one shadow to another as he soon approached the outskirts of the city. Inside a secluded alley, he emerged from the shadow of a dumpster and then casually began to walk away.

His face had already changed to that of a middle-aged blond man in his forties. Bryan then changed his gait and walked toward the slum aimlessly. As he walked the narrow, stench-filled streets, he was reminded of the harsh winters of Damascus when he still used to live in the slums.

A lot had happened since then and he had grown from a naive boy to a mature young man. When he thought back to his life in Damascus when he was training under Detective Watson and going on missions with his friends, he couldn't help but smile bitterly. Things were simple back then.

Just as he was reminiscing about his past, he felt a tug on his sleeves. He turned his head and looked down, only to find a young boy around twelve years old, wearing ragged clothes, looking at him with curiosity.

Bryan gently asked, "What is it, kid?"

He might be a savage demon to his enemies, but he always had a soft spot for the kids from the slums. The young boy didn't say anything, instead turned around and began to run. Bryan looked at him in confusion, wondering what it was that the kid what trying to do.

A few meters away, the boy stopped and turned around. He then gestured for Bryan to follow him. Bryan's eyes suddenly narrowed as he thought of two possibilities.

Either the kid was being forced into working for someone who was planning to ambush him. After all, he himself had done this many times while he still lived in the slums.

And the other possibility was that the kid would show him the path to the person who he was here to find. Regardless of either possibility, Bryan decided to follow the kid. If it was the former, he would easily take care of the people who'd want to ambush him.

But if it was the latter…. Bryan gulped nervously. For some reason, he was now beginning to be overwhelmed by nervousness. After a series of twists and turns, he finally followed the young boy to the entrance of a sewer.

At the entrance, there was a small group of beggars huddling around a bonfire, keeping themselves warm. The young boy ran to one of the men there and then pointed at Bryan.

The man looked at Bryan carefully for over a minute and then looked back at the young boy with a smile. "Well done, Will." He patted the kid's head and then gave him a large pair of bun to eat. Elated, Will began eating the bun with great relish.

"Follow me," The middle-aged beggar instructed Bryan and then entered the sewer tunnel. Bryan took a deep breath and then followed after him. After another series of twists and turns which took them about thirty minutes, the pair reached a dimly lit cavern.

The cavern was extremely large and empty. On the other side of the cavern, there was a large chair that almost looked like a throne, illuminated by the two tall wooden torches on the sides. The middle-aged man bowed toward the figure sitting on the throne. "My lord, your guest has arrived."

"Hmm…." Came a deep voice from the other side of the cavern. The middle-aged man then left, leaving the figure and Bryan alone inside the cavern.

Bryan felt great pressure from just standing in front of the figure. He walked a few steps, and then respectfully greeted, "It is a pleasure to meet you. How may I address you, sir?"

Although the figure could very possibly be a slum dweller, just the sheer aura and pressure emanating from the person made Bryan realize that they were definitely a powerful Transcendent.

After hearing Bryan's words, the two torches beside the figure immediately turned dim and then finally died down. Instead, two small orbs that shone like the starry night sky could now be seen.

As Bryan looked at these two orbs which seemed to be the figure's eyes, he felt that all his secrets were out in the open. Involuntarily, his body began to shudder.

"Oh? I'm not able to divine your identity. How surprising," Exclaimed the figure sitting on the throne. He then continued, "However, there is no information these eyes on mine cannot deduce."

The following moment, his eyes began to glow with an ethereal glow. The starry sky within them came alive and seemed to form the whole universe. Bryan was instantly sent into a daze as he looked at the pair of eyes.

However, the every next moment, the figure's eyes stopped glowing and then his voice was once again heard, this time, however, it was friendly and warm. "I see… So you're a child of the slums as well."

Alarmed, Bryan's eyes widened. "Did the emperor tell you of my identity!?"

The figure chuckled. "Rest assured, Solomon hasn't divulged anything about you."

"Then how did you…." Bryan was unable to comprehend. He knew that the members of the Illuminatos were bound by an oath of never disclosing the other members' information to any outsiders.

Moreover, the silver string around his mind-runes ensured that he couldn't be divined by anyone less powerful than Lady Fate. Hence, he couldn't believe that in but a few moments, this mysterious figure in front of him was able to learn that he hailed from the slums.

Sensing the shock in Bryan's voice, the figure soon got to his feet and began walking toward him as he patiently explained, "I do not need to pry into the River of Fate to deduce the heavenly secrets. Neither do I have to dip into the River Styx to interrogate the deceased souls."

The figure slowly came into view as he stopped right in front of Bryan. He was a tall, middle-aged man with black hair that was beginning to grey at the temples. He had a beard that gave him a very manly look.

And although the color of his eyes was a dark brown, if one looked at it they'd be able to see the starry sky in them. Those eyes shone with wisdom and brilliance, as well as the vicissitudes of time.

The man was bare feet and was wearing ragged clothes and a black tattered robe, but the way he carried himself was full of poise and charisma. He gave off the aura of an undefeated war general.

He looked at Bryan and smiled. "If one looked carefully, they'd find information in everything in this world. From the trees, rocks, clouds, sand, rain, and even the moisture in the air. That is what it means to truly see… Bryan Lombardi."