Chapter 150 - 150. Hindered
Noah entered the building right after Errol left.
"This way."
Thaddeus spoke, appearing on top of the stairs leading to the first floor.
Noah hastened his steps and followed him.
They passed many closed rooms and Noah's gaze lingered on one of them that had a transparent glass that occupied half of its door.
Inside, Ruth was meditating in an environment full of runes.
That action seemed to demand her full concentration as her brows were furrowed and sweat ran down her forehead.
"My disciple is training. Even if she is born with the natural talent of hearing the "Breath", she still has a lot of work to do before she will be able to perform her first inscription."
Noah moved his gaze away from the room and continued to follow Thaddeus until they were in one of the last rooms of the corridor.
Thaddeus sat behind a large and carefully adorned desk and gestured to Noah to occupy one of the couches in front of him.
"I read the reports from my sister and Preston and, well, I actually asked June to confirm them. I really couldn't believe that you faced a rank 4 beast only to retrieve part of the rewards."
Noah answered shrugging his shoulders.
"That eagle was heavily malnourished and had already attacked, the odds of succeeding were high. Also, my share would have diminished if I had left the "Breath" blessing with that creature."
Thaddeus joined his hands below his chin, he was slightly amazed by Noah's foolishness.
"It would have diminished by a lot indeed. Here, you can take everything that this device contains."
Thaddeus handed a black ring to Noah.
Noah took it and was quite astonished by the number of Credits inside.
"Since the most valuable item of the mission would have been lost if it wasn't for you, I raised your percentage to four percent. I hope you won't think that the Royals are the same as those blind and petty nobles."
Noah nodded absent-mindedly, he was still counting the amount of wealth contained in the ring.
'Seven hundred thousand Credits! I can finally take a look at the inventory again.'
He moved all the contents in his empty storage device and handed the black ring back to Thaddeus.
"Now, for the privileged position. I have a lot of empty spots available but I have sorted those that seemed more suited for your talents. You are free to take a look."
He laid two piles of sheets on his desk.
Noah took the bigger one first.
It wasn't to disrespect Thaddeus' opinion but simply to have a broader vision of the various professions in the Royal city.
'Alchemy assistant, city guard, miner of precious material… They basically cover every existent profession and there is a discount over the relative products of the executed job.'
He read through them quickly, there was nothing that attracted his attention nor that seemed especially suited for him.
He picked the other sheets, there were only five of them.
'Hunters' guild member, captain in the junior city troops, escort guard, soldier, and martial art trainer. These are indeed all made for me.'
"Is the position of the hunter really that privileged?"
"Almost every valuable item is made using magical beasts' body-parts. I say that having a discount over all those articles is pretty privileged."
Thaddeus laughed lightly as he answered to Noah's question.
'This one should also be less strict as a profession, I don't really want to involve myself with the struggles of the army.'
"Hunter it is."
"You really don't want to join the army, as expected."
Thaddeus commented and began his explanation.
"A token will be sent to your accommodation. When you have time, go to Elbas city and formally join the guild. I advise to increase your strength first though, you won't benefit much from it if you can only hunt rank 3 beasts."
"Can I join whenever I want?"
Noah asked in surprise.
"Of course. Your main focus has to be on your studies. You can even wait till the end of your enrollment here before moving to the Royal city."
Thaddeus took the sheet and stored it with him.
"Give me your token, I think that three thousand merit points are plenty enough as a reward for your services inside the inheritance ground."
Noah didn't hesitate and happily handed his token to him.
When he took it back, it clearly stated that he had three thousand and twenty merit points available.
Noah was about to bow in order to leave the building but Thaddeus' next words made him stop moving.
"I think that you would be happy to know that we are hindering the investigations of the Balvan family."
Noah's eyes became dark and Rhys's face materialized in his mind.
"Are they still looking for clues?"
Thaddeus smiled staring at the youth standing in front of him.
"Yes, they even sent letters to the Royal city requesting an investigator specialized in inscriptions. Can you blame them though? They lost the best cultivators of the younger generation in that accident, without considering the three heirs. Their future prospects are quite grim."
Noah's expression remained still as he continued to ask questions.
"How much do they know?"
"Not much. They have their suspects that someone betrayed them since the Shosti inheritance ground has never been that deadly but nothing is pointing in your direction. There is a matter about a space-ring being forced open in Evergreen forest but they only discovered that after the Shosti family allowed them to use their inscription master or, to say it better, after the Royal family allowed them to do so."
"Why are you doing so much for me?"
Noah wasn't that naïve to think that they had done that out of good-will.
"You are a potential asset, a valuable one I'd say. Not only you have a rare element, but we also don't need to force you to sever your noble ties. Also, almost all the cultivators that can face a rank 4 beast have sworn an oath with the Royal dynasty or are close to the most powerful noble families. You are our biggest investment concerning the Royal inheritance."
Noah nodded in understanding.
"Who is the Balvan's biggest suspect?"
"According to our reports, they are looking for a wind mage that uses a sword. Do you know of someone that fits that description?"
'They are looking for Trevor! It makes sense. In their minds, I didn't have the power to kill them all and escape.'
"Not of anyone alive."
Thaddeus nodded, showing a bright smile.
"That's for the best. You should just focus on becoming stronger and continue clearing the Royal inheritance. It's a win-win situation after all, both of us will greatly benefit from it."