The Gentleman at the End

Chapter 209: Chapter 208: Chance Encounter

Heading to Holy Grail Mountain, the three small teams tasked with the Relic mission were all vetted through combat selection,

each possessing considerable strength and expected to slay the pathogens in the mountains to reach the Peak; after all, exploring the relics of the Old World was the focus of the mission.

However, according to the messages sent back by the Watcher, only two teams headed for the Old World.

One was Yi Chen’s team, and the other was the team choosing to face Black Pus Disease, led by the female captain, Norma Kopet.

The third team, which chose to follow the mountaineering route known as “Septicemia”—that is, White Robe Iscarion Lottsen’s team—had not reached the passage entrance, nor had the Watcher ever seen them.

This team had completely disappeared within Holy Grail Mountain,

Considering Lottsen was of the Magic Association, valued for his mastery of rare ancient magic, his strength was substantial; he should not have gotten lost in the mountains.

Taking into account the value of Lottsen and the potential threats in the mountains, Zion promptly dispatched elite gentlemen to the Baron Mansion, the site of the “Septicemia” incident, to search for the team’s whereabouts.

The gentleman in charge of the investigation, however, discovered the Baron Mansion had been thoroughly purged; even the back half of the mansion had been completely destroyed by a small meteorite, leaving behind a dark, massive crater.

The conclusion they reached was that the team had eradicated the septicemia and had continued to climb the mountain.

That was strange.

If the main threat had been eliminated, why had the team still disappeared on the way up the mountain?

Just as the gentlemen were preparing to follow the mountain path behind the Baron Mansion to search higher up,

a figure emerged from the fog-enshrouded path—it was White Robe Lottsen… except that his physical condition was quite dire, emaciated from days without proper nourishment, with a vacant look in his eyes.

What’s more, his entire body was covered in blood holes, continuously oozing blood.

They transported him to the halfway station’s Seagull Clinic for medical treatment, and as he gradually regained consciousness,

According to his statement, although the team managed to eliminate the source of septicemia in the Baron Mansion,

they fell victim to the “Blood Curse” invoked by Baron Francis at the cost of his own life. Although Lottsen promptly used magic to perform what seemed to be an effective counter-curse for the entire team,

as the climb continued and with the increasing concentration of Grey Zone, the curse was induced to erupt.

Based on the individual bleeding situations, they concluded that the essence of the “Blood Curse” was a filamentous virus, one they had no means to eradicate with their current capabilities.

The team decided to abandon the mission, intending to return to the station for treatment, but during the descent, the disease fully manifested.

Only Lottsen, relying on the higher Skin Content (13%) of his gentleman’s clothes and constantly using purifying magic to cleanse himself, narrowly managed to survive.

Lottsen’s account was affirmed by the Seagull Clinic,

Their blood samples burst and died within a minute. It was only through the injection of the clinic’s unique “Seagull secret medicine” that the filamentous virus within Lottsen was gradually suppressed and eradicated.

With his condition stabilized, Lottsen was then sent back to Zion to receive further treatment at the main hospital to completely eliminate the virus from his body.

…

[Lower Streets]

Yi Chen, wandering around, came upon a significant issue—”Expensiveness”.

The restaurants in the lower district, despite looking like they didn’t even have a sign, charged prices that were at least ten times that of the academy’s cafeteria.

The reason was that some of the ingredients were forbidden by the organization in plain sight.

Extremely hungry and on the verge of fainting at any moment, Yi Chen found a small shop he could just afford and ordered a large seafood chowder to start replenishing his body’s nutrients with big gulps.

As he continued eating, he got more and more into it, ordering several expensive dishes until he was completely stuffed.

Even if he didn’t have enough money, he could still run a tab using Professor Qian Bosen’s business card.

Looking at the empty plates before him, patting the belly muscles that had been rounded out, he felt an unprecedented sense of satisfaction overflowing his body,

Yi Chen lay back in his chair, savoring the moment of comfort.

“Next, I’ll have to find Teacher Zede for some physical training,” he estimated that it wouldn’t take more than a month to reach his limit, as he could now distinctly sense where the limit of his physique lay.

However, simply maxing out his [Physique] wasn’t enough.

According to the settings of the ‘Madman’s Box,’ once he overcame the barrier of physique, there would inevitably be a third barrier to decoding, and by then, he would need to push his [Perception] to its limits as well.

The only path to enhancing perception that he could think of for the moment was the Principal.

He aimed to get it all done within a year…

Logically speaking, someone as young as Yi Chen, who found a suitable Relic within his first year at Zion, could completely relax and give himself several years to slowly adjust.

But Yi Chen had no intention of taking it easy.

After seeing the sights of the Old World, after meeting the Duke himself, after encountering the trio from the monastery that pursued him, and after having deep conversations with Moon Scar at the Clinic,

Yi Chen wanted to seize every moment he could, eager to break through his limits swiftly, to reach the level where he could confront patients from Open Source head-on.

To pass the Organization’s [Watcher assessment] and roam the world on his own strength,

To head for the deep of the Old World and engage in more interesting trades with the Duke.

He only lay back in his seat for five minutes before promptly getting up to pay at the counter.

As soon as he finished paying, the corner of his eye suddenly caught a glimpse of a white figure flashing past the entrance of the restaurant… While ordinary people might not see clearly, Yi Chen captured it accurately—the fleeting white figure was none other than White Robe Lotson.

This was the second time he encountered it, giving off a quite peculiar feeling.

Intuition drove Yi Chen to chase out in quick strides, yet the moment he stepped out, a palm landed on his shoulder.

“William Behrens! It’s you, indeed!

Last time, because I had to verify a batch of special magic materials, I left in a hurry and didn’t pay much attention, just felt an aura I was familiar with.

Latter I reflected and thought, isn’t that William’s aura? So I specially looked for you, and here you are.

Are you also here to buy materials that don’t quite comply with the Organization’s rules?”

Yi Chen turned his head, not swayed by the other’s presumption, instead examining the white-haired youth closely with the Vision provided by little grape.

Nothing strange occurred, but Lotson seemed slightly different from when they last met.

Yi Chen immediately switched to a smiling expression, “I had these clothes tailor-made here, and having just returned from the Old World, naturally, they needed some repairs.”

“Oh! Is it from Ivan’s Nameless Clothing Store? No wonder… I’ve heard that gentleman was once a senior tailor within the Organization but stepped down due to injury.”

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll be on my way.”

“Wait a second, would you mind taking my business card, Mr. William? If you’re free, we can talk about Ancient Magic in person.

After all, you also specialize in [Intelligence]. Once you graduate from the academy, you could choose to join our Magic Association, and I’ll act as your referee. The Principal will certainly be delighted.

The Magic Association sporadically assigns special tasks related to magic, which we first take on internally; only tasks that are abandoned internally are then made available to the Gentleman Hall.

If there is a suitable task, Mr. William, if you don’t mind, we can form a temporary team.”

Yi Chen received a business card with white background and golden lettering and asked back, “What about your teammates?”

“The [Baron route] we chose last time turned out to be super five-star difficulty, and I was barely the one who survived… Such is the unpredictability of life~ Remember to contact me when you’re free.”

This response left Yi Chen slightly stunned, as in his memory, the team led by White-haired Lotson was very strong; it was unexpected that two would die before reaching the passage.

Tucking the business card into his breast pocket, he turned and walked away.

However,

As Yi Chen took steps to leave the street, White-haired Lotson remained standing still, maintaining a constant waving gesture.