One-Eyed Monster

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Fishing

The lunch at Lubin Tavern today was exceptionally sumptuous. In contrast to the usual monotonous offering of bread and meat soup, today’s meal felt like a festival, with not only a variety of dishes but also unparalleled novelty. Even the usual meat soup had some extra wild vegetable leaves added to it.

This lunch was prepared by Lubin, the tavern’s owner himself. He thought his signature pumpkin pie and chicken rice would surely earn him a compliment from Elder Rostellum. With this compliment, he could boast for the rest of his life in Guru Village.

However, reality is not always fully in line with imagination. Unforeseen things always had a way of appearing, intentionally or unintentionally, to disrupt that perfect image.

The pumpkin pie was crispy and delicious, the chicken rice was soft and sweet, and the roasted mushrooms were incredibly aromatic. Everything seemed to go smoothly, and the sound of some guards’ throats working and their GULP GULP swallowing made Lubin’s already firm confidence even stronger. Full of expectation, he pushed these dishes in front of Elder Rostellum, waiting quietly for a compliment worth flaunting for half a lifetime.

But Elder Rostellum did not stop pulling his beard—first the goatee on his chin, then the mustache around his lips, paying no attention to the expectations attached to these dishes.

Lubin’s anxious anticipation was shattered after a few Gudu Times by a glare from Aliusan the cripple, the leader of Black Mountain. Lubin didn’t want to provoke him, so he discreetly observed Elder Rostellum’s much-watched face. Then, satisfied, he hurried to the back kitchen to start preparing dinner.

In contrast to Rostellum’s gloomy face, Mayor Babasha ate with gusto. It was no wonder; after a bumpy half-day spent in a terrible mood, about five-sevenths of it had dissipated following the verbal sparring—or perhaps quarreling—just now. As for the remaining two-sevenths, it seemed there was nothing he could do about it for now. Moreover, Goding’s long face finally looked as if it could touch the ground. His devastated demeanor was like a child who had lost a beloved toy, listless. The way he ate, so slow it was as if he were chewing wax, made him look no different from a fool.

Babasha didn’t need to worry about Rostellum and Goding now. He had the Chief Alchemist from the Imperial Alchemy Workshop before him. He absolutely had to curry favor with this connection, and this fine food was an excellent medium for interaction.

”Chief, are you accustomed to this rustic fare? There’s nothing particularly fine in these remote parts. This style of cooking may seem simple, but it tastes quite good,” Mayor Babasha said while chewing roasted mushrooms, complimenting Chief Kuyi Tulan.

”I genuinely enjoy this primitive pleasure.”

”That’s good. Being in the Imperial Capital, the Chief must have seen a lot. For a minor matter like this in the wilderness, it’s surprising that the Chief would be willing to step in. I really admire you!” Babasha referred to the search for Young Master Rostov as a ”minor matter in the wilderness,” practically sticking his face to the other’s rear end.

”Although I respect Rostov as a Politician, I have no intention of meddling in his son’s affairs.”

”Ah, why is the Chief being so humble? Clearly, an Alchemist has been assigned to join the mountain expedition.”

The corner of Kuyi Tulan’s upturned mouth involuntarily twitched to one side. His expression seemed to carry a hint of pity, and also a touch of mockery.

”I have always enjoyed communicating with Politicians.” He wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and said lightly, ”Unlike us Alchemists who can only qualitatively break down the Spirit Power of individual units, Politicians, however, seem to have a unique perception of a cluster of Spirit Power. Your Sound Sensing Skill always allows you to see the interconnections of Spirit Power within a series of unrelated events, and then formulate and implement plans accordingly. To be honest, this Sound Sensing Skill is truly enviable.”

Kuyi Tulan looked at Babasha unhurriedly. ”And you,” he said, ”have dragged my perception of Politicians down to a vulgar, unbearable level I’d rather not witness. Regrettably, I do not enjoy interacting with Politicians such as yourself.” Having said that, Kuyi Tulan rose and went upstairs.

Babasha was dumbfounded, while Rostellum, with a gloomy face, seemed to understand all too well.

Qi Liu’s request to bring an Alchemist and a Wizard up the mountain was all too obvious. The Wizard was merely a precaution against sudden illnesses and injuries during the ascent; having a Wizard could provide treatment to the injured. Although Rostellum didn’t know which faction Witch Biggs belonged to, he unhesitatingly allowed the stooped old fellow to go up the mountain. Firstly, both Wizards and Alchemists were scarce resources in Gaga County. Secondly, Rostellum believed that all these chaotic events were caused by this old woman, Biggs. If it weren’t for that old woman accepting those fake stones, he wouldn’t have ended up in this predicament. If it weren’t for those fake stones, the walls and sofas of his mansion wouldn’t have suffered such extensive damage... In short, he absolutely could not miss this opportunity to torment old Biggs. As for Qi Liu also wanting an Alchemist, it was clearly just a way to seek Kuyi Tulan’s approval. It was known that Kuyi Tulan was currently clearing the mountain. If they went up the mountain to search for someone without one of Kuyi Tulan’s people as a marker, they might be directly killed by Kuyi Tulan’s other subordinates as uncooperative individuals—unless their strength surpassed that of the Alchemists in the Imperial Alchemy Workshop.

This Qi Liu, in such a short time, had not only reprimanded Goding and the others into silence but had also devised what could be called the best plan so far. It was evident that this young man was a rare, natural-born Politician. Rostellum himself certainly couldn’t have achieved all this in such a short period. Moreover, from Qi Liu’s account, all the plans along the way were, more or less, connected to this young man.

Such a natural-born Politician... The Chief of the Alchemy Workshop could probably sense it too. Thus, lending this young man a subordinate as a marker for going up the mountain implied that Kuyi Tulan had a personal interest in him. Even a fool could see this, yet Mayor Babasha was worse than a fool!

Rostellum felt that Kuyi Tulan was like an angler who had set the bait, cast the hook, and was now sitting steadily on the fishing platform, waiting for everything to fall into place.

Of course, Rostellum himself had engaged in such ”angling” before.

The tales of White Cloud Fruit and monsters on Guru Mountain were the bait and hook Elder Rostellum had cast.

No one had ever actually seen White Cloud Fruit or monsters on Guru Mountain. These baseless legends initially attracted little attention, until Elder Rostellum used the Mail Bird System to proclaim everywhere that a Guru Village villager had found a beast’s tail on the mountain. A Wizard from the Dusk Market determined it was shed by a monster that had transformed after eating White Cloud Fruit. This non-existent beast’s tail successfully hooked Treasure Hunters—these fresh fish. These fish allowed the barren little forest of Guru Village to flourish, and he, the angler, also benefited greatly.

Now, Kuyi Tulan was about to begin clearing the mountain. Although Rostellum didn’t know his true objective, if this mountain clearing resulted in finding nothing on the mountain, the bait Rostellum himself had scattered would become ineffective!

And a Politician of Rostellum’s caliber couldn’t handle this level of chaos, even if he was slightly more capable than Politicians like Babasha. So, to find a solution for when such chaos occurred, Rostellum pinned his hopes on the natural-born Politician.

He shamelessly arranged for another person to go up the mountain. He had Aliusan choose a Fighter to accompany them. This Fighter bore a great responsibility; he was also bait, albeit a lower-grade one, needing to implore the help of the natural-born Politician, Qi Liu, through special means... Rostellum believed Aliusan would understand these things. Sincerity and threats sometimes weren’t very different; used well, they were one and the same.

The Politician was a special profession on the Yowein Continent, quite different from the other five major professions. The requirement for Spirit Sensing was not as high for Politicians as for the other five. Some Politicians might not even be able to perceive Spirit Power. As Kuyi Tulan had said, Politicians possessed a unique sensitivity to a series of seemingly unrelated events. This sensitivity allowed Politicians to perceive a cluster of Spirit Power. It was as if a Politician couldn’t perceive individual Spirit Power, but when a group of people or things possessing Spirit Power were gathered, the Politician could sense the Spirit Power connections among them. To a Politician, this Spirit Power connection was like various sounds which, when subtly combined, formed a complete sentence. This was the Politician’s Sound Sensing Skill.

Those who could master this Sound Sensing Skill without training were natural-born Politicians, and Qi Liu was one of them.

However, natural-born Politicians were rare. And because the threshold for Spirit Power was low for Politicians, many opportunists could buy the title of Politician with money. Babasha was one such individual, representing the majority of Politicians in the Empire.

Kuyi Tulan would naturally not let a natural-born Politician slip by. He had even gone to great lengths to recruit a High-Rank Hunter using Alchemy, let alone a rare natural-born Politician. Of course, Kuyi Tulan’s brilliance as an angler lay in the fact that his bait attracted more than one kind of fish. He also wanted to sell Rostov a favor. Although Baharo hadn’t told him who the client was due to the principle of confidentiality, it could be deduced from the series of events that Baharo was employed by Rostov, the current favorite of the Empire’s King. Although Baharo’s failure to stick to Young Master Rostov’s trail showed his crudeness, Kuyi Tulan didn’t care about such things. He hadn’t recruited Baharo solely because the man was a High-Rank Hunter. A High-Rank Hunter alone wouldn’t entirely move Kuyi Tulan. However, a High-Rank Hunter whose potent Spirit Power contained impurities was rather interesting. Hunters, a profession skilled in concealment, rarely had impurities in their Spirit Power; this was uncommon.

It seemed everything was under control. Kuyi Tulan pushed open the window of his second-floor room in the tavern, looking at the Alchemists from the Imperial Alchemy Workshop gathering at the foot of Guru Mountain.

Looks like the mountain clearing is almost complete. Next will be setting up the formation. Then, everything on this mountain won’t escape Kuyi Tulan’s hook. That will be the true mountain clearing; what’s happening now is just baiting the hook.