CHAPTER 88: A NOTIFICATION

Given how vigilant Caroline was and didn’t get deceived by his sweet offering, Leonard nodded in approval.

"The catch is simple. There will be a merchant gathering soon, and I hope you can accompany me. Subsequently, the matter we discussed earlier, I wish that you could continue to research that aspect using the funds I provide." Leonard explained.

He was informing Caroline that he needed her present to completely convince the others regarding his visit to the Velastra Research Facility.

"Lastly, I naturally want to be the first to use and test any of the new products you have created." He concluded. A valuable and talented researcher like Caroline naturally needed to be allied with.

Obviously, Caroline had seen through his intention and flat-out refused.

"Sorry, but there are many who wish to sponsor and fund my research. But the question is never about the money. Instead, it’s whether they are qualified to become my sponsor or not." She coolly said.

"Is that why you decided to stay in the Velastra Research Facility?" Leonard inquired. "Although this is jointly produced by the Merchant Guild and Noble Faction, it appears that the Merchant Guild held more influence."

Instantly, the atmosphere turned tense with Leonard basically setting up traps after another in his words.

Caroline’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"You can save the testing for others. The Velastra Research Facility wishes to use my expertise, and similarly, I’m using them to advance my research." She said calmly.

"Moreover, you may be the Crown Prince of Aldros, but Aetherion World isn’t controlled by the Aldros Empire or the Valdoria Continent."

Badump!

Mirelle’s heartbeat skipped a beat when she heard Caroline’s statement.

’These two are like two flames being dosed with hot oil.’ She couldn’t even get an outlet to rant and complain to Leonard about the previous bout when these two had already taken the spotlight.

"Can we stop the debates and argue?" Mirelle coughed slightly and said, "We were here in the first place to diagnose Sir’s condition. How did it spiral out of control?"

"You ask her!"

"You ask him!"

Simultaneously, both of them pointed at each other and shifted the blame.

’Oh, dear.’ Silent, Mirelle was once again certain about her analogy of these two being the same breed. They both held the same personality and stubbornness, which naturally resulted in lots of clashes.

Thankfully, a migraine didn’t occur to her when both Leonard and Caroline came to a sudden consensus.

"I’ll continue to research your anomaly and provide you with a batch of Restoration Potion. As for the solution to improve agricultural production, we can give an excuse where I need to personally pay a visit there to check." Caroline said.

Nodding in agreement, Leonard didn’t reject the suggestion.

"Very well, you can leave with me by the time I’m done with my objective in Velastra." He said, having realized her hidden intention.

On the surface, it seemed like she was using him as an excuse to leave Velastra, but Leonard reckoned that she had the desire to leave a long time ago. It was just that she couldn’t simply pack up her belongings and leave through the front gate.

As for why she wished to leave.

Maybe she had discovered the muddy water in Velastra was too deep or that there was danger fast approaching her.

Either way, Leonard had no interest in them except for a resolution to his anomaly, the Inverted Mana Flow Disorder.

The disorder was located on his containment layer, which was supposed to be impossible or never been recorded. Therefore, even Spencer and all other doctors failed to correctly diagnose the anomaly he was suffering from.

Sometime later, a device placed on Caroline’s desk began to glow and made a ringing sound.

"What is that?" Mirelle was alarmed and inquired. She was still under the adrenaline rush from the previous fight, so she was ready for any intruders.

"Relax your nerves," Caroline waved her hand dismissively.

"That’s just a notification from the main lobby." She continued and walked toward her desk to check the message.

While Caroline went to check what it was about, Leonard calmly advised Mirelle from the side. "You should probably take this time to brood over the advice that Logan gave."

Annoyed and frustrated, Mirelle reckoned that he would continuously remind her of Logan’s remark toward her throughout their journey.

’What a hateful Logan! And this Crown Prince is just enjoying people’s misery and suffering.’ She pursed her lips and cursed silently.

If it weren’t for the fact that she couldn’t defeat Logan in a short span of time because of the latter’s illusory movement and layered phasing attacks, she would have already clashed with him. As for Leonard, she didn’t even harbor such a thought.

Leonard obviously knew Mirelle had no outlets to vent. But given that she was indeed his tutor and tried her best for him, he was about to give her some leniency until Caroline interrupted.

"Mirelle, I just received word that the Merchant Guild is doing a gathering and wishes to invite the researchers from our facility to join," Caroline said, divulging the message that was sent.

"A merchant gathering, huh..." Leonard furrowed his brows.

Just when he wondered why he wasn’t invited, Caroline’s eyes suddenly shifted to him.

"The Merchant Guild also requested that I inform you about the gathering." She said in a weak tone. Clearly, she understood the implication behind it for having her be the messenger.

Besides her, even Leonard’s eyes narrowed in a cold light.

"So the Merchant Guild knew about our whereabouts. They really are everywhere." Mirelle said in an aghast tone.

Previously, she had killed off those lurking in the shadows to conceal their movement. Yet they were still found out by them.

"Was there some lurker that we actually let slip past?" She muttered in confusion.

Seeing her behavior, Leonard glanced at Caroline, who flashed a helpless look and shrugged her shoulders in response. Needless to say, the two of them knew that the Merchant Guild was informed because of the guards in the facility, and not because of some lurking spies.

"Does the Restoration Potion help restore the brain to function properly. As her friend, you should really help her out." Leonard suggested kindly.