The Sorcerer's Handbook

Chapter 287: I'm Waiting For You

Iger's sudden question made Annan raise an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

Iger said leisurely, "Miss, let us be frank. From the very beginning, we only joined the Funeral Agency because we accepted your invitation. You never truly explained what the Woven Festival would entail for us, nor did you mention that this was an adventure that might cost us our lives."

Annan narrowed her eyes. "I could not have predicted that the first ranking list would—"

"Regardless, Ashe's interests have already been compromised because of your plan." Iger straightened his back, meeting Annan's gaze directly. "His identity as an outlander is known to everyone. The Gospel Kingdom has issued a warrant for his arrest, and the Book of Gospel has even flagged him as a harbinger of a future disaster. Miss, you aren't going to suggest that his current situation is merely his own fault, are you?"

Pankey could not stay quiet. "But our plan hasn't even truly begun! Ashe, he—"

Annan raised a hand to silence Pankey. She spoke with a cold, measured calm. "Of course it has something to do with me. If I hadn't pulled Ashe into this, perhaps none of this would have happened. That is your point, isn't it, Mr. Perskin?"

Iger smiled. "I'm not saying I resent you, Miss. After all, I am not Ashe. But now that a new problem has emerged, shouldn't we discuss how to resolve it?"

"And how do you propose we do that?" Annan's lips curled slightly. "Do you want me to rescind his warrant? Or perhaps scrub his name from the Art Ranking?"

A heavy silence filled the basement. Pankey and Harvey remained still, while Ashe and Lys sat huddled together, watching the exchange with bated breath. The pressure between Annan and Iger was so overwhelming that no one dared to interrupt.

Iger tilted his head. "How could I ask for the impossible? But since the problem cannot be undone, then at the very least... shouldn't you compensate Ashe for his losses?"

Compensation? Ashe blinked, quietly cheering Iger on from the sidelines.

Annan suddenly shifted her focus. "Ashe is the one involved, yet he hasn't said a word. Why are you so eager to fight for his interests, Mr. Perskin?"

Ashe froze. That's right. Why is this male veela standing up for me?

The fraudster lowered his gaze, his voice smooth. "Today, it is Ashe. Tomorrow, it might be me. If I don't speak up for this fool now, who will be left to speak up for a smart man like me later?"

"Oh?" Annan's expression turned subtle. "You think you're the smart one? I don't see it that way. I think you're the fool."

Even Ashe felt that was a bit much. She could insult Iger's habits or his appetite, but questioning his intelligence was crossing a line; it was the one thing he relied on most. Yet Iger did not argue. He simply watched Annan in silence, as if the dispute itself were beneath him.

***

The negotiation became a dance of high demands and calculated concessions.

Annan had no intention of truly compensating Ashe. Even if his warrant was a direct result of her actions, she would never simply surrender to Iger's demands. Status was like a seesaw; if one side rose, the other fell. If she lowered her head now, she would be forced to keep it lowered forever.

Kindness and weakness were twin siblings, often difficult to tell apart. Annan did not mind showing the former, but she would never allow anyone to mistake it for the latter. Iger, Harvey, and Ashe were fugitives. Even if they had acted peacefully lately, that did not make them good people. In the world of an agency, everyone was a potential killer. If you tested the fragile thread of their humanity even slightly, you would realize how easily their rational lives could collapse into chaos.

This philosophy aligned perfectly with the fraudster's understanding of human nature. As long as one was not a god, one could be deceived. In a sense, a fraudster and a god shared a common trait: the perceived ability to fulfill any desire.

Because of this shared insight, Annan and Iger maintained a tacit understanding. Neither pushed the other to the brink; both knew exactly when to stop.

In the end, the Miss and her employees signed a new contract. It contained only one clause, which stated that no matter what happened, Annan was required to value the lives and safety of Ashe, Iger, Harvey, and Lys as much as she valued her own.

The purpose was straightforward: it completely eliminated the possibility of Annan betraying them. At the very least, they no longer had to worry about her leading the Red Hats to their door to hand over Ashe—the "pretty little target"—to save herself.

As for the night watch, since it required constant surveillance via the Book of Gospel, Annan and Pankey divided the shifts between them. Ashe had originally planned to take the first watch, but Lys, the only one exempt from duty, insisted on clinging to him and sleeping by his side.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping with your mother?" Ashe complained, lying sideways on the narrow wooden bed. "Why are you sticking to me?"

Lys's blunt question struck as directly as ever. "Then where is my mother?"

Ashe sighed. "If you want someone gentle, go find Sister Annan. If you prefer someone tall, you can find Aunt Perskin. Lys, you're a big girl now. You should learn to find your own mother... fine, do you want a bedtime story?"

"No!" Lys shook her head firmly, hugging his arm tighter. "This is enough."

Ashe watched her eyelids droop and felt a pang of envy. He had long since passed the age when he could fall asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

Just then, it struck him. Come to think of it... It's about time to enter the Virtual World... but wait. How am I supposed to get there?

All of his spirits were looted spoils. Not a single one shared that "childhood bond" required for a stable connection. Having never opened his own Gate of Truth, Ashe was like a wandering playboy with countless lovers; life was easy as long as someone supported him, but once night fell and he was left with no one but himself, he couldn't even find his way home.

He had completely forgotten that he'd skipped tonight's exploration.

Ashe quietly summoned the Book of Gospel and flipped to the Sorcerer's Handbook to check if the Witch and the Swordswoman were already inside. Instead, he found that the exploration team had already disbanded.

[Detected: A member is currently in Scenario Mode. Team exploration temporarily suspended.]

Scenario mode? A member? Wait, does that mean me?

With the team mode suspended, everyone had naturally gone their separate ways. Ashe checked the status again; the Witch was no longer in the Virtual World, likely having finished her exploration and left. The Swordswoman, however, was still inside. This meant Ashe could still enter through her.

He wondered why she had stayed longer than the Witch. Without his sports car, they both would have been traveling on foot. Logically, the Witch, with her vast experience, should have been the one to last longer.

Nevertheless, Ashe didn't dwell on it for long; he quickly chose to enter the Virtual World through the Swordswoman's Gate.

Since the Gate of Truth didn't move with the sorcerer, Ashe knew he would arrive at the exact spot where the Swordswoman had been over two hours ago. Who knew where she had wandered by now?

It made sense. Without the team mode active, the Swordswoman couldn't borrow his vehicle. She really had been forced to measure the Continent of Time with her own footsteps. He opened the map, intending to check her position. If she wasn't too far, he'd drive to her immediately. If she was far... he'd still drive. He owed her an explanation for his absence, and besides, he couldn't explore this world alone anyway.

For someone like him, who had been "illegally teaming up" from the very beginning, exploration only felt like an adventure when there were two people. Alone, it was just wandering.

However, when the map opened, Ashe saw two icons overlapping. One represented him, the Watcher. As for the other one...

Ashe turned and looked behind the car. There, on the grass, a young girl sat hugging her knees, swaying gently as if humming a tune to herself. Sonya seemed to sense his presence and turned her head to look at him.

"Why are you still here?" Ashe asked, stunned.

"Because I was waiting for you."