“You’re just coming back, Mr. Lakis?”

Yuri calmly greeted him, but Odin unconsciously got nervous. Lakis looked at Yuri and smiled.

“Yes. Ms. Yuri…I guess you went somewhere with your friend today.”

However, his gaze on Odin after saying that was slightly cold.

“W-Well, I’ll just be on my way then…”

“Wait.”

Odin hurriedly tried to leave but Lakis’ arm blocked his path.

“Since we’ve run in each other, I think it will be best if I check if there are still any mental aftereffects left.”

“Ah, no, I’m fine…”

“Then, excuse me for a second.”

Odin reflexively refused but Lakis ignored his opinion.

Odin’s gaze urgently moved to Yuri, the only person who could stop Lakis.

“A-Arachne.”

However, Yuri ignored Odin’s earnest and hopeful eyes.

“I agree, Odin. You have a lot of things to deal with lately so it might overtax your body. We should use this chance to let Mr. Lakis examine you.”

“That’s right, Ms. Yuri. If we check it right away, we can prevent any side-effects.”

Lakis’ smile was skewed like he was about to mess around with Odin.

Yuri couldn’t see it because she had her back to Lakis, but Odin could see it very clearly. But even if he saw it, there was nothing he could do.

In front of Lakis, Odin became a pitiful crow facing the gaping maw of a giant serpent. And so, Lakis’ hand reached Odin’s head without any disruption.

Then Lakis used his ability.

Of course, he didn’t want Yuri to hate him, so he cleared Odin’s brainwashing completely and he didn’t plan on trying again. Instead, Lakis approached Odin in this manner from time to time and used this method to obtain information from Odin.

After absorbing quite a few ruin fragments, his ability improved so he could use his ability to a certain extent without stressing the other party’s brain.

However, his intentions weren’t bad.

He noticed that Yuri was hanging around the Crow more often lately so he was worried that she might be getting involved in something dangerous.

Furthermore, Odin sent out his crows from time to time to scour the East and grasp the situation. So, it helped Lakis understand the overall situation and development in the East while he was away.

However, while he was scanning Odin’s mind, something that bothered him got caught in his net.

.

‘That red-haired prophet said that if we’re not careful, Arachne could die or get really hurt during the praying ceremony!’

.

“…What now?”

“Huh? Yes?”

Odin was startled by the gloomy voice that came from Lakis and asked. Lakis’ grip on Odin’s head had suddenly strengthened as well.“What is it, Mr. Lakis? Is there something wrong?”

But when Yuri asked that question, Lakis quickly came back to his senses.

“No…no, there’s nothing wrong.”

At that, both Yuri and Odin looked relieved.

But after taking his hand off Odin, Lakis’ eyes turned sharp and he headed into Yuri’s house ahead of her.

* * *

That night, instead of drying Yuri’s hair with a towel after she came out of the shower, Lakis asked in a subtle tone.

“Ms. Yuri, is there anything you want to tell me?”

“What do you mean?”

Yuri turned to look at him, confused. Her always-calm eyes were exposed next to her wet hair. Her expression was so natural that it seemed like she really had nothing she wanted to say to Lakis.

Since he had read Odin’s memories earlier, Lakis was disappointed by this.

It looked like Yuri planned to solve everything by herself. And apparently, she felt that was only natural.

Haa, a small sigh escaped Lakis’ mouth.

He already knew she was not the type to rely on others but…

Lakis liked that and hate that at the same time. Until now, he thought there was nothing he could do about it. They say the person who falls more loses, and he felt if that was what Yuri wanted, he had no choice but to match her tempo.

However, the severity of this issue was on a different level. Wasn’t this something that could put her life in danger?

‘I have no choice.’

Lakis turned Yuri’s head to face forward again. Then he began drying her hair with the towel again and fell into thought.

Honestly, even if the eastern bastards were to fight among themselves and kill each other, it had nothing to do with Lakis so he planned on just leaving it alone but if Yuri was involved, it was no longer something he could leave alone.

Above all, he didn’t like the fact that Yuri’s attention kept getting stolen away by all the useless things happening in the East.

“Nothing. I was curious how it went because you haven’t gone out in a while.”

“Ah.”

When Lakis said that, Yuri opened her mouth like she was going to say something. But in the end, she didn’t tell Lakis what happened today. If she told Lakis about Leo, he might want to help but she didn’t want him to get involved in this issue.

Furthermore, if he somehow learned about Genos’ prophecy, he would probably say it was dangerous outside the house and try to stop her from taking a step out the door.

And Yuri was actually right.

“Nothing must have happened, that’s good.”

Lakis glanced at Yuri’s face then he simply acted like he didn’t know anything. Then his hand paused.

“Actually, there is something I want to tell you.” (Lakis)

“You do? What is it?”

“I will tell you later. Not now.”

Lakis pressed his chin against Yuri’s head and spoke in a slightly cheeky tone. Even when Yuri turned to look at him again with narrowed eyes, Lakis still didn’t say anything.

So even though Yuri was curious, she didn’t ask again.Lakis’ hand gently combed through Yuri’s hair again. There was no emotion in that touch but his eyes sank to icy cool like before.

* * *

“Damon, where are you coming back from?”

When he came back home, Damon found his father, the head of the Salvatore family, waiting for him. Damon froze in place at the front door with a slightly flushed face.

“Dad, you came back early today.”

“I heard you’ve been going out frequently for a few days now. I know you’re working hard for the Salvatore family but don’t overdo it when your body is still unwell.”

He clicked his tongue when he looked at Damon who was going out instead of resting at home, despite his injuries.

It seemed the worry he felt hadn’t faded away ever since Kalian came back with his son heavily injured.

“Okay, I won’t overdo it, so you don’t have to worry.”

Damon hated troublesome and annoying things, but he liked the Salvatore family. Besides, he felt he was responsible for it, given his position. If not, he would have already quit the alchemist tower or his family responsibilities.

Damon considered telling his father what he had learned outside today and opened his mouth, then he decided he would tell his father after gathering more information and changed what he was going to say.

“How was the atmosphere in the central council?”

“Hng, same as before.”

The Salvatore head unhappily replied to Damon’s question.

“Those damned Crawfords have decided to use this chance to crush our Salvatore family once and for all. Even those stupid nobles are using this opportunity to hop on board. Doesn’t all this mean our Salvatore family’s power is just that threatening?”

He looked like he wanted to grind his teeth at the mere thought of the Crawford family.

“But it will all be in vain. Do they think our Salvatore family will go down that easily?”

The energy around the Salvatore Head grew more intimidating.

Lately, both father and son were busy trying to find something that could be the Crawford family’s weakness.

“You are right, Dad. The foundation of the Salvatore family is not so shallow that it will fall with such tricks.”

Damon went along with his father’s words in an appropriate manner.

Of course, he agreed with his father as a son but half of it was simply because he wanted this conversation with his father to end quickly.

Ever since the Crawfords resolved to cut the wings of the Salvatore family, Damon was often called by his father in this manner, to complain.

If Damon didn’t have some pride and sense of responsibility left, he would have ignored his father’s grievances like an unfilial child, buried himself in his bed, and enjoyed life as a loafer.

Anyway, although he didn’t want to admit it, Genos Sheldon was quite helpful in this situation.

He heard Genos’ foresight ability was not as good after his reinstatement, but it seemed that was nonsense because Genos had provided a lot of materials that drew Damon’s interest.

Of course, it was Damon’s job to dig deep into it, using that information provided as a basis.

“Don’t worry, Dad.”

Still, he was glad they got quite a few gold pieces from mining that ground yesterday and today. (1)

“The day we re-affirm the honor of the Salvatore family is not too far away.”

“Indeed, I am also looking into other things since there’s something currently held up in the central council. If things go well, I might be able to find something that allows us to take a chunk out of the Crawford family before the praying ceremony.”

The face of the Salvatore Head relaxed when he heard Damon’s reliable words.

“I have to head out again, but you should go get some rest.”

He patted Damon on the shoulder to show he was proud then he left.

Damon saw his father off at the door then he turned around and hurried to his room.