Nobody had expected Nicole to hide her true personality to such a great extent.
For several years, she had behaved like a coy, and gentle woman who always gave importance to etiquettes and mannerisms, only to reveal her true color out of nowhere.
Even Nial was astonished about her sudden change in behavior that only intensified as it looked like Nicole wanted to attack Kira.
Unable to imagine what the others were thinking, Nial could only hope that Kira wouldn't do anything stupid because she was stronger.
This was only obvious, and everyone realized this, just from the hatred that came off of her, turning the atmosphere tense.
As such, it was already a wonder that Nial was currently unaffected by Kira's presence, and pressure, which allowed her to be distracted.
Turning towards Nial, who was tightly holding onto her arm in the hopes of holding her back from doing anything stupid, she couldn't help but smile lightly.
It had already been years since she had found out about Tim and Nicole, and the first thoughts she had blurted out were everything Kira had wanted to say.
As such, the only thing that was left for her to do was to bring Nial back.
This was not only an order from her sister but also something she wanted to do, even more so after finding out that Tim and Nicole were in the team that had taken him in.
Ruffling through Nial's hair, Kira tried to calm herself down as the painful past memories had unexpectedly hit her, opening old wounds again. This astonished her the most because she was aware of her bad temper.
'That little brat is really good at helping me calm down, huh?' Kira could only think, smiling subtly at Nial before turning around.
"We'll go now, you two can continue to be each other's playmates. As for the rest, I hope you all will be able to cope with someone who has been hiding her real intentions for years… goodbye!"
After saying this, Kira spun around on her heels and began walking toward the door.
Nial was still grasping her arm, but that didn't prevent her to move, at all.
Thus, he was dragged along with her, but he let go for a short moment.
This caused Kira to halt in her tracks, wondering if she had been wrong about Nial.
Yet, seeing that he bowed towards everyone, she smiled lightly.
'His parents taught him well!'
"Thank you for everything all of you did for me…I'm sorry about this sudden incident, but I hope that everyone will be able to live a long life and prosper without any issues!"
Saying so, Nial rushed after Kira and even passed her to reach the street.
He didn't want to slow down at all even after he had entered the middle of the street.
As he had been able to sense every single mana fluctuation inside the room, he could sense that the tension inside the house was palpable.
This was burdensome and Nial felt somewhat guilty because it had been his fault that so many issues had suddenly cropped up out of nowhere.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtHowever, it was just a moment later that Kira emerged next to him as she mumbled,
"Don't even think of blaming yourself. I entered their house without permission, and Nicole is the one who was hiding her true personality!"
Somehow, Kira sounded sad, but at the same time, it was almost as if a heavy weight had been lifted off her heart.
This confused Nial a lot because he wasn't aware of the backstory of Tim, Nicole and Kira.
In the end, this was not important, and Nial felt that it was of much more importance that Kira had been searching for him.
After all, this meant that she didn't saw him as a sole means to broaden her own connections and improve her social standing but that there was something else as well.
Whether it was her first impression of him, the fact that he knew Junades, and her sister, or just her gut feeling didn't matter.
What mattered was the fact that she didn't leave Nial alone, acting like a loan shark, who would demand everything she had given to be returned a thousand times over.
Taking responsibility was not an easy choice, and understanding that a part of her reason was that Librarian Mara had said something, Nial was curious to know what would happen next.
He was frustrated about the end of his journey in terms of learning how to absorb and annex mana as Miriam's teaching had been quite helpful.
However, even if Kira wouldn't appeared, the moment he sensed that something was wrong, Nial would have left.
Even if it meant that he would be left alone, or feel uncomfortable, he would not sit around and endure being in a space he didn't feel secure and safe.
With that in mind, he followed Kira, who was blunt and very straightforward.
She didn't even hide the fact that he was likely to die in the Teradan military camp.
However, this was accompanied by the information that only those who would not learn from their mistakes and act overly confidence were more likely to die.
As for those who were prepared, whether it was mentally or physically, and would know the difference between being bold and being reckless, nothing should happen.
Upon entering a shuttle with Kira, they rode it for half an hour before they returned home.
In the meantime, Kira received a few messages from Miriam, which astonished her a little because she never received a message from her former classmates before.
She had only re-encountered some prodigies who had awoken their origin in the elementary school, just like her but that was it.
One of those prodigies was Master Junades, and without even realizing Kira began to share quite a few stories about her past life with Nial.
Somehow she felt that it was important to gain Nial's trust, which became even more apparent after he had witnessed the incident with Tim and Nicole.
Feeling the need to justify herself, she blurted out all kinds of things, including the messages of Miriam as she read them aloud.
"I…really thought you were the bad woman in their relationship…I didn't know…I'm sorry!"
The moment Nial heard this, he realized that the matter had not ended with his and Kira's abrupt exit from the house.
Rather, he was sure that there were quite a few topics the group had to speak about.
If the problems were to accumulate, it would require only a small spark for everything to explode, wreaking havoc in their team's trust, teamwork, and reliability.
In fact, Nial had felt that the group would be trying to bury the incident, but he was glad that it didn't happen.
'Maybe they can save their team…I really hope so!'
It was not that he liked everyone on their team, but it would be a shame for a team that has known each other for years to suddenly disband.
Not knowing a lot about Kark and his group didn't change anything about that.
As such, he didn't even notice when the shuttle arrived in front of a ginormous mansion.
It was surrounded by large fences, and Nial was oblivious to the fact that he was not even able to sense anything from the inside of the mansion.
This should have astonished him because the fence itself radiated mana currents with the density and purity several times higher to what one could find inside the entrance hall of the Originals' Association.
Distracted by this fact, Nial only noticed that something was off when they drove through the large gate that sported an emblem that had a white Lion with golden eyes.
All around the fences, one could sense smoothly connected runes that spread through the entire perimeter of the fences.
From the outside, one could not sense anything that was inside the fences.
However, blocking others' perceptions was not their major function.
Neither was the main function of the fences to protect someone nor to prevent someone from breaking into the mansion.
Instead, the main function of the fences were to prevent the dense mana inside the mansion from escaping out.
This was also what Nial noticed just a few seconds later when they entered the territory of the mansion.
It caused him to stop moving and he lifted his head, as his mana perception spread to over a radius of two hundred meters.
Subconsciously he had used his mana to activate the [Mana Perception(Poorest)] ability.
Through this, Nial could perceive the existence of numerous flowers, trees, and different types of vegetation that radiated strong mana currents.
However, at the same time, he was genuinely shocked by the other things he was able to perceive.
Being able to sense several dungeon portals in his surrounding, Nial couldn't help but wonder where the hell had Kira brought him.
This feeling got even worse when he realized that the portals were neatly ranked, from low to high in a proper order which should be impossible.
After all, it was impossible to move dungeon portals...or so Nial believed.
Yet, after sensing the dungeon portals to his right and left, ranking from Lowest Rookie, the weakest of the weak ones right at the entrance, followed by the slightly denser dungeon portals only a few meters behind, Nial was confused.
"Don't be too alarmed, we are testing quite a few things for the government. In most of the dungeons we left behind only one beast to figure out how useful it would be to prevent the portals from closing.
As you can feel, the mana density around us should be comparable to that of a High Rookie rank dungeon…Maybe you cant sense this because you've never been inside a dungeon of such a rank.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmHowever, to put it simply, we figured that overlapping lower-ranked dungeons can only give us a low mana density!
If we want a higher mana density in the surrounding, we need a high quantity of mana-dense dungeon portals!"
Nial just nodded his head, while trying to process this information, but his following questions were apparent.
As for the most important question, Nial couldn't help but just ask it as he was unable to hold back anymore.
"I was already aware that you two are anything but ordinary Originals…but the mansion, the surroundings, and the dungeons…that is not something you can simply do inside mankind's shelter, just because you want to…
Just who the hell are you and Librarian Mara?!"
Kira had hoped that she could maintain a straight face while hearing this question, but sensing Nial's curiosity, it was impossible for her to not feel pressured.
She pressed her lips into a thin line and shrugged her shoulders without saying anything.
This made Nial only more curious as he began to ask himself even more questions.
In order to be requested by the government to test out how useful it would be to allow a low-ranked dungeon to stay open, and provide mana to the surrounding area, they had to belong to a high-ranked family.
However, from what Nial had understood beforehand, Mara seemed to be quite ordinary, and not someone who would bother about her family matters.
At least, if she was an ordinary librarian earning pennies from her measly job.
'Well, maybe she just likes the quiet surroundings and peace that would keep her away from her family's business?'
This was just a thought that flashed through Nial's mind, but he was genuinely curious about what exactly Kira and her sister were doing.
Maybe it was also their parents or entire family who had strong business ties with the government, but it seemed weird.
What he sensed seemed so weird that he was unable to tell what was going on, and Kira kept quiet during their entire journey until the shuttle arrived right in front of the mansion.
While he was busy trying to clear his confusion, the large front doors of the mansion opened.
Nial sensed Librarian Mara standing in front of them, wearing clothes that could be worn on every single occasion.
It made her look innocent and charming at the same time from what Nial sensed.
However, that was not something he could focus on as he heard Kira's cheerful voice right next to him.
"Welcome to the mansion of Katu's governor!"
**
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