Chapter 33: Chapter 20: No Help Means No Help

"You still want to go to the book signing?"

Elvire thought the man must be insane. ’He killed a team of their people and dozens of Smell Crows. It’s bad enough that he isn’t hiding, but he wants to deliberately show his face?’

"He won’t guess I’ll go," Sean said.

Or rather, Quill wouldn’t guess he’d dare to go.

"Get this straight, this isn’t a matter of whether he can guess or not." Elvire warned Sean in a serious tone, "Old Segal City is right next to Holkaydo, less than a hundred kilometers away. The moment you show your face, they can have you and your book signing surrounded within two hours."

"I know you have your own trump cards, but Quill is no fool."

If she could guess that Sean was the one who wiped out the Hunter team in the Black Fruit Rainforest, then Quill could certainly guess it too.

Going to the book signing was the same as going to the Black Fruit Rainforest—both were walking straight into a trap. Sean might be trying to pull the same trick twice, but Quill had already fallen for it once. This time, he would definitely bring more people.

Twenty people couldn’t handle you, but what about fifty? Or a hundred?

The Florist Family is the single most powerful force in Siracle State. They have more money than they know what to do with, so they have no shortage of people either.

"A hundred, huh..." Sean mused, then asked the young woman, "Could you take them on?"

"I could, but you couldn’t... Wait a minute." Elvire suddenly realized. "Are you trying to use me?"

’He just invited her to his book signing. Was he planning to have her help him deal with Quill?’

Sean put on an innocent look. "I wasn’t thinking that at all."

Elvire said with a meaningful tone, "You’d better not have been."

After all, she and Sean weren’t that close. She couldn’t clean up his messes every time.

Helping him was risky.

Many Wizards who acted like sworn brothers or the closest of sisters in the Void Technique Space wouldn’t necessarily help when real trouble came. The slightest misstep could get you dragged in, and no one would so casually risk their own life.

"Is that so?" Sean tilted his head. "Then why did you save me back then?"

"Stop trying to act cute with me." Elvire snorted lightly. "Can’t I have just been in a good mood that day?"

"Sure, sure." Sean chuckled. "So does that mean you’re in a bad mood today?"

’Actually, it’s not bad...’ Though Elvire told Sean to stop acting cute, her mood had actually improved a bit. Still, she didn’t agree. She didn’t hide it from Sean, saying directly, "I have something on the 1st of next month. I don’t have time to go to your book signing."

Sean, of course, knew she had something to do. After all, he had overheard the latter half of the Dawn Conference. Still, he feigned curiosity and asked, "What is it?"

Elise abruptly coughed as if she’d been suddenly taken ill. "COUGH! COUGH!"

Sean: "..."

Elvire: "..."

’That cough was completely unnecessary.’

’She knew what she could and couldn’t say.’

Elvire shot Elise a glare, then said to Sean, "Don’t ask questions you shouldn’t ask."

Sean: "Oh."

Then he added, "Is it related to Florist Hospital?"

Elvire: "?"

Elise: "?"

The moment Sean’s words fell, the two women’s gazes turned sharp. One was the cute, youthful type and the other the mature, elegant type, but right now, the expressions on their faces were surprisingly identical. Both had transformed into the black-widow type, fiercer than the wolves they had encountered in the Black Fruit Rainforest these past few days. It was enough to give Sean a small fright.

"What are you two doing?"

"What do you think?"

"Did I guess right?"

"I suggest you come clean."

Elvire narrowed her eyes, her beautiful doe-like eyes giving off a faint killing intent. "I’d rather not get rough with you, Sean."

’Get rough?’

Sean thought to himself, ’This Void Technique Space is my home turf. We’ll see who gets rough with whom.’ Out loud, however, he explained with a wronged tone, "You yourself said that saving me from the hospital last time was just something you did on the side. That must mean you were there on business, right? And you were disguised as the Vice Director, probably to investigate something? Wasn’t that easy enough to guess?"

’That actually seems to make sense?’

Elvire stared at Sean for a moment, as if trying to see if he was lying, and her expression gradually softened.

Elise, however, said with a smirk, "Mr. Sean, sometimes, it’s not a good thing for a man to be too smart."

"Konina has said the same thing." Sean said without batting an eye. "I’ll just take that as a compliment from both of you."

The name sounded unfamiliar to Elise. "Konina?"

Sean explained, "A female neighbor."

"Are you two close?"

"We’re alright."

Sean returned to the previous topic. "Anyway, if I guessed right, this is good news for you."

Just as the young woman had said, Quill had suffered a loss this time and would definitely be planning something big for his revenge.

His book signing was on the 1st, and Elvire’s group was making their move on the hospital on the 1st as well. If Quill, not knowing their plans, decided to come kill him, he would most likely pull manpower from the hospital. He might even get people from the police department. That would make their plan to attack the hospital much more likely to succeed. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"The probability of you getting killed will also be much higher," Elvire said.

Sean smiled calmly. "Is it not possible that I have more than one trump card?"

Elvire hadn’t expected that she and Elise were part of the reason for the man’s risky plan. She knew it couldn’t be the main factor behind Sean’s decision, but how long had they known each other? The fact that Sean had even factored this in was surprising enough for her.

She looked at Sean and reminded him again, "I really won’t help you this time."

’I really can’t go to the book signing.’

"It’s fine. I’ll save you a copy, no charge." Sean then asked Elise, "Do you want one?"

"I’d like that," Elise said, half-joking. "But I hope you’ll be the one to give it to me in person, and that we don’t receive it at your funeral."

Sean smiled and said, "Don’t worry, I’ll be bothering you two often in the future."

"You two?" Elise gave Elvire a playful, meaningful glance. "You mean you’ll be bothering *her*, right?"

Sean neither confirmed nor denied it, simply giving the two women a cheerful wave. "I’m off. See you another day."

With that, he logged off right where he stood, not staying a second longer.

Elise was slightly taken aback, not expecting Sean to leave so abruptly. Then, she couldn’t help but chuckle. "That guy... he’s actually quite interesting."

She turned to the young woman beside her and asked, "So, what’s our move?"

"We’re not helping." Elvire didn’t know where Sean got his confidence, but this time, when she said she wouldn’t help, she meant it.

"I meant our operation," Elise said. "Should we reschedule?"

The Vice Director of Florist Hospital would be away for three to five days. Their window to attack was relatively flexible; it didn’t have to be on the 1st.

Elvire was silent for a moment, then shook her head. "No need. We’ll stick to the 1st."

"It seems you have a lot of faith in him," Elise said.

"Didn’t he want to help us by luring the tiger away from the mountain? If he loves showing off so much..." Elvire looked at the spot where Sean had disappeared, crossing her arms and lifting her chin slightly. "Then let’s just see what he’s really made of."

’If he wants to be friends with me, being handsome isn’t enough.’

Elise said, amused, "He’s a Tier One Novice Wizard. No matter how capable he is, how much can he really do?"

"He can’t beat Quill."

"I know."

Elvire said, "So, have someone keep an eye on him. Don’t let him actually die."

Elise: "?"

’Didn’t you say we weren’t helping?’

...