"What does your lord want from me?"

I was curious about it.

If Antra was referring to someone as lord, then surely it must have been the god that this cult served.

So what would—

"Hehe."

Antra chuckled at my question.

"What is it that you can possibly offer to my lord?"

Yeah.

There was nothing I could offer to a literal god... but that was what had increased my curiosity behind this sudden interest in me.

"Then... why are you being so nice to me?"

"Nice? Me?"

Instead of replying, Antra questioned me in surprise.

"What part of this exchange felt nice to you?"

This time... Antra looked serious as he asked me a question that didn’t even feel like one.

"Well... I mean, usually people with power try to make others understand their position during any sort of exchange. Like making me bend my knees under your pressure, or showing how little my life means to you, or things like that."

Even I wasn’t sure about what I had just uttered.

"Hm..."

Though Antra processed my words carefully, as if considering the meaning behind each one of them.

"If those are your true thoughts, then I truly wonder the value of the people you might have met to create such an impression."

Huh?

That was how things generally worked.

"As for me being nice... this is my normal way of talking. I couldn’t care less even if you were a Sovereign."

"..."

"In the end, I have the capability to end you, even if... you had indeed been a Sovereign."

Silence.

This wasn’t Antra trying to flex...

It was just a fact that he had stated.

If he was talking about killing a Sovereign with such ease, then surely he must have been a lot stronger than just having a few tiers in the Sovereign rank.

Or—

Was it a bluff?

No.

It didn’t feel like it.

"True power doesn’t need validation, it just needs restraint." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Antra uttered the words lost in thoughts of his own.

Restraint?

Surely he wasn’t expecting me to read between the lines.

I had no way of knowing what he wanted to say by mentioning restraint.

"If your lord doesn’t need me, then why the theatrics?"

Seeing there was no use in being passive, I had decided to be straightforward in my approach.

"Hm... These aren’t theatrics, dear. I just wanted to talk with you."

Huh?

Like I would believe such an answer.

"Are you doubting my intentions?"

Antra asked, seeing my guarded expression.

"I am."

"Why?"

"You could have done all this in a far simpler way, without making me feel like I had been cornered with no way of saving myself."

That was what I had felt at the start.

Antra knowing me being the head of D.X., Arthur serving me... and all that suspense that he had created.

"That... Don’t mistake our intentions. We have no interest in harming you... It’s just that—"

Antra suddenly paused while closing his eyes.

Though I found his actions a little weird... considering all that had happened today, it might have been the most normal thing.

The silence extended between us, as Antra still had his eyes closed.

I didn’t interrupt him, as there was no need for it.

My life was more important than the time that was spent here.

I wasn’t an egoist to do something reckless like offending an existence that could easily bypass Arthur and bring me here.

"We might have to end our chat here. Something important came up."

"What—"

Before I could utter the words, Antra snapped his fingers as I was transported back to the same room where Arthur and the rest were waiting for me.

Seeing me arrive out of nowhere, Arthur quickly appeared by my side, as I felt the area around me being cut off from the space in the room.

It was as if I was now in a completely different space, while being in the room at the same time.

Looking at Arthur’s expression, it was easy to deduce that the change had something to do with him.

Was Arthur being cautious after his failure to protect me?

Sigh.

It wasn’t like I could blame him.

The situation had truly been out of our control.

"You can proceed with whatever operation that you had planned, and we are more than willing to take the blame for it. The deal would be truly beneficial for the both of us. As for the potions... you don’t have to provide those, our chat had been fruitful enough, though I regret not being able to finish it. Let’s talk some other time, and yes—"

Antra paused as he swept his gaze across the four of us, before staring into my eyes.

"Be at ease."

Snap!

All of us had been transported to the resting area of the inn, which felt a lot more deserted than before.

"How?"

Hm?

Hearing Arthur’s voice, I turned my head to look at him, only to find a look of distress spread across Arthur’s face.

"This shouldn’t be possible. I... How can it be?"

Arthur kept mumbling some words on his own, as Julien gently placed his hand over Arthur’s shoulder.

"Arthur?"

"He controlled my space."

Raising his head, Arthur spoke, his eyes staring into mine.

"Does that mean—"

"Nothing you have to worry about?"

Huh?

Within a second, Arthur had returned to his normal state, as if he had already devised the solution to whatever he had just said.

Well... fair enough.

No. 5, who had been silent for the entire time, now had his eyes fixed in my direction.

For him, everything must have been the greatest adventure in his life.

Seeing an Immortal like Arthur being downplayed—

"Will he cause any problems for us?"

Julien, seeing that Arthur had settled down, asked the question that must have been bothering him the most.

Haa...

Honestly, it was something that I couldn’t be sure about.

Though Antra had said to be at ease...

"He won’t."

Maybe...