The Girl Who Looted Tomorrow

This had actually been Jerome’s original goal the day before.

But out of caution, he had not come last night. Instead, he had rested at the inn for a day and delayed everything until now.

While Jerome worked on the array, Euphemia took out her notebook and pen and began copying it on the spot.

Freya had no intention of disturbing her.

She blinked her lovely green eyes, occasionally glancing at Jerome, then occasionally at Effie’s profile.

Time slowly passed.

After roughly two hours, Freya realized that Euphemia had somehow caught up with Jerome’s progress.

To make a comparison, if the array had originally been around thirty percent complete, then during these two hours, Jerome had brought it to forty percent.

In that same amount of time, Euphemia had gone straight from zero percent to forty percent.

Now that their progress had synced, Euphemia had to wait for Jerome to draw a little more before she could copy a little more.

Actual work was certainly harder than simply taking notes, but even Freya could tell that Jerome’s drawing process was stiff and clumsy.

He was clearly a complete beginner.

A while later, just as Euphemia was grumbling while waiting to continue copying his homework, she noticed that Jerome had suddenly stopped moving.

He packed up his things and began returning the way he came.

He was obviously preparing to leave.

Euphemia was completely baffled.

“Wait. This array is at most thirty or forty percent complete, and there’s still plenty of time left.”

“Why is he leaving?”

Euphemia could not figure it out.

Freya, who knew nothing about occult arrays, naturally understood even less.

She said, “Since the disaster will happen when the array is completed, maybe the fact that he’s slow at drawing it is a good thing in a way?”

Euphemia thought about it.

“Hmm. You do have a point.”

As they spoke, the two of them moved aside to give Jerome room.

Watching him leave the back hill, Freya asked, “Do we keep following him?”

If the back hill behind the school was the core of Jerome’s plan to set the city ablaze, then he should still have another base somewhere.

In other words, his actual residence.

After all, he could not stay at inns every day.

Euphemia nodded.

“Let’s go.”

They began tailing him again.

Soon, the group arrived two blocks away, at a place that was not particularly far.

This was a residential district in the city center, where most of the city’s middle class lived.

As for the wealthier and more powerful nobles, how could they possibly live in the same area as everyone else?

Naturally, they had their own estates and villas.

Right in front of Freya and Euphemia, Jerome walked into one of the houses.

Soon, the previously dark house lit up.

Through the window, they could faintly see a figure moving back and forth inside.

This was most likely Jerome’s real residence.

However, Freya noticed that Euphemia suddenly swallowed and looked deeply shaken.

“What’s wrong?” Freya asked.

After a pause, Euphemia said, “Why does this man live next door to me?”

When Euphemia first came to live in this city, she had bought a house outright.

By pure coincidence, the house she bought was right beside Jerome’s residence.

The two of them were neighbors.

Naturally, after learning that her neighbor was actually a powerful mastermind, Euphemia felt a chill of fear.

Still, she quickly steadied herself.

“In any case, we’ve gathered almost enough information. We can leave now.”

This tailing mission had directly confirmed Jerome’s true identity.

The letter from Euphemia’s grandfather could prove it.

They had also learned the source of the disaster, which was the array on the back hill behind the school.

The copy Euphemia had made could serve as evidence.

Those two points alone were enough to request support from the Mobile Unit.

On top of that, they now knew where Jerome lived.

When the time came, they could simply arrange an ambush here and wait for him to walk into it.

Wouldn’t that be perfect?

Freya nodded.

“Let’s go.”

But just as the two of them turned to retreat, they had only walked about two hundred yards when they reached a proper intersection ahead.

At the corner, a man with the same red hair suddenly appeared.

He walked straight toward them.

Or more precisely, he was walking toward Jerome’s residence.

The instant they saw him, Freya and Euphemia both froze.

Then they became alert at once.

This man felt very similar to Jerome.

He had red hair and walked with the same rigid, disciplined rhythm.

His movements carried a strong military style.

But there could not possibly be two General Jeromes, could there?

Freya and Euphemia slowed their steps.

However, they were walking toward each other, so the distance between the two sides closed quickly.

Soon, they passed by each other.

Before Freya and Euphemia could even breathe a sigh of relief, a flash of steel suddenly cut through the air.

The red-haired man had abruptly drawn a curved blade from his waist and slashed toward them.

Rip.

The Invisibility Cloak that had protected them for so long was sliced open.

It was only a small cut, but Freya had been standing slightly closer to the man.

Her right arm was also cut, drawing a line of blood.

“We’ve been discovered? How?”

Euphemia’s eyes widened in shock.

At the same time, Freya clearly saw the man’s face.

He also looked surprised.

It seemed he had not expected there to actually be someone beside him.

After a brief moment of shock on both sides, Freya moved quickly.

Dense green vines sprouted from the ground and rushed toward the red-haired man’s feet.

She had used this move to deal with countless Demon Path practitioners.

It had worked every time.

But the man before her was completely different.

His reaction was extremely fast.

No, more accurately, it was as though he had predicted the attack in advance.

The moment the vines had only just begun to sprout, he jumped backward and pulled away.

While jumping back, the red-haired man held the blade in one hand.

With the other, he drew a handgun from his waist, aimed toward the two girls, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Bang!

As sparks burst from the muzzle, a brass-colored bullet shot toward them.

Everything happened in an instant.

Freya saw it clearly, but she was currently using Plant Catalysis and had no time to react in any other way.

As for Euphemia, she was still stunned from the sudden attack.

But when the bullet was about three feet away from them, an earring on Euphemia’s right ear suddenly gave off a soft white light.

Immediately afterward, a thin membrane of light appeared in front of her.

With a soft ding, it blocked the bullet.

Only faint ripples spread across the white membrane.

It did not seem to be affected much at all.

Only then did Euphemia belatedly recover.

She hurriedly searched through her shoulder bag while saying, “We need to run. We can’t fight him here.”

She still did not know how this man had discovered them.

But that no longer mattered.

The important thing was that the Rank Five General Jerome was nearby.

If a fight broke out here, General Jerome would not take long to come support him.

Once that happened, the two of them would definitely die here.

“Buy me some time,” Euphemia said.

“I’ll be ready soon.”