The Discarded Son's Skill Market

Inside the room, however, things didn’t go quite as smoothly. They were both nervous, in a way.

Zaid tried to talk to Alice a couple of times, but she remained completely silent, as if she had lost her voice.

She was really nervous.

It made sense. Now it was her turn to share a room and a bed with a man, since the room only had one bed.

He didn’t want to make her too uncomfortable. They got along well; there was no need to rush things. So he walked around the room. "I’ll rent another room. I’ve got some money now, so we can’t be picky about our comfort, right?" he said with a smile.

Alice blinked a couple of times, and when she saw him about to leave the room, she jumped to her feet, still confused. "Y-you don’t have to!" she exclaimed.

Zaid turned slightly. "Isn’t it? That way you can sleep peacefully. Sharing a room with a man must be hard for you."

"I-i-it wouldn’t bother me if it were you." Although she stuttered, she finished her sentence.

Zaid was taken aback by her words, however. He made the mistake of staying silent and staring at her, which only increased Alice’s tension and nervousness.

She almost trembled, but she strode forward quickly and took the keys from the door, as well as the luggage from his hands. "I-I’m going to change! Y-y-you can go out. I-I’ll call you," she said before proceeding to ignore him.

Zaid chuckled softly to himself. ’Valia, stay close to Alice and look after her.’

’Where are you going, master?’

’To get some fresh air.’

Valia watched Zaid leave and furrowed her feline brow. For some reason, she felt like she was forgetting something... Wasn’t there something she was supposed to tell him? She thought she’d been having some strange feelings lately...

In the end, she shrugged her feline shoulders. She could tell him anytime, anyway.

After leaving Valia in the room, Zaid stepped out and walked down the hallway toward the balcony. He had a lot on his mind, but he didn’t let his thoughts carry him off too far.

On the way, he ran into someone.

"Martin."

"Gio, I was just coming to get you." Martin greeted him with a wave.

"What for? Do you want to go out and look around?"

"Hehe, don’t you find it intriguing that Kevin suddenly got nervous earlier, to the point of asking Mr. Shoaff that?"

"Kevin?" Zaid frowned and recalled the Platinum-Rank man who had nervously stepped forward to ask when they would return to the capital. "Actually, I don’t even know who he is."

"Oh, so that’s how it is." Martin walked over to him and put his arm around his shoulder before whispering in his ear, "Kevin has a talent that allows him to sense irregularities in the atmosphere—to the point where he can tell with astonishing precision when someone is doing something wrong and trying to hide it. It’s as if he can tell when someone is lying or not!"

"That amazing?"

’Being able to tell if someone is lying or not... that must be an amazing superpower.’

"Aren’t you curious to know what he saw or felt to make him feel that way? Someone like him doesn’t act without warning. In fact, I’m sure someone else has already noticed it, so we’re in for a little guys’ night out." Martin laughed cheerfully and started walking, dragging Zaid along with him toward the top floor of the hotel.

Knock, knock, knock.

He knocked on a door that took about 10 seconds to open.

"Kevin, I’ve come to see you." Martin laughed when he saw him.

Kevin frowned. "Mr. Martin and... Gio the mercenary?"

"I hope you don’t mind my intruding." Martin didn’t even ask for permission to enter. He pushed the door open and dragged Zaid into the room before closing it.

Once inside, just as he’d expected, he found Finn staring at him.

"Why did you bring someone so weak?" Finn complained.

"What’s the big deal? The ones who are weak today might be your boss tomorrow." Martin laughed and sat Zaid down next to him. "I’m not surprised to find you here—you have a good nose for these things. But you got here so fast that it seems I missed the best part, so I’ll ask them to start over."

Finn wrinkled his nose. "What do you mean?"

"Don’t try to play dumb with me, Finn." Martin looked at Kevin. "I’m talking about your talent."

Kevin tensed, but Finn sighed.

"You’re just as good as I remember."

"If I weren’t, I wouldn’t have joined a guild."

"Although that’s a bit of a shame for someone of your ilk."

"Calaña? You’re insulting me. We Lawrences are good people. We love our people just as a king loves his."

"There are kings who would kill some of their people to save others. I think you’re one of them."

Martin shrugged. "We look out for the greater good, Finn."

Zaid watched the exchange with amusement in his eyes. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen them argue, but this brief, heated exchange seemed to have a striking underlying significance.

Martin’s kindness could have an impact on those who receive it.

"Interesting." Rather than seeing it as a bad thing, Zaid felt that it added an interesting dimension to someone like Martin.

In a way, they were somewhat "similar" in that they both came from powerful families. Although they were very different in personality.

Kevin decided to step in to keep these two from getting into a fight. "It’s just a hunch, Martin. A strange feeling I had."

"Your hunches always come true, so I’ll have to ask you to please go on." Martin settled into his seat as if he were about to watch a movie and waited.

Zaid paid close attention to these words.

"When we walked in, the guards were looking a little uneasy at the entrance. I’ve been here before. Even though I’m not exactly welcome because of my beliefs, I still have friends here, and I know they’re very devout. But it’s unusual to see them make that sign on their chest so many times in less than five minutes."

"Oh." Martin frowned.

"That’s only part of it. The other part is the fact that all the mid-ranking members have come to the Temple for the Seventh Night this time. They’re all bringing strangers—don’t you find that strange? Seventh Night believers bringing strangers right during the days of their biggest celebration..."

"But they’ve said that all of us outsiders will be expelled or sent back to our respective cities right before it happens, haven’t they?" Martin asked.

"But apparently, things can change," Kevin replied, bringing up the argument Lord Shoaff had made just an hour ago.

Finally, Martin fell silent.

No one has ever witnessed exactly what the Seventh Night is... Well, there are celebrations every night, starting on Sunday night—the first night—and ending on Saturday night, the seventh night of the celebrations.

However, what happens during that time, and why is there so much secrecy?

No one knows. No one has ever heard what it is, and even the lowest-level believers have no idea, because everyone who experiences the Seventh Night becomes a mid- or high-level member of the church.

Mysteriously, all these mid- and high-level members wield significant power in the kingdom, in one way or another.

So, what the heck is the seventh night?

Some kind of occult ritual? A business arrangement that divides the church’s power? That would make sense. This church’s power is no small matter.

It ranks among the most powerful organizations of its kind in the kingdom.

"Besides..." Kevin seemed as if he hadn’t finished speaking. "Shoaff’s energy changed drastically the moment he walked in here."

"What do you mean, he changed?"

"I don’t know how to explain it. He became more... intense?"

"Intense?"

"Yeah, you know. A little darker... No, more ferocious!"

...

After an intense conversation among the three of them—during which Zaid remained silent, saying nothing but listening intently—Martin, Finn, and Zaid said goodbye to Kevin.

"What do you think, Zaid? You’ve got good judgment, right?" Martin asked as the three of them left the hotel.

"Well..." Zaid looked around.

The locals were walking cheerfully amid the festivities. They were too calm and unusually... expressionless.

"I’m not as good at picking up on things as Kevin is. But there’s definitely something strange about this city. It could just be inherent in their beliefs. But I’ve never been here before, and I know very few people who follow this religion."

’The fact that the ones I’ve met, I met before I awakened, doesn’t help much either.’ Zaid sighed inwardly.

Martin sighed. "I always like these mystery things, but now it’s gotten boring. What the heck is ’beastly energy’? Tsk, that jerk’s probably just nervous."

"Where are you guys going, by the way?" Finn asked, frowning as he saw they were approaching an intersection with turn signals outside the hotel.

"I’m going that way," Martin said, pointing to his left at the road leading into this town. "I have a message to deliver."

Finn frowned. "I’ll go that way, too—I have a message to deliver as well." He pointed ahead, toward the road leading to the second town.

"You too? And to the second town, no less... what a hassle," Martin exclaimed, looking at Zaid. He thought about telling him to go back to the hotel, but then he saw Zaid raise his hand to the right.

"I think that’s the way I’m going."

"Are you going to the third town?" they both exclaimed in surprise.

"Well..." Zaid smiled. "Somehow, I have a message to deliver, too."

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