Chapter 29: Borrowing Essence
The captain walked ahead, with Kogan following behind him, his expression grim.
'On his first day here, he will reach the first rank.'
'I couldn't tell him that his treatment cost 200 essence. That means he refined at least two thousand first-rank essence.'
The captain felt deeply unsettled. Granting ten thousand essence to a stranger in a single day was almost an insult to his decades of service.
More importantly, he wanted to conceal Kogan's strength as much as possible. It wasn't Kogan's rapid advancement to the first rank that bothered him—it was the fact that the ruler had already found out about it.
Previously, he had a rather clever plan. If he wanted to carry out something dangerous and forbidden, all he had to do was send Kogan—the weak one—to do it.
That way, when an investigation took place, he would be completely out of suspicion since he would be in a public place, visible to everyone.
And Kogan, the one who actually did it, would also be beyond suspicion, simply because he was seen as weak and deficient.
And more importantly, the burden of the curse and sin would be divided, making it far less severe.
But now, Kogan has nearly reached his level.
His young partner, who could have served as a cover for Kogan's strength, had been kidnapped. And the duo assigned to watch over Kogan had been separated forever.