169 The Neutral City. (2/2)

However, Mark did not ask any questions about the price and just tossed a Gold Coin at the counter before they each picked up the respective keys for their rooms.

The receptionist and the manager gave them a slight bow and went back to their business.

It seemed that such high prices were common in the Neutral City from Mark's casual gesture.

Ozul arrived at his room on the second floor. When he opened the door, the spacious room came into his view.

Unlike the hotel rooms before where dust was stuck on almost everything except for the bed, the room looked to be cleaned just recently. The floor was made out of tiles, so the lights were particularly shining all over the room.

There was only a single bed placed in the middle with a table placed on the room's left side. There was a window that showed the outside scenery. People were busy walking down the streets.

All in all, this room was worth its price. However, all of that fancy setting was exactly the thing that he did not want in his room.

He only wanted a clean room and had a quiet atmosphere that would let him get some good sleep.

He turned off the shining lights and put curtains over the window. Fortunately, the room did not allow any light to enter when the person inside did not want it to. The curtains were surprisingly enough to block any flashes as well.

Ozul quickly put everything in the back of his mind and went to sleep.

In another room, Clara was a little downcast. She wanted to reunite with her family as soon as possible and tell them all about Venessa and Hanry as soon as possible. There were also her questions about everything that Ozul had said to her, but it seemed that she would have to wait another day.

On the other hand, Mark and Cyril sat in a room together again. They did not get out of their disguises just because they were in a room either.

Cyril took a big gulp from his never-ending jar of wine before saying, ”Why did you lie? You know, these people are unpredictable. What if he gets angry and decides to take it out on us?!”

”Hm? What are you talking about?” Mark asked, a little absentminded.

”I am talking about earlier today. You told him that the headquarters are in the City!” Cyril said with a little irritation.

”Oh! You are talking about that. I did not have any choice... Even you can see that the girl is not together with him, so I could not tell the location in front of her. Showing him the way to our base is already going to give us quite a bit of headache. Imagine it leaking to the Church of Light as well,” Mark explained with a sigh.

”... The boss would kill us,” Cyril said as Mark nervously nodded. Both of them shivered a little while thinking of what their punishment would be when they went back.

*Sigh.*

”Why is every Rank-9 Mage so difficult to deal with!?” Cyril spat with annoyance. It was always nerve-wracking to talk with such a strong individual. It felt like you were walking on a tightrope with thousands of sharp blades placed on the ground below you.

One wrong step and you might end up losing your life.

”Don't worry, though. That person definitely realized that I was lying and did not make things difficult for me on the spot,” Mark reassured him.

”Oh? How can you be so sure? We are talking about a Rank-9 individual, remember? How can someone like that be a little understanding?!” Cyril sarcastically remarked.

”... I don't know. Although I can never understand anything from his vacant eyes staring at me, I felt like it had wavered just a slight bit when I said that the headquarters were in the City. It just gave me the feeling as if... he knew that I was lying?” Mark said, unsure of his own guess.

”Hmm... Now that I think about it, this person is really strange. Unlike the other Rank-9 Mages, I have yet to see him put on some airs. Not to mention, just how much rest does he want!?” Cyril commented.

No matter how much he thought about it, it did not sit well with him that a Rank-9 individual wanted to rest so much. In case of him, he had to put extra efforts to sleep after such a short interval of time instead!

There were many odd things about Ozul, which he wanted to ask but could not do so, fearing that it might be his last day to ask such a personal question.

There was also the question about why they could not sense any Mana fluctuations from him even when he used the Magical Spells. However, they assumed that it was just something they would understand only when they reached the Rank-9 threshold.