A man with long black hair emerged from the restroom, wearing a nervous smile as he glanced at his coworker.
"Sorry man, I just had something strange this morning."
In front of him stood another young man in his early twenties, who playfully punched the black-haired man's chest.
"Damn Adam, thanks to you I was thrown off! Now let's get back to work."
The two of them parted ways and entered a stunning room filled with countless tables, illuminated by the ethereal glow of a chandelier dangling from the ceiling.
Both worked as waiters at an high end restaurant for the upper class.
As they began taking orders, Adam was on his way to a table occupied by a family of three when he heard a disturbance from below.
Shrugging it off, he proceeded with the orders and made his way towards the service area to relay the information.
Upon handing the slip to the man at the counter, he overheard a few voices.
"The manager just informed us that the young master of the Nightryn family is here to dine; everyone must ensure there are no mistakes in preparing the young master's order."
"Excuse me!" ,The shouts continued behind the counter.
Adam froze for a moment before his expression became serious, and he turned back toward the dining area.
Back in the private dining room, Noctis and his two companions, Brad and Lira, were waiting for their meal.
Noctis glanced to his left- Brad and Lira stood silently, having already declined his request for them to sit opposite him.
'It's best to ask him now that I have a moment before my food arrives.'
Keeping a neutral expression, Noctis spoke softly.
"Any leads on who was responsible for my father's death and my sister's disappearance?"
Brad caught off guard by his young master's question, felt sweat begin to form, and Lira's smile faltered.
"I already had my suspicions, you don't need to fret Brad. But I must know what you have found after months?," Noctis stated, locking his blue eyes onto Brad.
"I knew this would happen eventually, but I didn't expect it to occur so soon," he sighed deeply, feeling the weight of age press upon him as he averted his gaze.
"So, how is the investigation progressing?"
A serious look crossed Brad's face as he raised a hand, causing the surrounding mana to ripple and a light barrier to take shape around them.
'Hmm, likely a sound-proofing spell but i didn't notice any magic circle?'
"Young master as of now, we have confirmed that someone with considerable influence and power is behind both incidents. It could be a duke from any empire or an associated member of the Nexus Church."
Noctis nodded, listening attentively.
"Based on our latest leads, the only information we have suggests that a small cult of assassins is responsible for carrying out the orders of the person who commissioned them or possibly controlling them."
Noctis's eyes narrowed. "What is the name of this assassin cult?"
"They are known as 'The Thousand Shades'; they are a skilled group with high-ranking members. We haven't been able to track their base or movements for the past few months."
Noctis nodded, maintaining his poker face.
'Damn, it's him—this complicates everything,'
'No, I must remain calm for now, I need to concentrate on my plan—ironically, this might aid in finding leads for the investigation.'
Noctis compiled his ideas and commenced his plan, "Brad, who are our sources of information and how far can we extend our intelligence operations?"
Brad paused briefly to take moment of gather his words before replying, "Our primary sources originate from the church and the other spies we have embedded within various dukes' households. Our reach isn't extensive, which might explain why we haven't pursued any leads."
Noctis nodded while he brought up a hologram from his watch, displaying an image of the auction house.
"We need a fresh approach to collect information across different regions; this auction house is relatively new and not well-established."
Brad examined the image closely and recognized it, "I don't mean to offend, master, but how will this aid in our intelligence gathering?"
Noctis internally smirked, 'Good, he's engaged.'
"By acquiring the entire business, we can operate from the shadows behind the auction house without others knowing it is backed by the Nightryn family."
"The next step is to create a secondary business, under the guise of a standard auction house, allowing it to grow slowly and extend its influence beyond our city."
"Our objective isn't to take the top position in this industry, but merely to gain enough influence for it to be recognized across the continent."
Noctis paused briefly to allow them to speak.
Brad was the first to voice his thoughts, "Master, the expenses involved in supporting an auction house would be considerable, though manageable. However, it would require a significant amount of time for our reach to cover the entire continent."
Noctis nodded, having anticipated this.
"There's a way to accelerate the time with additional funding- I realize this would be a hefty investment for the family, but it is a necessary as it would be profitable in the long run."
Before Brad could respond, Noctis continued,
"We will allow the auction house to acquire other similar businesses in different cities; they don't need to be the best, just failing competitors or bankrupt establishments. We will purchase them, one in each major city or region, creating a chain operation with them."
Noctis stated confidently,
"Remember, our intent isn't solely for a profitable business- this is about creating a network across the continent while remaining hidden."
Brad had a few reservations but chose to support his young master's vision.
"Understood, master. I will begin preparations to acquire the auction house shortly."
Noctis nodded, internally jumping with joy, 'Yes, yes, yes!'
At that moment, the food arrived outside the barrier, prompting Brad to snap his fingers, dispersing the barrier and signaling to the staff bringing in the food.
Two waiters entered, setting down the trays and promptly departing.
——————————————————————————————————————————
As the two waiters walked side by side, the one on the left broke the silence,
"That was the young master of the Nightryn family; he certainly appeared different from what I anticipated," the man with short brown hair remarked, tossing his hands behind his head as he strode ahead.
"What were you expecting?" inquired the one beside him with long black hair.
"I figured he'd be some sort of punk or a typical spoiled rich kid, like those I hear about in the news.
This one resembled a sheltered princess and seemed like a light breeze could whisk him away," the brown-haired man chuckled quietly to his companion. Adam laughed lightly with him as they exited the private area.
After taking a few orders, both of them, feeling exhausted returned to the staff room to take a break.
Just before they stepped inside, Adam lifted his hand, releasing faint glimmers of silver light that flowed into the room, Distorting the camera's perspective.
"Wow, today was just as tiring as usual. I really need to take a short break—"
The man was interrupted when adam snuck up behind his colleague and murmured, "Sorry, man."
He struck his coworker on the neck, causing him to collapse face-first to the ground with a thud and he had fainted.
Adam glanced back one last time, thinking, 'He should be fine here,' before heading back to the upper floor.
'This may be the dumbest choice I'll ever make. But it's necessary. I'm sorry, father I am useless.'
Before his feelings could overwhelm him, Adam slapped his face to snap out of it.
'There are only two guards for him. the female maid should be an easy target—she's still in the early stages of A-rank.'
'The butler will be a pain in the ass, though. I can sense his aura, he's at the peak of A-rank.'
'I need to act quickly, make the kill, and escape using my spatial link.' Adam greeted his fellow coworkers with a smile as he walked by.
He approached the staircase leading to the private area and mentally reviewed his simple plan again. 'God, this is going to be a lot of trouble for me,' he sighed as he made his way towards the room.
Upon entering, he intended to pose as a waiter to gather feedback from the clients but froze when he discovered the room was empty.
'shit, where did they go? Don't tell me they've already left!' Adam quickly extended his hand, opening a portal to the top of the restaurant.
He dashed through it and found himself on the terrace of the building, looking down to spot the boy, who had just exited the restaurant's entrance.
'Great, he's still here,' Adam thought, placing his hand on his face and using mana to alter his appearance once more.
His hair and eyes transformed into a deep blood-red hue.
Taking another glance at his target, he felt his feet surge with silver mana, creating cracks in the ground beneath him. He launched himself off the roof, plunging straight down.——————————————————————————————————————————
A few minutes ago,
Noctis had just begun his meal, reflecting on anything he had overlooked.
'Only the orphanage is left now; I should discuss it with Brad while I'm at it.' He hadn't ordered much food, finishing it in just a few minutes.
The trio exited the room and entered an elevator.
Once on the ground floor, Noctis chatted with the manager for several minutes before stepping outside the building.
"Aunt Ericka will be arriving in a few days, right?" he asked.
"Yes, Master, she had to postpone her visit by a week due to some issues on her end," Brad replied, waiting patiently with his young master.
Lira had gone to retrieve the car and was on her way to the entrance. As Noctis surveyed his surroundings, he suddenly sensed a massive surge of mana from above him.
"Bastard!", Brad had already sensed the mana and quickly conjured two magic circles.
Upon hearing the shout and noticing his butler, his gaze shifted as he spotted a flash of silver light approaching him; in his peripheral vision, he saw Brad directing one of the magic circles towards the silver light and the other aimed at him, a faint brown shield beginning to coalesce around him.
In the next moment, the entire world shifted to monochrome and froze—Noctis bewildered, attempted to move his body, his head, or even his eyes.
He was unable to move- within his line of sight he could see a figure encased in the silver light, while from Brad's magic circle- a massive hand-shaped made of rock and metals emerged to intercept the man.
As everything clicked into place, 'this is must be the thought acceleration, which means', noctis looked at the shield.