Chapter 040

"And the stupid guy actually shot himself in the head! What a dumb moron!" came a boisterous voice, which was met with yelling and cheers.

Alvin listened leisurely sitting on a comfortable chair. Suddenly, he started hearing a whole bunch of conversations all at once. Alvin began listing to the multiple conversations, distinguish them as best he could, until he started feeling dizzy. After this, he promptly plucked an ear ornament from his ear, and put it in a velvet box and shut it. He then closed his eyes, and took deep breaths to calm down.

The ear ornament was the mystical item, Ear of the Crazed, the one he exchanged from Soest using all of his contributions. While the mystical item was very restrictive, it had virtually unlimited applications.

The mystical item had the power to allow any conversation within a hundred meters to be heard as if the conversation was happening right next to the user. And it was virtually undetectable, even by most demigods.

As soon as Alvin equipped it, he could hear the conversations in a neighbouring tavern loud and clear, even though he was lying in one of his safehouses close to 70 meters away.

The negative effects we're quite serious, but they took a while to kick in. While the user could decide which conversation to hear when he equips the item, after a minute, some random conversations from nearby would also start being transmitted simultaneously.

This could cause headaches, and it would be very difficult to distinguish individual sounds and conversations. But for a Hunter who could clearly distinguish the sounds of prey in the wild, it was not particularly difficult.

After two minutes of such multiple conversations, the mystical item would cause severe headaches, and let the user listen to some frightening existences if they were in the vicinity, though most of the time due to the lack of usch an existences the headaches would be all.

If you were lucky enough to not hear a frightening existence, or lose control from the headaches, after four minutes, the mystical item would let you listen directly to the preaching of the True Creator and his angels, at which point you were screwed.

According to the records he saw from the Chruch, the maximum usage time recorded for this mystical item was 10 minutes, and no one could fight off the corruption after that.

The method of sealing it was relatively simple, you just needed to put it in a soundproof velvet box and shut it in. 20 minutes in a soundless environment would drain the ear of its powers, and all the stages of use could be started again.

Due to the ease of sealing it and its ability to spy without being detected by most demigods, it was a rather valuable mystical item, and he used all his contribution to exchange for it.

While he still believed that the sword was more valuable than this ear ornament, informants did not have any rights to bargain.

It had been 5 days since he had changed for it, and he was still experimenting with the item, and discovering the best ways to use it.

Alvin digestion of the Hunter potion was almost complete. He had been acting continuously over the last few days, and he felt that he was one last step away from digesting the potion. He felt he needed to complete one last hunt and comprehend some things, and he would instantly digest it.

Alvin then hopped out of the safe house, and went back to the Half Inch Bar.

He had not had Evan Rosier come in the past few days. He asked his men not to collect information from that side, as he was unsure if there was someone from the Aurora order who was keeping watch, and would snap at his informants.

As Alvin walked onto the bar, he saw two burly guys leaving. They had their shoulders hunched and faces covered, but they still stood out, as he could identify several features unique to highlanders from them. Alvin looked at their backs and frowned as they left.

The reason he noticed them wasn't that they were highlanders. There were plenty of highlanders settled in Backlund. The reason he took notice of them was that he had seen them in the Half Inch bar in the morning, and according to the conversations he heard, they were two highlanders present in several bars across Backlund today. While he couldn't be sure that they were the same people, it did feel like they were patrolling all the bars, searching for someone or something.

Alvin quickly went up to Frank and asked, "Who were those two?"

"Welsing and Radopest. They are members of the Zmanger Gang, which is mostly made up of highlanders like them" said Frank.

"How fast can you get me information on them?" asked Alvin.

"It's here boss" said Frank, handling him two folders. "I had their information collected just in case when they came over for the second time in the afternoon. I heard they visited several other bars a number of times" said Frank.

"Good job. Try asking around for some more information about what they are doing. I am guessing several other parties would also be curious and working on it. You can take some capital and try to find out their mission collectively" said Alvin.

"Yes boss" replied Frank.

Alvin then went onto a private room, pulled out the Null Mask from his pocket and wore it, along with the outfit he used as Mr Hunt. He then used the Coin of Wonders to make a few divinations, and finding nothing concerning, he vaulted out of the window and ran after the two men.

It was quite easy to find them, as they did stick out quite a bit. Alvin started following them from a distance.

Their measured gait and steady footsteps made Alvin believe that they were Hunters, but their complete lack of attention to the surroundings and people, and the lack of awareness to his tailing them convinced him that they were not good ones.