41 Chapter 041

Alvin tailed the two men discreetly. It was quite easy, considering they stuck out like a sore thumb and had terrible awareness. They walked around and went into different bars, taverns and other places where shady people gather. Once inside, one of the persons would retrieve something from his pocket and look at it. He would then shake his head, after which he would picket the item, and they both would get up and move on.

Soon, a small group of information we're tailing them, most of them doing so awkwardly. The man jumping from rooftop to rooftop could definitely be seen from a mile away, and even poor Hunters like those two should have been able to spot him. But they just went ahead with the same routine.

Alvin immediately suspected that they could be preparing a trap or ambush, so he hung all the way back. There was no way he could lose sight of the rooftop jumper in any case.

From the distance, he saw the two men entering two more bars, after which they headed towards the East Borough, where he knew the safehouses and headquarters of the Zmanger Gang were located. He saw some of the people tailing him fall back, as they too realised the possibility of an ambush, while others went on to push their luck.

Alvin quickly ducked into an alleyway, where he quickly removed the leather clothing and the thanks mask, and donned more worn out clothes. He then quickly went ahead to a place he knew that the Zmanger Gang would use for meetings, and sat in a coffee shop in the vicinity. He ordered a cup of coffee and a few cigarettes, as he waited for the two people from the Zmanger Gang to come by. Sure enough, they passed by a few minutes later, with only a fraction of the tails still behind them.

He watched them out of the corner of his eye, with particular attention to the guy on the rooftop, who was still jumping behind the two guys.

The two men then walked onto another coffee shop nearby, and sat down.

They sat there for a few minutes, during which the tails too froze in place. As Alvin was watching them, he noticed one of the tails getting out of the poor hiding spot he was at and walked off. Then, another did the same, in the same direction of as the previous guy. When the tail walked off in the same direction, Alvin noticed his stiff posture and realised that something was wrong. Suddenly, the guy on the rooftop gave a small yell, and jumped off the roof and bounded off.

Then, under Alvin's surprised gaze, the reaming few tails, also started randomly fleeing, with some people who were lazing around chasing after them.

Alvin realised that it wasn't that the two did not realize that there were being tailed, but they were confident that the tails could be taken care of. The overconfident roof jumper was probably a reasonable strong Beyonder, seeing he could counter whatever means was used to control the first few people.

Alvin also figured he wasn't detected yet, as he had arrived on the street earlier than the two gangsters and blended in perfectly in the coffee shop cum cigarette stall.

He kept his eye on the two men, who after a while got up and walked into a nearby building. Alvin estimate the distance to the building to be less than 30 meters from where he was standing, and hence he pulled out the Ear of the Crazed and secretly wore it.

He activated it after a while, just in time to catch the conversation inside.

"Have you two locked on to his identity yet?" came a voice.

"No sir" came the reply.

"It is to be expected. He is extremely cautious by nature as I heard, with sharp instincts. He might have fled the first time you encountered him. So where was the orb triggered?" asked the voice.

"No for, I meant the orb was never triggered!" came the reply.

"What? Did you go to all the places I suggested?" asked the shocked voice.

"Yes sir. According to your instructions, we visited all bars, taverns, gathering spots, and all the residential buildings where people could lay low, including the docks and outskirts of town. We went everywhere a few times, except the 3 main church buildings and the Empress Borough The orb did not glow once" came a third voice.

"That is impossible! All the divination confirms that the person in possession of the treasure of the Hunter Pathway is still in Backlund! And the orb will definitely trigger if it was within a 100 meters of him! If you who are of the same Pathway randomly go to places there is a good chance you will encounter him more than once! Did he unexpectedly gain the refuge of some nobles or captured by the churches?" said the voice with disbelief.

"Sir, would you like us to try again? Or should we try to go into the churches or the Empress Borough?" asked the second voice.

"Well, try again in 2 days. I will reconfirm the divination results. But don't go into the Empress Borough or the churches. If there are no results in your excursion two days later, I will arrange for someone less conspicuous to do it" said the man.

By now, over one minute was up, and there were other voices heard by Alvin, but he could make out the conversion still over the din.

The man gave a few more instructions, and then seemingly left. The two remaining men discussed the details of their assignment, and then talked about going to drink.

In the coffee shop, Alvin plucked off the ear ornament and placed it into the soundproof box he carried with him.

Realising that they were probably discussing about him, he grew worried.

"I was definitely within 100 meters of them, multiple times, why did that orb not trigger? Was there a problem with the orb? Or is it the function of the Null Mask or Coin of Wonders?