Pride

The inner complex of the Palace Museum housed hundreds of semi-permanent residents that would spend quite some time living in its sphere. After all, whether it be research, study, or preservation efforts would most often than not require a considerable amount of time to do.

Thus, it was natural for the facility to have a dedicated lobby with the sole purpose of receiving the guests of those residents.

The lobby was quite large and modernly decorated. Unlike many buildings within the complex, the lobby was actually an independent pavilion that was entirely built new from the grounds up

Several clusters of tables with sofas and chairs around them were arranged aesthetically within the lobby. Some had just a few chairs for those seeking more intimate conversation, but there were also some that could accommodate bigger groups. Since the lobby itself was quite large, and the interior design was quite meticulous, the open space plan didn't make one feel exposed but felt roomy instead.

Satoshi and Oda chose to sit at a small table near the corner of the lobby. They ordered some drinks and small snacks from the cafe service within the lobby. The server was giving Satoshi observing looks when they made their order, it seemed like Unsui's loud mouth had gone this far.

Their conversation began with Oda asking Satoshi whether he was alright or not. He asked about what had happened but Satoshi avoided the topic with some generic excuses. Oda, being the smart and intuitive man that he is, instantly understood that it would be inconvenient for Satoshi to share the details.

"Well, as long you are alright, then I'm glad." Oda gave a slight smile.

"Thank you for your concern. So, what did you want to talk about?"

"There's actually a few things I want to talk about. Firstly, are you interested in becoming a correspondent?"

"A correspondent?" Satoshi was startled.

"I learned that you are going to attend an institute in Asira. While I already have some corespondents over there, it never hurt to have more. It would help me with verification efforts and different perspectives.

Of course, you won't work for free."

Satoshi wasn't sure on how he should respond to Oda. On one hand, he indeed realized he wouldn't be able to depend on his savings for a long time and would have to find another source of income sooner than later. On the other hand, he never even thought of being a correspondent for anything, let alone one of the worlds leading authorities in investigative journalism.

"I honestly don't know about that, being a correspondent seems like a very important responsibility, I'm not sure if I'm even equipped for it."

"That's okay, you can always learn as you go. And you don't need to give me an answer right now, just…sleep on it for a bit."

"Okay, I will."

"The other thing I need to talk to you about is actually the main reason why I asked you to be a correspondent."

"What is it?"

"It's Kirgio, my sources have confirmed that he has submitted his application for Daojia Institute."

That piece of information lit a fuse in Satoshi and suddenly brought him to full attention. He had not thought about Kirgio for quite some time, now his name suddenly popped up together with the name of the Institute Satoshi already applied to: Daojia Institute.

"Do you know when did he make his application?"

"Of course, it was mere minutes after you submitted yours."

That additional information put Satoshi on higher alert. He asked Oda the question of when because he had his speculation, and it looked like his speculation was correct.

Judging by what they knew about Kirgio so far, there were more than likely chances for this to be more than a coincidence.

Kirgio's strange inquiries, his sudden departure, and the pictures Oda got from several places prior to various incidents, made them quite sure that Kirgio definitely was not the kind to be moving without a clear purpose.

Although technically there were still some possibilities that it could be just a mere coincidence, Satoshi's almost paranoid personality wouldn't allow him to gamble on it.

"Did you find anything else?"

"Unfortunately no, we still have no inkling about his current whereabouts. We actually found out about his application because we cast a wide net out of desperation.

But we did in fact find more leads about his past activities. Surprisingly, he wasn't exactly discreet with what he did, like using his real name and all."

Satoshi pondered for a bit and said," Could it be because he is confident with the protection Human King's name could provide him?"

"It is possible, but there is also a possibility that he is doing it on purpose to lead nosey individuals like me on a wild goose chase.

After all, we still aren't sure about the nature of his affiliation with the Human King."

Satoshi agreed with what Oda said, it was indeed too speculative at this point in time to form any definite opinion about Kirgio. Other than being highly suspicious, they basically knew nothing else about the man. Except for the fact that he had apparently applied to the Daojia Institute.

Satoshi's mind wandered to the time he learned about Sepphira's premonition for Xiahn. He had not talked to Xiahn at all about the premonition, but judging by the latest development, it was more than likely that the premonition was going to happen.

Kirgio was going to join Daojia Institute, which was why Satoshi need to join the Daojia Institute. Since Satoshi was going to join the Daojia Institute, then Xiahn would most likely seek to join the Daojia Institute. All of these were construed into their own inexplicable circle of paradox.

Satoshi suddenly felt a headache incoming, along with an elevated sense of urgency. If he was serious before, now he felt an undeniable conviction that he must must attend the Daojia Institute.

Oda continued informing Satoshi about his reasoning for asking him to be a correspondent. Even though he himself had never had any direct interaction with Kirgio before, his journalist instinct was telling him that Kirgio's timing wasn't a coincidence.

In fact, Oda was thoroughly convinced that Kirgio only applied to Daojia Institute due to Satoshi.

Satoshi was quite overwhelmed with all of these new pieces of information, so he didn't entertain Oda's speculation any further. He instead asked if there were any other things Oda needed to talk about.

"Well, that's basically it…the other news at this point, you should be able to find in the interweb."

"There are other news? I haven't really paid much attention to those lately…"

"Yeah, your regular old, mysterious attacks and incidents."

"There are more?"

"Yeah, the latest ones were even in very close proximity to each other."

"What was it?"

"There was an alleged attack off the coast of Dai, toward the Middle Sea. Then there was also a skirmish that allegedly involved a member of the Warrior God Tribe in Asira.

From the traces of battle, it was speculated that the two incidents were connected."

"Kmetafar's Warrior God Tribe? Those giant ones? I thought they don't go outside of Kmetafar." Satoshi was quite surprised by the news.

"Yes, that's why it caused quite an uproar. Oh, there was also some unexplainable disturbance in the Andean Territory shortly after that, but nothing was found. The governing body of Agia Province had been on high alert ever since."

"Do you think they are connected?"

"I'm not sure yet. I won't dismiss that possibility, but I also won't jump to that conclusion without proper evidence.

And since those three places are basically within three different spheres of influence, it was quite difficult to gather more information.

I wont stop trying though." Oda gave Satoshi a smile full of conviction.

Satoshi couldn't help but to admire Oda even more. This seemingly shy and meek guy at a passing glance was actually anything but. Considering his relatively young age, he had managed to build a vast and effective information-gathering network, and his real personality in the face of guise and ploy was actually fierce and unyielding!

It was really a weird stroke of luck that Satoshi was able to meet with such a person.

After the main topics of discussion were covered and done with, the two of them decided to have dinner together. It was about time anyway, and they both still wanted some company to make some small talks with. It could be considered some kind of temporary retreat from both their routines.

Oda told Satoshi about the latest news he had on Mulah. Satoshi himself had not been in contact with Mulah for the past weeks. With Satoshi's increasingly busier schedule preparing for the trial, and Mulah's undoubtedly even more busier work, both of them unanimously decided it would be fine to be off-contact for a bit.

They didn't discuss this, they just came to the same conclusion each on their own.

Since Oda was living in the Lah's Mansion, he was more or less exposed to more updated news about Mulah, either from Mahalini or Ashya.

According to them, Mulah and the Hall or Research he was part of had successfully gone through the most critical stage for the conduit alteration. It was said to be an unprecedented achievement that garnered the praise of a Grand Master.

The thing was technically still under wraps at the moment, but once they made the official release, it was bound to blow and Mulah would be at the center of attention.

Satoshi was very excited when he heard the news. It wasn't his achievement, but he felt an inexplicable pride toward what Mulah had achieved as if it was his own. Although he could also feel that faint sense of brotherly/rivalry envy, it didn't diminish his feeling toward Mulah. Instead, it lit something in him, the feeling of unwillingness to lose!

Satoshi looked toward the general direction of Xinjia-kor and he let his gaze went unfocused. He wanted to feel like he could actually see Mulah right now, through the walls, through the sea, through the thousand miles between them.

Mulah wasn't his blood brother, but he was a brother that Satoshi chose. Toward this brother, at this moment, Satoshi only felt one thing: pride!