Chapter 082

Alvin watched the entire sequence of events happening in the royal dock at the Pritz Harbour as if he were watching a play. He did not detect any malicious thoughts yet, but he was in no hurry. Almost all of the people of consequence were at Pritz Harbour for this ceremony.

But then again, the perpetrator may not immediately recognise him, as there was no reason to remember the looks of his subordinate's son. He did look a bit like his father, but the resemblance could be missed.

Alvin thus tried his best to be in plain sight. A second or third glance may jog the memory, especially since Beyonders had a good memory.

Even in case he couldn't find a clue to the perpetrator, he had another objective in appearing in the open.

According to the official documents declared by the investigative departments, Avril Hans died due to being mugged, and his wife and son died in a huge fire that broke out by accident. This was what Viscount Glaint had found out after digging around. But the story was full of holes. For one, the local church had records, witnesses, and a tombstone for his mother's burial. Also, it was a big deal in the town they were in, and everyone would know that.

Two accidental methods of death could be written off, but if it was found that the three members of the Hans family died off in 3 accidents on 3 different occasions, it would be obvious that there was something wrong.

The Nighthawks would probably look into it, as his family was traditionally believers of the Evernight Goddess, or maybe some interested parties among nobles or the military may dig into this incident.

While this wouldn't amount to much, as he was sure that someone who managed the cover-up for so long wouldn't falter now, he could observe the resources they used, and again through the grapevine lock onto them.

Bradford kept up the act, introducing him to a few people as 'a good friend', and Alvin went behind him, smiling and nodding, though the people he met were mostly disinterested.

Suddenly, Alvin felt the Mirror of Malicious Thoughts heat up, and he sensed a gaze filled with shock, confusion, and a little killing intent from behind him.

Alvin did not react to it. He instead pulled out an opaque glass bottle from his pocket, and gulped down a mouthful of blood. He then took out a small pocket mirror, and appeared to be smoothening his hair that had been slightly ruffled by the wind. While doing so, he took a peek at the direction he sensed the gaze from. He saw a small delegation, consisting of a pudgy nobleman, someone who appeared to be a butler, and a groom. While he couldn't tell who exactly it was from, he could narrow it down to those 3.

He did not show any other reaction on the outside, and went forward. He then excused himself to go to the bathroom. There, he slipped out through the side, and went closer to the three he had just seen. He then pulled out the Ear of the Crazed and put it on to listen to their conversation.

He learnt that the pudgy noble was Baron Brames, the other two being his butler and his valet. Other than that, they only engaged in small talk.

Having locked into their identities, he did not do anything further, and reconvened with Bradford, and spent the next hour stiffly smiling at an endless number of people. He confirmed that a few people were muttering the 'Hans family of East Chester County' while talking about him.

Afterwards, he bade farewell to Bradford, who was required to attend a private gathering of nobles, and walked outside the military base.

Once outside, he quickly changed all his clothes and covered his face to blend into the crowd, as yet another person in Pritz Harbour. He then ran to the northern end of the Pritz Harbour, where the carriages were parked.

The Tussock river was quite narrow during the summer season, and only commercial boats that paid a buttload of tax would be allowed to sail upriver. Maybe the powerful nobles could use their influence to get themselves passageway, but it definitely wasn't possible for a Baron to be able to go via boat. And nobles considered it beneath themselves to go on trains, especially on such an occasion where they were under the public eye. Hence, Alvin was almost certain that there was an expensive-looking carriage that the Baron had bought, or at least rented for transportation.

Sure enough, in the exclusive parking zone for higher-ups, he found a carriage with the symbol that appeared on the attire of the Baron's entourage.

Knowing this was the carriage he wanted, he stealthily crept closer to it and went under it. There, he hung onto the underside of the carriage, got into a slightly comfortable position, and silently waited.

Sure enough, after a while, he could hear sounds of what he estimated was two people getting in.

The two remained in silence for a short while, as the carriage left the Pritz Harbour, on the road to Backlund.

"I don't like this temporary carrier driver. He bumps the carriage a lot, and allows the horses to make too much noise. My valet, Peter is much more skilled. Too bad he had an unreasonably sudden family emergency and had to rush home using the train" said Baron Bramis.

"Would you like me to have someone look into it sir?" asked the butler.

"Oh no. I couldn't be bothered less about whatever that idiot is up to. I just said that for the benefit of the young friend hiding under the carriage" said Baron Bramis.

Alvin suddenly felt goosebumps all over him. He was about to reach for his weapons and kick the underside of the carriage, which would make it break down.

Suddenly, he heard Baron Bramis's voice saying "Calm down"

For some reason, Alvin suddenly snapped out of the adrenaline-fueled fighting mode.

"Come in" said Baron Bramis.

After thinking for a moment, Alvin dropped down from the underside of the carriage, dusted himself off, and jumped into the cartridge which now had a door held open by the Butler.