The Path Ahead

The following morning, as Lin Ruo rose from his bed and glimpsed the morning sun's gentle hue on the horizon, he found himself still somewhat perplexed.

"Am I not scheduled to be summoned to Klein's side today?" Lin Ruo blinked, momentarily befuddled by the mysterious method that brought him to Klein's presence. Previously, these summons had occurred at dawn. Lin Ruo had assumed this would be his routine, but now it seemed otherwise.

"Could it truly be random? What if I'm summoned during combat? That would be quite inconvenient," Lin Ruo muttered, a touch exasperated. He proceeded to skillfully complete his morning Duties and, after purchasing provisions for the upcoming days, settled down to enjoy breakfast while perusing the morning paper.

As expected, the newspaper recounted the events at Capim's Villa from the previous day. However, it made no mention of the supernatural, simply stating that Capim, a notorious human trafficker, had faced retribution from unidentified individuals.

Unlike Klein, who, in the original narrative, had donned the moniker of "The Hero Bandit " after sanctioning Capim while impersonating the Black Emperor, Lin Ruo remained nameless in the newspaper. Instead, the article meticulously described the tarot cards present at the scene, depicting the act as a just and ritualistic "slaying."

"Absurd journalism, bound to provoke ridicule someday," Lin Ruo scoffed, curling his lip. After finishing the rest of the paper, he suddenly realized a significant oversight from the previous day.

He should have seized the contents of Capim's safe. Unlike Klein, who was pressed for time in the original storyline, Lin Ruo had had the opportunity, but it had slipped his mind.

However, he couldn't fault himself entirely. After all, Lin Ruo wasn't in dire need of funds. His sole objective the day before had been to eliminate the scoundrel, fulfill his mission, and achieve his goal. The notion of plundering hadn't even crossed his mind.

As for leaving a tarot card at the scene, Lin Ruo hadn't given it much thought. Firstly, while he hadn't formally joined the Tarot Club, he felt it was merely a matter of time before he gained entry, given his association with Klein. Thus, he wasn't concerned about revealing his identity.

Secondly, since the Tarot Club was still in its fledgling stages, with only three official members and their leader – one being a nobleman's daughter – Lin Ruo didn't worry about prematurely drawing attention to them. In fact, framing Klein in this manner would increase their security. Who would suspect an organization with angels on stage, led by an ordinary person?

Although his angelic persona was a facade, the truth remained that he was only Sequence 9... Well, it certainly added intrigue to the Tarot Society.

With these thoughts in mind, Lin Ruo stretched after breakfast, contemplating his next steps.

Firstly, he needed to continue his role. Given the current situation in Backlund, this wouldn't prove challenging, considering the suitable prey available for his hunts.

Secondly, he had to secure a source for the follow-up potion.

For now, he put aside thoughts of the Red Priest card's involvement, as that was a role intended for a future partner. Lin Ruo needed to explore alternative avenues.

The first approach involves attending various extraordinary gatherings. These gatherings encompass not only those that the original owner had attended but also those that were part of the plot and originally located in Backlund.

The second approach is to search for the descendants of the blood emperor who appeared in the original plot, namely the down-and-out noble Rafter Pound. As the blood emperor's descendant, even if the family has been defeated, there's a good chance that He possesses the follow-up formula for the hunter's potion.

However, there's a problem here. In the original book, Rafter was possessed by the Evil spirit, becoming the other's servant. It's not clearly stated in the original book when this possession occurred. What's certain is that when Klein and Miss Sharon encountered the Evil spirit in the original book, Rafter had already become its servant.

Although there's still some time before now, Lin Ruo can't confirm whether Rafter is currently serving the Evil spirits. Even if Rafter has indeed become the servant of the Evil spirit, the possibility of Lin Ruo obtaining the hunter's follow-up potion formula from him is much smaller.

The third approach is to focus on the original plot, specifically the ambassador who was killed by Klein . The ambassador is a sequence 6 conspirator. If Lin Ruo manages to kill the ambassador and obtain his beyonder characteristics, he's confident of acquiring the formulas for the Hunter Pathway Sequence 8, 7, and 6 through divination.

This won't be easy, though. Hunting an ambassador is not the same as hunting a pack a wolves . In a sense, the protection around the opponent is much tighter , making it difficult for people to find opportunities.

The fourth approach is to leave Backlund in search of opportunities. Compared to Loen, which has fewer active hunters, there should be a higher number of active hunters in the Five Seas, increasing the chances of obtaining the formula. However, Lin Ruo won't leave Backlund easily unless there's no other option.

The fifth and relatively simpler approach is for Lin Ruo to use the power of truth to facilitate encounters with Extraordinaries of the Hunter Path. Whether he persuades them to obtain the potion formula after the encounter or directly kills them to obtain it depends on the circumstances.

For the average person, the first of these four options relies on pure luck, the second is dangerous, the third is highly perilous, the fourth is not entirely safe, and the fifth is often impractical.

But for Lin Ruo, the most suitable approaches are the first and fifth. The latter doesn't need much explanation, while the former allows Lin Ruo to purchase the hunter's follow-up potion formula in extraordinary gatherings, a task that shouldn't be too challenging given Backlund's unique situation.

Lin Ruo intends to employ a two-pronged approach. First, he'll explore the feasibility of the first and fifth methods. If they don't prove effective, he'll then consider the riskier options.

Lastly, Lin Ruo has been contemplating matters related to the original owner's enemy. Roaldie Fryer's father's death, the family's decline, and even the fire he experienced at the age of 18 were all subsequent consequences of a political turmoil incident.

Since the original owner was young when this incident occurred, his understanding of it is both deep and vague. It's profound because this incident directly altered the original owner's life, yet it's vague because the original owner knew very little about it.

All the original owner's knowledge of this matter was obtained from the old housekeeper and mother. Regrettably, whether it's the old housekeeper or the original owner's mother, they seem to have concealed certain details about that time.

Even the last words of the old butler, who died in the fire, were an urging to make the original owner forget everything and start anew somewhere else.

All of this suggests that the death of the original owner's father may involve a significant secret, possibly related to the Fryer family's existence.

The original owner himself had suspected this and had been investigating in this direction throughout the past year, regretting not dedicating more time to it during the past years when he was in hiding. Due to limited time and resources, he hasn't uncovered many clues in the past year . The only gain is that he has locked a target related to the events of the year—Viscount Stratford.