An in-depth study of Gehrman (2)

Even though there was no way his divination was disturbed as a Great Old One, there was still a chance that Anderson was corrupted. Anyway, the hunter wasn't supposed to be here now.

Gehrman threw a weak air bullet toward Anderson as a warning shot, which the latter barely managed to evade.

Anderson understood the hint and stopped walking toward him.

"Why are you here now?" Gehrman demanded, ready to deal with the other man at any moment.

A smile on his face, Anderson raised his hands as a sign of surrender.

"Calm down. I mean no harm, I swear."

Gehrman continued to coldly stare at him, unmoved.

"Actually, I was generously accepting the bounties of some pirates who had come to find me to start a fight, when…"

Gehrman internally deadpanned as Anderson began a long story about how he repeatedly suffered from bad luck and fell into life-threatening situations because he had provoked Beyonders stronger than him.

To maintain Gehrman's image, he stopped him.

"Go to the point."

Feeling his spiritual intuition warning him, Anderson chuckled dryly.

"Okay, okay. So, before opening my eyes here, my last memory was of that priest staring at my ordinarily handsome face before I lost consciousness."

'Adam…'

Gehrman didn't completely let down his guard, but if it was the Ancient Sun God, he would indeed have the power to send Anderson here… But for what motive?

'So his long rant earlier really had nothing to do with the conclusion.'

Gehrman was slightly impressed that Anderson was still trying to provoke him in this situation.

"Did 'he' say anything before you lost consciousness?"

Anderson noticed the pronoun Gehrman had used but wasn't surprised that the priest was an angel.

He recalled the priest's last words to him.

"He said something about an attempt and me being a test subject to try to reach someone named mysteries."

Gehrman understood what happened.

'They want to send others here?'

Anderson's presence was indeed due to that man's bad luck. Maybe even a buff from an angel of fate wouldn't be able to cure it.

Or had the hunter succeeded in unconsciously provoking the Ancient Sun God without realizing it?

In that case, Anderson would be really skilled.

As he thought of this, Gehrman's gaze lingered on Anderson.

"What? Are you admiring my ordinarily handsome face?"

As these words, Gehrman tore his gaze away. Anderson was really going to die somewhere at this rate if he continued to blindly provoke everyone. He didn't even look like he was trying.

His flag in hand, he began to walk away then looked back at Anderson.

"Will you follow me or do you intend to stay here?"

Anderson smiled and caught up to him.

"I was curious about what you were up to and wondering how to figure it out but I didn't expect you to invite me."

'I didn't invite you, I only presented you with two choices.' Gehrman lampooned.

Moreover, he couldn't let that fellow here when who knows how much trouble he would cause with his bad luck.

Anderson's smile deepened. No, actually, maybe he knew it would be that way. After all, it wasn't the first time Gehrman had told him something similar, the last time was when Edwina was in danger.

Anderson's gaze remained on the back of Gehrman's head.

The secret organization he belonged to was unclear, the object of his faith as well, he had advanced at an unprecedented speed in recent years, and now Gehrman also happened to be in this unfamiliar world where Anderson suddenly opened his eyes.

Moreover, he had felt it when he dodged that attack earlier. The adventurer who was advancing to Sequence 5 when he met him now was stronger than him, a demigod. He couldn't even gauge Gehrman's current Sequence. Was he a demigod? A saint? Or… an angel?

It was also strange that, despite being a 'crazy' adventurer who hunted pirates for bounties on sight and was now stronger than him, he hadn't tried to kill him after his provocations.

Now that he thought about it, even though he was rumored to be crazy, the adventurer's actions were always cautious however impulsive they may seem, and he only targeted sinful individuals.

'It's interesting.'

Anderson was a curious person. The crazy adventurer, who was quite a contradictory person, didn't fail to arouse his curiosity.

Anderson slung an arm around the man's shoulders.

"Where are we going?"

In response to that overly familiar attitude, Gehrman pointed the muzzle of his gun (coming out of nowhere) to his temple. Anderson backed away and chuckled dryly.

The Lord of Mysteries unnoticeably glanced at Anderson behind him, unable to fathom the man's intentions.

Did he choose to follow him because he was bored?

He recalled what he knew about Anderson.

That man was a curious and adventurous hunter. He was also very adaptive in any situation, enjoyed learning about new things and experiencing novel forms of excitement, and was very good at provoking people naturally even if he didn't say anything provocative.

According to Danitz, Anderson's reputation in the Fog Sea was terrible. He was the kind of person who smiles on the surface but will stab you in the back once you turn around; he was also often pursued by a bunch of pirates, but in the end, all of those pirates would end up as bounty rewards.

Anyway, he had no time to guess the man's motives for following him. He had to think about the current scenario first.

Just in case, Gehrman habitually divined if Anderson had lied to him.

***

After venturing into some stations he hadn't visited before, Gehrman decided to take a break.

Even though he didn't need to rest or eat, his traveling companion was merely a demigod and wouldn't be able to endure hunger and the lack of sleep indefinitely. Moreover, it was better for his humanity to pretend to be human once in a while.

Anderson hunted some monsters in the tunnels while Gehrman set up a barbecue with historical projections and used Beyonder abilities to cleanse the meat while he grilled it.

Then, Anderson picked the first skewer and began to eat as Gehrman coldly stared at him.

Around them, some people were attracted by the smell and approached the two.

Anderson glanced at Gehrman who unexpectedly handed a skewer to one of the children.

As he caught him staring, Gehrman added:

"There is too much food. Wasting food is not polite."

Anderson smiled and shook his head. It sounded like an excuse.

He then picked up more skewers under Gehrman's gaze.

"I only have to eat everything that remains then."

Gehrman glared at him and pushed the food away from him.

"You ate enough."

Anderson didn't insist more and watched the starving children hesitantly take the food that was handed to them, their eyes sparkling, before some adults also joined them as they put it into their mouth.

It was true that Gehrman's cooking skills were quite good.

For a brief moment, the scene seemed harmonious.

Then, the people scattered after all the food was distributed, going to rest since night had fallen, some of them staying up and eyeing the others to not be suddenly killed in their sleep.

Anderson had started a campfire to illuminate their surroundings and the two were sitting beside it.

"You're not going to sleep?"

Gehrman ignored his question.

"It's quite late though. Since we both can't sleep, why don't I tell you a story?"

Gehrman simply stared at him blankly as he began to narrate his adventures, having no problem to continue the conversation by himself.

As the same time, images of the adventurer handing out food to others came to mind.

Even though he wore a cold facade, he was actually quite soft, maybe even too nice for his own good. He recalled how Danitz had complained to him about Gehrman rescuing people in Bansy Harbor because of a few solis.

Not showing what he had thought of, Anderson continued his story as if he wasn't pondering about something else and discreetly observed Gehrman with his Hunter abilities.

Although the adventurer didn't outwardly show any interest in his narration, he didn't stop him, which showed that it didn't bother him.

Anderson made an amused smile and added a few dramatic twists and turns to his adventure. Fortunately, Gehrman successfully repressed the twitching at the corners of his mouth, not betraying any signs that he was attentively listening to the hunter.

Actually, Anderson knew that the adventurer was not necessarily a man of few words. After all, when he thought Anderson was not paying attention after being choked by Reinette, the hunter had overheard their conversation.

["How do you know that I'll reply?"]

This uncharacteristic sentence had come from the usually cold man.

And when Anderson thought the man would stop there, contrary to his habitual indifferent behavior, he used a normal voice as he continued to inquire.

["Her…" "Disappearance is…" "Very…" "Odd…"

"How do you know that?"]

That's when he knew that the adventurer could also converse normally instead of his usual indifferent demeanor. Gehrman's personality was probably faked.

Often being pursued by pirates, he was quite informed about the situation at sea and had also heard that there were no previous records about Gehrman, meaning that 'Gehrman Sparrow' should be a fake name.

Fake identity, fake personality, the ability to change his appearance…

Gehrman should have been Sequence 6 of the Seer Pathway when he came to sea.

In the Church of Knowledge and Wisdom, Anderson had learnt that the Sequence 6 of the Seer Pathway was called Faceless.

Was he acting to digest the potion?

["I…" "Investigated…" "The ship's…" "Situation…"

"No rush. I'll reply later."]

After realizing this, Anderson had acted as if he hadn't heard anything and changed the subject.

["Ahem…" Anderson finally recovered as he stood straight. He gave Gehrman Sparrow a flabbergasted look. "Your messenger… Your messenger is a demigod!?"]

Anderson didn't stop speaking as he thought. As a Hunter, his pathway had improved his IQ and let him do so easily.

"You know, Gehrman. I have quite a good eye for people."

The adventurer was a mysterious man.

Gehrman's attention focused on him.

"That's why, I can tell one thing."

However, his loneliness was obvious. Anderson felt it.

"We are different."

Anderson's gaze met the other's as Gehrman listened to him, waiting for the hunter to elaborate.

It was a rare moment where Anderson seemed serious.

"While I'm a free spirit who wanders aimlessly by my own will, you seem to have no choice, like someone who has lost his home and is carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders."

Gehrman stared at him in silence, his thoughts still unreadable.