285 You can hide but you can't hide
“I know I’m repeating what you once said, but to call us a silly harem…” Nadia muttered, joining the conversation with one of her eyebrows raised. She then shook her head in an acted disbelief. “To think a day would come for you to complain about having three different girls happy to do it with you…”
Mathew took a deep breath.
‘Keep calm,’ Mathew gave himself sound advice. ‘This discussion is already lost, so just admit your mistake and get it over with!’
“You are right, I’m sorry,” Mathew said, lowering his head before Nadia in apology. “I should’ve said that this harem of mine is so full of beauty, kindness, and support that any more than what I already have and I would become a spoiled brat!” he spoke out from the very bottom of his soul, infusing all of his intent into those words.
“Hmph!” Nadia raised her chin high and pouted, even going as far as to stomp her leg on the ground and turn her head away in one, sudden motion.
Yet, rather than staying in that pretend-pout position, she quickly started to giggle, unable to handle her own act.
“I’m sorry to rain down on your parade…” the leader of the other group said in an awkward voice, clearly not sure what to make out of the situation. “But why are you even here?”
‘And that’s a valid question,’ Mathew thought, cutting his own laughter short as he turned his eyes back to the man.
“In essence, we are going to check out the old castle ruins by the city’s outskirts,” Mathew explained. “And in the meanwhile, we are sweeping the area in search of survivors willing to join our camp.”
In theory, sharing this kind of news with strangers was quite risky. After all, only God and the other party knew what kind of intentions they might have.
Yet, in the long run, just telling the truth outright would make everything far simpler down the line.
“So you want us… to join your expedition?” the leader asked, raising his hand to scratch the side of his head. “And then settle in the ruins of the castle?”
There was no need to mention any further details about which exact ruins Mathew had on his mind. After all, for how big this town was in modern times, it was only a small town back in the times when building castles was still a thing.
As such, there was only one ruined site in the proximity, making the location obvious to everyone.
“Yes and no,” Mathew replied right away. “Join our expedition, no,” he elaborated a little bit. “But yeah, we do wish to settle in that ruined castle.”
‘Now that I think about it, I didn’t really convey our intentions in a clear way,’ Mathew realized, a wry smile making its way to his lips in response to the state of his soul.
The leader of the other group took a deep breath. He hesitated for but a moment before raising his head and looking straight into Mathew’s eyes.
“I’m sorry, but we cannot join you,” he said. “It’s not that your offer is bad…” he said, looking away to mask the uneasy look on his face. “But we will still have to decline it. After all, we are but…”
The middle-aged man’s mouth suddenly closed shut, as if someone slammed their fist right against the bottom of the man’s jaw.
Yet, there was no movement of any sort from the rest of the members of his group.
Mathew squinted his eyes a bit, forcing himself not to look at the kid in the very back of the group.
He couldn’t see any movement that could explain the weird movement of the man’s jaw… But he was sure as heck he just felt a more intense fluctuation of mana in the air than what he already got used to!
‘I guess there is no denying it,’ Mathew thought, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. ‘No matter how well he thinks he can hide, it’s all in plain view for me.’
“Mathew…” Norbert approached the young man from the back and rested his head over his shoulder. The former police officer then cast a quick glance towards the kid in the back before leaning over Mathew’s shoulder.
“It’s okay,” Mathew quickly shrugged Norbert’s hand off.
‘If he can use mana, he has to have some sort of system. As such, it wouldn’t be strange if his senses were enhanced as well,’ Mathew concluded, taking a step forward to stop Norbert from whispering what he already knew.
At this point, it would be nothing but an unnecessary risk that could potentially lead to revealing some of the cards their group held in the current situation.
‘I would love to keep the secrecy for a little longer, but…’ Mathew took another deep breath. ‘But there is no real merit to it,’ he thought, exhaling the air.
“Hey, kid,” Mathew called out, this time addressing the potential adversary in a direct manner. “I know you are doing what you can to salvage what’s possible from this situation,” Mathew stated. “I can also tell you are using your abilities how you want…”
Mathew’s face darkened. And contrary to how he was when he went off to face the entire group of people at once, his body tensed up in preparation for a serious battle.
“Don’t be mistaken, though,” Mathew uttered through his tightened lips while still looking right past everyone and directly at the kid’s face. “You are nowhere near strong enough to face me, even without my wives helping me.”
Mathew didn’t bother trying to hold the threat in his voice back.
Given how the kid was near openly using his abilities to his own advantage, he clearly has yet to understand the position he was in.
“Hey, what the hell are you…
“I beg to differ,” the kid spoke out before the leader of the group could ask for any explanation.
The middle-aged man turned around, throwing a shocking look at the kid. Everyone else in his group mimicked his expression, all similarly shocked by the confidence in the kid’s voice.
“You are so unbearably naive,” Mathew said, shaking his head to the sides. He then rested his hands on his hips as he raised his eyes back on the kid and looked straight into his eyes. “Wake up, this isn’t a story where you get to act like one of them cool kids,” he warned.
A silence filled the entire shopping mall as Mathew continued to duel the kid over who could look at the other longer without blinking their eyes.
pAn,Da-n0v e1,c
Between gaining some allies and inviting a potential danger behind his back… Mathew didn’t need to hesitate to choose!
Mathew’s words sounded out in the shop for a moment. The situation was as tense as it could get.
And then, seemingly out of nowhere, Mathew smiled. He also brought his eyes away from the kid and onto the face of the official leader of the group.
“We are aware you guys are just a scavenging party for a greater group,” he announced, revealing yet another of their cards.
His smile then turned even brighter as he raised his left hand and pointed with his thumb behind his back.
“And contrary to you, we all are also aware of a massive horde that’s heading for the rest of your group!”