Chapter 312 - Tagging.
"I don't quite care for your tone. Say please" Hal said into the talisman with a sigh.
Then he heard a distinct growl,
"I won't ask again" Ehrlich said out of the talisman.
"Fine, I"m on my way," Hal said and returned the communication talisman into his inventory before walking out of the hall and the residence entirely.
He returned to the hotel and went directly into his room where he knew with certainty was where Ehrlich was camping out.
He pushed open the door to see the muscular man laying on his bed with his eyes closed as he absorbed cosmic energy from the surroundings.
Hal could tell through the use of Astral perception that allowed him to ascertain that Ehrlich's injuries were mending.
"Oh damn it. You're going to ruin my sheets" Hal said with a groan that caused Ehrlich's eyes to open wide and glare at Hal.
"What the hell were you up to at the auction?" He asked.
Hal looked confused,
"You weren't really expecting me to get involved in a fight where you were getting your ass kicked, did you?"
"Not that. I meant you outbidding me for the gem flower!" Ehrlich said with his face twisted with rage.
Hal nodded with understanding,
"Oh that. Well, I thought you wanted me to sell our competition to the crowd and bid like I really wanted to win. Had you bid higher after that, I would have given up." Hal lied through his teeth.
"What are you talking about? I told you to back off and you did the exact opposite" Ehrlich said.
Hal secretly sneered as he saw this as Ehrlich's pathetic attempt to pull some stupid prank.
After all, where was it explicitly stated that Ehrlich could need the gem flower and Hal couldn't?
When it came to this mission, Hal could at least pretend to defer to him but when it relates to other matters, it was every man for himself.
His expression suddenly shifted to one of mild anger,
"If anyone should be upset, it should be me. Because of your cowardice, I lost 45,000 Blue gems. That's a lot. Speaking of which, I should really be getting to the residence and retrieve my purchases." he said.
Ehrlich looked a little taken aback but decided to table that matter for now since there were more pressing issues,
"Well, that will have to wait. Your mission is not over" he said.
Hal frowned,
"Whoa, I found you the supplier. I mean sure we kind of just ran into him but I still see that as both completion of my mission as well as my win"
Ehrlich sneered,
"Sorry to burst your bubble but your mission is not over until I say it's over. First I need you to tell me all you know about the supplier, that is supposing you found out anything new after... after..."
Seeing as it was looking difficult for Ehrlich to be articulate, Hal decided to assist him,
"After you got your ass kicked and got punched right out of the auction hall. It was an impactful smash I must say. You left a large gaping hole in the auction hall ceiling."
Ehrlich growled, clearly not interested in reliving that embarrassing moment,
"Did you find out anything or not?" He asked with annoyance.
"Of course. He gave a complete introduction once things settled down a bit" Hal said and told Ehrlich all that Beldar had said to the bidding crowd.
Ehrlich clenched his fists in anger,
"Dystopian scum! I mean I and the princess suspected it but we were more inclined towards it being a sell-out human." He said.
Hal had no comment and simply contented himself with remaining quiet and mostly uninterested.
"Well, that settles it. We are going after him!" Ehrlich announced and finally garnered Hal's attention.
Hal turned to face him,
"Excuse me what?" He asked.
"You heard me. We are going after him. He's from Dystopia so we can't very well let him run amok"
Hal's expression did not change,
"First off, as it has been observed, I am only at the mid-stage of the Cosmic phenomenon realm, and in case you've forgotten, that's the reason you said I was only to do reconnaissance and report back to you.
Second, how are you even going to find him? Not to mention that he'll probably disappear now that the auction is over, there are guards searching for you right now."
Ehrlich took a deep breath,
"Your job was only reconnaissance at a time when I was confident of going it alone. Now, however, I need someone watching my back. Unassuming and weak as you are, you are also my closest option.
As for the guards, I am sure we can avoid them." He said.
Hal's eyes narrowed,
"You've forgotten the part where Beldar disappears" he said.
Ehrlich retrieved what looked like a mini-holographic screen and on it was a map of the whole of Black lagoon's territory or more accurately, Hal assumed it was a map of Black lagoon as it had been zoomed in on and only a part of it was really visible.
There was a blinking dot.
"Ever heard of tagging?" Ehrlich asked but soon answered the question himself,
"Of course you haven't. It's one of the Princess's inventions and it is incredibly useful for keeping track of people. You see, I deduced quite accurately that the supplier was a layman in Runes just like I am.
When I bound him, he was so focussed on those runes that he neglected to be wary of other passive runes."
'So, he was bugged. Nice.' Hal thought.
'This Tanya seems like a real genius' Grimoire said and Hal agreed.
"With this, we can find the supplier and according to this, he is already on the move. We better hurry" Ehrlich said and stood from the bed with a groan.
Hal eyed him,
"Are you sure you are up to this?" He asked.
"Don't be ridiculous, of course, I am"
And with that, he straightened up and made a real effort to look up to the task before retrieving a black cloak with a hood out his spatial ring which he wrapped around himself and used the hood to cover his face.
Hal rolled his eyes,
"That's your answer to the guards searching for you?" He asked.
"Do you have a better idea?" Ehrlich growled and Hal sighed and shrugged.
H3 had to admit that although the cloak was like announcing that he was suspicious, going out without it would have the same effect.
Then again, the guards might not recognize him at all since a majority of them had never seen him and may very well be running around the territory for mere due diligence.
...
Soon the two were out on the streets of the city and following the blinking dot which seemed to be leading to the very outskirts of Black lagoon territory.
"Does the streets seem desolate to you?" Hal asked. He was sure there were more people walking about before and this was cause for suspicion.
"Nah, it's not that desolate. Let's focus on Beldar shall we" Ehrlich shrugged off Hal's concern and soon they were out of the city and heading into the forest where Hal remembered walking up at the start of all this.
Following the dot led them to a hill in the forest. A hill covered in green and with the opening of a cave.
According to the tag, that was where Beldar was.
The two paused and Hal stretched his Astral perception to inspect the cave but found that there was a layer of runes blocking his probing into the deepest parts of the cave.
"This..." Hal began but Ehrlich was already moving into the cave as fast as he could despite his injury.
Inside the cave, they found Beldar just as Ehrlich had expected thanks to the tag...
... And he was sitting on a stool-sized rock as though awaiting their arrival all along just as Hal had suspected after his probe.
Beldar looked up with a smirk,
"Welcome boys."