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"I don\'t care about others, but we will have enough pieces of evidence to make sure that the government will be forced to confront the Linaton race about their schemings. There is still enough time left before the period of the Soul Contracts comes to an end as well!

The laboratory has to be raided first and then we will see… maybe we will wage war sooner or later," Nial acted nonchalantly but he didn\'t really feel that calm and composed.

He understood that the government didn\'t want to see the indirect kidnapping and enslaving of a few thousand humans because they looked at the bigger picture. In their point of view, it was not that much of a problem to lose a few thousand newly awakened Originals if that meant they could maintain good relationships with a race that was not only stronger than the humans from Jundra but also could improve the economic status of the entire human race.

The Linaton race was a race that was very good at making business. They were rich, even if they were not the greatest fighters.

Yet, despite not being the greatest fighters, they had Originals at the Keltia rank. No human from Jundra had advanced to the Deux rank yet, not to Nial\'s knowledge at least.

With that in mind, it was only obvious that mankind did not dare to offend the Linaton race just because they had kidnapped a few thousand humans and enslaved them.

However, that mindset was wrong, not only because of the innocent humans who were enslaved and used in the worst possible way but also because their entire race would be known as pushovers by the Linaton race, and other races once their reputation spread through Jundra.

It was not even unlikely that the Elves would break off their alliance with them in the future to distance themselves from mankind. That way they would make sure that their image wouldn\'t get dragged through the mud just because they were on good terms with the pushovers from Jundra.

Nial understood this very well because he had encountered a few members of \'pushover races\' in Alliance city. They weren\'t treated nicely, most gave them fewer rewards than they deserved, and they were mostly used as scavengers.

To put it simply, they were being bullied!

Nial wanted to make sure that the humans from Jundra wouldn\'t be considered pushovers. There were several reasons for him to be like that but it was mostly to make sure that his father, friends, and family would be fine, no matter what happened.

He knew that this was quite difficult, but that was fine.

"So your plan is to act first and then force the government to follow your example, just in a more extreme manner by waging war against a stronger race? That is pretty dangerous…and savage, I like it!" Melheim gave Nial a thumbs up before he smiled at his boss brightly.

He was a lot older than Nial but the boss\' talent and combat prowess exceeded his a million times, if not more. Following someone younger, let alone someone who had been of a lower rank when Melheim first started to work for Nial, was actually something most people wouldn\'t do, just to make sure that nobody would doubt their competency and their image would be clean, without the slightest wrinkle.

However, Melheim never regretted his decision to follow his intuition and join Nial\'s organization. He was pretty sure that it was the best decision he had made in his life, even if it resulted in a shit-load of work from time to time.

"My plan is not to have a plan. I imprinted Baron Iglanon\'s mana fluctuations in my mind and can now differentiate the Linaton from other races much easier while sensing them. That will make things a lot easier.

As for waging a war, I just hope that we don\'t have to wage a war against both the Shelturion and the Linaton at the same time. This would make things very problematic, especially since we are currently weaker than most races and because we have 10 different shelters. It won\'t be possible for us to defend all of them at the same time…if we\'re even strong enough to protect a single shelter, to begin with," Nial revealed the truth, no matter how annoying it was.

The humans from Jundra, including him, were still in their growth phase. They had yet to reach their limit, let alone have a human attain Godhood or something like that. There were countless humans with the talent to become stronger and attain higher heights, but what they required most was time rather than mountains of resources.

The resources would accelerate their progress but it wouldn\'t negate the fact that they were in need of time and proper guidance to grow well.

But time was a luxury they could not afford, not if they wanted to make sure that nobody were to look at them like pushovers, and not if Nial wanted to make sure that the newly awakened Originals wouldn\'t be kidnapped and enslaved.

"Let\'s take one step at a time…I guess," Melheim just said and Nial could only nod his head.

Thinking too much about the worst-case scenario would do them no good. It would bother them and prevent other, more useful thoughts from entering his mind.

With that in mind, the two calmed down and their small group finished eating before they returned to the Orion Artisan Guild.

**

Ten days had passed and the Royal Princess had yet to notify him about the laboratory\'s attack. After Nial found out that the Shelturion, precisely the followers of Great Wirliam, were in charge of the laboratory that created the Cultivation Drug, he told Princess Evalyne about it.

She had not messaged him since that day, which was enough reason for Nial to question whether the Elves had bailed out of the laboratory raid, or if they were still mulling over their choices.

That was enough reason for him to send the loan sharks to Poleg the Fat and slowly crawl up the ladder of hierarchy and find out more about the laboratory\'s position and defenses by himself.

If the Elves wouldn\'t help him, Nial was more than fine solving their problems without anyone\'s help.

He didn\'t tell his father about his plan either because it was quite obvious that Miles would tell the Royal Princess about what he was doing. Miles trusted Princess Evalyne, presumably more than his own son, but that was quite obvious because he knew his son too well.

Nial was ready to go in all by himself and raid the laboratory, of course, without killing the alchemists, and everything, or everyone, who seemed to be important!

It was only today that he noticed a small change. The Oracle was being a little bit impatient and was tapping her heels on the wooden floor while she was seated on the couch.

Ryu was snuggling up to her as if he noticed the same change as Nial, who got up from the chair he had been seated on.

"You have to leave today, don\'t you?" He finally asked and the Oracle smiled bitterly. She gave him a faint nod.

"It looks like my vacation is over. To think that I was able to rest for such a long time…I don\'t think I can remember a time where I didn\'t do much for several months…" The Oracle tried to sound nonchalant but traces of frustration and sadness could be heard in her voice.

​ Or, at least, Nial was able to hear the sadness and frustration in her voice.

\'She wasn\'t able to rest even though she is already that old?...Wait…how old is the Oracle even, to begin with?\'

Nial didn\'t know the answer but he felt a little bit bad for the Oracle. He could tell that she was doing something good in the hopes of helping the Universe to survive the catastrophes that awaited them in the unknown future. But he was not really sure if the Oracle was doing all of this because she actually wanted to or if she was told to do so.

"I will leave in an hour or so. Is there something you want to know…if so, you should ask now? I cannot see when we will meet each other again, or how long it will take," The Oracle offered quietly, trying to hide her sadness in the hope that she could speak a little bit longer with Nial.

Nial had too many questions but he also knew that the Oracle wouldn\'t be allowed to answer most of them.

Thus, he decided to spend the next hour playing a few card games with the Oracle, something she had never done before.

And she was happy doing so…as happy as never before in her life…or maybe not never…but it had been a very long time…a very very long time since she and the Immortal Witch had been together, spending their last happy days with one another, before there was nothing, no happiness, not the slightest bit of joy.

Until Nial appeared.