Transcendent Gene-Chapter 304: New World [4]

"Oh! Look who it is!"

A man approached with a thin smile on his face. His slitted eyes and long hair tied in a low ponytail made him look like a snake in several ways.

He wasn’t unfamiliar to Gio or anyone else in the group. They’d met him before, but that didn’t mean they were close enough to call each other out in a crowd.

"It’s a pleasure to see you again, sir," Gio said as he approached.

"But, if I may ask, why is the Divine Strategist calling out to nobodies like us?"

"Nobodies?"

Jeriah Vellenheim, the Divine Strategist, quirked his head to the side, his smile widening.

"I don’t think you can be called nobodies anymore. You were on a mission specifically given by our council until...just now, weren’t you?"

His eyes opened slightly with a knowing expression.

"We were," Gio responded calmly.

"Actually, we had those clue cards in our hands and were on our way back to Astarune when we got the notification that the scenario was cleared."

"Hmm..."

Jeriah’s eyes narrowed as he looked over the four of them.

"I heard of what you were up to in Lyverne..."

He easily revealed that he had spies in the Old Duke’s faction, but he didn’t go anywhere with the sentence.

As he looked over the faces of all four members of the team, he wondered if his suspicions were for nothing.

After contemplating for a moment, he finally smiled and shook his head.

"You all are talented kids. Make sure to grow in...safer environments from now on," he said.

He nodded, his voice shifting into a tone befitting of a leader. He turned to walk away, but his eyes lingered on Gio for a moment.

"...I guess I was wrong about you..."

The words came out in a mutter that was infinitely close to a whisper. Still, they were meant for Gio to hear.

His eyes narrowed as he met the strategist’s gaze.

Gio was the only one unlike the rest.

While they were genuine in their confusion about how the scenario ended, he was completely aware and was, in fact, the cause.

From Jeriah’s words, it seemed like he’d been fooled into thinking Gio was just like the rest. His extraordinary aspects had been properly hidden from the man prying into them.

’That’s not the case at all.’

The two maintained eye contact for a brief second that lasted much longer before Jeriah finally turned around and walked away.

’He wasn’t looking at me.’

Their eyes were connected, but the Divine Strategist’s gaze was blurred like he was looking past Gio the entire time.

’But his focus wasn’t behind me. It was right in front of me.’

More specifically, Jeriah was looking at his aura that had jumped to Origin Level 1-5 since the last time they’d met.

As Gio watched him walk away, an ordinary man walked up to him from the side and slipped a card into his pocket.

He frowned as he took it out and read it.

’Secret service.’

He looked back up at the Divine Strategist. On the card was his contact information and a message that he certainly didn’t have the time to write.

[Call me if you want work. Just you. Leave your friends behind this time.]

’I don’t know when he was able to tell someone to write this and deliver it, but it’s definitely personalized...’

As Gio figured, the Divine Strategist’s interest had been piqued by Gio’s new strength.

’No, he was interested from the beginning. He just learned that his interest is valid, so now he has a reason to give it the time of day.’

Contacting the Divine Strategist could go either very well or very poorly depending on who his allegiances stood with.

’But I’ll have to consider him later. While I want to set some stuff up, I have to be based in Celestelle for at least the next few months until the Apocalypse Church attacks.’

"That guy’s weird. I get that he’s important and smart and stuff, but..."

Gio smiled at Shiro’s comment.

"You’re weird, too. I think everyone who had talent has to be a little weird."

"Speak for yourself, bud," Serene butted in defiantly.

"If we’re talking weirdos, then the two of you are way worse than the two of us."

She hooked her arm with Neriah’s and grinned.

Gio and Shiro looked at each other in confusion.

"You...are you sure you’re talking about the right person?"

Neriah received their blank stares with a glare while Serene chuckled sheepishly.

Before she said anything that would set Neriah off the edge, however, she was saved by another interrupting voice.

"It’s good to see all of you are okay! I got worried after not hearing anything for a week."

It was none other than Aren, Gio’s supposed uncle.

"How was it? Dangerous? Fun? Terrifying?"

His attitude was much more jovial and genuine than Jeriah’s, causing the four of them to look at him more favorably.

"It was great," Shiro said with a grin.

"I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of adventures like these."

"Agreed," Serene added.

"It was scary at times, and I’ve never felt my life being threatened this much, but once I adapted to it, I started understanding the thrill. I don’t think I’m as excited as Shiro, but..."

Aren nodded, understanding their point.

"It’s good enough that you’re excited to tackle the challenges of Sequencing. You don’t particularly have to like it, but I’ve heard that everyone who experiences real growth never regrets putting in the effort."

He gave them advice like an ordinary uncle as cars and helicopters took off from everywhere around them.

By this point, it was clear that they’d left using the same exit the allied forces chose. They were safe as long as they were surrounded by hundreds of people who would kill djinns on sight.

"...I see that all of you have grown a lot since you entered. Especially you two first years. I’m very proud of what you’ve accomplished."

Aren nodded with a smile before sweeping his gaze over them.

"So, what’s next for you all? Are you going back to the First Institute for now?"

"That’s the plan," Gio said.

"We can’t be away from Celestelle for too long. We only got permission to leave for a month."

"I see. Then you should head back soon. You only have a few days left before the deadline, right?"

"Mm," Gio hummed with a nod.

"What about you? Are you planning to visit the estate at any time soon?"

Aren shook his head wryly.

"No. There’s too much to do, but I’ll see your father a few times in the coming weeks. The closest...ah, actually, there’s a summit taking place in a few days."

Gio’s ears perked up.

"It’s not a normal thing. According to what I’ve heard, there’s a lot of buzz over several different projects in the Scientific Society at the moment. This summit is mostly a showcase for those innovations, but it’s also a place for networking, if you know what I mean."

’Scientific Society...?’

Gio frowned.

"Do you know what those innovations are? I haven’t seen anything in the news about that kind of stuff..."

"Ah, that’s because this is a private showing for potential investors. There are some big names going..."

"...One of the Head Researchers at Taurus-Roth will be there, even. Farrah Sinclair. You may not know the name, but in your third and fourth year, you’ll study a lot of the papers she put out. Her influence is what’s bringing most of the high-profile guests in."

"Oh?"

Gio reacted inadvertently.

"You know the name?" Aren responded in surprise.

"How can you get so strong and still be enough of a bookworm to know Farrah Sinclair’s name? I bet your father is very impressed by you."

Gio smiled awkwardly in response, continuing the conversation, but he was already absorbed mostly into his thoughts.

’A summit. If Farrah called for one, then the Sequence Enhancer prototypes must be done.’

She worked quickly. A showcase like the one Aren described was the perfect way to stir the pot and attract attention to what was happening in Farrah’s labs.

’And, in consequence, it’ll attract attention to me.’

Gio had to go to that summit for the sake of his growth as a researcher.

’If I can meet the right people, there’s a lot I can put into motion right now. The Sequencer side has to wait for my personal growth, but the research side only needs connections and money.’

Chatting with those who approached wasn’t an issue, but Gio was the only one who really entertained conversation.

He noticed the other three standing around awkwardly only after Aren left, but he wasn’t going to make them wait longer.

"Hold on. I’ll call a car."

He was always the one in charge of transportation. They were stuck until he decided to leave.

Fortunately, he realized their plight after only a few minutes and called for their ride.

A few days of resting in the city and a day or two of travel.

After that, they’d be back home in comfortable territory.

They had no way of knowing, did they?

The shadows beneath Celestelle had been operating at a higher frequency in the past week. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

The array being prepared there was nearing completion.

The "comfort of home" that they were expecting to find in Celestelle...

Would it really be waiting for them...?

Or would they return to find chaos reigning in the city that housed them?

No matter how much Gio hoped for a few days of downtime before anything else happened, he didn’t have the freedom to wish for such things.

The presence of a regressor only sped up the world’s timeline.

If he didn’t make a rush for Celestelle soon, the First Institute would burn to the ground for the second time.