Chapter 172: The Black Card
"So what are you going to do with me?..."
Alen sat there on the broken floor while folding his arms. He had no choice but to be polite with the powerful woman sitting in front of him.
Sylvia looked down toward him calmly, and answered with a hint of curiosity.
"What was that power you used earlier?..."
Alen blinked, as he immediately tried to play dumb.
"What did I use?"
Sylvia looked at him with a blank face. She just stared at him without speaking, waiting for him to seek a real answer. As she tapped her finger patiently on the armrest of the couch, with each tap, the cloth covering the couch burned away right on that spot.
Alen swallowed heavily and answered honestly.
"I don’t know... It was a power of my bond... What exactly it is, I don’t really know..."
Sylvia tilted her head as her curiosity piqued at his vague words.
"Oh, that is fascinating... Can you show me that power again?..."
Alen looked at her and shook his head firmly.
"Nope. My bond is sleeping right now, so I can’t show it..."
Sylvia couldn’t help but frown at his blatant rejection.
"Do you know, if you want to stay alive in here, you have to answer every one of my questions...."
"What will you get from my answer? It is not like you can forcibly take it from me if you like it...."
A small, dangerous smile curved on her lips as her golden eyes sparkled.
"Oh, do you really think I can’t? Why are you so sure of that?..."
Alen couldn’t help but feel a chill run down his spine. He kept his face blank, not wanting to show his real, panicked expression to her.
"Oh, is that so? Well, I am afraid that is not possible right now. Can you come to the point?..."
Sylvia looked at him for a tense second. Alen felt like she was genuinely going to try and extract the power from him right then and there. But she sank back on the couch and casually gestured for him to take the seat opposite to her.
Alen couldn’t help but feel surprised at her sudden generosity. She was offering the criminal—who just a few seconds ago was actively killing the guards of the city—a warm, comfortable seat in her own private office to sit on. He immediately accepted the offer, stood up from the ruined floor, and sank calmly onto the seat while looking at her, keeping his mouth silent.
"Show me that energy..."
Alen sighed. As his patience was thinning out, he finally let go. He raised his hand, and the Crimson Essence started to swirl ominously around his palm.
Sylvia just looked at the ring of Crimson Essence forming around his palm. Her maid bowed slightly and whispered something quietly inside her ear, thinking that Alen couldn’t hear her.
But alas, his enhanced hearing was so strong that he could hear her whisper as clearly as the medium volume of a television.
"He was also able to block my attack with that exact power."
Alen didn’t know how much stronger the maid exactly was, but judging by how effortlessly she had dragged him through the sky, she was far too strong for him. He couldn’t beat her in a fight; he could feel that deep in his bones.
As Alen pulled back the Crimson Essence and slumped his hand casually on the couch, he waited for her reaction.
Sylvia pursed her lips, analyzing the earlier energy she had just witnessed. She could feel something was definitely wrong with that power. She couldn’t quite name it, but she still felt that the crimson power was actively affecting the natural laws of the world, even to a meager level.
She finally looked up at him with narrowing, sharp eyes.
"Who are you? Where did you come from?"
Alen straightened his back, keeping his tone perfectly confident. This was the exact moment which would decide if he was going to get thrown into a dungeon or safely leave this place.
"I am Alen. A simple wanderer who just likes to travel around the world. For fun..."
Sylvia narrowed her eyes, as he didn’t quite look like a normal wanderer from his appearance. But she nodded slowly and asked.
"So, since you have been declared as a criminal out there, you must have been unregistered by the Association. Can I hear any of your excuses for that?..."
Alen paused, not able to immediately reply to her question. What could he even tell her? It wasn’t like he could tell her the truth that he wasn’t originally from this world. It was his deepest secret; even Ravena, who was his soul bond, didn’t know about that fact.
"I... I just didn’t know it was really required to attempt the trial... I didn’t know..."
It was a half-truth. He really had been completely unaware about all the registration stuff; no one was there to tell him and talk about that. It was obvious to the public that you have to be registered to the Association, unless you were a wanted criminal. But for him, this basic information was impossible to learn.
Even the public libraries don’t contain simple, everyday information like that.
Sylvia looked at him surprised, as if he had lost his memory. It was common knowledge in the public to know about such a simple thing, so she couldn’t buy his flimsy answer.
"What proof do you have to show that your words are actually true?..."
Alen remained silent for a tense moment, thinking deeply about how to get out of this situation. Suddenly, he remembered something. He had held onto it for a long time, but he had mostly ignored it. Now, it could come in some actual use.
He checked his pocket, took out a spatial storage ring, and imbued his mana into it. A black card appeared seamlessly in his hand.
The card was pitch black with a golden imprinting of a star right at the very center, shining slightly from the reflection of the sun.
"Maybe this might help to confirm my identity..." Alen pushed the black card across the table in front of her, silently praying that it might be helpful in saving his skin.
Sylvia stared at the black card with a completely blank face. She didn’t touch it; she already knew exactly what it was. Her eyes turned toward him.
"Who gave you that thing?"
Alen tapped his lips in thought, as he had seriously forgotten the name of the important guy who had actually given it to him.
"Well... I forget the name.... It was Serene’s father..."
Sylvia looked at him as if she was looking at some bizarre alien coming from another world. He didn’t even know the name of ’The Supreme Sage’, a figure who was incredibly famous around the whole world.
"Did Damian give you this? When? Why?..."
"Ah—yes, I remember now! Damian was his name. He just gave it to me, because.... Well, because... I don’t know. Maybe because he likes me?"
He answered innocently, as he didn’t want to reveal the fact that he had secretly met him in a hospital in the city. It might create massive problems for him if she found out that he, a man who holds incredible power, was sneaking into another Sage’s territory.
"I don’t remember Damian hiding a secret son..."
Alen’s face turned blank at her assuming words. He replied quickly before the misunderstanding could increase further.
"No, I am not his son! I mean, I had just met Serene, his daughter, and had gone into a trial with her once or twice. So I got to meet him, and that is how we got to know each other..."
"Hmm... Well, that sounds a bit more logical... Okay, Clora. Call the Association and make sure to tell them that they have a misunderstanding with an identity. Arrange to call someone among them to send an official over for his registration."
Clora, the maid standing beside her, nodded as she walked away from the room, casting one sharp look at him before leaving.
Alen finally sighed in relief, as the immediate danger was done for. Now that he was safe, he leaned back comfortably on the couch.
"Can’t I just roam around without being registered while showing this black card around...?" Alen asked curiously, as he genuinely didn’t know what that specific card was actually for.
"Do you wish to get targeted by all the criminals all over the world? If yes, then you can do that too..."
Alen pursed his lips as he realized the weight of the situation without her needing to explain it further.
The thing was, if that card was really that valuable, then all the dangerous criminals around here who might get the information that he owns it now will constantly chase after him to steal it.
"But what exactly is that card? What is it exactly used for?..."
Sylvia leaned back on the couch calmly, folding her hands together.
"You don’t know? Well, it seems he didn’t tell you the details..."
"Well, about that black card. You can consider that a kind of VIP card which is only given to every Sage. With this, you could practically buy anything. It contains unlimited wealth, and with this, you get special privileges wherever you go... There are many more benefits, which you might learn later on..."
Alen stared blankly at the black card and then at her. He realized that he literally had unlimited wealth sitting in his pocket all this time, and yet he was out there scamming other people just to earn some cash.
He quickly calmed his shocked expression as he shook off the sudden feeling of greediness.
’No, I can’t keep it with me. I should return it to him. I don’t deserve to use it for my own benefits. He had earned that as a sign of respect after becoming a Sage; I shouldn’t keep it for myself...’
Alen nodded as he took the card and put it safely back inside the storage ring, and then threw that storage ring safely into his Shadow Inventory.
Alen noticed that Sylvia was quietly analyzing his every movement.
"Then can I leave this place?.."
Sylvia looked at him with an expressionless face and answered.
"No. Not yet. Unless you want to go roam around the city and get caught by the guards again...?"
Alen nodded calmly, accepting his temporary confinement.
"My son is also your exact age. It seems he must have been sleeping around right now. You can meet him after he wakes up, and teach him some stuff, as he is currently preparing for his last trial of Stage 1... You seem to have already become a Walker, even fighting effortlessly against several of them..."
She looked at him, finding his strength and background highly fascinating.
"Me? Teaching? Nah, that can’t happen. I don’t know how to teach, sorry..."
Alen stood up, completely uninterested in the idea of teaching someone else when there were no apparent benefits he was going to get out of it.
"Oh, that’s too bad. Should I just call the Association to come and arrest you?"
Alen stared blankly at her blackmailing figure.
’Damn it...’
He stepped back and walked toward the office door, glancing back at her for the last time as he held the handle.
"Can I at least roam around the mansion?"
Sylvia’s lips curved slightly as she replied.
"Of course..."
As he opened the door and walked out, silence filled around the spacious room. This time, it was peaceful. Sylvia’s gaze cast toward the shattered floor as the curve on her lips remained perfectly still.
"He didn’t feel intimidated..."