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'Should I kill them to keep my secret?' Shang thought.

Shang was willing to make friends, but he wouldn't risk his life.

In fact, he was already surprised that he had decided to put the lives of Astor, Elver, and Sarah above the knowledge he would have gained from the Poison Adept.

If Shang had let the Poison Adept kill these three, he would have been even surer about his victory.

Shang would have only needed to act like he was running out of Mana and maybe get hit by a bit of poison on the way.

Then, he would have simply asked the Poison Adept to tell him who had commissioned him before his death.

With the Poison Adept's arrogant and talkative personality, he would have probably spilled the beans.

But when it came down to it, Shang had decided to save the lives of the three hunters.

'I already made my decision earlier. Might as well go all the way with it. If I kill them now, I would have gained none of the things I wanted.'

Then, Shang took out something from his world.

It was a Communication Crystal.

"Yes?" the voice of the Dean came out of the Communication Crystal after Shang activated it.

"I was attacked by a Cleaner," Shang said.

"How powerful?" the Dean asked.

"Mid Poison Adept," Shang said.

"So? You know that I will only help you against True Mages and Commander Stage warriors," the Dean said.

"I killed him," Shang said

"Then why are you calling me? I'm busy," the Dean said with a cold voice.

"One current student and two former students of our academy were present when I fought him. They know about my power and my Affinity," Shang explained.

"Then kill them."

The reply had come in an instant. It was like it was the most logical and obvious to the Dean.

"Is there another way?" Shang asked.

"There is, but it will be expensive for you, and it isn't without risks," the Dean answered. "Taking this option would be stupid. Don't risk your life for something as ridiculous as empathy."

At that moment, Soran shot through Shang's mind.

Soran and the Dean couldn't be further apart in their mindsets.

"I already know the third question I have-"

"Stop!" the Dean's voice suddenly said.

Then, Shang heard some movement come from the Communication Crystal.

"You can't just talk about such details over Communication Crystal," the Dean said with annoyance. "Soran was present, and I don't want to lose one of my disciples because you couldn't keep your mouth shut."

Shang took a deep breath.

"Sorry," Shang said.

"You can talk now," the Dean said.

"I already know the third question I have asked the God," Shang said.

"How?" the Dean asked.

"I tried to ask the God the same question during the trial, and he told me that he has already answered that question and that I should wait until the Commander Stage to get the answer," Shang said.

"Alright, and why are you bringing that up now? This doesn't seem related."

"My third question is: What mindset is best for reaching the top of this world," Shang answered.

Silence.

"I see," the Dean said.

The Dean remained silent for another few seconds.

"I am very confident in my mindset and my path, but I can't say that I know it better than the ruler of this world."

"I don't think my path is wrong, but if it is, it might not be the best for you to follow it."

"I take it you don't want to commit to a certain path while you know that you will get the correct answer in the future, right?" the Dean asked.

"Correct," Shang said. "I see the point in killing the three of them. It's definitely the option with the least risk."

"However, if cooperation is a more effective path, it would only damage me if I were to kill the only three people I consider friends."

"Because of that, I don't want to kill them. I want to keep all my options open," Shang explained.

"Makes sense," the Dean answered. "Fine, I will send Soran over. He will handle everything."

After the Dean said that, the connection was cut.

Shang put the Communication Crystal away and waited inside the hole in the wall.

Beside Shang lay the desecrated corpse of the Poison Adept, who Shang had referred to as a Cleaner.

A Cleaner was an agent of the Cleaning Service, and the Cleaning Service was the name of the biggest and only assassination organization in Duke Whirlwind's territory.

In comparison to what one might expect, the clients of the Cleaning Service didn't pay according to the target's strength but according to the power of the Cleaner.

If someone wanted, one could hire a True Mage to deal with an apprentice. Of course, in that case, the price would be ridiculously high.

Naturally, the Cleaning Service wouldn't accept a mission if the chances of their agent dying were above 20%.

Shang was certain that the Cleaning Service would have also accepted sending a normal Early Adept.

The fact that someone had hired a Mid Adept with a Focus meant that someone hadn't wanted to take any chances and that they had a large amount of disposable income.

They wanted Shang dead, and they were willing to pay a premium for his death!

Shang still tried to think of whoever he had offended to such a degree.

Even more, why had they only hired the Cleaning Service about six months ago?

At that point, Shang had already been training in seclusion for over two months.

If Shang had killed someone important, they would have immediately hired the Cleaning Service.

They would have never waited several months.

Even more, Shang had only been in the academy before he entered seclusion.

And before that?

'I made no enemies in Duke Whirlwind's garden. The guards were also very nice. Even if they wanted some wealth, the amount they would need to pay the Cleaning Service is far beyond everything I own.'

'I don't think it's anyone from Coldew Village. Everyone was nice, and frankly, even though they have a lot of money, they don't have the kind of money needed to hire someone as powerful as this.'

'Central Wilds? I killed three bandits, and my sled wagon punched through some walls. The guards even laughed about it.'

'Southern Wilds? I only passed through and talked to some guy about that spider.'

'The bandits? Only an insane person would send such a powerful Cleaner after someone that killed a couple of new recruits. Even more, they probably don't even know who I am.'

'The guard at Blizzard's Edge? He could theoretically have the money, but I didn't even do nearly enough damage to him. Yes, he probably got angry because he couldn't scam me out of my Ice Wood, but he wouldn't send someone that powerful after me. He would essentially throw a large amount of money out of the window without any benefit.'

'There is no one else inside Blizzard's Edge that I annoyed.'

'That only leaves Warrior's Paradise.'

'I never annoyed anyone from the Hunting Guild or any random warrior or Mage.'

'That only leaves the Warrior's Academy.'

Shang thought about his life in the academy.

'Sure, there are a couple with a good reason, but why would they wait for so long to hire someone? If I did any damage, they would have hired the Cleaning Service immediately.'

Shang could only sigh.

'I have no idea.'

At that moment, Shang heard the quiet noise of someone landing on the ground.

Shang looked over.

'Soran's here.'