Chapter 86: 86: The conference from hell [pt3]
He had sat down and looked at all the pros and cons of his situation before he had accepted any of the offers that had been made to him. He was a cautious man overall.
But there was something about this stranger that gave off positive vibes to Ashely Tunner. This stranger made Ashely feel as if they were on the same side. And that was why Ashely Tunner decided to give this man a chance to prove his worth.
"you said that we are on the same side? How so? And what can you offer me in return for my help?"
Ashley Tunner turned the situation around. He went from being helped to the one helping this man out. It caused the man in front of him to smirk in amusement, but he did not say anything outright.
Instead, this man held out his hand and there was a small test tube held in that open palm.
"You are interested in chimera\'s, right? Then, what if I told you that could be closer to one? All you must do is ingest this potion and you will be able to achieve your dream."
The man offered the vial to Ashely Tunner and he took the vial. It had a pinkish medicine inside that looked like cough medicine.
Just looking at that thick liquid that hardly moved in that vial, it was easy to tell that this thing was not natural.
But Ashely Tunner was still fascinated by this medicine.
"If I take this medicine, I will get one step closer to a chimera. That\'s what you want to tell me, right?"
Ashley confirmed with a firm voice. He was not going to back down from his questioning but he was also certain that his question was right.
As he expected, the man in front of him did not seem taken aback. If anything, the smirk on the stranger\'s face was even wider than before.
"Hmm, you will know the effect of this medicine once you take it. But I will give you only one vial and you will be silenced if you ever talk about it. So be careful in choosing what to do next."
Ashley Tunner was not afraid. His whole life had been dedicated to the chimeras now. If this small medicine helped him get closer to his end goal, then he will not hesitate to get close to one.
"Tell me what I need to know about this vial and what you want me to do in return. I cannot promise you that I will help you out, but I can at least hear you out."
Ashley Tunner\'s interest had peaked. He wanted to know more and that would be his downfall.
"What do you need to do for me in return? Well, it is simple. You need to get me Yoko Tsurugi. I don\'t care if you bring her back half-dead or fully capable. Just make sure she is alive."
Ashley Tunner\'s insides turned cold in rage. His hands were fisted at his side to control himself.
He could not believe that Yoko Tsurugi was his opponent once more. Just hearing that name brought back nightmares for Ashely.
"So, do you want this vial or not? Will you do as I asked of you?"
Ashley felt as if he had no choice. He needed this vial at any cost. And besides, this man said that he needed Yoko Tsurugi \'alive.\' And Ashely could do anything to the female if she did not die.
That was a good trade for him and he was willing to take it.
"Alright, I will help you out. Now give me this vial and I will be on my way."
Ashley snatched the vial out of this stranger\'s hand and decided to use it later. He had a guest lecture to appear at.
Now that his first plan had failed, he will need to do some damage control to not lose his following. He needed to make sure he still had the public sentiment in his hand when he went against Yoko next.
As Ashely Tunner walked away, the smile on the kind stranger\'s face was replaced by a mocking grin.
"So easy. I heard Ashely Tunner was a genius, but now I can see that he is just an overhyped man who lost his head. Things will not turn out well for him."
The stranger spoke this into the empty air before he disappeared in a flash of light.
...…..
Amane barely reached her home when she felt an annoying presence waiting for her in front of her storage hall.
"Yoko Tsurugi, you caused our family reputation to go down. I am afraid that we will need to take strict actions against you now."
Elder Dao blocked Amane\'s way with his firm stance. He was not alone and had a few more elders behind him.
It seemed as if these elders had heard what happened yesterday and decided to band together to complain against Amane. It was annoying but she had also expected this outcome.
"You all sure get news fast. Then, you all must also know that my name has been cleared. And if not today, then it will be cleared up by tomorrow."
The elders tensed up since they had not heard this news yet. But now that they had, they do not know what to say.
Most of them had followed Elder Dao and Elder Hana\'s lead and showed up to support these two. But the sudden reversal of the roles had caused them to realize how wrong they were.
"Y-You stupid girl. It does not matter if your name has been cleared up or not. This black stain will not come off so easily. The public will always remember this case and…"
"They will sympathize with me. I will make sure to spin this situation in such a way that favors me. I am not an idiot after all."
Elder Dao\'s head hurt and his annoyance level shot up. He had wanted to see Yoko in trouble but this girl refused to go down.
Elder Dao had even paid a lot of reporters to create trouble for Yoko during the conference but the results had ended up as completely different than expected.
Who knew Yoko Tsurugi was so close to the divine leader? If the elders had known then they would have painted this situation differently.
"Anyway, you all should not be here. You know that the beasts do not like your presence. I will not be able to save you if they decided to attack you in my absence."
Amane warned the elders and a lot of them tensed up.
They had been so busy trying to get Amane into trouble that they had even forgotten what kind of place they were at.
As soon as Amane finished speaking, there was a roar from inside the hall and the poison drake looked outside.
As soon as its eyes fell on the council of elders, the poison drake tried to break free and kill them all.
Some faint-hearted elders felt their knees go weak and they collapsed to the ground. Even Elder Hana and Elder Dao were tense.
"Yoko Tsurugi, is this your doing? Hold the poison drake back so that it does not harm anyone. If even one person gets harmed then…"
"It will not be my fault. You people are the ones who tried to go near the poison drake despite my insistence not to go near it. So, it would also be your fault if an incident happens."
Amane shifted the blame to the other party. The elders had no choice but to back down now.
Amane let out a relieved sigh as soon as the elders left her alone. Those people could cause Amane a lot of headaches in the future.
"Fuck those people. I can never guess what goes on inside their mind. Anyway, my work here is done so I should head out as well now."
There was a lot to be done right now. Most importantly, Amane needed to find out the connection between the chimera and the Hive. Hive was proving to be an issue for her now.
"Somehow, I do not get a good feeling every time I think about this organization. I wonder who is heading it and what they want."
Amane had a few guesses about the identity of the main head of Hive. But she hoped that she was wrong.
"Yoko, you have an important call for you. The girl you saved yesterday wants to meet you. It seems like she remembered something but she only wants to talk to you about it. Will you go and hear her out?"
Sakura arrived at the hall as well and looked inside. She had an understanding expression on her face when she looked at Amane\'s annoyed expression.