A day ago, two hours after Compass Carburettor had declared Krager as his next target, Grisha reached the fortress near Feora City.
She hid in a secluded location within the forest on the nearby hill, remaining hidden as she began to pray, using the same means as Compass Carburettor. But, the target of her prayers was the Conspiracy Slayer System.
'Let's engage in a trade. Not only wouldn't you be targeted by our Slayer, but you'll also be supported to grow faster.' She repeated the same thought over and over.
…
'What are they planning now?' The Conspiracy Slayer System frowned, obviously having gone through the Mental Energy generated by Grisha already. It wasn't like the Coincidental Luck System, only have a smaller source of Mental Energy gushing into it.
So, by the second time Grisha repeated her statement, it had already grasped and comprehended it. Immediately after that, it was worried, wondering if it was a trap. Normally, it needn't worry about something like this.
After all, it was the Conspiracy Slayer System. Any matter of trap would be laid apparent before it. But ever since it fell prey to Compass Carburettor's scheme and caused Ianon to develop absolute distrust towards it, the Conspiracy Slayer System had lost all initiative.
At present, it was a mere puppet, left with no other choice but to passively watch whatever Ianon did. Honestly speaking, it wasn't left with no options. If it chose to, it could return to the System World anytime.
But, opening the portal consumed a hundred thousand Mental Energy, something that was a hefty cost for it too. And, if it tried to do that before it gathered enough Mental Energy from this world, it wouldn't be able to stomach the loss.
For a strong System, a hundred thousand Mental Energy wasn't much. But for a Hatchling System, it was a hefty sum. It had to be noted that obtaining such an amount took at least a decade or two.
And, if the System suffered some losses in the meantime due to the obvious foolishness of their Host, this profit margin would fall further.
This was the reason it was putting up with Ianon, unwilling to return to the System World. After all, despite everything, it was still earning Mental Energy. At least, Ianon hadn't blocked it in that aspect, obviously because he was ignorant about the concept of Mental Energy.
So in the end, the Conspiracy Slayer System was unable to use any of its abilities now, fearing that it would fall into a trap.
'But, my Host isn't an idiot. And if he actually falls into a trap, I could help him and try to salvage my situation. Who knows, this might actually give me a beneficial result in the end.' Thinking as such, it initiated contact with Ianon.
[Host, Grisha, the lady that had accompanied Compass Carburettor is requesting to meet with you]
'Is that the truth?' Ianon frowned, 'Or, are you planning to trap me and get me killed?'
[If you die, my death too is guaranteed. So, I won't do that. But, I cannot say with assurance if there is a trap or not. You should determine that with your abilities]
'Fair enough.' Ianon smiled, closing the book that he was looking at, causing it to vanish, "I've pretty much figured out what has been happening here anyway. The situation with Rhizen is pretty murky, huh. Calling them Devils is a pretty perfect analogy."
Obviously, as the Host to the Conspiracy Slayer System, ever since he met Compass Carburettor and Dwun, Ianon had been wondering about a lot of things. And after that, he began to look into things, starting from Rhizen.
Immediately after that, he was pretty shocked when he discovered the truth about the Chenger that was next to him. Though, he didn't utter a word about that and continued forth with his investigation.
He left the fortress, returned to the villa that Rhizen had bought and fortified. Upon seeing the destruction to the place, he looked into the debris, gathering clues that allowed him to understand things better.
After that, he trailed after the tracks left there, eventually finding Shyvern's group, spying on them to gather all the information. He also used his abilities to tap into various records in the public service stations, gathering all the data related to the individuals there.
And, he was also there when Compass Carburettor had attacked them to kidnap Jionerd and Zach, understanding Grisha's statement on that day when she didn't seem worried about Compass Carburettor's potential death at Dwun's attack.
By then, he had already arrived at the truth about the Systems. Though he wasn't aware of details related to System World and such, he was at least privy to the fact that Systems entered the bodies of certain individuals with a certain purpose.
When he had asked the Conspiracy Slayer System about it, he was met with silence. But, ever since he saw Compass Carburettor target two System Hosts, he was aware that the other party had also sensed his existence.
And he was waiting to be contacted. And now that Grisha had done so, he smiled, already ready. Summoning his short sword, he allowed it to carry him through the air as he landed in a nearby forest and made his way towards Grisha, easily detecting her position.
"You called me?" He asked, stopping a couple metres before Grisha.
"In truth, I wish to speak with the entity inside you." Grisha said, "Can you relay everything it says?"
[I'm fine with it]
"It says it's fine with it." Ianon nodded, curious about what she wished to say.
"This is what my Lord had proposed." Grisha took in a deep breath before stating everything that she was told to say, "A hundred thousand Mental Energy. That's your payment for every devil you kill. And, a ten thousand Mental Energy every time you leak the schemes of those in that group behind you. Of course, all of them would be paid to you immediately."
[This…]
The Conspiracy Slayer System was shocked at the generous offer. Ianon heard it mumble nonstop like a drunkard, surprised at the terms Grisha listed, making him realise that he hadn't delved into the depth of the scheme that he had uncovered yet.
Honestly, it made him excited as he focused on every single word Grisha uttered and anticipated the Conspiracy Slayer System's reaction.. Soon after, his eyes widened in surprise.