RISE OF EROS-Chapter 563 - 562

Unfortunately for him, he underestimated Oliver’s strength. In fact, even Andrew’s strength, because although the assassin didn’t know that inside this establishment Andrew is like a god, Andrew was still physically stronger than him.

The assassin had barely moved when Oliver immobilized him. The assassin had taken the first step but immediately felt a force pin him to the ground, slamming him into the floor. In seconds, under this pressure, his vision darkened, and he lost consciousness.

"Take him to the dungeon and find out who his target was and who sent him," Andrew said as if this event was just another day at work.

Oliver didn’t even have to move; from the shadows, two people dressed in black appeared and took the assassin away. Several Shadow agents were hidden in the office, and although this assassin was experienced, he was no match for the Shadow agents, so he hadn’t noticed them.

Initially, the Shadow agents were relatively weak, but over time, Oliver trained them, and they became strong enough that even experts found it difficult to detect them. The current Shadow agents were on par with some of the top intelligence and espionage agencies on the continent, especially when it came to stealth. Andrew’s current strength wasn’t something to be underestimated.

After the incident, Andrew and the others interviewed more groups, and by the end of the day, one of the men who had been interviewed didn’t leave. Instead, he said, "Sir, honestly, I didn’t come to apply for a job. My intention is to speak with you."

Andrew already knew that this man’s intentions weren’t to get the job, but he hadn’t said anything. Since the man revealed his true motives, Andrew decided to listen. The man respectfully said, "Mr. Andrew, I am a member of the Rutsu Merchants Association, and I would like to propose a business deal."

Although Andrew wasn’t very familiar with this organization, he had some information about it. Damon hadn’t been able to convince him to accept help by sending vampires, but he had given Andrew a detailed document on various important individuals and organizations to be aware of.

The Rutsu Merchants Association was a well-known company specializing in the sale of high-level slaves—not just any slaves, but high-quality ones. In short, they focused on quality over quantity.

Even though they had a somewhat shady background, according to Damon’s information, they were serious about their business. Taking this into account, Andrew didn’t dismiss the man but instead asked, "What kind of business?"

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"I assume Mr. Andrew is already familiar with our line of work, so I won’t beat around the bush. Are you interested in high-level slaves?" the man said, and Andrew responded, "When you say high-level, what do you mean?"

Seeing that Andrew was interested, the man said, "You name it. Beauties, strong soldiers, people with special skills—tell me what you need, and I’ll see if we can meet your request."

Andrew narrowed his eyes and asked, "What did you say your name was?" to which the man responded with a slight bow, "Rutsu". Andrew was surprised and said, "I can’t believe the head himself came," to which the man replied, "I can’t send just anyone to negotiate with a high-level client."

"What makes you think that?" Andrew asked, knowing that his question was a bit foolish. There wasn’t a single person in the city who didn’t know about his relationship with the duke and his family, so it was obvious that he was an important figure.

The reason he asked was that Andrew was using his Eros Eyes to observe Rutsu, and as the conversation progressed, he could better evaluate his aura and determine if his intentions were purely business or something else.

While it’s difficult to hide one’s true intentions from their aura, sometimes identifying them isn’t so simple, as not all auras are straightforward. Intelligent, powerful, and experienced individuals often have auras with multiple forms and colors, making them difficult to read.

Previously, Andrew hadn’t known this, but he discovered it after meeting powerful figures like Elidyr, Zaros, and the old woman Lugia. While there’s a dominant aura that shows what they really want, Zaros showed him that crafty individuals could deceive him by changing the shape and color of their aura at will.

When Andrew saw this, he couldn’t help but think that his Eros Eyes weren’t as reliable as he thought. But Zaros had told him that it was impossible for anyone who didn’t know Andrew was a candidate for godhood to manipulate their aura like this.

According to Zaros, there isn’t a single god, no matter their domain, who doesn’t possess special eyes. This was known to everyone who survived the war and had encountered many gods and candidates for godhood.

Therefore, with the simple trick of changing their aura, it was easy to fool people. As a god, it’s difficult for a mortal could do it to him, but as a candidate for godhood with incomplete abilities, it’s possible.

For this reason, Andrew was now more cautious when observing important individuals, and he had concluded that Rutsu was one of them. Surprisingly, as the conversation progressed, Rutsu’s aura didn’t fluctuate.

While it had a mosaic of shapes and colors, the dominant one was his desire to negotiate, which reassured Andrew a bit. Even so, he didn’t finalize any deals at that moment, as it wasn’t appropriate, and he couldn’t think of anything he needed at the time.

"Mr. Rutsu, I appreciate your offer, but as you can see, I’m a bit busy with the opening of my business, and I don’t need anything at the moment. However, I don’t rule out future cooperation," Andrew said calmly.

It was true that he wasn’t interested right now, but one never knows what they might need in the future, so he didn’t close the door completely. Rutsu wasn’t disappointed either, as he expected this kind of outcome.

He was a man of great experience and knew that presenting himself in this way was unlikely to secure a deal right away. Still, that wasn’t his intention. What he sought was to make himself known.

Rutsu is a businessman who understood the power of relationships and long-term business. While more sales generate more money, one can’t always chase after money, and this time, what he sought was simply to get on Andrew’s radar.

It was a long-term strategy because when Andrew thought of needing a slave, he would think of him. It was a dangerous plan, but based on how the conversation had gone, Rutsu left satisfied, knowing he had achieved his goal.

Since that was the last group of people they would interview for the day, Andrew and the others sat down to rest. The amount of staff they needed was massive, and the number of applicants was even larger, so it was impossible to do everything in one day. Continue your journey on novelbuddy

According to Andrew’s calculations, it would take at least three days to complete the interviews, but they couldn’t relax on this, as they needed to prevent any suspicious individuals from infiltrating their enterprise.

The three of them chatted about the applicants they had interviewed and other matters related to the hiring process, but they were interrupted by a Shadow agent. As usual, the Shadow agent appeared from the shadows, bowed respectfully, and said, "Young master, we’ve discovered the information about the man who attacked you."

Andrew was surprised by how quickly they had extracted the information, but he didn’t ask how they had done it. Honestly, Andrew didn’t want to know, as he suspected the method wasn’t orthodox—in fact, it was likely very cruel.

"Tell me," was all Andrew said, and the Shadow agent began to explain, "The man goes by the name of Daggar, though according to his words, he doesn’t remember his real name."

The Shadow agent paused briefly and added, "He was born in the slums of the country of Ríos and moved to the duchy in search of opportunities, where he learned the art of assassination."

Pausing again, the Shadow agent took a breath before continuing, "He joined an organization called the Black Wings, whose headquarters are not in this duchy, but in the kingdom of Bastilla."

"Bastilla?" Oliver asked, confused, as he knew that kingdom was quite far from the Duchy of Cannes, and it seemed odd. The Shadow agent understood Oliver’s concerns and continued.

"It seems this organization has many agents in the southern region of the continent. The only place they don’t have access to is the demon kingdom," said the agent, quickly adding, "The point is that this organization handles high-level assassination contracts."

"So, he was hired to kill me," Andrew murmured, understanding what had happened. The Shadow agent nodded and added, "That’s correct, but according to Daggar, the client placed the request at the organization’s headquarters, and from there, the job was assigned to him."

This revelation made everyone frown, as they couldn’t understand how someone would place a hit on Andrew from the kingdom of Bastilla when they had never been there. The agent, sensing their concerns, continued, "Daggar doesn’t know either. He doesn’t know the client, as the order came from one of his superiors in the organization."

This worried them, as it seemed someone wanted Andrew dead, but they had no leads. Andrew looked at Oliver and said, "Send some agents to Bastilla, find out about this organization, and discover who our enemy is."

Oliver nodded, and although they all knew this wouldn’t be an easy task, it was better than doing nothing. So, they decided to at least try to clarify the situation. With that settled, Andrew looked at the Shadow agent and said, "If there’s no more information, dispose of Daggar."