Rogue Villain-Chapter 297: Coincidence

"Yeah, there’s no way that’s a coincidence."

To top it all off, that beautiful, angelic woman who helped The Hero put an end to the Blood Moon went by the name of Kara. It wasn’t Karandiel, but it was too close for it to be a coincidence.

"My lord...?"

"This Kara person is who we’re looking for. Did either of you find a way to get in touch with her?"

Ackster looked between Kargas and Mara while eating. It was ordinary food that he hadn’t eaten in years. But it was more bland than he had expected, even if the restaurant was packed with people clamoring about how delicious it was.

"Are you sure? As far as I could find out, this Kara person is very closed-off. Although she helped stop the Blood Moon disaster and continues helping out wherever she’s needed, she barely talks, and she has a very cold personality. How are we supposed to get her to hear us out?"

"Don’t worry about that. We go way back. Just tell Kara that Brian is looking for her. That should do the trick."

Ackster spoke with confidence, but he couldn’t help but be worried that Karandiel had forgotten about him or wouldn’t believe them since she should have assumed he died in the ant’s nest to save her.

However, no one except the two of them should know the contents of their conversation after Ackster picked her up when she fell to the mortal world. So, it was worth a shot.

"I’ll see what I can do."

Although Kargas was only a figurehead for the Guild since he was crazy—strong but crazy—he still had access to a bunch of connections that he could use to get Karandiel a message.

"Just let me do it. Your reputation is still pretty messy, Guildmaster."

Kargas looked at Wilma before turning his gaze to Ackster, asking what to do. Ackster gave a slight nod before turning to face Wilma, who had entered the restaurant and found their table.

"I guess you don’t have any trouble recognizing me, then?"

Ackster smiled and met Wilma’s frown, surprisingly relieved that she hadn’t been troubled by his new appearance.

"Sure. Here it is."

Wilma handed over Mio, who leaped into Ackster’s arms with an expectant jiggle. With a sigh, Ackster used his nails to peel off a strip of flesh from his arm and give it to Mio.

Kargas was the only one who gave Ackster a strange look before he noticed Wilma and Mara already seemed used to it. He was a little curious about what was going on, but the wound on Ackster’s arm was already gone, so he didn’t say anything.

"Do you need anything else?"

Wilma sounded like she wasn’t expecting anything and hoped Ackster wouldn’t ask for more.

"...No. Mio and a meeting with Kara will be all, thanks."

Wilma was not over Ackster’s decision. But she didn’t say anything more before leaving.

"I’ll be in touch."

But Wilma was inwardly a little surprised. Kargas seemed deferent to Ackster, and the two of them were a lot stronger than when she had last seen them, especially Ackster. She couldn’t get a read on him anymore. And it wasn’t just her.

Wilma realized that she had forgotten something and returned to Ackster’s table.

"I forgot to mention it, but someone wants to meet you."

"Who?"

"I can’t tell you, but it’s not dangerous. Let me know when you have time."

"I have time right now."

"Okay."

Ackster and his two party members got up and paid for their meal before leaving with Wilma to go outside the city, where she had parked her hot air balloon.

"I can fly us, My lord."

Mara had noticed the awkward atmosphere between Ackster and Wilma and offered an alternative to being cramped together in the balloon’s basket. But Wilma rejected Mara’s offer before Ackster could answer.

"Don’t bother. You won’t be able to enter where we’re going."

"Where are we going?"

A little intrigued, Ackster asked. He would have wanted to focus on his mission. But since he was going to wait for Karandiel since he didn’t know where she was, he might as well pass the time and do Wilma a favor. Besides, she seemed to hold a lot of respect for the person who wanted to meet him.

Ackster was also confident that not just any person would be in a position to request a meeting with him. The Guild’s higher-ups most likely knew a thing or two about his identity and strength. But it wasn’t like he belonged to the Guild, and he trusted Wilma to keep what he wanted secret secret.

While they rode the balloon, Ackster wondered who it might be while also trying to train his Ichor.

He could train it to some degree by training his Will, mana, and vitality at the same time, but it wasn’t perfect. To a certain degree, it even felt like he was upsetting a delicate balance or tainting the Ichor by doing so.

However, Ackster discovered he could train his Will, mana, and vitality independently of the Ichor. So, he regained his three sources and their independence. He had to start over with his mana and Will, but they grew at a tremendous pace.

And with Vitality, he just had to break its connection with his marble of Ichor to release an endless spring of vitality into his body. With Stubborn Well-Being reaching Ex-rank and the refined power of Diamond Body, Ackster had more and better vitality than ever before, even without it building up in his body.

Although it wasn’t much, his three sources did more outside the marble than within his Ichor. His Ichor had already reached too high of a level for the paltry mana, Will, and vitality to do anything.

The other three in the basket noticed Ackster’s power fluctuating as he grew stronger before he suppressed it and controlled it until he seemed like an ordinary man—very handsome with well-defined muscles, but ordinary nonetheless.

Wilma sighed. Mara’s eyes lit up. And Kargas nodded. Following Ackster was the right choice.