Just like it had the other times he had made use of a teleportation circle, the journey seemed almost instantaneous and he was once again inside the building that housed the teleportation circle.

An attendant stepped up to him but Hal did not wait for him to speak before he said,

"I won't be stating my name"

The attendant nodded and with a flash of the scroll in his hands, Hal's image was taken.

Then he moved out of Hal's way so that he could leave the building.

Once outside, Hal contacted Karmen and Arya so that they knew he was back.

Through the communication, he knew the Alchemist organization was now showing tendencies of moving their search outside of the vast Silva Duchy capital to and look for him in the Duchy at large.

At first, Hal found it a little curious that they were going to all this means just for him but it did not take long for him to find his answer which was all about him now being a rank four alchemist.

The alchemist organization branch in the Silva duchy was not searching for him as a charity case but to secure their chance at actually coming out in top in the Alchemist convention.

"Damn it!" Hal swore.

He was not sure exactly how he should feel about the interest the Alchemist organization seemed to now be having in him. It would make it hard to keep a low profile and also be a sure-fire way for him to get idiots who would consider themselves his rival.

All the same, he needed to go over to the Alchemist organization and let them know he was fine. He felt it was better he did so personally as opposed to having Karmen or even Arya do it.

He was still thinking about this when a carriage stopped right in front of him. The door opened and Ehrlich's voice called out,

"Get in" he said.

Hal smiled and shook his head but he still got in and was seated in front of Ehrlich in the carriage as it trudged off towards a location, the buff man had not yet divulged.

For minutes after Hal got into the carriage, Ehrlich did not say anything and Hal decided he might as well be the one to begin a conversation or more accurately...

"Where are we going?"

... ask for information.

Ehrlich had been looking out the window since Hal entered the carriage and only now did he actually face Hal and sighed,

"The princess wishes to speak to you" he said.

"The princess? I thought she returned to the imperial city" Hal said and Ehrlich sneered,

"Don't delude yourself into believing you know her highness' whereabouts" he said.

Hal simply shrugged,

"I wasn't deluding myself. I only said that because it was where she said she would be when I last spoke to her. And if I remember correctly, you were there when she said it."

Ehrlich snorted,

"Well, she returned to listen to your report first hand. Something about how it was actually you who received valuable information directly from Beldar and hearing it from me sounds off"

The last part of those words was said through gritted teeth.

Hal, however, could not really be bothered to care about how Ehrlich felt as he chuckled,

"Ah yes, that sounds about right."

...

Dane Residence...

Isabella's Study...

Isabella Dane was seated behind her desk with Devon in front of her while she activated her communication talisman which had just alerted her and interrupted the conversation between mother and Son which had just started,

"He's here" a voice said out of the talisman.

"Are you certain?" Isabella asked.

"Yes, Patroness, I am sure. He came through a teleportation circle"

"Good work" Isabella said and deactivated the talisman before the one on the other side of the connection could say another word.

Devon's eyes were narrowed as his mother put the communication talisman into her spatial ring,

"Mother, what was that about?" He asked.

Isabella looked up at him with a slight smile on her beautiful face,

"I had someone be on the lookout for that Hal boy" she said.

"Why?" Devon was incredulous.

He already knew Hal was 'missing' and that he had been taken from the Alchemist organization building. In fact, it could be argued that he knew right about the time his mother was informed.

He had his own way of sourcing out information and was hardly ever truly in the dark.

His silence was not because he was In the dark but because he just didn't give a crap.

"Because after much consideration, I have decided that my assessment might have been a tad bit rushed. We should allow a little bit of leeway." Isabella said with a sigh.

Devon's eyes widened,

"You can't be serious" he said.

"I assure you that I am" she replied.

Devon sat forward in his chair while he gripped the arms tightly,

"Mother, this makes no sense." He said.

Isabella chuckled lightly,

"And why is that? Where he is from? You can be rest assured that I have had his former home investigated and from all I have gathered, he truly did grow up there and was born to a local man and an unknown woman.

And yet, he has come this far already. He has potential and maybe it's high time we stop ignoring that." She said.

"Well, I will not have it" Devon insisted.

"And why not?" She asked him.

Devon frowned,

"Simple, I don't like him. That should be enough" he said.

Isabella shrugged,

"Well, you should work on that issue on a personal level" she told him.

For a while Devon was silent and eventually, he took a deep breath,

"I don't have a say in this decision?" He asked tentatively.

Isabella smiled lightly,

"Of course you have a say. This is my decision and not yours. You are still free to do whatever you want. You can be staunchly against it if that's what pleases you.

Just know that it will not change my decision to reevaluate their relationship in a positive light." She said.

Devon narrowed his eyes at his mother. He was quite sure she was planning something and this was just another part of a grand scheme. In fact, he could already see a part of the scheme and could see he was a major pawn in it...

... Needless to say, he did not like it.

That said, he was ready to embrace it to some extent,

"I am allowed to make my own consensus. And my own decision regarding this matter?" He asked in a calm voice.

Isabella grinned as she could see her ploy was successful,

"I wouldn't have it any other way"

...

Rose Petal Restaurant...

Upon arrival, Ehrlich exited the carriage and led the way into the restaurant and the backroom where Hal had had his previous meeting with Tanya, who after Hal observed the absence of the Elder, he also observed, despite the veil covering the lower part of his face, that she looked grim upon their arrival.

Hal did not understand why she looked that way and did not feel the need to let that stop him from smiling amicably at her as he took his seat in front of her.

Ehrlich who remained on his feet since he entered, frowned at Hal's action and with his perception spread, Hal noticed but easily chose to ignore it.

"So, your highness, what's with the long face?" He asked Tanya with a grin.

Tanya in turn narrowed her brows at him,

"It turns out our continent was infiltrated and in a fairly easy manner from what I have been told and that the only one capable of giving us information on the holes in the continent's security was killed by you.

With all this, is it still surprising that I am grim?"