Red was quick to make the association between the talismans and another puzzling matter in his mind. Domeron and Goulth had a frown on their faces too. Only Allen was staring at the items in confusion.

The young master looked at the rest of them and asked. “Why would they need so many communication talismans?”

No one responded to his question.

Eventually, though, Goulth whistled in wonder. “This is enough to arm a small army.”

Domeron nodded. “Or a few hundred bandits.”

Allen’s eyes finally widened in realization. “You mean to say this was how the bandits were communicating with each other?”

“We don’t know.” the swordsman shook his head. “It would be very convenient if so many of these talismans just so happen to be found in our town, though.”

Indeed, this reminded Red of their encounter with the bandits a week ago. Back then, the brigands were moving with extraordinary organization to surround the sect members. It was as if they could relay their prey’s position to their companions on the other side of the forest. The group had suspected that communication talismans could be one of the explanations for this.

“How exactly does it work? Red asked.

Goulth picked up one talisman and scrutinized it. “Communication talismans work in pairs. They allow your voice to be carried to its corresponding pair and sound out as if you were right by their side. Distance varies, but the weakest type can cross kilometers. They have limited uses, though, since they’re still just talismans.”

Inside the box, there were dozens of similar talismans. With these, you could control an entire army from afar.

Red looked at the other items. “What about the rest of the talismans?”

“Spiritual Spells.” Goulth picked one of them up. “Magical shields, offensive spells… It’s a trove of treasures. With these fireball talismans alone, a normal individual could take out a group of well-armed soldiers with no problem. None of them have signatures, though. In fact, this kind of reminds me of…”

The blacksmith trailed off. A look of realization came to him.

“The merchant’s talisman!”

Red was quick to follow his train of thought. Indeed, there was another talisman he had stolen some time ago that didn’t have a signature, much like the ones inside this box.

“So the one who made that talisman is the same person who made these?” the boy asked.

“I would need to confirm it, but it seems likely.” Goulth nodded. “I mean, what are the chances we’d find two anonymous Talisman Masters in the same region?”

“The time lines don’t match, though. The merchant had his talisman long before the imperial agents were in town.” Red said.

“It might just mean the merchant was working with the imperials long before we realized.”

Red was about to offer a counter-argument, before he realized something - an innocuous detail he had ignored. When he first met Narcha and the others, they ambushed some bandits and found a bottle of Imperial Wine in their possession. Later on, the boy found an identical bottle in the merchant’s office. Back then, he thought nothing of it, but with this new information, he saw those things in a new light.

Red looked at the others. “So, Gustav, the bandits, and the Empire are all working together?”

His question was met with silence. The implications of this conclusion were far bigger than anyone in this room could wrap their heads around. Allen, however, didn’t have such reservations.

“I knew Gustav was working with the Empire! We need to warn the Baron and get him arrested!”

“No.” Domeron interjected. “Things aren’t that simple.”

“There you go saying that again!” Allen looked angry. “Things never are simple for you!”

“I don’t have the time to explain this to you.” the swordsman just sighed. “We need to wake up the others. It’s time for an emergency meeting.”

…

Soon enough, all the guild members had gathered at the meeting hall. Even Goulth, who rarely left his workshop, was sitting at the table. Of course, some were less eager than others to be woken up in the middle of the night.

Narcha stared at Red with a frown. “What the hell did you do now?!”

“How do you know it was me?” the boy asked.

“When is it not you?!”

“Please, Miss Valt.” Eiwin tried to calm her. “We still don’t know what happened to be rushing to conclusions.”

Narcha just snorted and turned her gaze away. On the other side of the table, Rog was looking at Red and giving him a thumbs up.

“Another good haul, huh?” the hunter said.

His words confused the boy, so he just nodded.

Hector, on the other hand, was uncharacteristically quiet, staring at the closed ornate box placed in front of him.

The elder looked at Domeron. “Do I even want to open this?”

The swordsman nodded with a serious expression.

Hector just sighed and finally flipped the box open. His eyes twitched once he saw the dozens of talismans lining up the inside of the container. The other’s reactions were not so contained.

“What the fuck…” Narcha looked at the items in disbelief.

“Are those…” Eiwin trailed off.

“Communication talismans.” Goulth completed her words. “All lacking signature… Just like the one we found on that merchant.”

Silence followed the man’s words. Eventually, though, Narcha slammed her fist down on the table and stood up.

“Is this how those bandits were following us?!”

“Very likely.” Domeron nodded. “But that’s not the most important part… What matters is where we got it from.”

Everyone’s attention was drawn to the swordsman. Only Hector continued to stare at the talismans in silence. Domeron continued.

“We found it with the imperial agents.”

Another few seconds of silence before the coming storm. The same loud warrior broke the quiet with another slam on the table.

“What the fuck?!” Narcha looked even angrier. “Those bastards! Why didn’t you tell me you were looking into them?! You know how hard it was to keep quiet when I knew those bastards were wandering around town?!”

“I wasn’t the one who found them.” Domeron shook his head.

“Then who did…” She trailed off as her gaze wandered to Red. “I knew it, you little brat!”

Red didn’t respond.

“Will you ever stop causing problems for us?!” Narcha looked like she was about to go on another tirade.

Allen, however, interrupted her. “It was my idea! I just asked him for help!”

Everyone looked over at the young master.

Even Hector, who had been eerily quiet, stared at the boy in anger. “You did what?!”

“I… I w-wanted to investigate the imperials.” Allen, who had been brave up to this point, struggled to get his words out under the elder’s burning gaze. “W-we found one of them in an inn and followed him to the adventurer’s guild…”

“YOU MORONIC BRAT!”

The old man roared with such rage as Red had never seen before. He felt a weight pressing down on his lungs, as if he was sharing a room with an uncontrollable beast that could kill him on a whim.

“HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT THIS! USELESS THING! I SHOULD JUST SLAP YOU D-”

“HECTOR!” Domeron interjected.

The elder looked at the swordsman, directing all the anger and pressure in his gaze towards him.

Domeron, however, didn’t flinch. “We have more important matters to address first.”

Hector frowned. A few seconds later, though, his furious countenance seemed to relax somewhat, and Red felt the pressure on him disappear, and he was free to breathe again. Looking around the room, he saw the others were also shifting around in discomfort. It gave him some solace to know he wasn’t the only one affected by the pressure.

His gaze then wandered to Allen, the primary target of the outburst. The young master was trembling in fear and looked shell-shocked by the experience, tears threatening to stream down his face.

Eiwin, who was sitting by his side, looked at Allen with concern and wrapped her arm around his shoulder. The young master looked somewhat comforted, but it was clear he was doing his best not to collapse into tears.

Hector, however, ignored him. “So what do you make of this?” he asked the others.

Domeron seemed to be the only one composed enough to reply, though. “At face value, the obvious takeaway from this is that the Empire is working with the bandits and Gustav to create chaos in the region and prime the kingdom for conquest. However, there are some problems with this train of thought.”

“This is not the way the Empire does things.” the elder nodded. “They just conquer through force or threats. What need do they have to rely on bandits to conquer this kingdom?”

“Indeed, this is not the way we have known the Empire to act. They might have a deeper reason for their cooperation with the bandits. What we can know for sure, though, is that they are working together in some capacity.”

“Aren’t the bandits from a country that was conquered by the Empire, though?” Narcha asked. “Why would they ever agree to work with the Empire?”

“Desperate people will often put aside their differences for a chance at survival, much more so when they are bandits.” Domeron sighed. “Besides, with Gustav as a proxy, they might not even know they are working with the Empire.”

The warrior frowned. “Could the Empire be behind the strange things happening in the forest?”

“Maybe, but it’s hard to know why they would even go through the trouble when they are so much stronger than us. It’s difficult to know without further investigation.”

Red, who had been listening to the conversation until this point, noticed that they had been avoiding a certain topic.

“What about Gustav?” he asked. “With him working with the Empire, isn’t that enough reason for the Baron to move against him?”

Domeron shook his head. “At any other time, maybe. But now that the King is on the cusp of a meeting with the Imperials, the Baron won’t dare to act so recklessly and risk souring our relations by bringing such a scandal to bear. Besides, we don’t have enough evidence yet, other than the fact that the imperial agent was staying at Gustav’s building. With Gustav's powerful backing in the capital, it would be a risky move, and the Baron might be at the losing end even if we get Gustav.”

‘So many complications...’

Red felt a headache just considering things from the Baron’s position. Now he had confirmed that a cultivator's life, disconnected from such things, was indeed much more suited to him.

As they were about to continue their discussion, Hector interrupted them. “We won’t investigate this matter for now.”

Everyone looked at the elder in shock. The old man, however, seemed to have made up his mind.

“Are you sure about this, Hector?” Domeron asked, just as confused about his decision.

“Hmph, I never thought of you as one to question my decisions, Domeron.” the elder frowned.

“It’s because you’re going senile, old man!” Narcha slammed her fist down on the table. “Are we just supposed to let the Imperials do as they wish in our own backyard?”

“The last thing we want right now is to draw Imperial attention to our sect while they are in the process of annexing our kingdom.” Hector remained steadfast. “I don’t care if this whole country burns to the ground as long as our sect survives.”

“But-”

“Enough! My decision is final! Unless you lot feel like challenging my authority again as the elder of the council?”

There was a hint of a threat behind his words. No one stepped forward.

“As for you, brat.” Hector turned to stare at Allen. “It seems I was too soft on you, but not anymore. For the following three years, you may not take a step outside of this courtyard. Every moment of your waking life, you will spend training and improving yourself as I demand, until I deem you fit to take the role of the young master of the sect again. Do you understand?”

Allen just trembled in response.

“DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!”

The young master nodded in a panic.

“Good.” the elder turned his attention to Red. “You may also not interact with Allen without my permission, or else you’ll be punished alongside him. Is that clear?”

Red nodded.

“Then this is settled.” with these words, Hector left the table and walked upstairs.

The atmosphere in the room remained heavy even after the old man left.