Two months have passed since then, and Pier’s business had swiftly crumbled after news of his capture was released.

Of course, just like a certain man named Jordan, I did everything I could to reap profits, although the process was a tad different. I had MERLIN suppress every kind of information about Pier’s capture for a few weeks and also had her hype up his business by saying that he had gotten a hold of an influential backer, thereby rising the value of his business on the market by 217%.

Then, I sold every share at that value before releasing the information that Piers had been captured and his business, including his assets, were confiscated.

Because of that, I am now back to being a multimillionaire!

And because his business was no longer operating, my heavenly contract with him is invalid, so I no longer need to pay him.

Anyway, what I did was also illegal, which was a good thing that I had created an alternate brokerage account and had Piers give me shares through that account instead of my main one.

Besides, even if they knew I was behind it, unlike the man named Jordan, they don’t have any concrete evidence that I did that, so they can’t put me in jail.

So lucky me!

Anyway, with everything I needed for my dungeon exploration with me, it was finally time to get that All-stone.

It was early in the morning.

If I want to get there quickly, then I need to get there early. The early bird gets the worm, right?

Right now, my condo unit is now looking like my office on Earth, if not even better. After all, the technology here is advanced.

I went towards my main computer desk and booted it up to double-check everything from the schedule to my hotel room.

After making sure everything was in order, I shut my computer down and went to the bathroom to wash myself up.

After that, for the occasion, I wore a casual outfit consisting of a khaki-colored bomber jacket with a white shirt underneath and matching black pants and shoes.

Then I gathered all the necessary things for my travel like my wallet and passport and turned everything off before heading out.

Stepping out of the condo, I took a deep breath.

It was finally time to get the All-stone. My palms were sweaty and my heart was beating fast. It would be a lie to say that I’m not nervous.

After all, how my future will go will entirely depend if I can get the All-stone and become a Total Maven with it.

Shaking my head, I called out for a taxi and had the driver take me to the airport.

My destination is Lochaven City, which would take days to travel to if I were to take the train. The city was roughly 900 kilometers squared wide and it was populated with the biggest guilds in the entire world, but that’s only because it was a hotspot for dungeons and leylines to appear.

I didn’t bring the things I needed for my dungeon exploration, since that was obviously not allowed to bring in an airport.

The only exceptions to this rule are Mavens from certified guilds, which I wasn’t a part of because their screening process was unnecessarily long and they would restrict my freedom, but even then, Mavens are separated from citizens so as to not cause a commotion.

So, those things are once again in a package that will be delivered at a reliable post office for Mavens in Lochaven City.

A couple of minutes later, due to me being early, we didn’t encounter any traffic and arrived at the airport pretty quick.

Stepping out after paying, I entered the airport. There was nothing different about the airport layout, aside from the gorgeous aesthetic that honestly made it look more like a hotel lobby than an airport.

I went towards the check-in counter to check in for my flight.

I simply showed my smartphone which showed the ticket I bought online to the assistant behind the counter, and she asked me some simple security questions which I was easily able to answer.

After I got my boarding pass, I went through the security gate and looked for my boarding gate.

After a while, I found my gate.

Looking at the time, there were still 49 minutes to go before my flight departs.

So, to pass the time, I simply took a seat and meditate to improve my mana manipulation.

Time has passed and awakening me from my meditation was the announcement for my flight, which stated that boarding will begin in a few minutes and we should now start preparing our luggage.

Well, I don’t have to prepare since I didn’t bring any luggage and my boarding pass is in my wallet.

As I was about to meditate again, my stomach growled audibly.

Since I woke up early and went to the airport immediately, I didn’t have the time to eat breakfast, so now is probably a good time to do so.

Going to the food court, as I passed by the different counters, a certain figure that seemed to be having a conversation caught my eye amid the crowd.

With her back faced towards me, she had long purple hair single braided down from her shoulder to her waist.

Her hair was my main focus, simply because its color was way too out of place with the surroundings as if she wants the whole world to know that she was different from the others.

I mean even the person who she seemed to be talking to looks bland and pale in comparison.

But that’s not the main reason it caught my eye, it was because the only people with hair colors like this are Max Hutton (the protagonist), his friends, and some notable side characters, who all had distinct hairstyles and colors.

Even if it’s dyed hair, the color wouldn’t and shouldn’t stand out much, as to not steal the spotlight of the main cast.

Anyway, none of the characters I wrote had purple hair, but I can’t help but get the feeling that I do know her; it’s just at the tip of my tongue.

As if she knew she was being stared at, she turned around and locked eyes with mine.

God, she’s beautiful. She seems to be in her late teens or early twenties.

Just like her hair, her eyes were purple but had a tinge of light blue mixed in and she also has a beauty on the left side below her lip.

In terms of clothing, she wore an unbuttoned maroon toggle coat with a white shirt underneath and dark skinny jeans.

Although her choice of clothes didn’t really emphasize the assets of a woman and it was also an odd and bold choice of color combination, it surprisingly made her even more unique in a good way.

Her expressionless face changed as she slightly held up an eyebrow as if asking what I wanted from her.

Ahh, damn. Honestly, I have no idea what to do here.

The only reason I stared at her was because of her peculiarity and not because I’m interested in her or anything, at least not in a romantic kind of way.

Should I look away and just carry on with my business?

No, I can’t, since I’ve been staring at her for too long. Although I’m aware that I’m thick-skinned at times, this is one of the times where I can clearly feel the uncomfortable vibe oozing.

So, without knowing what to do, we simply stared at each other for God knows how long before my stomach grumbled once again, reminding me why I went here in the first place.

[Ding! Ladies and gentlemen of Flight 1963 of Peak Airlines, you may now board the plane. Please have your……]

Nooo! To make things worse it was now time to board my flight.

It’s alright, they won’t leave immediately. They still have to wait for the other passengers for a couple of minutes before departing, which is enough time for me to get food and head back, but I got to hurry!

Breaking off from her stare, I immediately went to one of the counters that sold shawarma, then went to the boarding gate after having my fill.

*****

***

*

“Reine… Reine!” Bridget shook the shoulders of her purple-haired friend.

“Eh? Huh? Yes.” Reine’s face changed to a cheerful one as she nonchalantly smiled at her as if she didn’t get distracted.

“What were you looking at?”

“Nothing, nothing.”

“Hmm, is it a boy?” Bridget looked beyond her friend’s shoulders, but couldn’t find anything or anyone that caught her eye, much less Reine’s.

“Like I said it’s nothing.”

It was then her smartphone buzzed from her pocket, prompting her to pick it up.

The screen showed that it was a call from one of her business partners.

She didn’t answer it, but instead, looked at Bridget and said, “Ah, it seems that I have to go. You take care now and have a safe flight!”

“Alright, see you!” Bridget waved her goodbye then proceeded to take her luggage and walked to her boarding gate.

Reine too waved goodbye, and when Bridget was out of sight, her face immediately became expressionless as she rejected the call, then she went towards the boarding gate of Flight 1967.

Looking out the window, she immediately spotted the young boy who stared at her for an uncomfortably long amount of time.

She watched him go up the stairs, showed his ticket to the flight attendant, and once he disappeared into the plane, she thought to herself, ‘He’s a Maven, isn’t he?’

Arthur may not have realized it, but after being stared at for so long, Reine became uncomfortable and a bit annoyed, so she pressured him with her magic with just enough output to scare him off, but surprisingly, he wasn’t affected by it.

She thought that she didn’t add enough output, but as she was about to add more pressure, the announcement for his flight happened, prompting him to break off the stare as he hurried off.

“Hmm, ‘Arthur Bennett,’ huh?” As a Total Maven, her eyesight was a cut above the rest, so she was able to see what his ticket stated despite being so far away. “Maybe he could be the final one…”

Her eyes glowed brightly before disappearing moments after blinking, then she went on her way after giving Arthur’s plane one last look.