Eventually, they decided that Osho would evolve The Citadel Lord’s Beast, then Principal Timothy, followed by his friends, Stephen, and then Fredrick.
Well, Simon would also receive the same treatment, but he’d be dead last.
On that note, Fredrick had finally gone up to Osho, his face impassive as he asked directly.
"So, why am I here?" I asked simply, and Osho regarded him silently.
He naturally knew what Fredrick was asking. Unlike the others, Fredrick hadn’t helped him in any way, shape, or form. Their only interaction was purely transactional, so in all honesty, there was no relationship between the two of them that would warrant Osho trusting him with such a big secret.
This was the case, as Osho didn’t trust him. Instead, he was taking a bit of a calculated risk.
"What are your intentions after this?" Osho didn’t reply and asked him a question.
Fredrick was silent, then he replied calmly.
"I intend to move to another Citadel, a higher-class one, and open my own Beast Tamer guild." He explained with a shrug, most likely seeing no reason to hide it.
Moreover, he was aware that Osho already knew.
"Alright. That’s all good and fine. However, I need your help with something." He paused, then continued. "I intend to use this guild of yours as a cover." Fredrick blinked, intrigued.
The others seemed to sense that this was a private conversation, and quietly moved away as they let the two discuss.
"Elaborate." Fredrick gestured for Osho to continue, and he obliged.
"I need information. This entire ordeal continues to weigh on my mind, and something tells me that our Citadel isn’t gonna be the only one on the receiving end of things , so..." He lingered. "You can create your guild, allow it to run normally, however, there will be a... secret unit within it, of sorts. You’ll find people who are desperate, willing to do anything to get back on their feet, and you’ll nurture them. I’ll evolve a bunch of beast eggs that hatch beasts with affinities related to information gathering and subterfuge. They will train, and they will spread out to acquire information, with the most important form of information being related to everything that happened. Corrupt Mana, beasts that shouldn’t exist, things like that. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were individuals in important positions who were in on things . I want to understand more. That’s what I want from you." Osho finished his explanation, and Fredrick stared at him for a while.
"... Are you sure you’re just a teenager?" He asked with some sarcasm, and Osho shrugged.
"I mean, I’m standing right in front of you. You tell me." He replied with similar snark, and Fredrick scoffed.
"How sure are you that I won’t just sell you out the moment I get a chance. I’m not a very selfless person. How certain are you that I won’t just reveal who you are to the world if it benefits me?" He asked, and Osho smiled.
"Think of it as a calculated risk. Besides, something tells me you aren’t the type of person to sell out those who did you good, even though our past interaction was purely transactional. Moreover." Osho was still smiling, but his eyes darkened in a way that made a shiver run down Fredrick’s spine.
"If you do cause me problems, I have my ways of making you regret it." A part of Fredrick wanted to brush Osho off, but instead, he gave a terse nod.
"... I see." He closed his eyes for a moment, seemingly weighing the pros and cons of Osho’s words.
"... What’s on it for me?" He finally asked. "Sure, you might evolve my beast again, but what about in the future? What if I take certain risks?" He asked pointedly, and Osho just shrugged.
"I’ll evolve any beast you want me to for free." He said simply. Fredrick fell silent, he hated to admit it, but that alone was already a crazy good deal, and he knew people who’d be willing to do worse things for less.
"... Sigh. Fine, you have a deal." He relented.
"Great." Osho held out his hand, and the two of them shook on it.
The two of them talked for a while more before Lady Haggai approached them, Lyra asleep in her arms.
"Sorry to break up your conversation, but I believe there is something important we need to discuss." She spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, and they all looked at her curiously, but her gaze was fixed on Osho.
"It won’t take long for people to realize our beasts have changed. When that happens, we’ll be under scrutiny, and while it’s possible to keep your identity a secret within the Citadel, things will ramp up if other people get involved." She explained, and Osho nodded, seeing what she was getting at.
"I see your point, and don’t worry, I thought of a solution, kinda." He shrugged.
"... Go on." Mrs Jane urged.
"Oh, yeah. So I was thinking, why not use my Maven persona again?" He smiled. "If anyone asks what happened, we will explain that a mysterious figure under the persona of Maven happened to pass through the Citadel after the ordeal with the Abyssak Scrounger, and that, in return for its remains along with the remains of the Skyblight Harbinger, he’d evolve the beasts of some people chosen by the Citadel Lord as well as a large number of beast eggs, to which he left soon after." He finished.
"That plan isn’t really foolproof, though. Even if they believe, they will still look into us closely." Major Thompson pointed out.
"For sure. Even if we brought up adequate evidence to support our claims, they will still be suspicious." Osho smiled. "The thing is, they won’t have much to go on. We’ll be in college by then, so whatever scrutiny we face will be reduced drastically. Moreover, I can’t exactly do anything to aid the Citadel while I’m gone in that regard, so there is no amount of looking they can do that will yield results." He shrugged.
"Huh. I suppose that could work." The Citadel Lord rubbed his chin.
"Speaking off. What DID happen to the remains of the Harbinger and Scrounger?" Stephen suddenly asked. The man had been so silent the whole time that Osho almost forgot he was there.
"Our people are trying to figure out their origins." Thomspon shook his head.
"The success is limited, though. The Scrounger is a complete enigma. The things that make up its body are in no known records and display characteristics that make no sense. The Harbinger is a bit more helpful, though. It was indeed an amalgamation of numerous beasts, with the black substance running through its body acting as a sort of catalyst which allowed them to merge and behave in proper synergy even when some parts shouldn’t be capable of doing that, and the black substance seemed rich in Corruor Mana, but once more we couldn’t ascertain its origins." The room fell silent at this.
"... Hey Osho, do you think we could kidnap wild beasts of a high level and then have you forcefully evolve them so we can harvest their materials?" Irene’s words were so out of the blue that everyone stared at her in shock for a moment.
The girl just shrugged. Wholly unperturbed.
"I mean. Think about it. You guys are gonna need the corresponding equipment when Osho evolves your beasts, and something tells me it won’t be so cheap to simply order equipment from other Citadels, so couldn’t Osho just help make the materials readily available?" She explained, and for how random it was... it made sense.
Equipment always helped Beast Tamers express their power better.
It was hardly ever mentioned, but Tamed Beasts often wore pieces of equipment. From armor to items meant to augment their Mana or damage output. Weaker items were simply unsuitable in that regard, and more often than not, they tended to break if they couldn’t handle the power of a higher-levelled user. So if they went with Irene’s idea, they could have a ready source of materials to use.
"Man, y’all truly intend to work me to the bone, huh?" Osho asked dryly, already dreading the immense workload he had just put on himself.
"I mean, you’re the one who said you intended to use your ability to draw out as much as possible. This is just another avenue that we didn’t see before. Besides, it can benefit you just as well. As far as I’m aware, Gale lacks proper training items due to his bloodline. We can make up for that deficit by using high-level materials to create suitable training equipment for him." Lady Haggai explained, and Osho huffed. She had a point, no matter how stressful it sounded.
"Yeah yeah. I’m gonna do it, I’m just pointing out the incoming stress." He shook his head, then he smiled.
"But enough about that. Lady Haggai, I’m guessing you’re gonna want to test Lyra to see what she can do, so in that case, let’s get to evolving."