Ace's expression changed when he heard Raven's spirit transmission. Dazedly, he looked at the closed door. He hadn't expected the situation to take such a wild turn. Furthermore, he had just experienced the power of an Ascension Lord, which left him completely helpless; he couldn't even put up any resistance.
But Ace's mind was something else, 'He called Eleanor 'Ravenmind,' right? That blindfolded man is 'Ravenfang,' while that white hair guy is 'Raven,... so does that mean these names are some kind of codenames... with what he just said to me, I can safely assume that these guys are up to something, and whatever it is they needed the Sky Stealer... Wait, Raven! Why didn't I think this before...'
Ace's heart raced when, suddenly, a huge realization struck him. But at the same time, it was so ridiculous that Ace didn't want to believe it.
"Fufu, this sure is interesting." Malservus's amusing voice rang at this moment. "You seem to have found yourself quite a company. It has to be the luck of Heaven's Stealer that you ended up finding 'fellow-minded friends."
Ace didn't refute and asked with a grave tone, "Seems that way. Can you tell me if that Raven guy left any kind of tracking spell or something like that on me so he could track or monitor me?"
"Oh? Why did you think that way?" Malservus asked curiously instead of answering.
A cold glint flashed past his eyes as he replied, "Isn't it obvious? He won't leave me alone so easily after what I just saw, and if he's really who I think he is, then he won't trust the Law Contract completely. In fact, I think this is a test, and infiltrating this Trinity Lord Workshop is not part of their plan. His cultivation is also too high, so I won't be able to tell if he did something. That's why I'm asking you since I need to know if I'm being tracked or monitored."
"Fufu... at least you know your limit." Malservus sounded pleased, "Indeed, he left a marker on you that can help him track your location, but he can't monitor your actions. However, this marker is not harmful, or you'll be the first one to know. "But if you want to get rid of it, I'm afraid you needed to be stronger than him. However, it's a child play to me, and I can get rid of it for you, but we don't want now, right?" Malservus ambiguously stated.
Ace was greatly relieved when he heard it before his lips curled up in a cold smile: "Indeed, if this group of people is what I think they are, then I have to play along. I was going to search for them anyway, but who could've thought they delivered themselves to me?"
"Heh, it's not like you didn't do anything. They were probably drawn there after you robbed that place and showed your thievish abilities. After all, no master can resist the temptation of meeting another master, especially if that master has an ability far exceeding the old one." Malservus coldly stated with a hint of pensiveness.
'Well, I better get to work, and doing missions happens to be one of my strongest suits.'Ace's smile only grew before he glanced at the closed door one last time and started walking towards the exit of the inn.
Inside the room, Eleanor's expression was gloomy as she looked at where Ace had stood a moment ago. Then she glared at Raven and said, "Lord Raven, aren't you being too excessive this time? Ace has already signed a law contract with me, which should be enough to prove his absolute loyalty."
Raven's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise before he impassively replied, "Ravenmind, you sounded concerned for that boy? It's very unlike you. Don't tell me you care about him?"
Eleanor's expression changed ever so slightly before she coldly retorted, "You have no idea what kind of talent Ace had. After I went through all the trouble to acquire his loyalty, you probably sent him on one of your strange missions, so I naturally would be worried."
"Hehehe..." At this moment, one of the veil women on the table suddenly started giggling; her voice was like morning bells. She had a head full of brown hair and her pupils were slit like a beast, she said with a hint of teasing, "Are you that's the case, Sister Ravenmind? After all, that little brother is extremely handsome, and my heart nearly skipped a beat when I saw him. Don't tell me the reason you refuse to tell us his secret is because related to this?"
"There is something strange about him." The second woman nodded. Her voice was cold and curt. Her hair was violet and long like flowing lightning, and her violet eyes were cold with a hint of indifference.
Eleanor coldly glared at the brown hair woman and retorted, "You felt that way because of your sultry nature, Ravencharm. And you, Ravenwings, don't you dare support this harlot!"
Ravenwings gave Eleanor a deep look before she nodded, "Okay!"
Ravencharm wasn't frustrated or angry about Eleanor's rude comment at all. She even seemed smiling brightly as she teasingly said, "Since you're not interested in him, you won't mind me approaching you at night, right?"
"Try it, I dare you." Eleanor instantly became angry.
"That's enough!" Raven finally spoke and sighed as if already used to this. He gave Eleanor a reproachable look and meaningfully said, "You're favoring him too much. It's not that I doubt you or the law contract between you. But I must warn you that what you're doing is jeopardizing our entire operation.
"No matter what, if he wanted to join us, he needed to prove himself just like everyone else in this room. Don't forget you are the mind of the Raven, and a mind does not have feelings or chaos, or it'll make rash and dangerous decisions.
"We all have our part to play, and after the emergence of the Sky Stealer, we have to make an appearance and make it clear to the world that the bank branches are no longer a threat to us.
"So, instead of worrying about that human boy, you should start the next part of the plan. I'm sure if he's as capable as you claimed him to be, he'll succeed and soon join us, but if he turns out to be a disappointment, I can't let him live.""
Raven then looked at the second man sitting at the table. This man was tall and handsome, with pointy ears and an array of rune markings on his forehead and chin. However, the runes on his forehead were empty around his glabella, creating an
impression of a vertical eye.
His eyes were closed as if asleep, but everyone in the room knew he wasn't, and Raven spoke at this moment, "Raveneye, I'll leave that human boy's evaluation to you."
Raveneye didn't say anything or open his eyes and faintly nodded.
Eleanor's expression changed slightly, but she knew she couldn't do anything and could only hope for Ace's succession.
"Since this matter is settled..." Raven's voice turned solemn as he looked at everyone and gravely spoke, "Everyone will start to move and join Ravencrown. She's making preparations as we speak. It's time to show the world that the Nightfall Ravenhood is still the greatest pack of thieves!"