Published at 7th of August 2026 6:43 am

Chapter 970: Entrust

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Asher decided to change the topic as he was tired of the expressions those three had on their faces.

"So, any plans for today? We are leaving tomorrow. Surely you all don’t plan to spend today staying at the Gentle Hotel. There must be something better to do," he asked.

Since they were leaving tomorrow, they ought to do something fun. Maybe starting a livestreaming channel just for today, although it might be a bit dangerous since there were assassins gunning for their heads. FatelessPen was enough of a deterrent.

Although it might seem like FatelessPen could be overwhelmed by sending more Crownstar Life Rankers after him, Asher didn’t know exactly how strong that guy was after seeing him draw soul-bound items into existence and even talk about drawing a Wargrave Bloodline into existence.

Ryaen shook her head as she spoke, "Unfortunately, we can’t do anything today," she sighed.

Vaelric looked out through the window as he added, "we are stuck in here for the whole of today."

Asher arched an eyebrow as he was confused by what those two meant. He couldn’t understand why they couldn’t leave. But before he could ask, William explained.

"FatelessPen visited us earlier today and informed everyone not to leave the hotel. He said we should stay indoors and pack our bags," he explained. "So no last-minute shopping or anything of the sort. Those who haven’t bought souvenirs for their siblings or parents can only take them random things they might have bought previously," he finished calmly.

Asher stayed silent for a moment before nodding. FatelessPen hadn’t bothered to disturb him while he was sleeping, as the man was certain his friends would pass the information on to him.

’Well... there goes the livestreaming idea, I guess,’ Asher mused to himself. It was one of the things he hadn’t done within the Thalvorn Empire.

Although, if one looked at it from another perspective, the Inter-Empire Competition had sort of already been one giant livestream... so that was that.

"Did he say why?" Asher asked calmly, although he could already guess it was for security reasons. FatelessPen had been protecting everyone until now, no matter how scattered across the Thalvorn Empire the students had been.

But this time, FatelessPen seemed to have taken a more cautious approach, knowing the assassins would become even more desperate. To get to the students now, they would have to come to the hotel, perhaps even bomb it or attempt something equally reckless.

If they did, then the Overlord would descend upon them.

"He didn’t say," Finch stated as he finally snapped out of his personal fantasies. "But we can already guess it’s for security reasons. Since no student has died thus far, he can’t afford to lose a single student less than twenty-four hours before departure because that would change everything," Fatty Wang stated.

Asher remained silent before nodding. Although he didn’t say it out loud, he felt that Finch’s deductive reasoning ability had improved after spending more time with him, Ryaen, and Vaelric, all of whom possessed greater intelligence than him.

Finch’s deductive reasoning had always been linked to predicting business opportunities and the flow of money. Anything outside that field left the boy somewhat helpless, but that had been in the past. After almost a year of surrounding himself with smart and talented people, he had naturally learned a thing or two. While he still wasn’t the sharpest knife when it came to matters outside business, he had become noticeably more observant.

"Luckily, I don’t have any siblings I have to buy anything for, or I wouldn’t know what to say to them," William followed up.

"Thank the stars that Rachael is here. Father and Mother would have bought her everything she wanted, so I’m also saved," Finch stated as he leaned back into his seat.

Asher’s eyes turned towards him as he asked, "But what if she wants something from you specifically?"

"She won’t," Finch replied confidently, as he knew his sister best. She was his sister, after all.

Ryaen didn’t have any younger siblings, and as for her twin brother, Ryan, they weren’t particularly close, so she didn’t bother looking for anything to buy for him.

As for Vaelric, he only had one sibling, Valera, his twin sister, and she was also present at the Thalvorn Empire.

"Are you guys done packing?" Asher asked calmly.

"What is there to pack? Just throw everything into your Space Ring and it’s done," Finch replied with a shrug.

Asher shook his head, not bothering to say anything, as he knew poorer students would still be packing their bags. After all, not everyone had enough storage space inside their Space Rings to throw everything inside so casually.

Ryaen’s black eyes shifted towards Asher’s wardrobe as she could still see the clothes hanging inside it.

"Should we help you pack since we have nothing to do?" she suggested.

"No need. I can just create a clone and let the clone do it," Asher replied calmly.

Why do anything yourself when you could have your clones do it for you? That was the perfect way to make use of clones.

"What’s the departure time, so I can wake up on time, or not sleep at all?" he asked.

"FatelessPen said eleven in the morning," Vaelric stated.

As Vaelric spoke, Finch followed up. "But we won’t be heading to the Star Academy directly. Upon getting to the Zarethorne Empire, FatelessPen said we’re each allowed three days to stay with our parents before we’re required to return to the Academy, and whoever doesn’t return is automatically expelled," he explained, repeating what FatelessPen had told them.

William added, "I guess we’ll be given the Teleportation Scrolls we’re normally issued whenever we take missions once we board the Sky Jet," he analyzed, as that seemed like the most appropriate time to distribute the teleportation scrolls.

Asher nodded as he added, "I guess I’ll be escorting you guys then."

Ryaen arched an eyebrow as she asked, "Escorting? Aren’t you following us back?"

Asher shook his head as he explained, "I’ll be following my family members back instead. So after escorting you all to the Sky Jet, I’ll join my family in their own Sky Jet," he stated without the slightest change in expression.

Vaelric remained silent for a moment before speaking.

"I see... you’re being used as bait, right?"

Asher smiled faintly as he replied, "You could say that."

The moment Vaelric said that, Ryaen, William, and Finch immediately understood what was going on. At the same time, they weren’t particularly bothered since Asher was going to be travelling with his family members. What better protection could he possibly have?

"Don’t you have anything you want to entrust to us? You know... just in case you die," William joked, earning a round of soft chuckles from everyone.

Asher remained expressionless as he replied, "In case I don’t make it back, there’s something hidden inside the drawer of my table back at the Star Academy. In the middle drawer, there’s a hidden compartment, a false bottom, whatever is in there, I entrust it to the four of you," he said, his tone unusually serious, as though he wasn’t joking at all.

Finch, William, Vaelric, and Ryaen couldn’t help but frown as they wondered what Asher could possibly have hidden inside that drawer. They couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of foreboding, as though Asher truly believed there was a chance he might not return. The atmosphere in the room, which had been filled with lighthearted banter only moments ago, subtly shifted.

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