“Wait… what?” Seeing as the young man’s face changed into that of Valyr’s all of a sudden, Jekyll’s mouth went agape as he felt a bit of disbelief. Though, even after briefly shaking his head before looking at the young man in front of him for a bit more, that disbelief did not disappear. “Are you Valyr… or are you not?”

“Haah…” Sighing as he bitterly smiled at Jekyll, Valyr continued to deactivate more and more portions of Enhanced Polymorph, gradually returning his current appearance to what it was originally. By the time he radiated his original aura towards Jekyll, it was only then did everything click in the latter’s mind, his eyes widening in excitement.

“Ah!” Julian exclaimed, slapping himself on the forehead for being so stupid. “Now where and why the hell did you learn that?”

“A skill book store is the answer to your where, and protecting my identity is the answer to your why,” said Valyr in response. “If anything, it’s actually risky for me to reveal my original appearance to you here out in the open.”

“Hmm? And why would that be?” Hearing Valyr’s words, Julian crossed his arms as he slightly tilted his head in curiosity.

“Hmm?” Not expecting that kind of answer from Jekyll, Valyr went silent for a bit as he recalled their interaction back when he met with the man before him for the first time.

“Ah.” Thankfully, it did not take long for him to realize what was going on, staring at Jekyll with a wry smile as he asked him, “Now that I think about it, I haven’t told you my full name yet, have I?”

𝒪𝑣𝓁xt.𝗰𝓞𝓂

“And so have I. What’s wrong with that?” Jekyll raised his eyebrow, finding nothing wrong with not revealing their surnames.

“Well, let’s just say that my surname would warrant the need for you to swear a mana oath to not disclose my current whereabouts.”

“That bad?” Hearing Valyr’s reply, Jekyll was left at a slight loss for words, now feeling even more curious as to what the young man’s surname was. “It couldn’t be bad that, ri—”

“Zeihardt.” Whilst reactivating Enhanced Polymorph, Valyr muttered out a name as he looked at Jekyll straight in the eyes. “My family name is Zeihardt.”

“Zeihardt… Valyr… wait…” Muttering out a couple of words for a bit as he gradually found his train of thought, everything eventually clicked once more in Jekyll’s mind as he turned to look at Valyr with immense shock written all over his face. “So, you’re telling me…”

“…that the inheritor of my legacy is none other than the Herald of the Zeihardt clan that’s been missing all this time?”

“Shhh. Keep quiet.” Sensing as if the man’s voice was getting a bit louder towards the end, Valyr placed his finger over Jekyll’s mouth, to which the latter quickly understood, apologizing not long after.

“Let’s… head to the back for now and continue our conversation there.” Taking in a couple of deep breaths to let the realization of who had inherited his legacy sink into his mind, Jekyll’s expression turned solemn as he beckoned for the young man to follow him, which he did.

…

“Alright. I’ve asked my people to not disturb us for the meantime, as well as made sure that none of them would be able to snoop in on our conversation.” After arriving at a part of the gambling den’s rear that was far away from prying eyes and ears, Jekyll let out a faint sigh of relief as he gestured for the young man to sit in front of him. “Though, just to make sure…”

Whoosh!

Not long after, just as Valyr sat down on the chair in front of Jekyll, a barrier of mana swiftly surrounded the two of them as the latter swore a mana oath that made sure he would not divulge any information regarding their meeting, Valyr, or any other information related to him.

“I guess that’s more than enough preparation to make sure no one will found out that you’re here.” Feeling the ambient mana that had enveloped his entire body gradually disappear now that he was done with the oath, Jekyll looked at Valyr with a relaxed smile, who looked back at him with a hint of disbelief.

“Haven’t you ever stopped to think that my words might be lies?” Valyr asked Jekyll, who responded back to him with a hint of laughter.

“There are many things in life that would make me want to doubt, that is true.” Jekyll nodded. “However, if there’s something in life that I fully trust in, then that would be my instincts and my life experience thus far.”

“With that being said, after you radiated your full aura to me earlier, I instantly sensed the part of your aura that made me think ‘Ah, he’s definitely from the Zeihardt clan’. Though, it was only after you mentioned your surname to be Zeihardt did I really think about it deeper,” continued Jekyll.

“And just because of that one fact, you went ahead and did all of this?” Valyr asked back.

“Isn’t part of your Zeihardt clan searching the corners of the world for your existence?” replied Jekyll, looking back at Valyr with slight confusion. “Isn’t that the reason why you decided to pick up a disguise skill?”

“I mean… yeah, that is true.” Valyr nodded in agreement. “Though, what I don’t get is…”

“How I seem to know everything about you, even though I’m from a city that’s far away from the capital?” Hearing the words that came out of Jekyll’s mouth, Valyr went silent for a bit before nodding.

“Well, that’s quite simple.” Seeing that he had gained his attention, Jekyll faintly smiled. “That’s due to what I’ve gone through in the past.”

“Unless you’ve thought of me as someone who owned this gambling den all throughout my life, of course.” At these words, Valyr’s expression quickly turned blank, prompting Jekyll to let out a sigh as he shook his head with a bitter smile.

“Then again, I never mentioned my surname to you either,” said Jekyll soon after. “We only know each other by our first names.”

“However, unlike you, who people mostly recognize by their name, I’m more recognized for the feat that I’ve done in the past.” Hearing these words, Valyr looked at Jekyll with a raised eyebrow, wondering what feat the man would mention. Though, once the man had done so, Valyr was only left staring at him with his mouth wide open.

“Have you ever heard of…”

“The Northern Star?”