'Is this some kind of prank? Why is Shinu so popular suddenly? Is it his inhuman nature? Man, I give up understanding women.'

Keith could not help but feel frustrated from the sudden tension in the air. The two females in front of him were butting heads without even speaking.

What was worse? It did not look like both would back down easily. Keith would have to choose if he wanted things to resolve quietly. But Keith also knew that the one who was not chosen would cause a problem.

'Anyway, I will have to choose anyway. Fortunately, I know how to distract Shimi. So, I should choose Master Fushi as the real guide this time.'

Keith decided while he faced the two females in front of him. Both looked back at Keith with hopeful expressions on their faces.

*Cough* "I have made my decision. I want Master Fushi to look after Shinu's mother while I take care of Shinu. Meanwhile, I want you, Shimi, to do something very important for me. I will send you the details later."

Shimi's look of disappointment turned into curiosity and then a determination as soon as Keith finished speaking.

Master Fushi shot Shimi's pitiful looks not noticing that the grandmaster was just humoring her. But seeing how happy Shimi looked right now, Master Fushi decided to let her be. Ignorance was bliss after all.

"Alright grandmaster, I understand what you want me to do. I will go back and wait for your message to come."

Shimi left the room with quite a happy expression. Master Fushi looked at her with a pitiful expression but waited until Shimi was gone to turn to the grandmaster.

"Master Fushi, I am trusting you this time by giving you authority over Shinu's mother. I hope you do not fail me by lacking hospitality."

Master Fushi gulped down in nervousness. She did not expect the grandmaster to speak of his partner in such a strict manner. She could not afford to make mistakes this time.

"Grandmaster, are you sure you want to bring young master Shinu's mother back to the guild? I do not think she will have an easy time here. But since you asked me to look after her, I shall do so."

In the end, Master Fushi could not say what she wanted to. And she could not ask the grandmaster to not bring his lover back with him.

Grandmaster had talked about Shinu's mother with a hard voice and a determined expression. He would not except anything less from Master Fushi as well.

"I understand grandmaster. I shall try to do my best to meet your expectations."

In the end, Master Fushi could not find it in herself to stop the grandmaster from making decisions based on his emotions. He was human and he wanted to bring his lover to live near him.

How could Master Fushi take it away from him? It would be better for her to run away while nursing her broken heart.

......…..

Keith had no idea what just happened. All he knew was that Master Fushi had taken the responsibility of looking after Shinu's mother from his hand.

She had seemed a little too eager to look after Shinu's mother for some reason.

'Ah, she must not trust me still. In that case, I will let Master Fushi take charge on this front. I need to look at my new identity and how I can establish it further.'

Keith was fully awake after this encounter. He crossed his legs and took out the binder Priestess Athena had given him.

It was a thick folder with all the important things marked in it.

The first thing Keith noticed was that the male looked very familiar to himself in height and body build. But except that, they had nothing in common.

Keith had green hair and red eyes while Noah had black hair and blue eyes. Noah was also tanner than the grandmaster by quite a lot.

Now that Keith took a closer look, Noah looked like the previous him more than the grandmaster.

'I like this new identity. Should I go out and get my name out a little? I will need to leave for the unknown village soon but I should make a public appearance before that.'

Keith decided to take the cloaking magic from his inventory. He had a lot of it on hand after his last mission.

'I should also fill my mana stone with strong magic. It might come in handy.'

Now that Keith knew he was no longer going to be bound by his identity, he decided to go all out with his power.

He was going to take the highest-level spell he could afford to take.

'I should go to Amelia and ask her for a skill. Protagonist skills were in a league of their own as far as I remembered.'

So, Keith took off toward the training ground as fast as he could. He needed to catch Amelia before she hit the quarters.

Thankfully, Amelia was just about done with her daily training when Keith arrived near her. She was startled to see Keith but she recovered quickly.

......…..

"You just want me to hold this small stone? Is this some kind of experiment, grandmaster?"

Amelia questioned as she held the small stone in her hand. It felt hot to the touch but not unbearably hot.

All Amelia knew was that this stone was not a normal stone but she also knew she could trust the grandmaster not to hurt her. That was why she did not throw the small stone away as soon as she felt it suck her energy.

She gritted her teeth and decided to relax her body. She could take more of this feeling.

But as soon as it had started to feel uncomfortable for her, the grandmaster took the stone away from her. It left Amelia winded at the sudden rush of sensation she felt.

"You did well Amelia. This was all I wanted from you."

Grandmaster praised Amelia which made her cheeks feel warmer. She could not look up at the grandmaster properly without blushing anymore.

"I…that is alright. By the way, is this the same experiment that Master Shinzou participated in? I heard you made him hold a stone as well."

Amelia only realized that she should not have asked such an invasive question until it was well past her lips. But by the time she noticed, it was too late to take her question back.

Thankfully, Grandmaster did not notice Amelia's slip of the tongue and answered her question.

"It is part of the same experiment line, but a little different. You do not need to fear any adverse effect since the experiment is planned in a way not to hurt you or the others."

The grandmaster assured Amelia (not that he needed to) and Amelia nodded in understanding. She offered the stone back to Keith. He quickly pocketed it, not wanting someone to have a deeper look at what he was doing.

"Are you sure you do not need me to come along with you grandmaster? Wherever you are going might be dangerous and you can use my help."

Amelia requested with a concerned face. Her concern wavered Keith's willpower and he almost caved in.

After all, it would be nice to have a protagonist around to save him from any troubles. Keith would also feel reassured if he had some company with him and most importantly, Amelia would not ask him any questions.

'No, you cannot give in right now. Amelia is not the problem, the circumstances are. I cannot risk my potential end spot leaking out.'

So, despite how much Keith wanted to take Amelia with him, he would have to make do with one of her skills. Taking Amelia with him was asking for danger since the protagonists were trouble magnets.

"There is no need for you to be concerned. Do not forget who I am. I don't need help from a beginner like you."

Keith spoke these words while vomiting blood. It hurt to speak such reassuring words and even Amelia looked sheepish as she registered what Keith had just said.

She could not believe she had just offered to protect someone as strong as the grandmaster. No wonder everyone was giving her odd looks.

Keith hurriedly left them space to not make himself suffer more. Every second of that awkward silence begged him to reconsider Amelia's offer. But Keith chose not to.

Luckily, he noticed Clair in the distance. The cat slave was currently relaxing but her face turned irritated as soon as she noticed Keith.

"Let me guess. You are going to leave again and leave me in charge of the paperwork? One of these days, you will be caught forging your signatures."

Clair hissed as she realized what Keith needed from her. Keith gave her a calm smile but he did not show any emotions.

And Clair knew better than to try and talk him out. She might as well get a good deal out of this.