The villainess shall be mine-Chapter 158 The Holy Academy’s Test (Part 8)

:::[Third Person POV]:::

Inside a room filled with a particular of most generated by some kind of boiled liquid, a man was sitting on a luxurious chair surrounded by attractive females from different species.

The man who looked like one of these professional businessmen on Earth had a device similar to a tablet in his hand. The screen of the device displayed various and complex data and patterns, but the man looked like he was in control of everything. 𝒇𝘳𝐞𝚎𝓌𝑒𝑏𝒏𝑜𝙫ℯl.c𝚘𝒎

Nonetheless, this man was known as one of the Guardians of the Empire in the public eyes, but behind the scenes, he was known as 'The Mind', a rather intimidating title for those who were operating in the shadow.

However, during the day, this man was also known as Gerrard The Wise. Among all of the Guardians, he was said to be the most intelligent. 𝘧r𝑒𝘦𝒘𝘦𝙗ｎovel.𝐜o𝒎

Of course, only a few people knew his second title, but those who did fear him and respected him. Along with the one who held the title of 'The Soul' and 'The body', he was one of the most influential figures in the dark side of the Empire.

"Sir, the auction is about to begin." Another man who worked under Gerrard came reporting.

"How are the newcomers?" Gerrard asked with his eyes still fixated on the device's screen.

Loud music was played inside the room, but using their power, Gerrard and his subordinate could communicate normally.

"They had all arrived. Among them, there was a suspicious man and so we are keeping an eye on him. Please look at this. Should we take further action?"

The subordinate showed Gerrard a recording of Adam talking to the receptionist. For some reason, however, Adam was looking directly at the camera as he spoke.

"Mmm… He is the type of person who does quickly in this world. How did he manage to find out about this auction in the first place? Have you found something him?" Gerrard said. He didn't think that Adam was a threat, but he disliked Adam's attitude.

He was thinking about how to take advantage of him if he was worth something and immediately dispose of him if he wasn't.

"Not yet, sir. We found it weird too that we didn't find anything about this man in our archives. It's like he had never existed," the subordinate said.

"…" Hearing this fact, Gerrard squinted his eyes and looked like he was thinking about something.

He thought that Adam could be some kind of spy, but his attitude was too unprofessional even though he was one. Nonetheless, he had also considered the possibility that he acted in such a manner to make people think that he was too incompetent to be a spy.

And even if e was a spy, what would be his motives, his goal? Gerrard had already taken care of suspicious individuals and annihilated the person or group who sent them, and he was also thinking about doing the same for Adam's case.

In the end, it didn't matter what Adam's identity was. Gerrard just found him annoying, so he should blame it on himself, or Gerrard thought.

"Okay, it's time to go. We will deal with this later," Gerrard said, standing up and walking towards the door.

*****

The place where the special auction would be held looked like a luxurious restaurant where many high-class people were gathered.

The mood was lively and people chatted with each other while enjoying drinks and food. Classic music played in the background and there were even those who danced.

Leading to this area, the only entrance was a huge door but it was closed. As such, everyone would see who was coming every time it opened.

Newcomers would certainly find themselves under everyone else's gaze because even if they arrived early, they were asked to wait inside another room, and only asked to enter this place after everyone else.

This was made to put pressure on the newcomers, and also for the old members to keep an eye on them.

It was an unwritten rule for every community or organization that newcomers should respect their seniors, ask for guidance from them and finally rise to the top at their turn.

Of course, that was just a way for someone like Gerrard to keep the newcomers in check and control the whole community. After all, if someone didn't comply with this, they would certainly end up dead.

Clang!

The main door was opening to open and every people inside the room turned their attention to the person who entered the room.

Finally, Gerrard had arrived and the people who were present there had various thoughts about him.

There were those who were jealous of him, but there were also those who wanted to curry his favor. Some were still new despite beeping accepted in the community and felt honored to see Gerrard.

Getting an invitation to attend this special auction was almost impossible for people who didn't have any connection with someone who was already operating within this community.

After Gerrard's arrival, the newcomers had also arrived, and it was clearly hard for them to try and fit in, but if they wanted to achieve their personal goals or whatever they wanted to achieve in their life for they to turn to the dark side, they needed to create an image for themselves.

Clang!

However, to everyone's surprise, another person entered the room, but unlike the other newcomers, he had a smile on his face.

Moreover, he was wearing a particular set of glasses and even his outfit looked extremely expensive. The people who had eyes for valuable things immediately assessed the worth of Adam's outfit and accessories, and they also did this to all of the other newcomers, but they couldn't come to a satisfying conclusion about Adam's case.

Moreover, the women who came with Adam were incomparable beauty, giving the noble women that were present there a run for their money.

As such, people's attention was focused on Adam but he looked like he didn't mind that at all.

He grabbed a glass of champagne and strolled directly toward a certain person.

"You look like you have something interesting in your collection. Tell me how much is the worth of the most important item in your collection," Adam, or in this case, John said with a smile on his face.

He was addressing directly Gerrard who was the most important person present there.

There was no need for Gerrard to talk to Adam of course and he had already signaled his bodyguards to deal with Adam but for some reason, they weren't moving.

"Mmm? Is my pronunciation weird? my name is John Sylvester, can you understand me or do you have trouble with your ears?" Adam continued without mincing his words, nor feeling uncomfortable or intimidated by the atmosphere.

There were even people who pitied Adam, but as he continued to speak, people began to wonder why Gerrard didn't do anything.

"If so, then I apologize. It's just that expected something more, how to say it, more interesting. Well, I hope that I won't leave this place feeling disappointed. Nonetheless, you look like you are an interesting individual. Tell me, what is the most important thing to you in this world?"

Adam continued to talk with a smile on his face, and Gerrard felt extremely irritated by what was happening.

It was not he didn't want to say anything, it was just that he couldn't.

'What's going on? Who is this guy?' Gerrard thought to himself.

It was not like Adam was doing anything else apart from talking, but somehow the pressure that he felt began to intensify.

Gerrard prided himself in the fact that he was cunning but also strong enough to deal with enemies personally if needed.

"Mmm… I thought that you would be interesting. It looks like you are quite boring too," Adam said, putting his hand on Gerrard's should as he walked away.

The pressure that Gerrard felt began to fade away as Adam distanced himself, but what just happened made people question various things.

After all, how could Gerrard let someone speak to him like that? Was Adam his friend or someone close to him?

As such, people got more curious about Adam than about Gerrard.

Nonetheless, Gerrard stopped his men from going after Adam. He felt like Adam's background was not simple and acting recklessly wouldn't do anything well.

'He must have connections with those guys. From the look of it, he looks too arrogant to work under someone. What's his goal?'

What happened was not a simple coincidence, Gerrard believed.

Therefore, he just acted as if nothing happened, while Adam continued to talk to people that he found interesting.

He had an image to protect, but he believed in attacking Adam while not being sure of his victory.

Moreover, people would forget about this incident once Adam disappeared without anyone knowing.

'No matter who you are, I will make you regret being born,' Gerrard swore to himself.