Chapter 206: Ch 206: Market - Part 2

The vendor’s sob story was of no interest to Noah, but he did not like how the vendor was charging the others. Still, since it was not worth getting into a shouting match, he decided to let it go.

He did not care whether the vendor was telling the truth or trying to scam him further, nor did he care.

"Fine. Just sell it at the proper price from now on. I will not report you this time."

The vendor immediately bowed his head several times, clearly relieved that he had managed to escape without getting into more trouble.

"Thank you, sir! I promise I will never do it again."

Noah nodded before paying for the vegetables and the other supplies he had managed to gather. He placed everything inside his bag and turned around, only to notice that Alan was standing behind him with empty hands.

"You did not buy anything?"

Alan shook his head and beamed back with a smile on his face.

"I don’t give my business to scammers. I will buy something else later if I need it."

Noah stared at him for a moment before shaking his head helplessly. He already knew that Alan had come to keep an eye on him, so he was not surprised after hearing Alan talk.

"You never wanted to buy anything at all, did you?"

"No, I clearly had something to buy. But I was not able to find the item this time."

Alan smiled as he followed Noah away from the makeshift market.

Noah decided not to argue with him and continued walking towards the edge of the village. The route back to the cottage passed through a small forest, and Noah usually enjoyed walking through it because the trees made the area feel peaceful.

Today, however, something felt different... or rather, Noah felt a presence following them from behind.

The moment they entered the forest, Noah slowed down to try and sense the location of the person following them.

He could not immediately tell what it was, but his instincts had become far too sensitive over the years for him to ignore the feeling. Someone was watching them.

Noah tightened his grip on the strap of his bag and glanced around.

"Alan..."

"Yes? Do you want me to take care of this rat for you?"

Alan’s relaxed expression had disappeared, replaced by a cold and alert look. He had likely sensed the presence even before Noah did.

Noah stopped walking and carefully looked between the trees.

There was no obvious movement, and the forest remained quiet, with only the sound of leaves moving in the wind.

But the esper who was following them did not stay calm for much longer. He snuck behind Alan and Noah in an attempt to catch them off guard.

He turned around quickly, but before he could even raise his hand to use his guiding, Alan had already moved.

A figure was thrown to the ground with enough force to make the dirt scatter around them. Alan was already on top of the stranger, one hand gripping his wrist while the other pressed firmly against his shoulder.

Noah stared in surprise.

That had happened so quickly that he had barely managed to follow what was happening.

"Who are you?"

Alan asked coldly, pressing the man harder against the ground. The stranger struggled underneath him, but Alan only tightened his grip.

"Let me go!"

"Why were you following us?"

"I wasn’t! I was just following orders, asshole! Now let me go."

Alan raised an eyebrow before narrowing his eyes. He seemed to have an idea who had followed them, but he chose not to say anything.

"Then you will not mind explaining why you were hiding behind that tree."

Alan asked in a low voice, but he suddenly seemed to be much more aware of Noah’s position as well when he interrogated their stalker.

"Hey, I just came to check on you because you won’t answer your phones when the higher-ups call you. I do not want to cause you trouble either. So can you not cause trouble for yourself?"

The stalker asked, and now that Noah was close enough, he felt like that voice was familiar.

He had heard it before for sure.

"I see. So you are here on orders? Then, head back and tell the home branch that I legally applied for the leave, and if not, then I would like to hand in my resignation. My grandfather will back me up on this as well."

Alan pointed out without a hint of hesitation, causing the stalker to struggle even harder.

"Damn it! Do it yourself if you want to. Do you think I would have to come all this way out if you were not causing trouble? And you went and dragged Daniel into this as well and... wait a minute! Is that you, Noah?"

A familiar face looked up, now rough because of being mishandled.

Noah’s eyes landed on Ethan for the first time in more than a year, but it was still easy to recognise him.

Alan, who did not like the fact that Ethan was looking at him, decided to grab Ethan’s face and press it into the ground.

"Stop looking at Noah like that. There is no need for you or anyone else to form the forces to come after Noah. As for myself and Daniel... you can try and convince Daniel to head back. But I won’t be coming back anytime soon."

Alan pointed out, causing Ethan to become frustrated.

"Do you think this is in your hands? You need to come back quickly. The higher-ups are not happy. You are lucky they only sent me this time. Who knows what they will do from here on-"

Alan pressed Ethan’s face harder into the ground to stop him from speaking. But Noah had heard enough.

He already knew both Alan and Daniel had been lying when they said they were here with consent.

’Tsk, I truly need to sit them down and have a talk with them. Just what are they thinking?’