Chapter 229: Jonas’s Warning.

"Mr. Kael, have you considered moving from where you currently live to another district?"

Kael furrowed his brows upon hearing the question, clearly caught off guard by where the conversation had suddenly gone. He leaned slightly against the bed frame, phone pressed against his ear as he tried to understand what Jonas was getting at.

"Vice President Jonas, I’m not sure I’m following."

There was a brief pause on the other end before Jonas finally spoke again.

"I recently looked into it and discovered that you’re living in some run-down apartment in the Third District."

Kael’s expression remained unchanged.

"No offense," Jonas quickly added, "but you’re an S-Rank Hunter now. Living somewhere like that might not have been an issue when you were weaker, but now that you’ve reached S-Rank, things are different."

He paused for a moment before continuing.

"I guess you’re someone who doesn’t like stepping into the spotlight much, but as an S-Rank Hunter, you don’t really have that option anymore. At the very least, things would be more manageable if you lived somewhere that wasn’t so easy to access, and your current location isn’t exactly ideal for that."

Jonas took a breath before continuing.

"I bet you’re already starting to get some attention, right?"

"Yeah," Kael replied. "I’ve gotten some text messages and stuff like that."

"Right. That’s just the beginning."

Kael’s brows tightened slightly.

"Right now, you’re still enjoying a relatively peaceful life because the Association has rules in place that prevent organizations and other groups from approaching newly promoted S-Rank Hunters too aggressively. The purpose is to give them time to adjust to their new rank and the attention that comes with it. We don’t want them immediately being pressured into joining an alliance, signing some agreement, or accepting some kind of deal before they’ve even had time to understand their new position."

Jonas’s tone became more serious.

"But that grace period doesn’t last long. Once it ends, you won’t just be receiving a few messages anymore. You’ll probably have all kinds of people trying to contact you. Guilds, organizations, influential individuals, wealthy families, people looking for acquaintances, people looking for alliances, and people who simply want to establish some connection with you."

Kael’s brows tightened further.

He hadn’t really thought that far ahead.

He knew becoming an S-Rank Hunter would attract attention. That much had been obvious from the beginning. He had already experienced the first signs of it through the messages he had received, but he had assumed it would remain relatively manageable.

Apparently, he had underestimated it.

The Association’s temporary restrictions were the only reason things had remained this quiet. Once those restrictions were lifted, his current residence could easily become a problem. It was a simple apartment in the Third District, located in an area where ordinary people could move around without much difficulty.

If enough people discovered where he lived, maintaining any semblance of privacy would become nearly impossible.

And there was another factor.

Kael was the youngest S-Rank Hunter to ever appear.

That alone would make him far more interesting than most newly promoted S-Rank Hunters.

People would want to know how strong he really was. They would want to know where he came from, what kind of abilities he possessed, what organization he belonged to, whether he could be recruited, and perhaps most importantly, whether they could somehow benefit from establishing a relationship with him.

Kael slowly exhaled.

He needed to relocate.

Not because he was afraid of those people, but because there was no reason to allow unnecessary trouble to enter his life when he could simply avoid it by moving somewhere more secure.

Still, he brought his attention back to the phone.

"I assume that’s not the only reason you want me to move, right?"

What Jonas had said was certainly something he needed to take seriously, but Kael didn’t believe the Vice President had called him personally just to tell him to find a better apartment.

There had to be another reason.

Jonas cleared his throat on the other end.

"Well, you’re correct."

Kael waited.

"You know the tournament starts in two weeks, and our safe zone will be hosting the first challenge, right?"

"Yeah."

"That means we’ll soon have visitors from the other safe zones arriving here."

Kael’s expression became more serious.

"And considering how important this tournament is, they’ll probably send some people here ahead of schedule. They’ll want to gather information about their opponents, learn more about our participants, study the environment, and prepare themselves before the actual tournament begins."

Jonas paused.

"And when that happens, you’ll probably be their main focus."

Kael remained silent.

It made sense.

He had already become the most obvious target simply by being the youngest S-Rank Hunter in the Eastern Safe Zone. Once representatives from the other safe zones arrived, there was no way they would ignore him.

Jonas went quiet for another moment before adding something that immediately caught Kael’s attention.

"And we’re afraid they might even try to play dirty."

Kael’s brows furrowed.

"Why?"

Jonas’s voice came from the other end of the phone.

"What do you think?"

There was a brief pause.

"You’re an anomaly."

The words were simple, but Kael understood exactly what Jonas meant.

"We don’t know how powerful the participants from the other safe zones are," Jonas continued, "but considering the age range involved in the tournament, I doubt there will be anyone strong enough to actually pose a serious challenge to you. So what do you think they’re going to do if they realize that?"

Kael didn’t answer immediately.

He simply sat there in silence as his mind began connecting the pieces.

It made sense.

The tournament wasn’t some friendly competition between the four safe zones, it was a contest for a prize as valuable as a treasure-filled rift, one that had once plunged the four regions into war and bloodshed.

The war might have ended, but that didn’t mean the value of the rift had diminished.

If anything, its importance had probably only increased.

The four safe zones had simply chosen another way to compete for it, one that would result in far fewer casualties than an actual war.

But that didn’t mean everyone involved would suddenly become honorable simply because the battlefield had changed.

If one side couldn’t win fairly, there was always the possibility that someone would look for another way.

Kael’s eyes narrowed.

He believed he was strong enough to hold his own against most opponents, but this was a world filled with bizarre abilities and countless unknown powers. He had only just finished reading about the different power systems used by the other safe zones, and even then, the information available to him had been limited.

The Northern Safe Zone had Warriors and strange beast bloodlines.

The Western Safe Zone had Apostles and Holy Children blessed by their Sun Goddess.

He didn’t know what those powers were truly capable of.

And even if he could protect himself, that didn’t necessarily mean everyone around him could.

That was the part that concerned him the most.

Kael’s fingers tightened slightly around the phone.

If someone couldn’t deal with him directly, they could always target the people around him.

He finally spoke.

"So I assume you already have a solution to this before calling me, right?"