"Iâm sure heâs trying to help us, but we donât need it at the moment. In fact, getting back into manufacturing will be harmful at the moment. Just focus all our resources on what we planned before. That should be all," he added as he smiled wryly.
"Sigh, alright. Youâre the boss. Even though I donât see any loss in it, Iâll listen to you," Herriet nodded as she sighed.
"Oh right, could it be that you donât want this because itâs from a company owned by a friend? I did remember last time it mentioned that you took no help in establishing this company. Could it be you want it that way, so the credit of your success isnât given to your friendship with someone big?" She asked, frowning.
"Maybe, thatâs one of the reasons. I donât want anyone to say that I only succeeded because of him. Or that I only became his friend for financial goals," Ryder answered as he nodded.
"But thereâs another reason. I really think that itâs a bad idea to do it. Must listen to me on this," he insisted.
"Alright," Herriet nodded. She decided to go with his suggestion. Noticing the time on the clock, he asked, "Oh right, did you have lunch?"
"Not yet," Ryder shook his head as he realized that he had not only skipped breakfast but lunch as well. It was only now that he realized about that. He didnât even feel hungry in any case.
"Itâs already lunchtime. How about we go out and have lunch? Or I can have something ordered here?" Herriet inquired, wondering what he preferred.
"Well, itâs better to go out. Come, itâs my treat for doing such a great work," Ryder told Harriet as he smiled wryly.
Herriet nodded her head as she stood up. She followed after Ryder as she left the office.
...
"This is the place that isnât recently opened here, but the reviews are really good about this place," Herriet escorted Ryder to a newly opened restaurant nearby that had become her favorite in such a short time.
She was the one who suggested them to come here when Ryder asked where they should go.
They entered the restaurant and sat on a sofa near the window. The sofa given to them was only big enough for two people.
A table was placed before them on which the food was served.
"So, I donât know much about you. Why donât you tell me a bit. Other than the mysterious rich boss, what else are you? Do you have a family? Or a girlfriend?" Herriet asked as she started drinking the wine that was served to them.
"Thereâs nothing to know about a boring person like me. Instead, you should tell me about yourself. Who is in your family?" Ryder asked, changing the topic from him to the girl.
Seeing his tactics, Herriet started laughing.
"Hahaha, donât think I donât know what youâre doing. Youâre changing the topic," Herriet let out as she rolled her eyes.
"Anyway, Iâm the only child in my family. My father and my mother live in a far out of state. They donât like the hustle of the city. So I live alone here," she explained.
"And your boyfriend?" Ryder asked casually.
"I donât have a boyfriend. Iâm still single. Why? Are you interesting?" she asked as she gazed at Ryder, who had taken another sip of the wine.
Hearing Herrietâs words, Ryder coughed out the mouthful of wine that he had just drunk.
"Ahem, Excuse me," he let out as he smiled wryly.
The waiter came to their table to clean it.
After the table was cleaned, Ryder and Herriet again continued their conversation.
" I had casually asked. Itâs not like I was asking you to be my boyfriend? You didnât have to choke," Herriet chuckled as she covered her lips with her hand.
"Itâs not that. I just remember something else. Donât worry," Ryder replied, shaking his head.
"You didnât answer about yourself. Tell me something," Herriet asked Ryder, not going deep into his previous reaction.
"Me? As I said, I am a really boring person. My parents died a long time ago. I donât have any family except for a girl," Ryder answered, smiling wryly.
"Which girl?" Herriet asked, curious.
"She is called Alice. Sheâs the daughter of a family friend I guess you can call technically," Ryder explained.
"Oh."
"Thereâs Shu as well. Heâs no less than a real brother to me," Ryder continued.
"Iâm Jealous. You get to be brothers with Shu Maxwell. If I were in your place, I would never have faced a single problem," Herriet muttered as she looked at Ryder with cute jealousy, making it evident that she was just joking.
"Itâs fine. I know how amazing it is to a normal person. So I can understand," Ryder replied as he smiled wryly.
..
"Thanks for the treat. Next time itâll be my treat," Herriet told Ryder as he dropped her off in front of the office.
"Didnât you say this the last time as well?" Ryder inquired, smiling wryly. "Anyway, you donât need to treat me."
" No, I need to. I owe you two now," she said as she smiled cheekily.
She turned back and entered the building.
Ryder, on the other hand, went back to the Maxwell Estate.
As he reached the Maxwell Estate, it was already near the evening. Shu wasnât in the hallway anymore. On asking the staff, he was told that Shu had left the Estate for some work.
As for when he was going to be back, according to them, he was going to come back by night.
After checking Aliceâs room and making sure that she was inside Divinity, he went back to his room.
Taking all his clothes off, he entered the shower and only left after a long half-hour shower.
Dressed in comfortable clothes, he laid on his bed and entered Divinity once again.
As he entered the world of Divinity, it was night time. There seemed to be a few hours before it was going to be the time for sunrise.
Ryder stood outside the house he had taken over as he gazed at the sky.
The entire city was filled with darkness, but it was still visible for some reason.
Ryder stepped on the empty streets as he started roaming inside the city to see if he could find any prey.
Even if there were guards of the city, he could still use some trick to kill them or at least try to find some people who lived alone here.
Unfortunately, even after searching for hours, he could find no one. Why was it that this entire city seemed like a ghost town at night? Let alone seeing any guards, he couldnât even see a single person outside.
He wondered if the town even had any security at night. This should have been the heaven for thieves with this level of laziness, but he couldnât even see thieves out on the streets.
Just what was happening?
Just as he was wondering what was happening, he saw a massive group of soldiers that came running from the distance.
They were running beside a horse on top of which a woman was sitting. Shockingly though, the woman was sitting.
It was a beautiful woman who could only be described as charming by people. She was wearing a long gown as she sat on top of the horse sideways. The horse raced inside the city.
Even though the speed of the horse was fast, it was surprisingly matched by the guards that were running beside the house as if protecting the woman.
Ryder couldnât help but hide behind a tree as he let the horse pass.
âThat girl, what is she doing here?â he thought as he frowned, recognizing the woman who was sitting on the horse.
She was none other than the that that Ryder had seen when he had just entered the Death Domain. The woman was inside the water, not wearing anything. He had even managed to see a lot of her.
It was as surprising to see her here as it was stunning to see the security around her as if she was a princess. Just who was this girl exactly? It was something that made him really curious.
In any case, it was already going to be morning, so he decided to walk back after the entourage had left, feeling like the emptiness of the city probably had something to do with them.
He entered inside the house again and started waiting while forming a plan to finish the trial faster. It was the truth that he didnât actually have the strength to kill most of these people openly, even though he was a level 200 player. These were monsters that were too high in the level that he couldnât even see.
So his entire plan rested on scheming to achieve his target here to make sure he could survive as well as finish the trial.