Summoned with an SSS-Rank Portal Skill

The manager couldn't believe what he was seeing. He knew William was a powerful man, but to invade his home? Not everyone had the means to do that.

Numerous security devices would deter anyone from trespassing. At least, that was what the manager hoped would happen. Apparently, that wasn't the case.

"We don't have anything to talk about," the manager said, "please, leave. If you leave now, I won't call the guards."

William laughed. "It's not like you can call the guards right now. Also, stop moving. It's easy for me to kill you and leave this place."

The manager froze. He didn't want to die. No one wanted to die, that is.

"What do you want?" the manager asked.

"I know you know who hired Collin and Seraphina," William said, "spill it out. I really need this information."

"I swear I don't know," the manager said. "Why would I lie to you?"

"So you are telling me someone hires two of your workers to a mysterious mission, and you have no idea about the mission itself and who hired them? Cut the crap!"

William was losing his patience. The manager was acting dumb. He knew that. If the manager continued like that, well, William would have to use other means to get the information.

"This is exactly what happened! People with money can do these things!"

"Bullshit!"

There was no time to waste. William went straight to the point.

"You can either tell me or suffer immense pain as I use my magic to search your memories. It is up to you," William said.

He was confident in getting the information he needed because of that. With his demonic spells, he could invade the manager's mind and get the information.

When the manager heard that, he didn't believe it. "I really don't know shit, and I know you can't read minds. This is impossible; please leave. I won't tell the authorities about this."

William sighed. "I am sorry for the pain you'll suffer. But thank you for giving me the information I need."

With agile movements, William finally acted. He ran toward the manager and grabbed his head using his only hand. Then, he activated his demonic energy.

It worked similarly to when he was taming beasts, but harder. Humans were more intelligent, so they would try to knock him off their minds. It was a battle of will and intent.

However, the difference in power between the two was significant. The manager couldn't fend him off, and after a few minutes, he succumbed.

A stream of memories rushed into William's mind. He couldn't comprehend what he was seeing exactly. Similar to a wild dream, his mind was drifting, searching for the one piece of information he wanted.

William's mind could think of just one thing: who hired both Collin and Seraphina?

It was essential to have the intent of what he wished to find inside the manager's mind; otherwise, he would get lost in the river of memories.

Eventually, what he sought came to him. A vision of a woman. It was difficult to see the features of that woman. Perhaps she was using some form of magic when she met the manager, or he forgot how she looked somehow.

But what William knew was her name: Geneva Karl. That was the name she introduced herself to the manager when hiring both Collin and Seraphina.

As for the nature of their mission, well, the manager really didn't know what. He was telling the truth in that regard, but he knew the name of the person who hired him and didn't disclose it.

When the mind-reading process was over, when the manager came back to his senses after suffering tremendous pain, he said, "Please, don't kill me."

"I'll not kill you, but tell me, why did you keep that a secret? You knew we were looking for Geneva, yet you didn't tell us!" William said.

The manager begged. "She forced me to keep it a secret. I couldn't tell you! Literally. Geneva used a spell that made me unable to say the words."

William frowned. He initially believed that Geneva had either paid the manager a substantial amount of money or threatened someone he loved. Those were two ways of making someone shut their mouth about something.

But she actually used a form of magic to do that! It was new to him and also worrying. How strong was Geneva? Was she a master of the illusion arts?

Anyway, William threatened the manager with dire consequences if he were to share what had happened that night with anyone. Then, he left, leaving the manager trembling in fear.

The mysterious woman was waiting for him outside. She knew a route to follow to get out of that private district without drawing attention to herself.

It required both her stealth spells and a way out without being spotted by the guards. Bruce had used his money and his contacts to provide William that exit.

After leaving the district, William returned to the hotel he was staying at to meet up with Rebo. On the way there, he thought about how he would tell him what he had discovered. It would be hard.

Geneva was the one who hired her old teammates. Why? What was she up to? Did that mean she was in the capital still, or perhaps somewhere near?

Rebo's heart raced as he hurried to the door, the sound of William's urgent knocks echoing in his ears.

"So? What did you find out?" Rebo asked, his voice tinged with anxiety.

William didn't look as excited as Rebo was, so when Rebo saw that, he turned serious. He knew that something was off, or else William wouldn't have that expression.

They both sat on the bed to speak. William, a trusted friend and ally, placed his hand on Rebo's shoulder, a gesture of reassurance.

"Apparently, Geneva was the one who hired Collins and Seraphina, her old teammates," William revealed, leaving Rebo in shock.

Rebo smiled, "really? But why are you feeling so down? I thought this meant we had a clue about her."

"If you see this way, sure. But she also hired them for a secret mission not even the manager knows about, and she used illusion magic to make sure the manager couldn't share this with anyone."

"Oh..."

Rebo wasn't stupid. The fact that his mother fled suddenly many years ago and was now hiring people in secrecy to do something, all of that together, meant that she was doing something shady.

Not that it was a definitive truth, but there was no denying that it looked odd.

"So what do we do now? How do we find her? Is she even close or in the capital?" Rebo asked.

"I honestly don't know. The manager is unaware of that. The only thing he knew was her name. She really messed up with his mind to make sure no one knew what she was doing," William said.

They stood there without speaking another word for a while, only thinking about what had just happened.

Rebo felt terrible. He knew his mother had been in the capital recently, yet he had no idea where she was now or any clue at all. Despite receiving the new information from the manager, it felt like they were back at square one.

"We will find out where she is," William said, "don't you worry. Someone must have seen her. There's no way she used her illusion magic in everyone."

The manager and everyone in the guild certainly knew nothing because they were the primary targets of her illusion magic, but that didn't mean someone saw her.

One of the many citizens in the city? Maybe someone living on the streets? However, there were too many people to ask around, which made things much harder.

"Is there a feature about your mother that stands out? I don't know, something that might help us find her?" William asked.

"We can't be sure about her appearance because many years have passed, right? She could change her hair, wear different clothes, and so on. Also, you said she uses illusion magic, so we ain't even sure she can't change her face."

Rebo had a point. Someone like Geneva was challenging to find due to the nature of her magic.

But then, Rebo remembered something. "She uses a necklace with a ruby stone. It belonged to her family for ages, so she never takes it off."

"Really?"

The information was precious. With it, William could ask around in the city to see if someone had seen a woman with that type of jewelry.

Rebo even shared that the stone had a few peculiarities that stood out from the ordinary ruby stones. It was a unique piece of jewelry.

Anyway, it was really late, so they decided to rest and continue their search on the following day.

William sat on the balcony of his room, gazing out at the city and its twinkling night lights. He missed home.

"I hope we find her soon..." he thought.

But then, something happened. An arrow came flying straight to William, quick and almost invisible. It hit him in the chest. William fell to the ground.