Card Apprentice Daily Log

Date- 6 April 2321

Time- 12:27

Location- Southern Region, Blossom District, Sky Blossom City, Dungeon Highway, Barren Lands

"Excellent! Once I finish drafting the contract, I'll be sure to share it with your grimoire," exclaimed Jill, basking in the relief of having sold her entire stock of phantom sword wood.

"Great, I look forward to receiving it," I responded awkwardly, unsure if it was appropriate to make a request of Jill at this time.

Seeing the boy linger instead of hanging up the call after having brokered the deal, Jill inquired with a playful eye-roll, "What's on your mind? Need a favor from me?"

"Now that you mention it, I'm actually in need of coordinates for other worlds. Do you happen to have any?" With the proverbial cat out of the bag, I decided to seize the moment and speak my mind.

"I do happen to know where to obtain some coordinates for other worlds. I can get them for you however, it will cost you," Jill declared, pondering what could be going on in the boy's mind. With his recent history of dungeon relocation apparatus theft and a large purchase of phantom sword wood, Jill couldn't help but wonder why the boy needed coordinates for other worlds.

"You're going to charge me for the coordinates? Come on now, I just bought your entire Phantom sword wood stock at 5 percent above the market price. You couldn't get a better deal anywhere in the market. Where's the gratitude?" I exclaimed in an exaggerated tone, hoping to sway Jill into providing the coordinates without charge.

In response, Jill remained silent for a moment before finally speaking up.

"Alright, I'll get you the coordinates for free. But first, you'll have to tell me what you plan to do with them," she demanded, her curiosity piqued by the boy's previous actions.

"What else would I need the coordinates for? I plan on using them to travel to the world they belong to," I was not exactly lying but also not revealing the whole truth.

"Well, I had no idea the Southern Royal family was working on world travel," Jill mused, her interest piqued by the news. She did not doubt the boy but believed that the Southern Royal family was secretly researching other world travel methods. And the boy was getting the other world coordinates for them to conduct test runs.

"I too don't have a clue. I held up my end now it's your turn," I replied, not lying since I did not know if the Southern Royal family was conducting research on other world travels. Although Jill seemed to have misinterpreted my response, I didn't bother correcting her as it seemed to work in my favor.

"Don't worry, I'll have those coordinates for you by the end of the day," Jill promised.

"Great, I'll be waiting for your call," I replied before hanging up the call. Keeping an eye on the road, I went through my grimoire's notification section since it was buzzing like crazy when I was on the call with Jill.

As I checked my grimoire's notification section, I noticed that it was filled with texts from members of the Bright Lions gang. Somehow, they had managed to get a hold of my grimoire ID, and each message contained the same video file with the same old spiel about how it was an honor to be a part of their gang and so on.

Given that most of the Bright Lions gang executives were children of high-ranking city officials, it wasn't surprising that they were able to obtain my grimoire ID. However, what truly caught me off guard was their audacity to spam my grimoire with the same generic text.

Some messages congratulated me for getting early admission into Morningstar University. Where did they hear that from? And here I was trying to secure my admission through Jill's connections, all the while fearing that the Southern Royal family might do something to stop it from happening. Can't tell truth apart from rumors.

Fuming with anger, I clicked on the video file that had been attached to each of the texts. I couldn't imagine what could have prompted so many people to send me the same thing. But what I saw left me completely stunned. The video showed my four Calamity daughter gems brutally slaughtering tens of thousands of card apprentices, while the city police simply stood by and watched. I was disgusted by their actions and immediately activated my Calamity soul gem to contact Nick and hear what he had to say about it.

Learning that it was all part of a larger plan hatched by the Circle I calmed down a bit. It was surprising that the Circle had responded so quickly to my attack on their Sun Blossom City branch, but I couldn't understand what the Supreme Leader was trying to achieve with this. He should know by now that he can't harm me as long as I remain in the Southern region. So, what was his endgame?

Was he trying to manipulate public opinion against me, to force the Southern Royal family into taking action against me? Every young card apprentice who died in that tragic massacre was a child of a citizen of the southern region. This incident combined with my fraudster reputation it would be easy for the Supreme Leader to make me the public enemy in the southern region.

I have little faith in the Southern Royal family to support me in this matter, as I suspect they may seize this chance to imprison me within their borders, preventing me from enrolling at Morningstar University. If things unfold as I imagined then the Supreme Leader would have inadvertently handed them the perfect excuse to confine me within the Southern region.

I really hope that I was overthinking and wrong about this. Because if not then I will be forced to leave a life of a fugitive on the run. I hope that it doesn't come to that.