How they found out about this bloke was a lucky coincidence.
The same day, they went to the Mercenary base to taunt them, and they overheard a group of Alterrans going around.
They were around the territory in a so-called ’Tour’. They couldn’t do anything to the careless losers due to the rules of the territory, but they did follow them to find out more.
First of all, it was seriously odd that these people just went to Ferrol to look at buildings. They were going around the territory for the sake of going around the territory, which was baffling to them.
Who had that much leisurely time and excess money? Apparently Alterrans.
This stupidity just made them look down on the place even more.
They probably became a town due to pure luck and support from powerful territories.
But... was Voumi that powerful? Who was backing them?
This was the point of investigation they got fixated on for a while. Since they found out that Voumi was secretly raising this unusual territory, they started to think of how Voumi could get so many resources in the first place. Their industry was nothing special, and they didn’t know of a City that could be interested in it.
Bleulle was the nearest City in this area. Was it them? Did they figure out this region was a good source of elementalist slaves and had decided to use a Town to gather them?
Why was it a secret? Why was the alliance or subsidiarity unofficial? Was the City planning something?
The more they thought about it this way, the more it made sense, and the more mysterious things got.
Then, at some point, they overheard something interesting. It was between two friends who had just passed by the town pharmacy. "Hmn, interesting, but I still think the selection in our place is better," one paused and looked at his companion.
"Gus, how’s the pharmacy? This is the first time I’ve seen you outside Alterra! I almost forgot what you glanced like, to be honest."
Another one of the friends laughed. "Yeah, he got so busy, I’m surprised he accepted our invite for a trip!"
The thin man rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry...I’ll be a better friend someday."
"Awww don’t make this awkward!"
"You can just treat us to a drink every so often. We’re not high-maintenance!"
"I can’t help it, there’s so much being done in the Research Center. I’m finally using my accumulated leave! I’m not used to it, but I intend to enjoy it while it lasts."
"Very cool! What are you working on now?"
"Hey! Don’t you know they sign NDAs?"
"Yes, but only on certain products and items, right? I’ve heard others talk about some things in development."
At this, Ryan and the others looked dark. "Well, there has been an issue."
Wazan held back their laughter. Last night, they compromised the wheels of those carriages, and it was meant to start acting up when the carts started moving at least a hundred meters or so. The best case was it falling down while already on the way, but the Alterrans detected it before leaving, which was the current state.
Although there was a rule against destroying others’ properties, they had taken advantage of a loophole they had used a lot in the past couple of years, planting something in a way that it would only break after it was used to a certain degree.
It would also prevent them from fixing it in a day. If they decided to just delay the trip, Wazan had already partnered with a few people who were taking the Alterra tour to make a scene, so that the Alterrans would have no choice but to get on with it already.
It wasn’t that they were afraid of being outrun too far. However, beast carts (and those bike carts) were definitely a variable that’d be difficult to control. What if their hostages decided to get in?
Ryan looked at the others with deep eyes and sighed. "Very well, but you have to be in front."
This made Wazan and the others pause. "Why? So suspicious?"
"No. You’re so strong, you can clear the way for us."
"..."
They felt annoyed somehow.

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