Supreme Magus novel Chapter 828

Chapter 828 Domino Effect Part 2

’After that, I would just wait for Manohar to be Manohar, give myself the impossible task of catching him and use it as a pretext to strip the annoying Archon of her title if not even ending her career.’ Jirni thought.

Between her ancestral household, all the allies she had made during the years, and the excellent relationship she had with the Royal family, she was supposed to be safe from power plays, yet she was starting to feel cornered.

The worst thing was that for the first time in her life, Jirni was powerless against it. Phloria’s fate only depended on the army official part of the commission, while Orion could only rely on his fellow Royal Forgemasters.

There was no easy way out, no favor she could call in to solve the situation, nor any plot she could scheme. Jirni Ernas was a resourceful woman, but taking on alone the six great academies, the army, and several noble families was too much for her.

Too much for anyone.

Yet she didn’t despair, channeling her frustration in her job to make sure to do everything by the book. This time, success or failure was almost the same. Even if Jirni managed to find Manohar, she could still be blamed for being too late for it to matter.

Manohar or no Manohar, if Laruel fell she might be held responsible so Jirni’s main concern was not leaving anything that her hidden enemies could use against her.

The silver lining was that thanks to Manohar’s escaping streak, blaming her was a paper-thin argument, but that only if she was able to prove that she had left no stone unturned.

"Archon Ernas, we just received a sighting report from Othre." Kamila said, showing her mentor only the interesting bits. Kamila had worked her ass off ever since Laruel’s crisis had started, barely taking the time off to eat, sleep, and see Lith.

Once he had departed, she had dedicated herself entirely to the manhunt.

"Othre? This is great news." Jirni checked the list of ingredients Manohar was after. A fossilized Gorgon scale was among them, and according to the report, one had just reached Othre’s black market.

Gorgons were officially extinct, so everything related to them was incredibly hard to find, even on the Royal trading channels.

"Do you want to send a squad to check?" Kamila asked.

"No time." Jirni shook her head, making sure to have with her all the Manohar-capturing artifacts that had allowed her to succeed the first time, plus some new pieces that Orion had prepared for her.

"A squad would take too long and they would not get 100 meters from him without getting discovered. Manohar can’t Warp inside of Othre but he can still fly. You and I will have to suffice."

"Me?" Kamila was surprised. "I’ve never received training to go undercover and if he recognizes me..."

"Manohar will ask you if Lith is with you. He doesn’t bother remembering insignificant details like the names and jobs of the people he meets. Either he will just take you for a pretty face in the crowd or recognize you as Lith’s plus one." Jirni cut her short.

The Mad Professor had an incredible acumen in recognizing someone’s magical talent. It was one of the reasons catching him was so hard. Only a powerful mage could corner Manohar, yet he would recognize one on the fly and escape.