Faery-Flower Pollinate Technique
"Oh yeah! Lots of people have been saying that, but would the emperor really treat his son-in-law so poorly?"
"Who knows? But I've heard that the emperor is pretty paranoid. A guy like that would kill his own son if he got in the way, much less someone of no real relation."
"When was this posted?" Potin suddenly asked, having spent the last few days in secluded cultivation.
"Just a couple days ago I think, but the empire has already determined Mister Rovo's general location, so the sect plans to send out a team soon. You should try and join, Elder Potin!"
"You're right, it would be a good opportunity." Potin smiled, pinning Minos's portrait back onto the board before heading off, his mind running rapidly.
He was one of the few people who was fully aware of Minos's and Lilia's relationship, so the Crown Prince's true father had never been a mystery to him, however his identity as Mister Rovo was a complete shock to him.
He had been aware of Mister Rovo ever since he had first appeared on the scene, after all his influence had spread throughout a lot of the continent, but to know he and Minos were one in the same nearly knocked him onto his backside.
Taking a deep breath, Potin quickly made it back to his house before shutting the door tightly and heading to his room. Thinking for a moment, he proceeded to pick up his Rovo and make a few calls.
…
Meanwhile, in a far off secluded little coastal city by the eastern shoreline, a grizzled looking young man walked into a bar before coming to a pause.
"Interested in the bounties, huh? Well if you really feel yourself strong, a new one just came out, give it a look." The barman said as he noticed the grizzled-man looking at the board.
Nodding, the person kept looking throughout the board before his eyes froze, his lips opening shakily before he took the picture down from the board.
"You found it, huh? That must be the biggest bounty in the history of the Alephora Continent, everyone's been going crazy ever since it was released, but if you ask me, it's more trouble than it's worth."
"You may be right, but do you mind if I take this portrait?" The man asked.
"Go ahead, I've got dozens of them." The bartender replied as he continued to whip down his glasses.
"Thanks." The man said, tilting his hat before heading out of the shop.
'Minos, what have you been up to…' The grizzled-man said as he looked up from his shadowy-hat, revealing a familiar face.
'To think you'd get up to so much after the Thousand Split Sword Sect, I underestimated you.' Venix laughed, before tucking the portrait into his shirt and heading west.
…
"Everyone, emergency meeting!" Rubella shouted, causing the members of Trin's Abode to immediately gather.
"What is it, Rubella?" A veteran member asked.
"It's this." Rubella said, tossing the portrait onto the table, causing everyone's eyes to instantly focus towards it.
"Boss? Why does he have a bounty, and why are they calling him 'Mister Rovo'?" One younger member asked.
"Wait, did you just say Mister Rovo?"
"Yeah, why?"
"You don't know? Mister Rovo took the empire by storm a few years ago when he first appeared, apparently he's the richest man in Aleph City, even richer than the emperor himself!"
"Are you saying that Mister Rovo and Minos are the same person?" The young member asked with shock.
"Both of you stop talking, that's exactly what I was about to explain." Rubella said, waiting for the room to go silent before continuing to speak.
"You guys aren't aware of it, but me and Minos have been in contact ever since he first established himself, and yes, he is Mister Rovo…"
"Really! Amazing! But how come he never helped us even though he was so rich?" One member said, seemingly a little dissatisfied.
"Help? Haven't you ever wondered how our group managed to constantly expand despite our profit not at all matching our spending?"
"Huh, I never really thought about it…"
"Of course you didn't, it's not a matter for you to think about, but I imagine those of you in-charge of finance have long since been suspicious."
Hearing that, a few members of the finance team looked at each other, finally confirming their past suspicions.
"Well since the secret is out, I may as well tell you the truth. Minos has constantly been funding our operations on the down-low, secretly funneling in money to help us thrive, and now it's time for us to pay him back."
"Pay him back, how so?"
"How else? He's given his life to raise us, so now we give our lives in return." Rubella said sternly as her red-eyes scanned the room, causing a few people to subconsciously look away.
"I can tell that some of you are afraid, and some of you just don't feel like Minos has done enough to deserve your life in return. For those who feel that way, you can leave anytime."
After a moment of silence, a few people finally found the courage to leave the room, mostly new members who weren't part of Minos's original recruitment.
Soon enough, the room was left with only half its original amount, Rubella giving Beetus beside her a quick nod.
Seeing her signal, Beetus gathered a few of his men before going out after those who left, coming back only a few minutes later, his shirt drenched in blood.
The other members seemed unperturbed by Beetus's new appearance, having long since expected such results.
"Alright, with that out of the way, let's not waste any time. In ten minutes I want everyone gathered by the front of the house. Dismissed."
With her dismissal, the room quickly emptied, leaving behind only Rubella and Beetus, arguably the two most important people under Minos.
"How are we meant to find him? The bounty only gives his general location." Beetus asked once the room cleared.
"Don't you still have those Signal Talisman's he gave you? We'll use those." Rubella answered.
"Oh yeah! I nearly forgot about those!" Beetus replied, before quickly running off to retrieve them from the place he had stored them years ago.
'Don't worry Master, even if it costs me my life, I'll make sure you can escape!' Rubella thought, her eyes staring out into the distance as she reminisced about the past.
…
"Hey guys, I think I found something!" A fierce-looking man shouted out.
"What is it?"
"Look here, a blood stain." The man said, pointing his knife towards the inconspicuous drop of blood.
"He must be close!" The other man said excitedly, finally finding a trace after hours of looking.
Meanwhile, not far from the blood stain in question, Minos was seated deep within a dark cave, his cat-like eyes reading the Faery-Flower Pollinate technique, unaffected by the dark.
Beside him Tinka laid in silence, his eyes occasionally rising from his book to give her a glance before immediately refocusing.
However, while his eyes and mind were completely focused on the technique, his hand was tightly clenching hers, his fingers constantly feeling for her pulse to make sure her condition wasn't getting worse.
'The main problem with this technique is the physiology of Faeries compared to humans. Due to the way Faeries reproduce, they are all pretty much clones of one another on a genetic level, which allows them to connect with tremendous ease.'
'Meanwhile humans have tremendous genetic variability, no doubt due to our sexual reproduction compared to faeries asexual reproduction.'
'If I want to use this technique, I have to first find a way to close the gap between me and Tinka, so that the power can flow between us without any rejection, but how…'
'Wait! Whos to say that I have to make us match, instead, why not create a vessel that can act as a bridge!'
'It's too bad I already sent Rinka off, she would have made the perfect inbetween… I could create a pseudo-clone using mine and Tinka's DNA, but I have neither the equipment nor time.'
'Think, Minos, think!'
As Minos's mind was running rapidly, the men from before finally found the cave Minos was inside.
"Look here, a formation!"
"He must be inside. What are we going to do about this formation?"
"Don't worry, I have some experience and I can tell this thing is pretty weak, he must have just thrown it together at the last second. All we need to do is attack it with enough force and it'll come crumbling down."
"Alright, then enough with the talking, everyone attack on my count. 3, 2, 1, now!"