Hello again!
Once again, there's nothing for me to say, so enjoy the chapter and see you again in the afterword.
[X][X][X]
Second Day, 23:56
The four members of Foresight pursued both Rossaur and Emerile, whom they had essentially confirmed to be the culprits behind the disappearance of Sheep and Arche. They went through the connecting door to the room next door, quickly but still in caution. They kept it well in their mind that they were still alive thanks to Rose's intervention against the three powerful spells. The enemies they were facing was far more dangerous than they had ever faced.
The room next door was more or less the same as the previous room; A luxurious bedroom fitting for an extremely rich person, though the bed of this room was smaller, designed for a single person rather than the king-size bed Rossaur had, which could fit two adults. The illumination was rather dim, but still bright enough to not leave any blind dark spots.
Strangely, the room was empty. Neither Rossaur nor Emerile could be seen inside the room. But the whole Foresight team knew not to let their guard down. The fact that Emerile could cast powerful spells could very well meant that she also had concealment spells up her sleeves.
"Everybody, cover your face"
Right after saying that, Imina quickly took out a small pouch from her bag, threw it to the air, and shot it with her bow. The pouch blew up, spreading tiny glowing blue wisps to every direction. As the result, the whole room was covered in tiny blue glowing particles all over, including the Foresight members. Only their faces were still clean since they had covered their faces as instructed. This bunch of blue wisps was a magic consumable item, the purpose of which was to blanket an area which would help in revealing the position of invisible objects and creatures. The wisps would disappear by themselves after a few seconds, so the user and their allies had to be quick in spotting their target.
"There!"
Imina pointed at a spot near one corner of the room. The particles were gathered in a way that they made two standing human figures there, matching the body shape of Rossaur and Emerile. Without saying anything further, Imina quickly shot an arrow at the direction of the two figures. The blue wisp particles blanketing the room disappeared when the arrow was still in mid-air.
CLANK!
The arrow hit something in mid-air. For a very brief moment, everyone could see an energy shield covering Rossaur and Emerile, who were no longer invisible. Emerile still looked slightly angry like before, while Rossaur seemed to be confused and worried.
[Grand Fireball]
Emerile launched a big fireball towards the group. This time, everyone in Foresight team had the knowledge of the spell. It was a fourth tier spell, a direct upgrade to the third tier spell [Fireball], which would inflict massive damage over a large area.
"Get behind me!"
Roberdyck quickly stepped forward while the others grouped themselves behind him.
[Impenetrable Fortress]
[Enhanced Magic Resistance]
Roberdyck braced himself with two defensive Martial Arts. He had learned these two Martial Arts because he was aware of his role as the Tank of the team, so anything that would bolster his defenses would be appreciated. These two were the only Martial Arts he could use, but he was glad that he had learned those even though they probably wouldn't be enough to survive the incoming fireball. Nevertheless, Roberdyck felt that if his sacrifice would help the others to survive, that would be sufficient.
BOOM!
An explosion occured upon impact of the fireball. It took a brief moment until the dust settled. What was revealed then was a surprise to everyone on the scene.
"Wha-? I'm alive?"
Everyone on both sides were pretty much surprised at the fact that Roberdyck survived a direct hit from a fourth tier spell, and managing to keep his partners unhurt to boot. The walls and furnitures around them had been essentially turned into charcoal, yet all four of them survived with no more than soot marks over their body.
"How come...?"
Emerile uttered a single phrase in confusion, although her face still remained fairly angry. The Foresight team on the other hand, didn't take long to understand what had just happened.
The defensive buff from Rose was still in effect.
Roberdyck, and probably everyone else in the team as well, knew that nobody in the team would have survived a direct hit from a fourth tier spell. Even a third tier spell would be hard to survive without taking major damage. The fact that the defensive buff from Rose had saved their lives twice made them all wary about how strong Rose actually was. They all had a lot of questions in their mind, but that should be saved for later.
The team was prepared to do a counter attack, but suddenly Rossaur raised his hand.
"Stop this! This is a misunderstanding!"
None of the team let down their guard. The fact still remained that Emerile had commited hostile actions on them twice. It was still possible that Rossaur was intending to distract them. Hekkeran once again took the role of the team's spokesperson, still with his weapons at the ready. Others also kept themselves alert for any possible surprise attack.
"It is difficult to believe your words after two attempts on our life"
"I know. But please give me a minute"
Rossaur then kneeled in front of Emerile and held her shoulders.
"Emerile dear, they are not bad people, okay?"
"But..."
"They are just concerned about a few things, but they are not bad people. Do you believe me, dear?"
Emerile was speechless. Her face now showed worry and guilt as she occasionally glanced at Foresight team. Right at this time, Imina noticed something.
"I hear footsteps. The guards outside are coming"
"Tch..."
Hekkeran knew this would be a bad situation. No matter how one looked, the scenery right now seemed as if the team had gone rogue and attacked Rossaur and Emerile. At this rate they would get found out.
"What happened here? Are you all right, Master?"
A number of guards arrived right outside the room's door. Hekkeran was prepared for the worst.
"It's all right! We were attacked by a monster, but these brave adventurers slayed it!"
The guards seemed to be relieved hearing Rossaur's words. All of the Foresight team were slightly confused at what Rossaur had just done, but they were also felt relieved at how the situation had turned out.
"Then let us escort you to a safe place"
One guard spoke, but Rossaur shook his head.
"Just go back to your posts outside. I still need to have a talk with these adventurers"
As commanded, the guards left the place and went back to their posts. There was a brief moment of silence before Rossaur spoke again, this time in normal voice.
"Can we... sit down somewhere and talk?"
"You must tell us where our missing partners are first"
"I swear that I don't know"
Before Hekkeran could reply to Rossaur's words, suddenly someone talked from the front door of the room, which was still wide open after the guards had left.
"I believe that little girl should have known"
The Foresight team, Rose included, looked at the front door. They became very delighted at what they saw.
"Sheep! Arche! You're safe!"
The ones right outside the door were Sheep and Arche, looking pretty much all right. Sheep smiled with determination as she walked into the room, her bow in hand. Arche was right behind her, but suddenly she stopped. An expression of shock and disbelief were all over her face.
"Arche, what's wrong?"
"Ahh... Nothing. Anyway, we were imprisoned in the basement, and that girl was staring at us for a while down there"
Right after hearing Arche's reply, Hekkeran and the rest of the team looked back at Rossaur and Emerile. Now Emerile looked upset, while Rossaur seemed surprised and confused, looking at Emerile and asking a question.
"What did you do?"
"So you both can't be trusted after all, eh?"
Right after Hekkeran said it, Emerile's body emitted a red aura and then she suddenly disappeared from sight. Before anyone could react, she appeared behind Arche and within an instant touched Arche's back with one hand.
[Drain Touch]
"Ugh!"
"Arche!"
Sheep immediately jumped to Arche and pulled her away from Emerile. Arche was thrown towards her other teammates a little violently as the result, but Roberdyck safely caught her.
"Arche! Are you still alright?"
Roberdyck asked as he gently put Arche down. She was still able to stand, but she seemed to be having a headache.
"Yeah, but I think she has drained most of my mana. I'm sorry..."
Sheep quickly raised her bow and shot at Emerile, but once again Emerile disappeared. The shot hit the wall and created a quite large hole towards the corridor at the other side.
"Where did she go? Was that [Teleportation] spell?"
Hekkeran asked while his eyes were scanning the surroundings. Everyone else also did the same.
"Outside!"
Arche shouted. Her ability to detect magic energy had allowed her to sense the trails of Emerile's magic. Everyone looked towards the room's window, which faced to the backyards of the mansion. Indeed, Emerile was there, floating while also sporting an expressionless face.
"Watch out, guys! She is capable of casting spells of at least tier five, maybe even six!"
"We know! She has thrown some at us already!"
As Roberdyck replied to Arche, Emerile raised one hand while her other hand was still hugging her doll look-alike. She began to shine again, and a ball of fire twice as large as herself formed above her raised hand. Arche became pale as she saw the magic spell Emerile was charging up.
"Oh no. That's [Flame Blast], the 5th tier version of [Fireball]!"
"Wait a second! If she casts that on us, she will hit Rossaur too! Aren't they accomplices?"
Before anyone could answer Imina's question, Sheep shouted.
"Everyone get clear!"
Sheep, without moving from the spot she was standing on, drew her bow. A bolt of energy began to materialize as the arrow, and Sheep's feet left the ground as she kept drawing her bow. She was magically floating, and the energy bolt kept getting brighter. Everyone immediately got clear as she said. It was common sense to think that whatever Sheep was going to do, it would be very dangerous for them if they got caught in its range.
[Flame Blast]
Emerile threw the big ball of fire right towards the room everyone were in.
SCHWING!
CRASH!
The energy bolt on Sheep's bow became blindingly bright for a split second before it was launched at incredible speed straight to the incoming ball of fire, demolishing the window and the wall around it. The energy bolt's speed was so fast, Emerile couldn't react against it.
BOOM!
The energy bolt hit the fireball when it was still just a few meters in front of Emerile. The bolt pierced through, making the fireball explode pretty much on Emerile's face, and then it disappeared into the night sky. Emerile, caught by surprise, took the full brunt of the explosion, falling straight down to the ground as the result.
THUD!
Emerile hit the ground and didn't move anymore, her doll laying still just next to her motionless hand. Nobody could tell yet whether she was still alive or not.
"NO! EMERILE!"
Rossaur ran over to the edge of the room where a large hole had been formed as the result of Sheep's attack. He looked really devastated as he took a look at Emerile who was still motionless down on the ground.
"What have you done!? My dear Emerile...!"
Rossaur shouted at Sheep. His face looked as if he had genuinely lost a loved one. For a moment, everyone on Foresight team started to doubt their actions because it now looked like as if they had assaulted their client and killed his daughter, and this would never go well for them in the future.
"We saved your life, you scum..."
Sheep, sporting an intimidating death glare, replied to Rossaur while walking towards him. She then stopped right in front of him and looked at him straight in the eyes.
"If I have not done what I did, this entire room would have been in flames and everyone would have perished, you included. Answer me, scum. Is that what you would have wanted? If so, I will gladly kill you right here and now"
Rossaur was silent, intimidated by Sheep's words and actions. The same applied to Foresight team, especially from the fact known to them that Sheep was unfathomably more powerful than them.
Still, at this rate nothing good would happen. So Hekkeran mustered his courage to speak.
"Sheep, if you would, please let me take it from here"
Without saying anything, Sheep stepped aside to make way for Hekkeran, who then approached Rossaur while trying to look confident, despite actually being deeply worried about his team's future.
"Sir Rossaur, I unfortunately have to justify our actions. From the beginning, the way you gave us the assignment was suspicious, as if you only wanted a group of strangers inside your house for some reason. And then, within two days some of our members have been abducted and confined in the basement. And then just now, there have been three attempts on our lives. What our partner did was self defense. Otherwise, like she said, all of us including you would have perished"
"I... I can explain"
"Like I said before, it is hard to believe any words from you after all those attempts on our lives"
While this was happening, Arche took a look at the ground down below, and the next thing she saw made her unable to believe her own eyes.
"Guys..."
"What is it?"
Imina was the one responding to Arche. She looked down to the ground outside like Arche, but she saw nothing significant. Emerile was still there motionless on the ground.
"Do you see something I don't, Arche?"
"The large magic aura I saw on her... was not on her all along"
"What?"
"It is on the doll! The doll has been the one casting all those magic from the beginning!"
Right after Arche said the words, the doll which had been right beside Emerile's hand flew up and stopped right outside the hole on the room. Without delay, it casted a spell on everyone in the room.
[Mass Burden]
Within an instant, everyone there, Rossaur included, fell down flat on their front or back. They all felt as if they were carrying a huge load on their body. They still could move their arms and legs, but the heavy load they felt made them totally unable to lift their body, rendering them all helpless.
Arche knew what the spell was. It was a third tier spell, with the single target version being only first tier. None of them were practical for combat because normally the weight applied was only as heavy as a typical adventurer's luggage twice over. For most adventurers, especially the ones who were trained in classes excelled in physical attributes, the spell's effect was only an annoyance compared to other debuff spells of the same tier. However, the applied weight scaled with the caster's magic potential, so the debilitating weight she felt right now showed the overwhelming magic potential of the enemy.
"Uuurgh!"
Roberdyck tried his hardest to stand up. He was the one with the best chance to overcome the spell effect since his physical attributes were the best among the team, and he had the Martial Art which improved his magic resistance. Still, Arche knew Roberdyck alone would not have any chance against this enemy, who right now was once again charging the [Flame Blast] spell, and this time Sheep was unable to intervene.
[X][X][X]
"Meru, do something! We are going to be the only one surviving at this rate!"
"I know, Rose... But I really can't stand up..."
"Uhhh, I hate it that photon armor is useless against weird magic effects like this!"
"I'm sorry, Rose..."
"This is not the time to be sorry! Come on, think think think...!"
"If only we can get some magic resistance somehow..."
"Indeed, but... we can, can't we?"
"What...? Oh right, we can. But... how did we get this knowledge?"
"Ask questions later! Just do it right now!"
Meru's body then began to radiate visible red aura, which gradually grew brighter and larger. Neither of the personalities could understand nor explain it. When they had witnessed the use of Martial Arts and felt its energy up close, the feeling was akin to using a Photon Disk to be bestowed the knowledge and ability to use a new Photon Art. Hell, they could even somehow see some of Roberdyck's memories as he trained to use them. So acting on a hunch, Meru willed her body up, focusing on the memories and the sensations that she felt as she then shouted the name of the Martial Art that she and Rose wished...
"Enhanced Magic Resistance!"
Meru shouted as she managed to stand up in battle-ready stance, her Nox Lipher rod in hand. The others were visibly surprised seeing what she had just done.
Meru then pointed her weapon at the sinister doll and casted the quickest, most accurate Photon Tech, knowing that she didn't have enough time to charge the tech before the huge fireball was thrown into the room.
Grants! (Uncharged)
Within an instant, three spears of light materialized around the sinister doll and impaled it simultaneously. The spears then made an small explosion of light and vanished, leaving no physical damage to the doll. Visible particles of light then burst out from the doll like a perforated water balloon.
The doll wailed with a strange sound as it began to disintegrate. The huge fireball vanished right there like a puff of smoke, and a few seconds later the doll fully disintegrated without a trace.
Right at this point, the magic which had been pinning everyone down vanished, and everyone were able to stand up normally again.
Sheep, who had not seen anything because she had been pinned face-down by the burdening spell, immediately jumped out of the hole onto the ground below. For a very brief moment, the others in the room could notice her worried face.
[X][X][X]
"Wait! Sheep! What are you doing?"
Imina shouted seeing what had just happened. Hekkeran caught the drift, so he began explaining to the others. His face also showed worry.
"Emerile... she's probably trying to save Emerile. The doll was the real enemy, so Emerile has been innocent all along. She has been merely used or controlled"
"Rober, can you go down there and help?"
Roberdyck nodded hearing Arche's words. In the team, he was currently the only one capable of casting healing magic. Arche actually could do it as well, but the recent incident had left her mana almost depleted, so Roberdyck was the only one left. Roberdyck then immediately jumped down following Sheep.
"Master Rossaur, what have just happened?"
Everyone in the room looked at the one who just arrived. The guards who had been dismissed before had returned after hearing all the noise. Some staff members, including Lavitz the butler, were also here this time.
For the team, this was a bad situation. The room had been damaged further than before, and now the fact remained that an innocent child had been harmed. Depending on what Rossaur would say next, the entire team would possibly be forced to flee.
"...We have been deceived by the monster..."
The guards and staffs couldn't help being confused. What Rossaur had just said was still too vague for them to draw any conclusion.
"It played dead and ambushed us when we let our guard down. It is now slayed for real, but it threw Emerile out of this hole before dying"
Hekkeran, Arche, and Imina couldn't believe what they had just heard. Despite what had happened, Rossaur covered for them again like before. A good number of questions emerged inside their mind. Was their conclusion wrong all along?
"W-What? Is Master Emerile safe? Is she alright?"
Lavitz asked the question with a very worried face, which looked genuine no matter how anyone looked at it. The feeling of doubt and guilt within Foresight team welled up even further at this point. If they had not confronted Rossaur directly, this probably would have not happened.
"Two of the adventurers are now checking at her"
Hearing Rossaur's reply, Lavitz quickly walked to the edge of the room, where he could look down to the ground and see what was happening. Hekkeran also took a look, but he couldn't see much other than the backside of Roberdyck who was crouching next to Sheep.
Rose was out of breath and Arche was tending to her. The sinister-looking staff weapon she had was no longer there, vanished into thin air with a flicker of light just like Sheep's bow. Hekkeran began to wonder if Rose was actually the same as Sheep and they were in cahoots for some ulterior motive.
What am I thinking? Without them both, we would have been killed already.
Hekkeran then decided to not question them for the moment. The fact still remained that both of them had saved the lives of the entire team, and his moral was not low enough to confront their saviors out of mere suspicions. He therefore decided to question them politely later, if he finds the right moment.
A moment later, everyone overlooking the ground below saw Roberdyck standing up and turning around. He looked at the ones looking at him, and he raised his right hand.
He made a thumbs-up with delighted face. Emerile was still alive and she was now safe.
"OOOOHH!"
The crowd in the room cheered in celebration. Hekkeran noticed Rossaur leaking tears as he hugged Lavitz in celebration.
Man, everyone will need to ask and answer a number of questions after this...
[X][X][X]
Third Day, 00:45
The entire Foresight team, Sheep and Rose included, were sitting around a table in the study room of the mansion, which was supposed to be one of the rooms forbidden for them to enter. Some light meal and drinks had been provided for them while they wait for Rossaur to arrive after cleaning things up.
Click!
The door opened, and everyone looked at the ones coming in. There were two, and the team knew both of them. They were Rossaur and Lavitz. Rossaur now wore his work attire instead of the sleeping robe he had worn before.
Rossaur then sat down on one of the vacant chairs and put his arms folded on the table. Lavitz stood right next to him on standby.
"Emerile is now asleep, and I believe all of you have a lot of questions right now"
The team didn't respond to Rossaur's opening speech.
"I will explain everything. Whether you want to believe me or not, I will leave it to your judgement. Lavitz, leave us alone"
"As you wish, Master"
Lavitz bowed and then he left the room. Rossaur was silent for a few seconds after Lavitz closed the door, and then he sighed before continuing.
"Emerile... is my wife. To be exact, was my wife"
The team couldn't help being surprised. There was no way an aged man like Rossaur would have such a very young wife. There must be something they didn't know yet, especially that Rossaur added the last statement, which could mean anything.
"Before I continue, I want to ask one question. What do you know about my wife?"
Hekkeran then quickly answered the question.
"Your wife disappeared sometime during the purge. That is all we know"
BAM!
"False! She was killed in cold blood! And they just dismissed it as unfortunate collateral damage!"
The sudden table-hitting and Rossaur's voice rising startled everyone else.
"They took everything from me in my grief and they didn't just kill me off, as if they just wanted to see me suffering!"
Everyone kept themselves silent as Rossaur took a deep breath and continued speaking, returning to his normal voice.
"I don't remember how and why this happened, but one day, when I was still sunk in my grieving, something spoke to me, in the form of a living, ragged doll, introducing itself as Piethoms"
Rossaur took another deep breath.
"As you might guess, Piethoms said that it could bring her back, and I foolishly accepted it"
"So, Emerile is..."
Hekkeran couldn't help asking, even though he could already guess it.
"Piethoms brought her back... as a newborn"
There was another brief silence.
"I thought okay, makes sense. She was just an ordinary human after all. Real resurrection spell would simply fail. At least we would be still together, even though not as couples. And so, to make things easier Emerile was officially documented as my adopted child. Anyone have questions so far...?"
Hekkeran then tried inquiring.
"I believe it was a pact, wasn't it? What did this so-called Piethoms require in return?"
"He told me to keep his doll body with me at all times while he slumbered for a while or I would regret it. One year later, he woke up and spoke to me again, offering a new deal to make me rich. Once again, the poor and foolish me accepted"
"So that was how you became rich again"
"Correct, Piethoms instructed me to buy things which for some reason became high in demand some time later, so I could resell them at high price, rinse and repeat until I got this rich. But in return... he wanted me to feed him with mana"
"So... what did you do to comply with Piethoms' demands?"
Rossaur was silent, hesitating to answer the question.
"Every month, I bought demihuman slaves and confined them in the basement. For all I know, Piethoms has enchanted the shackles to absorb the mana of the slaves and transmit the mana to him until they become withered corpses a few days later. After that it would made the bodies disappear without a trace"
Arche couldn't help gulping after hearing Rossaur's words. She had almost met the same fate if it were not for Sheep breaking the shackles by overloading them. In the meantime, Hekkeran asked another question.
"Why did you put two of our members there?"
"I swear that I didn't. Though I do admit that due to some circumstances I was late in supplying new slaves this time around. Perhaps Piethoms drooled over the mana of your members so he decided to do the deed himself"
"Hold on a second. So Piethoms is the doll we fought?"
"In a sense, you are correct. At first it was just an ordinary doll I ordered tailor-made for Emerile, but one day Piethoms changed his residence into that doll. He manipulated Emerile by befriending her while also controlling her actions, either directly or not. I never had any idea that he could do that"
Rossaur sighed heavily after saying that.
"I was careless. That thing effectively held Emerile hostage without her knowing it"
"So, let me get this straight. You had a pact with some unknown creature named Piethoms, who reincarnated your wife and made you rich. In return you bought slaves for him to feed on, and he held your wife hostage without her being aware of it"
"Yes"
"How many people in the house know this fact?"
"Nobody else"
Hekkeran and the others couldn't help thinking that some things still didn't click. How had Rossaur been managing to keep this a secret for this long? One or two staff members would inevitably stumble upon hints of this, one way or another. It was best to assume that not all of Rossaur's words were the truth. He was either still hiding something or just bad at recalling memories.
"And now you just suddenly told us. I'm afraid to say that something smells fishy for us"
"Because I still have the upper hand. You are not adventurers, am I correct?"
Everyone else couldn't hide their surprise from the fact that they had been found out. Arche started to drop cold sweat, while the others sat still trying to keep their calm. Rossaur looked at Arche and continued speaking.
"Having a wide information network sure has its merits. I know that you are the daughter of Furt family, and for all I know, Arche Eeb Rile Furt is not an adventurer, but a worker"
Hekkeran was surprised by this turn of events. Arche had never told any of the team about her background, and that had just turned fatal for the mission.
But all of a sudden, Rossaur laughed. His laugh sounded happy, like a prankster who has just successfully pranked someone.
"Hahaha! Look at your face!"
The entire team couldn't help feeling confused. Rossaur then began speaking again after he stopped laughing.
"I knew from the very beginning. You are actually part of a plan I and the guildmaster made to subjugate Piethoms. Though I admit that things didn't go as planned"
"What? What kind of plan?"
"Doesn't matter. Piethoms is dead now, and it was all thanks to you!"
"I'm sorry to say that it actually matters for us. We have the right to know about this so-called plan we were supposed to be part of. Also, you said you and the guildmaster made the plan, but you also said nobody else knows about Piethoms. The inconsistency sticks out like a sore thumb"
Rossaur folded his arms again and put on a serious face as a response to Hekkeran's argument.
"It is the truth that nobody else in the house knows, but outside the house, the guildmaster knows. Anyway, to put it simply, the coming guest was supposed to be the one who would fight against Piethoms, and you were supposed to act as his shields"
"Who is the guest? Would you tell us this time?"
"Fluder Paradyne. I invited him on the background of offering a potential apprentice"
Arche was visibly surprised. It was of no wonder, since she was a former apprentice of Fluder Paradyne. Hekkeran paid no heed to that because he was deeply thinking about the possible truth behind all the recent events.
Assuming that everything about Piethoms and Emerile were true, the biggest question would be the reason Rossaur made all this complicated plan. He could have simply posted an Adamantite Rank subjugation job, but why the need to invite Fluder Paradyne using false information?
But then it dawned on Hekkeran.
If a battle between Piethoms and Fluder happened, whichever outcome would give Rossaur a benefit. If Piethoms won, he would gain an incredible amount of mana from Fluder, which would help in maintaining the relationship between Rossaur and Piethoms. Rossaur, with the death of Fluder, would have his revenge against the Empire who had taken everything from him. On the other hand, if Fluder won, Emerile, whom Rossaur seemed to genuinely love, would be free from the grasp of Piethoms.
"It's already past midnight. You are dismissed from all patrol duties, so rest up and do whatever you like until Fluder comes. Your job on that part remains unchanged"
[X][X][X]
Third Day, 01:21
The Foresight team, Rose and Sheep included, returned to the hut near the side entrance of the mansion. While walking, Hekkeran mustered his courage to speak to Sheep and Rose, whom he now saw in a new light, though perhaps not in a particularly good way.
"Sheep, Rose. I just wanna say... thank you"
"Hmm?"
Sheep's short response was accompanied with a slightly confused face. Rose also made the same face, though without a voiced response.
"Without both of you, we all would have been killed by Piethoms"
After Hekkeran said it, Imina followed up.
"Took the words right out of my mouth"
Then Arche and Roberdyck followed suit.
"We owe you our lives, Sheep, Rose. Thank you"
"Right! I swore to myself that I would protect Rose, but in the end I was the one getting protected! No denying there"
Roberdyck laughed after saying that. He felt a little embarrassed, but it was pretty clear he was genuinely grateful.
"I admit that I have a lot of questions about both of you, but the fact that you have saved our lives doesn't change, and so does our gratitude. So don't worry about that, alright? We can save the questions for later after this job is over"
The rest of the team nodded, agreeing with Hekkeran. Both Rose and Sheep didn't say anything. Their face showed hints of blushing, but both of them seemed to be rather happy regardless.
[X][X][X]
Fourth Day, 08:55
Hekkeran, Roberdyck, and Imina stood by near the front gate of Rossaur's mansion. They were waiting for the guest, Fluder Paradyne, to arrive. Arche, Sheep, and Rose stayed in the hut because Arche didn't want to meet her former teacher again, fearing that he would try wrangling her back to his academy. In addition, she had also said that Fluder had an unhealthy obsession towards unknown things related to magic. Since both Rose and Sheep had peculiar auras, which Fluder would be able to see like Arche did thanks to having the same Talent, he would very likely do unimaginable things just to be able to study on both Sheep and Rose.
Another dangerous, yet simple factor for excluding them was that the essentially certain chance of Fluder seeing through the illusion spells on Sheep. Having Sheep near Fluder would be the same as revealing that Sheep was not human. Therefore, with all things considered, those three members would stay back and try to not be seen by Fluder until the end of the job.
Before long, a luxurious carriage, fitting to be a property of the Empire's Court Wizard, arrived in front of the gate. Within seconds, the door of the carriage opened and a few people came out from it. Two of them were rather young and wore magic caster uniforms, so they could be assumed as apprentices Fluder brought as his private escorts. The third person was an elderly person wearing a very fancy magic caster robe with all the accessories around his neck and fingers. There was no mistake that this one was Fluder Paradyne himself.
However, the group's attention were more to the fourth person coming out from the carriage. It was a beautiful woman wearing a white fancy dress which would definitely fit for royal ballroom. Her wavy golden hair reached all the way to her waist, and her skin had pale color. Her face showed a mix of wariness and determination, unlike the others who sported a straight face. The dress she wore exposed her shoulders to the open, therefore it would be hard for anyone to miss the snake-like tattoo she had on her upper chest near her right shoulder.
The group had no idea who this woman was, but since they had been assigned to act as their escorts, they would do exactly that. Still, they couldn't help feeling uneasy around this woman.
[X][X][X]
Afterword:
Three guesses on who the woman is. Only the first one counts. =P
Next chapter will explain things and also mark the end of this arc.
See you again later.
