Erza looked at the dead bodies on the floor before finally looking at the storage ring on Abraham's finger. Erza went forward and picked up the ring.
Abraham was the leader of a clan after all, the items within his possession would surely be expensive.
Erza quickly stored it within her own Space Ring. She did not have time to look at it for now, so she immediately rushed out of the courtyards.
The moment Erza had exited the courtyards she immediately heard the sound of voices of a few men who had heard the fight take place in the courtyards.
Everyone's faces were full of shock as they looked at the Collin Courtyard. Their unwavering gazes stared at the horrifying view, as if they couldn't believe what had just happened.
The Collin Clan had been completely destroyed in an instant.
"Out of the way, out of the way! Everyone get out of the way…"
At this moment, an extremely loud sound cried out from behind the group. The dense group of people standing near the Collin Clan courtyards immediately saw a group of heavily armoured men with weapons who were running straight through them.
"Eh? Isn't that the city lord of Mirage City? I didn't think he would come here as well."
From the midst of everyone, a group of heavily armoured men walked forward. One man in particular wearing a black robe stood tall. His eyes shined with a purpose as sharp as his sword. From the perspective of a regular person, the man's skin resembled that of copper, and combined with his stature, the man looked rather intimidating.
This was the city lord of Mirage City – Caesar.
Under the protection of the city guards, the city lord of Mirage City–Caesar continued to walk into the Collin Clan courtyards. Stepping through the gates, he could only see the large amount of bodies littered about.
Caesar walked forward a few more steps before coming to a stop as he looked at the corpses with a heavy expression. Finally, his eyes landed upon the dead body of Abraham before his face became like stone.
"Ai!" Caesar sighed as he closed his eyes sadly.
Standing right next to him was the commander of Mirage City's defensive guards, Arnold. Sighing, Arnold could not believe what he was seeing before speaking out with a dejected tone, "Lord, we came a moment too late."
At this, Caesar once more opened his eyes as he stared at the multiple bodies strewn across the ground. Finally suppressing the sadness within his heart, he only then realized that every single man was hit on their throats. It was just one stabbing wound or simply beheaded, and Abraham was no exception either.
"Arnold, the one that came here to declare revenge on the Collin Clan was a single 18-20 years old girl, correct?" Caesar stared at commander Arnold with a cold face.
"Yes, my lord. From her appearances, her actual age should be less twenty years old; an exceptionally young face." Arnold spoke out frantically.
Hearing this, Caesar went silent for a moment before he finally said, "So the Collin Clan has been destroyed. This has weakened our defensive troops for the beast wave by a large amount, yet with this young expert in our Mirage City, if we can rope her in, we will be able to defend ourselves against the wild beasts with ease."
"The lord is quite wise, your subordinate here thought of the same thing." Arnold spoke out with a serious expression.
"Come, she should not go too far yet. Let us chase after her." Caesar began to walk even faster as he lead Arnold and the group of guards out of the courtyard.
....
Erza slowly walked through the streets with furrowed eyebrows as she thought to herself. She had no idea how she could find Edward; Mirage City was not too small, there was still a few hundred thousand people. To find a hidden person within a population like that was no simple task. In addition, Erza could not even guarantee that Edward was still in Mirage City.
Erza knew that she must not let Edward get away. Otherwise, he might bring disaster for her in the future.
"Young Lady, please wait a moment."
As Erza continued walking, a voice suddenly rang out from behind accompanied by the sounds of heavy footsteps.
Erza's eyes furrowed together as she turned her head, only to see a squad of heavily armoured soldiers running at her quickly with two middle aged men leading the squad.
She looked at the armoured pair of men with a suspicious look. She soon realized that one of them was the man she saw not too long ago, the commander of Mirage City's defensive troops, Arnold.
Seeing these troops from Mirage City approach her, Erza could not help but feel suspicious. She had no idea if these men were here for the sole purpose of capturing her for her eradication of the Collin Clan. Nevertheless, Erza did not fear these men. Her strength was enough to ensure her safety.
"Young Lady, please wait!" Seeing Erza slowed down, Arnold called out to her once more as he urged his group to go faster.
Erza looked at Arnold and his group of men and asked, "Commander Arnold, is there a problem?"
Commander Arnold revealed a cordial smile as he gave a salute to Erza. "Young Lady, this is the lord of Mirage City." He pointed to the middle aged man next to him.
"The leader of Mirage City!" Erza was a bit startled. Immediately looking at the lord, she cupped her hands together, "So you are the lord of Mirage City, I'm Erna, excuse me for my lack of knowledge."
When the city lord had first heard that Erza was a less than twenty years old girl who had reached the King Realm, he assumed that Erza was from a clan with a strong background. However, at this moment, he saw neither the rich robe or the air of arrogance, making his impression of Erza neither good nor bad.
The lord of Mirage City cupped his hands together, "So you are called Erna, this one is called Caesar. Younger Sister Erna, if it's not too much to ask, just call me elder brother Caesar instead of Lord if that can be avoided."
Seeing Erza's calm face, Caesar could ascertain that she was no ordinary person. Despite the fact that Erza was wearing mediocre quality clothing, the city lord did not look down on Erza at all, instead, he had actually admired her for a moment.
Hearing the words of Caesar, Erza understood that he was trying to make friends with her. However, she still did not dare to lower her guard, since with Caesar's strength, she could not afford to treat him as nothing.
"What might brother Caesar want to do with this one?" Erza spoke with a smile and a calm tone. She was feeling strange to call a middle-aged man as brother, however she still went with the flow.
Laughing, Caesar said, "Sister Erna, talking on this street is rather inconvenient, would you mind coming with me back to my mansion?"
Upon hearing those words, Erza's heart moved as she suddenly thought about her problem with finding Edward. Without any hesitation she complied with the lord.
The mansion of the city lord was located within the heart of Mirage City and was the most magnificent of buildings in the city. It was built over several square kilometres and was also the largest building.
Even the Mercenary Union could not compare in size to the mansion. Around the building, many squads of men constantly patrolled around it day and night without skipping any corner, making this building a heavily guarded area.
Within the mansion's main hall, the city lord Caesar had even given up his usual seat at the throne to instead lower himself to the status of Erza and sat on the same level as her. As they waited, a few female waitresses began to serve them by occasionally serving them a cup of tea.
The two began to chat with each other for a while before finally getting down to the main problem.
"Sister Erna, I'm sure you realized that our Mirage City is about to face off against a wave of wild beasts. This is a test of life or death for our Mirage City. In the case that we fail to defend Mirage City from these beasts, then the tens of thousands of people will become the meal of the wild beasts, so I sincerely hope that sister Erna will lend her power to help defend Mirage City." Caesar's smile had faded from his face and a serious look replaced it as he began to talk about this serious topic.
Erza laughed, "Big Brother truly thinks too highly of me. I know no one in the city. What reason would I have to protect the population of Mirage City from this wave of wild beasts?"
At Erza's words, Caesar's face tightened as he realized Erza had no plans on protecting Mirage City from the wave of wild beasts. Before he could say something, Erza continued to speak, "However, since I'm already at Mirage City, I may as well participate. Yet, whether or not Mirage City survives the beast wave, this one cannot guarantee that."
Erza's words made Caesar's eyes widen immediately as he smiled joyously, "Just hearing these words from younger sister makes this one feel at ease. If sister Erna joins Mirage City, then our city will definitely be safe from this danger once more."
At this moment, commander Arnold suddenly burst through the doors and quickly walked toward Caesar. Giving a complicated look at Erza, he bent down to whisper something into Caesar's ears.
After seeing the gradual change in Caesar's face, Erza began to feel curious. Although she did not know what words had been said to elicit such a change, Erza could begin to guess at an idea or two of what the situation might be after Caesar and Arnold had stared at her.
"Sister Erna.. We have found where Edward is currently hiding.. However, I truly hope that you could hold yourself back this time."
"Where is it?" Erza calmly looked at Caesar in the eyes and sweetly smiled.
"The branch of Glacier Family in Mirage City."