After dealing with the Baleful Earth Primate, Zeke had already took note of their current predicament. With confirmation from the Primate itself, Zeke circled their group to try his new strength towards something near the scale of humans.
Zeke didn't count his battle with the Primate since he realized that it was absurd to compare his strength against a Warbeast. The monkeys, on the other hand, were weaker and closer to the normal humans and dragonborns, making them a suitable target for Zeke to compare on.
The result was staggeringly surprising for Zeke. With just a casual punch of his, the monkey's whole head lopped off with its body still in place. Seeing the horrible scene, the other dozens of monkeys got scared out of their wits, and with alarm bells ringing inside their head, they knew what those ringing bells meant: Danger!
However, how could Zeke allow them to escape? He immediately executed [Jaguar Step]s and, without suspense, chopped of all the monkeys in less than 3 minutes. It was exactly as the woman and the middle-aged man thought, the blood on his tattered clothes was actually the monkeys' and not his.
When Zeke went out of the bushes and approached them, a monkey's head consequently rolled along with his figure, presenting itself to the duo. They immediately realized what Zeke did, but due to their shock, their figures stood stiff for a good second or two in front of Zeke.
"U-uh, t-thank you-"
"T-thank you for the help, good samaritan!"
The woman and the middle-aged man still couldn't process the situation, with the middle-aged man recovering faster than the woman. It seemed like the man already had a bit of experience in situations like these, hence him not having the same amount of shock as the woman.
Seeing their polite attitudes, Zeke inwardly nodded.
"Well then. I suppose I'm done here. Be careful on your way."
Zeke turned back and walked towards the other direction, leaving the two still-surprised fellows behind.
However, as he seemed to have remembered something, Zeke turned back and approached them again. After a few seconds, he lightly nodded.
"So that's why.... Hey, are you guys trying to commit suicide?"
Zeke jokingly asked. His expression didn't seem to be half-serious and half comical, which caused the duo to be confused and bewildered by the sudden random question.
"I-I don't k-know why you asked that, good samaritan."
The middle-aged man asked. He seemed to have an inkling as to why Zeke asked that, but he didn't want to believe it.
"Didn't you notice? The monkeys seem to be too determined to catch you."
"R-really?"
"Oh! Yes yes! Those bunch seem to harbor some grudge towards us when we didn't even do anything!"
The stuttering man and the still confused woman replied. A few seconds later, even the slow-witted woman realized the meaning behind Zeke's words.
"C-could it be...."
"Yes. Someone set you up. I smell a faint fragrance of something in your clothes. I don't know what that is, but I reckon it's enticing those monkeys."
"!!"
Before the woman could even form a complete question, Zeke swiftly answered. The man seemed to have stopped denying their situation, anger slowly rising within him. He didn't seem to question how Zeke noticed it as he was thinking of something else.
"Well, it's not my business so, I'll go now. Just thought I'd let you know why you experienced that. Be careful!" Zeke then started walking away again. However, their next conversation piqued his interest.
"U-uncle, is... is it true?"
"*Sigh* Yes, I think. It's those treacherous bastards!"
"Them? but why?!"
"We didn't accept their proposal, so they treated our clan as a hindrance. They must've wanted our entire younger generation to perish here!" The man gritted his teeth. It was to the point where a trickle of blood came out of his lips.
"But how did they set us up?"
"I also don't know..." The man seemed to be deep in thought.
"Ah! Those bastards used that scentless lure!"
"What lure?"
"Some near-scentless lures that were sold for attracting monsters nearby. It's not actually scentless, but its aroma is only attractive for monsters a few meters around it. To think they'd set us up like that! Those bastards!"
"Just... why? why would they go as far as placing this trap on us? We didn't even do anything against them!"
The woman furiously replied. The loss of more than a dozen of her clansmen made her feel indignant about their situation.
"Some bullshit view of them. Just because we didn't want to join them against the royal family? What the fuck kind of clan do they think they are to oppose a behemoth clan? Are they fucked in the head?"
Hearing this part thanks to Zeke's enhanced hearing, his interest immediately got piqued. What royal family? Are they talking about his family?
"What did you say?"
The Vira Clan duo got spooked for a second as Zeke suddenly appeared behind the man.
"G-good samaritan!"
"Repeat what you said earlier."
"What?"
"That royal family bullshit. Can you tell me about it?"
"....Ah!"
The man didn't expect Zeke to hear their conversation, which was supposed to be top-secret and unavailable to common folk.
"G-good samaritan, y-you need not interfere with this! I p-promise our clan was in no way involved in their farce! P-please don't report our clan to the authorities!"
The man panickedly replied. It was a desperate attempt to cover up their conversation which contained one of the heaviest topics and punishments in their kingdom.
'What? Did he know I'm a royal?'
Zeke thought. However, he immediately discarded it. It was because it was nigh impossible for someone to recognize him even if he took off his mask. He didn't really make an appearance with his parents in public so how could these two, whom he didn't even remember meeting prior, recognize him?
"I know. I just want to hear about it. Isn't it a small price to pay for your lives?"
"I-indeed." The man sighed in relief. The woman, who noticed her uncle's relief, also heaved a sigh.
They couldn't really be blamed for doing so. First, attempting an uprising against the Royal Family is one of if not the heaviest sin to commit in their kingdom. Just by a simple gossip about this, one could get their entire family exterminated especially if there's hard evidence. If their benefactor decided to leak this news to the Royal Family, although they aren't part of it, it was inevitable for them to get involved in such murky waters.
Zeke accompanied the two to a clearing he previously rested in and roasted some meat for the duo to eat. While cooking, the man narrated to Zeke about their encounter with the Fieran's.
The Fierans' are only one of the noble houses situated in Dragonsoar City. Although it is the case, with their deep resources, they managed to secure a foothold on the city and made numerous connections with other noble houses. One of which is the man and woman's clan, the Vira clan.
The Fierans, like Zeke's family, are also Fire Elemental users. Fire was known as one of the elements with the greatest offensive and destructive ability, and this further cause the Fierans' reputation to soar not because of the people's admiration, but because of their clan's immense power in battle. The Vira clan, on the other hand, controls the element of Water. Like their element, their family preferred to be laidback and avoided political conflicts, but due to their status as a noble house, they couldn't avoid the entirety of it. One of the ones they hadn't, or couldn't avoid was the Fieran's secretive proposal.
The proposal sent to them only contained simple words and sentences. It was a request for the Vira to join a secret alliance started by the Fierans with the objective of replacing the Flamehaven as the Royal Family who governs Fire. Their contents revealed how their kind of Fire is on par if not greater in power than the Flamehaven's and the tempting reward of money and land if successful. To prevent leakage and proof, their letters of proposal were sent as a one-time use crystal, one that would crumble to ashes once used.
The Viras rejected due to their peace-loving nature as well as devotion to the Four Royal Families, but the Fierans seemed to have taken it as a provocation and slap of face. Of course, they couldn't openly declare war on the Viras, so they must've decided to just end their younger generation instead.
Who would've thought that a certain royal managed to save the future of their clan? Zeke inwardly mused. He was indeed surprised about how ballsy and arrogant the Fierans are to attempt to usurp a Royal Family's thousand-years old position.
However, as absurd as it may seem, Zeke still didn't let down his guard towards the Fierans. He thought that it should be safe to say that someone must've been backing the Fierans. Of course, it could also be said that they are just an arrogant bunch who got heavily influenced by their element's temperament.