It was a known fact that almost all elements somewhat affect and influence their users. It depended on the mage's willpower whether he could resist them or succumb to them. However, cases of magicians succumbing to their desires were much higher since not all people have enough strength to directly resist it. They could only curb their desires and avoid getting controlled by it.
Thanks to their ancestors' studies, Zeke and his peers could get to know all this. According to one book, each element have their own unique characteristic that differentiates them from others. This so-called unique characteristic is different for each person, but those of the same element have the same concept of unique characteristic as their peers. The element of fire symbolized passion and unrestraint, water for tranquility and instability, earth for perseverance and indifference, and wind for carefreedom and insatiability.
Zeke wondered if the Fierans were unable to curb their element's aggressive and hotheaded characteristics. They even dared stage a revolution in an open fashion?
As if sensing Zeke's thoughts, the middle-aged man bitterly smiled.
"Young Benefactor, it's Young Mistress' fault."
"..... ?"
"The communication crystal should've only been available for the clan heads to see, but Young Mistress was at the right place at the wrong time. She was, at that time, sneaking in his father's study, which is connected with the meeting room. Their messenger must've not expected them to have such a room connected."
".. They also must've not expected to have someone eavesdropping on such an important matter. The messenger was careless."
Zeke added. He found the Fierans too dumb or just too confident to even assign a messenger like that. Judging by how careless their messengers are, Zeke couldn't imagine their revolution being successful at all.
'There's no way they'll succeed given their level of competence.'
Zeke thought even less of their ploy now that he knew it wasn't only the Vira family's shrewdness but also the Fieran's messengers' incompetence.
While he was contemplating what to do about it, the middle-aged man only stared at Zeke as he observed his eyes through the mask. The woman just sat there eating skewered monster meat as she didn't feel qualified to talk about big matters that could affect whole clans or families. As for her case of eavesdropping, she didn't think it was a big problem considering she wasn't told by her father to not listen to their 'talk'.
After about a few minutes, when the man saw Zeke's contemplative eyes returned to focus, he immediately asked the question bugging in his mind ever since they were saved.
"Y-young Benefactor, can you come with us to meet our patriarch? I will make sure you are heavily rewarded for saving us."
The woman thought it was a reasonable request and also nodded as if to support her uncle's request.
Zeke thought for a moment before shaking his head.
"I appreciate it, but I'm also in a hurry. Don't worry about the rewards."
Although they couldn't see it, they could imagine Zeke grinning slightly after hearing his tone.
The woman was about to persuade Zeke but was immediately stopped by her uncle. He experienced matters of the outside world and knew that Zeke wasn't joking when he refused. It was also a given that an adventurer could refuse or accept any request he/she has been given, and knowing the strength of the mysterious 'adventurer' in front of them, he knew it wasn't a good idea to 'force' something.
Zeke saw the man's action and knew he was experienced enough to stop. It was no wonder their patriarch assigned him as their group's 'guide'.
"When do you think will your clansmen arrive here?"
The man was confused by the sudden question but still answered.
"If they went directly to our residence as quick as possible... hmm... it should be at least 10 to 20 more minutes the earliest and an hour or so if they're late."
After answering, the man suddenly thought of something as he squinted his eyes and looked at Zeke with worry.
"Do you think.... they'll ambush our clansmen?"
"Haha no, I doubt they'll show their face this time."
Zeke chuckled.
"May I ask why you're so sure of it?"
This time, the woman chimed in. When she heard the matter about her younger clansmen going back for help and suddenly getting ambushed, she couldn't help but worry.
"First, they wouldn't want any involvement in this, at least not publicly. This ensures that they won't at least block your clansmen in public. Second, even if it's in a secluded area, they still won't do it. After all, there's you and your uncle here."
Zeke pointed to the woman and her uncle. They were confused at first before the man realized what Zeke meant.
"They... they wouldn't risk an engagement without making sure of the whereabouts of our whole group?"
"Precisely. As long as they do not see both of you, they'll refrain attacking. However..." Zeke paused and laughed.
"My speculations aren't worth anything if the Fierans are as dumb as your stories imply. Also, even if you go now, it's already been almost half an hour since then. If they were indeed ambushed, then they should be long gone now. Just pray they haven't and rest for a bit. I'll keep watch while you recover."
Zeke said. Although he didn't need to, Zeke felt the urge to help them as they don't seem to be bad people. Besides their outer personality, Zeke's intuition told him they're harmless for him. Also, he thought it wouldn't really be that bad to save some loyal citizens of his family's territory. At most, it would only take away a few minutes but it was nothing big for Zeke who still had almost a week before he was required to go back.
With that, the middle-aged man and young woman sat near each other as they ate roasted meat. For the next few minutes, the woman kept stealing glances at Zeke while eating and noticed that he was a lot shorter than her uncle. He was also quite smaller and thinner than his uncle who was a former adventurer. She began to realize that their savior might be younger than they had expected.
However, before she could tell her uncle who was busy chomping on his food, Zeke stood up and dusted off his 'clothes', if it even could be called that.
"It seems your estimation's a bit off. They're coming now." Zeke smiled under his mask as he pointed at their side.
"I'm going off now. Be careful next time." With that, Zeke picked up his rusted sword which was stabbed on the ground.
"As for the reward, the information you gave me could be considered more than enough. I applaud your loyalty and let's meet again if fate wills it so."
He then looked back at them and left a few last words before using [cheetah steps] to seemingly disappear in front of their eyes.
Moments later, a group of twenty or so figures could be seen running towards the direction of the duo.
The one leading them was a lean middle-aged man with a cold expression. He, along with 3 more elders and a youth who was from the woman's group earlier, was surveying the whole area while one elder had his eyes closed while voicing directions to the group. Soon later, the lean middle-aged man saw the woman and her uncle eating the last of the remaining skewered barbecue. His expression softened for a second before being confused by the actions of the duo.
The duo also saw the group approaching as they both smiled while the woman even waved towards them.
"FAAAAAAAAAAAATHEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!"
Her loud voice attracted the remaining of the group who hadn't saw them yet as their faces shown clear relief before turning into confusion.
"Thank god you're safe."
The cold middle-aged man nodded at his brother while patting her daughter while looking at her with affection.
The father and daughter continued on for a minute before the youth who accompanied the rescue party looked at the two as if he was wronged.
"How... How did you survive that?"
He slowly asked. However, his choice of words had been so poor that all the elders glared as him as if he was asking why their patriarch's daughter didn't die. He realized what he said as he quickly cleared his question.
"A-ah.. I don't mean that. I'm just curious how you escaped the pack of monkeys. I'm sorry if that sounded rude." The youth bowed and smiled bitterly.
"Escaped? No, we didn't escape."
"....huh?"
"Somebody came to us at the right moment. It was thanks to him that we are safe and sound right now." The 'uncle' of the young woman replied. He then went on and explained the whole sequence of events up until Zeke rescued them. The woman's father kept looking at her daughter while she was backing up the story of her uncle.
"Someone with a small build wearing a mask saved you from all those monkeys? Did you know who your savior are?"
"Ah, the man didn't want us to know his identity, but I know he didn't have any bad intentions towards us. If he did, he would've finished us off right then and there."
"You're really telling us that someone younger than you slaughtered more than a dozen of those monkeys alone? Are you joking with us, geezer?"
One of the elders had it with the uncle's story as he 'berated'. However, his expression didn't seem like an angry one as it was more of a playful banter between the two, as referenced by how the other elders other than the patriarch laughed after hearing it.
"As much as it sounds unbelievable, it really is true. Though, I don't know if he's alone. All I saw was him getting out of the bushes where the dozen monkeys were. His clothes were bloody enough to make him look like a heavily wounded person but he didn't seem to have serious wounds. I presume the blood was from the monkey's." The 'uncle' bitterly smile.
"Uhm... by any chance, did your savior fight a strong beast here?" The man who uttered directions earlier said after careful thought. This confused both the young woman and the middle-aged man.
"Why? We just sat here and ate while he looked around to guard us. I don't recall seeing any powerful beast approach us."
"I smell a strong scent of blood here." He pointed towards a spot near the campfire, which was surprisingly where Zeke stood earlier.
"Maybe it's just the blood of monkeys?" The patriarch asked. He knew the elder had a tracking skill that utilizes his improved senses and the ability to remember the scent of people, so he thought he had just smelled the unknown savior's bloody clothes.
"No. It's impossible for the blood of the monkeys to be this strong... at least for the common ones that were chasing little princess."
Their brows pricked up at his reply.
"If that's so, it could only mean one thing." The leader concluded after a few seconds of ruminating.
"Your savior must be strong. Even though he may not have killed it, there seems to be blood or some other stuff that he had which was from a higher-ranked beast. Even so, it seemed you did not have any unknown adventurer. We could probably inquire about such adventurer when we get back. Come on, let's head home now, you two need plenty of rest."
With that, the duo prepared to depart with the others while the young woman stared at the direction where Zeke vanished with unconcealed adoration and determination. His father, the patriarch, saw her look and smiled. He knew being saved by such a powerful character had influenced his daughter to a positive extent.
Besides the adoration, he also saw within his daughter's eyes the determination that one needs to have in order to become stronger. He began to thank Lady Luck for this once in a lifetime encounter that brought both negative and positive effects to his daughter's life.
Meanwhile, Zeke arrived near the gates of Dragonsoar City.