"Edgar, this is Dritan Gray, the elder from the ice temple and his daughter and also priest, Melissa and also Reynard, a high priest. They came to look for Noah."
Elma came forward and introduced her husband to both of them as well. "You know, Noah told me once about the temple, especially you Melissa, he was upset that he had to part with you without a proper goodbye. Ah, yes, he said he'd rather leave the temple on his own accord than be sent as a knight to a noble house."
As though by queue, Edgar could see the lady priest glaring at the high priest while he started sweating profusely.
"Ha ha ha, he is quite a rebellious kid, isn't he. I am sure if you convince him properly he'll go back with you."
"Edgar, where is Noah?" Elma asked. "Is he at the guild?"
"He left," Edgar answered reflexively while still processing the entire situation.
"He left?"
"Yeah, I just parted ways with him. He'll be alright, I gave him the flare for precaution as well."
"You left a 10-year-old child in the woods alone?!!" Elma raised her voice.
"I've seen him fight. He'll be alright."
"He'll be alright?! How are you going to be a father if you leave a child alone? If it was our baby out there, would you have done the same?"
"Why are you bringing our baby into this?"
"Why? How can you-"
Before Elma completed, the door opened wildly as a mercenary entered.
"Edgar, we need to go. Someone lit up a sos flare."
"EDGAR!!" Elma yelled.
===
Noah felt completely paralysed from top to bottom. Waking him up from his slumber, he could see that he was tied up in a sack. Hearing the muffled noises from around him, he could guess that he was not alone.
"So, how much?"
"You got the kid in the poster as well?"
"Yeah, be careful of him by the way. He has ice and space-related abilities."
"Space?"
"Been so long, eh? No wonder the ice temple priests are searching hard. Well, he'll be a good subject."
Hearing the conversation outside, Noah tried to take the spear from his inventory only to fail. Checking his status, he could see that his mana was at 0.
"Oh look, the kid is awake." As the footsteps halted in front of him, the man opened the top of the sack just enough for Noah to see him.
Seeing the knight covered in black armour, Noah could feel his chest tightening up.
"Scared, are you? Well, go back to sleep now."
Everything went dark as the knight smacked him in the neck.
After completing the deal with the thieves, each of the black armoured knights started wearing cloaks that covered them entirely, turning them invisible a few seconds later.
A cloth of similar material was wrapped around the cart.
After a few kilometres into the thicker area of the woods, the knights stopped and started moving the leaves around. Four knights started applying mana to the ground after which a passage appeared in the ground.
The passage soon closed as all the knights entered through the passageway. Not a single trace remained of their presence.
At the end of the passage was a laboratory. A thick scent of chemicals covered the entire lab. Scientists kept their focus only on the experiment at hand even when corpses from the previous trial were being moved. The blood trail that was left was quickly cleaned off as if it was a daily occurrence by the staff.
Unloading all the sacks to individual prison cells, the knights soon exited the lab.
===
"What's all the commotion there, Turk?"
"Not sure, miss. I can see the flag of the ice temple. Shall I go investigate?"
At the outskirts of a village a knight and a young girl both covered in black cloaks stood.
Although both of them were covered, any passerby could guess these guests were from a prominent family. The dark blue eyes of the young girl remained sharp even while walking in front of the brutes of the mercenary guild twice her size. Unlike the knights of the ice temple, the gait of the knight remained steady. The ice temple knights could guess he was as strong as Luke or Reynard.
The knight and the young girl found the entire commotion had their attention on a small house.
Soon after, five people got out from the small house, the old man who looked to be the elder of the ice temple had a worried expression, the priest that followed was sweating enough for him to keep wiping with a handkerchief while the lady priest had a cold expressionless face, the two mercenaries had grim expressions and were fully geared. The large balding mercenary among them had a broken flower pot sitting on his shoulder.
As if the entire crowd was waiting, all eyes turned towards them.
With the large man leading the mercenary group, another knight stepped in from the ice temple and led their knights.
Seeing the unnatural union of the knights and mercenary group, both of them could guess something big was happening. Speaking to a villager, they finally understood the situation.
"It's a rescue party for a missing child."
"Why are there so many people for a rescue party?"
"I am not sure. The child is associated with both the ice temple and the mercenaries. It could be that."
Tossing a pouch of silver, the two left the village.
"Turk, what do you think?"
"There must be more to the kid than that. For the ice temple knights to come all the way here personally, the child must be either very talented or a descendent of the elder."
"Hmm… should we go and help?"
"I think it's a wise choice, Miss.'
Nodding in affirmation,"Okay, let's follow them then."