"Wait! What if they have those bombs again?" Aeson whispered as he remembered his miserable experience just the other day.
"Don't worry, I dismantled it the moment they appeared." Alfred turned around and pulled Aeson behind him. Hearing that assurance, Aeson breathed out a sigh of relief.
The wizard leaned down to kiss the elf's forehead then took the necklace from his hand. He had to put it on to not reveal his little cutie's secret.
After seeing the human ears again, Alfred changed his tender eyes to smug ones when facing the Duke again.
Meanwhile, the Duke threw his sword away and was helping the blood-drenched saint up. Then he immediately stepped away from her.
Liliana felt like her knees were made of jelly, she had to support her hands on her knees before running to Aeson. Aeson looked like the weakest person here among these three.
Aeson:"..."
"Great Wizard Alfred?" Angus, the Duke, had a look of surprise on his face.
"Yes, I wonder why are you here, Duke Barrera? Aren't you in the capital? And what's with this discriminatory killing?" Alfred raised one of his eyebrows, showing no fears but only curiosity. He also used his magic to clean up the saint because the smell of blood might make his cutie feel unpleasant.
"...Do you happen to know these people?" Angus's eyes glanced at the dead bodies. Even though they were dead, a killing intent emitted from his dark eyes. Then when he moved his sight to the head hiding behind Aeson's back, the murderous aura disappeared completely.
Aeson witnessed this change and found it amusing. The saint and the Duke had a similar meeting just like in the novel. Even though there was doubt, the novel Duke could not bear for her to suffer in his territory.
"Who is that girl being chased by them?" Angus kept asking one question after another.
Aeson glanced back and forth between his lover and the Duke with black lines on his face. This was a stalemate because no one wanted to reveal any information. Why was his lover here? Why was the Duke here? What happened to the heroine?
'Didn't the plot already collapse?' Aeson just felt dizzy.
Alfred sensed the elf's mood fluctuation so his hand reached behind his back to soothe him. This made Aeson feel warm in his heart and his eyes became tender and full of love. The wizard also looked back at him with the same gaze and his smug face turned soft.
Angus and Liliana: '...We're still here...'
After a few minutes, Aeson introduced himself as an informer. Alfred was unsatisfied so he added that Aeson was his sweetheart which Angus felt unnecessary. What the Duke felt curious about was the identity of the platinum hair woman that they were shielding. Aeson was getting sick of no one willing to share information so he requested to go to a private place. They had been standing in the open for almost an hour.
Naturally, Alfred already cast an illusion to hide the party and the corpses from other people's eyes. Then he snapped his fingers, seemingly teleporting the corpses to other places. Angus frowned at that but he knew they had to move away from the crowd to not alert any of the cult's comrades.
When they moved, Aeson could feel glances from Angus toward Liliana every now and then, his eyes filled with curiosity, fascination, and some other emotions, which made Aeson slightly curl his lips. But those glances made her nervous so she tried to grip Aeson's clothes to hide away. Unfortunately, she had no chance because Alfred would push him closer every time it happened. Aeson could only shake his head.
Alfred led everyone back to the inn that they stayed at before. They walked toward the door of the inn with some gazes casting upon them.
"I guess this is your establishment?" Aeson felt Alfred's insistence on this inn was suspicious.
"Ha~ My love is so smart~" Alfred kissed his cheek indulgingly.
They passed through the door and continued downstairs. When Alfred touched a column at the front desk, the receptionist slightly bowed her head and then turned ignorant. Alfred hummed meanwhile locking his fingers with Aeson, pointing at a path that suddenly appeared at the empty wall. No one seemed to notice its appearance and no one looked at them when they entered.
A room of about 30 square meters was at the end of the path. It was illuminated with glowing bottles and the candle chandelier. A set of desks and chairs were placed in the middle of the room.
"...A-Are you doing some shady business?" The quiet saint finally spoke some words as she looked around the room in fear. She never experienced the world to know that she should have never followed strangers even if they saved her once. But she have heard here and there in the church about some terrible things when the believers visited.
Angus also increased his vigilance and put his hand on the sword hilt.
"Well... This is a safe place for sharing secrets." Alfred leisurely said and then pulled Aeson to sit beside him.
Liliana chose the furthest seat to stay away from all of them and Angus sat in front of the wizard and the elf.
"You're saying those people are kidnapping civilians to sacrifice?" Alfred raised his brows, but there was not much of a surprise on his face.
"Yes, the purpose was unclear but it started from my territory then it spread out to here. I suppose Ms.Lili was one of their targets." Angus directed his gaze to the saint, making her shrink back but she stole some glances from time to time.
"I see, there was a fluctuation in the magic flow so I came here to check out. They were doing dark magic. I'm not good at that aspect so I'm not sure what they are trying to do. But one of the places I checked had an interesting magic circle. I suspect that it was a summoning circle." Alfred finally revealed his intention.
Aeson looked at Liliana, he wondered if he should reveal her identity. Her identity was too high-profile as a runaway saint. She did not want to return to the church so he would not force her. However, he already discovered the reason for the sacrifice and this information was quite valuable.
Liliana was a naive girl and a bit silly due to her sheltered life. But she knew how important her presence was, and as a saint, her nature was benevolent and selfless.
"A-actually, I'm the s-saint." She timidly spoke up which attracted three pairs of eyes. It frightened her so she bowed her head to avoid the gazes.
"I happened to come across them just yesterday, those cult people with suicide bombers." Aeson sneered and continued. "They said that the saint was the key to summon the Demon King, their idol, their god of the cult."
"Demon King?" Angus and Alfred spoke at the same time. One voice was filled with disbelief and the other was filled with interest. Meanwhile, Liliana was nodding her head in agreement.
"Yes, they want to kill her holy power to stop creating a new saint. That was what happened yesterday. I learned that they still need more lives to have enough power to revive the Demon King." Aeson continued to explain in an upright manner as if Alfred was not playing with his fingers underneath the table at all. There was a faint blush on his face but his nonchalant expression signaled no abnormalities.
"So that's what the unusual magic flow was about."
"So that's why they kidnapped people."
"They are delusional psychos. I don't know why they want summon the Demon King, they mist be stopped to stop harming more lives." Aeson said with a cold light in his eyes. Alfred noticed his moved again so he tightened their interlock hands.
The other also silently agreed.
"Also, Duke of North, where's your wife?" Aeson asked because he was really curious.
Angus sneered at the mention of that woman. He thought about the slave that she got from nowhere and how much favors she showered him in. She did not even report where the slave trade was happening when Aether Empire banned such activities. There was also some gifts from some admirers of hers. Even if it was a contractual relationship, he never intended to commit infidelity but that woman…
"She's fooling around." Angus spat in disdain. He did not even care if it sullied her name because that matter already spread across the capital.
"!!!" Aeson felt dizzy again.
WHAT WAS WITH THE PLOT???