Crack—!
A fierce shockwave erupted from somewhere to my right. Two daggers, pulsating with mana had been on their way to send my head flying. I grasped my neck as sweat trickled down my back.
Fortunately for me, I made the right gamble.
"Miss Galad!" Aeloria exclaimed, "Why are you defending this slave? It refused to inform me of where its master was! I'd wager that it doesn't have one at all!"
"Shush, Aeloria, dear." Galad put a finger on her lips, "You fairies of the Iriscent continent might not understand this as the humans of your continent are nothing but livestock. But in Hadra, things are different."
"Hadra? You mean, the continent that you were exiled from, Miss Galad?" Faeldrin climbed out of his pile of items, "Why can't we eliminate a fly like him?"
Galad shook her head, "Iriscent is said to be the only continent with humans. But there is actually a group of humans in Hadra as well. They're secretive, and most importantly, they don't classify themselves as a race."
Aeloria tilted her head, curious as to what Galad's words implied. "You mean... there are humans that aren't the perfect subservient beings who are easy to bewitch and manipulate?"
"Yes... A different breed of humans so to speak. In Hadra, they're a sect," Galad announced.
"How are you so sure? He spoke in a language from the Iriscent continent." Aeloria poked the Mana Shield that prevent her from killing me. "The only thing I didn't understand was [ Haklu fo sul Raris ] or whatever that meant."
"That translates to 'Order of the Crimson Phoenix,'" Galad stepped closer to me, "It's in ancient Hadralian tongue. Only those from the sect know how to speak it,"
I tried my best to smile as I replied in the tongues of Hadra, "That is indeed the case, Miss Galad. You seem to be well-informed of the sect's ways."
A chuckle left Galad's lips, "Of course I do. They're the ones who exiled me."
I couldn't help but freeze. "Ah,"
"Don't worry about it, human child. But I also know that each member of the Order has their own speciality. What's yours, and why will it be helpful to my cause?" Galad put an exquisite palm on my cheek.
The smell of her skin assaulted my nostrils, bringing me close to a daze. I had to resist her natural charms with all my might. This was, after all, why the humans of the Iriscent continent were nothing but slaves.
The fairies had absolute control over their desires.
I could feel Aeloria smirking, "He's just a human at the end of the day. We should eliminate this damn slave already."
"Shhhh," Galad spoke, her piercing golden eyes gazed straight into mine, "Each member of the Order has trained their wills to combat our beauty. Right?"
I closed my eyes and fell silent for a moment. This fairy before me was a creation of mine. There was no need to be so enamoured by such a being.
All I needed to do was repeat such lines in my mind. We were not equals. Therefore, it would be beneath me to fall in love with something that I myself created.
I should be the ultimate judge, and their authority must not overpower mine.
"You're right, Miss Galad." Thus, when I opened my eyes once more, they were clear. Not a single trace of the fairy's charms had been left behind as I spoke with grace and clarity. "As for my speciality, well, it's most simply put... [ Information ]."
"Oh~?" Galad smirked, "Now that's definitely something."
Aeloria was left shocked and speechless.
"No way..."
...
"Tell me," Galad spoke as we walked the winding, snaking halls of the seventh Roaming Tower. "What is it like in Hadra right now? Has the war between the lightning elementals and the cloud giants ended? Have the mountains moved again? Which earthly formation have the behemoths deemed appropriate for the change in times?"
Those were quite a lot of questions all pouring out at the same time. "How long have you been gone for, Miss Galad? I can better explain things to you if I know the timeframe of your absence."
"About sixteen years," Galad replied, "I was exiled when I had just reached maturity. The moment I turned sixteen, the laws against underage fairies no longer applied to me. It was such unfortunate timing."
"I see..." I paused, recalling the documents and auxiliary chapters that I had made just for the continent of Hadra.
They numbered in the dozens, some having at least 12,000 words. I had even written an encyclopedia on all the species that existed on the continent.
Thus, like a slow computer, it was taking me quite some time to sort through my thoughts. Eventually, I was able to recall my timeline documents, as well as the news reports that I had written for fun.
With these different pieces of information, I gained a good idea of what had happened since Galad had left... and it wasn't a pretty thought.
"Let's start with the fact that the giants as a whole are making a move—"
Just as I was about to tell a bloody story of war, slavery, and destruction, Faeldrin stopped abruptly. I ended up slamming my nose onto his hard back, making him jump in shock as he felt his wings crumple under my weight.
"Ow!" Faeldrin yelped, "You fu—"
"We're here." Aeloria cut him off and dragged him towards what seemed to be a cliff. The fairy gave me a glance before staring down the abyss.
"The thing you talked about... It's down there, right?" She spoke as her eyes glistened in ill-concealed excitement.
I took a deep breath.
An ominous aura was surging from within the abyss, and I, as a puny F/E rank, was extremely vulnerable to its curses. There was an immense weight pulling all of my organs down while whispers tickled my ears, asking me to jump.
I was going to jump yes, but being goaded to do so made me feel sick.
"It is," I finally replied, "That silver sickle you are looking for should be there."
It was a treasure that I made based on the Greek Titan, Cronus.