The sword-fighting tournament in alderan had a separate committee that takes care of everything related to it. With the nation's strongest swordsmen, earth cultivators and array makers, everything about the tournament used to be perfect.
Although the participants were the only ones who were allowed in the tournament stadium, the committee made had made enough preparation so the whole continent could see the tournament through live-mana network attracts.
After finishing the lunch with Aran, when the captain and the team members went back to the arena, they saw that the preparations had finished. The arena they saw a few hours ago had turned into a stadium.
The earth cultivators had created the stadium by manipulating the ground and they had also prepared the seating arrangements around the stadium for the remaining participants. With the high-ranked array formations which completely suppress everyone there from using all the elemental powers, it was an almost perfect sword fighting stage.
As the captain and the others saw it, although some new members of the team got surprised, the others thought that its better than the last year. After looking around for a while they found their seats and sat together and waited for the announcement.
***
When aran saw Elissa standing behind him, he got startled for a moment but immediately calmed himself down.
" What are you reading? Is that black book yours? " She asked.
Aran immediately thought about something and put the book into his ring.
" That cat on your shoulder. Is that your pet? "
As she continued aran asked,
" What are you doing here?"
" I was going to ask you the same. But then I saw you reading something. So, what do you plan on doing next? Are you going to stay and watch the tournament?"
" Why are you asking me that? "
Looking at Elissa talking to him nicely, many suspicions started to appear in Aran's mind. He began to wonder if she was still on about what happened in the selection round.
" I am just curious! " she said.
" If that's the case then-No. I won't be staying here watching the tournament. Instead, I am thinking about looking around the city. " he said.
Aran was feeling a little awkward because he was there to steal something from the palace. So he wanted to stay away from others as much as possible and do his job quietly.
Hearing aran, Elissa remained silent for a moment before responding.
" If you are going to look around the city, then can I join you?" She asked.
It made aran freeze for a moment because what she asked was exactly the opposite of what he wanted. He was shocked to hear that out of nowhere.
" What? No! I mean, don't you have the tournament? "
" My next battles are after two weeks. I am the lady of the Bryde family remember? I can have some exceptions." she replied with a smile.
" Ohh, but still, I am fine with myself."
Aran nicely tried to reject but after her response, his feelings changed.
" I heard that you are visiting the city for the first time but I regularly visit this city. So I know every place around here. Think of me as a travelling companion. "
Hearing her it seemed that she had already made her decision. When aran thought about it, although he had arrax with him if something went wrong, he thought some extra help won't be too bad.
" And also, there are some things I need to discuss with you." She continued.
Aran got sure that he was right about her wanting something from him. Since he could have just rejected whatever she asks and having a strong swordfighter with him seemed better than being alone, aran accepted her request.
" Okay then. You can join with me if you want to "
" Great. Thank you very much! "
"That's fine !"
" So, when are we leaving ?"
" We can leave right after you are ready, " Aran said.
"Let's go then !"
" What? right now? Aren't you have anything to prepare?"
" I am always prepared. If you have anything then I can wait !"
"I am fine. Let's go, " Aran said and took out his horse from the ring. Elissa also took out her horse from her ring and got on the horse.
" So where are we going first?" she asked.
" The mercenary guild of this city !"
Although Elissa was surprised to hear, that was aran's first choice, she immediately turned around to hide her expression.
" Okay then, follow me," She said and began to move. Aran also got on his horse and followed her.
****
After riding for half an hour they reached the mercenary guild station. As aran looked, the guild station wasn't as big as the one in the capital city of Carwel but it was still pretty decent.
Usually, the mercenary guilds were responsible for protecting the people of the city from bandits. Every guild had its official members and becoming a member of a prestigious guild was the dream of many cultivators.
Although most cultivators would have chosen Hunter's guilds, which will regularly hunt the beasts in the mountains to maintain the balance and stop beast outbreaks; those who were more skilled in fighting people than beasts always goes with the mercenary guilds.
As aran reached the guild, the station wasn't as busy as he expected. There were only some people around there. Aran thought it might be because the crime rate in Bellrun isn't that high.
" So, are you just going to look around? " Elissa asked.
Since they were already at the guild station, she was wondering if aran was just there to look around or if he was going to take a mission. She didn't know if aran was strong enough and he had chosen not to fight the last time she confronted him. So she wasn't sure about what he was going to do.
" No, I am thinking about taking a mission "
" Well then, let's move," She said and got off the horse. Looking at Elissa helping him this far without even asking a single question, he started wondering what might she want from him.
" You said you have to talk to me, about something, right? What is it?" He immediately asked.
" Ohh, that's nothing. We can talk about that later but first, let's get you a mission also we have found a place for us to stay. " Elissa said as she quickly walked inside the guild station.
Looking at her hesitation he was sure that what she wants is something very important.
" Haaah," Aran sighed and followed her.
As Elissa got inside the guild station. people in there began to greet her. Aran understood that she is a regular customer here. Suddenly a doubt came into his mind and he directly asked her.
" Are you a member of this guild?"
Hearing that Elissa turned around and faced aran.
" I am a member of the guild in Eastbourne, but in Alderan, the mercenary guilds of both cities come under my family's authority. So you can say I am a member here!" She said.
It was surprising for aran to know that Elissa who was only a year older than him was a member of the mercenary guild. But Alderan was known as the nation of swordsmen and Elissa was a lady of one of the royal family, So it perfectly made sense.
As they went inside Elissa asked aran what kind of mission does he want to take. She showed him the notice board of the guild and told him to select a mission.
When aran looked at the guild notice board, it was filled with hundreds of unofficial mission requests. Since aran wasn't a member of the guild he wasn't allowed to take on any official missions. As aran looked at the missions on the board, he couldn't find something that fits his intentions.
"Aren't there any other missions?" aran asked the guild worker, who was standing beside Elissa after greeting her.
" No. These are the only unofficial missions available here. " He replied. Hearing that aran turned towards Elissa hinting something.
" You insisted on coming with me. Please help me with this " Aran said.
Elissa understood what he was saying. Since she also wanted something from Aran, she thought that helping him might be a good way for her to gain his favour. She asked the guild worker to show him the list of official missions in her name.
The guild worker immediately looked for the book of recent official mission requests and handed the book to aran and told him to select a mission.
After getting the book, aran looked at many missions but it seemed like he was looking for a specific one. After looking for ten minutes, he finally selected a mission and showed it to Elissa.
" Here, what do you think about this one?" He asked.
Elissa was shocked to look at the mission aran had chosen. It was a top-ranked mission to find the group of bandits dead or alive. These bandits were responsible for the murder of many innocent people in both cities of alderman. Looking at aran's cultivation and the mission he had chosen, it was natural for her to get shocked.
" Are you sure you want to take that mission?" Elissa asked aran. It seemed like she was having second thoughts about the mission but aran was entirely sure about that mission.
" Yes. This is exactly what I am looking for. "
He said and gave the book back to the guild worker and asked for the details. The worker looked at the mission details and looked for the book with all the details regarding that mission and gave it to aran.
After taking that mission aran left the guild. Elissa also went with him after signing the mission acceptance form.