An unfamiliar voice so close by was suddenly heard, a clear sign of either their lack of attention or the stranger's power of camouflage. As Great Aura Knights, they already knew much more than the basics of detecting and scanning their surroundings.
This is a basic technique that every practitioner learns when they evolve into a Knight. It is firmly engraved in the mind and trained by all the blessed who intend to take part in battles. And even those blessed who prefer research and study or work without the risk of battle need to learn the technique.
Emmanuel, Daehyun and Celeste learned the technique from their old teacher, Lady Daynis Ivanov, while they were still under Apollo's tutelage. She is a strict and very disciplined woman, always preferring to perfect the basics rather than spend time and effort trying something more advanced.
She is the perfect example of someone who would rather train the same kick 1000 times than 1000 different kicks. That's why she's always been in charge of endlessly training them in the basic techniques that the blessed need.
Just then, someone approached them quietly and spoke to them casually as if they were listening to the whole conversation. This made all three feel a very high level of threat, but not enough to paralyze them.
Cautious and ready to fight, the three turned to face the owner of the voice, but they didn't see just one person. 3 people were standing a few paces behind them, apparently relaxed and interested in their reactions.
2 tall women and 1 even taller man between them were dressed in thick, brightly colored clothes. They all looked human, but that was never a reliable characteristic, most mystical creatures also had a human form.
The two women, one with green hair cut below the ear and the other with cyan hair in a ponytail, had dark, well-tanned skin. They were tall, over 180cm, but you couldn't tell because of the thick clothes they were wearing.
The cyan-haired woman had a small smile of joy and an expression of curiosity, she seemed eager to say something or do something. In the case of the green-haired woman, her expression was the complete opposite, one of disgust and hatred towards them.
The man between them had a mixture of sadness, regret, joy and curiosity in his expression. You couldn't tell what he was thinking or what he was really feeling, but he didn't seem to have any bad intentions.
He had neatly trimmed golden hair and pale white skin that seemed to glow slightly. He looked like a man in his prime, unlike the women who just looked young-adult.
The atmosphere was seriously chaotic, Emmanuel and Daehyun were prepared to fight and seemed to be worried about the green-haired woman's intentions. Celeste was focusing her intentions on the cyan-haired woman and the man in the center and was more relaxed than her companions.
It went on like this for a few moments, until the groups slightly understood each other's reactions and intentions. Celeste decided to break the silence between them and began to speak in a serious but relaxed manner:
"Approaching someone so suddenly without warning or releasing some Aura is considered a serious threat and is liable to punishment. But you seem to know Apollo Kairis, our master, and you also know us. I expect a good explanation, otherwise I'll have to take you to Redsnow prison."
The man intended to reply and was about to begin his explanation. But the cyan-haired woman was quicker and began to speak at the same time as she approached, walking slowly towards Celeste. It was a cheerful, sweet voice, but there was a curiosity and interest in it:
"Calm down, sweetheart, we have some reasons for approaching you in this way, but we had no intention of frightening you and you can believe me when I say that I have no bad intentions against the treasure's beloved disciples. He talks about you so much that I feel as if we were already acquaintances."
Finishing speaking and standing two steps away from Celeste, she leaned forward and began to stroke the girl's face gently. It was a loving gesture, the woman seemed concerned and wanted to comfort Celeste.
Then she straightened her posture and pulled Celeste into a hug. She then looked at Emmanuel and Daehyun and seemed to seriously evaluate them both, and after a few moments she began to speak again:
"Treasure always said that he had a responsibility to make you guys strong and reliable, even more than he managed to be. That's why he devoted more than 10 years of his short human life entirely to training you. And yet he always felt he didn't do a good job and often regretted it. But fortunately that doesn't seem to be the case, you remember what he taught you and you know the path you should follow."
Celeste was no longer worrying about who the woman was or what her intentions were. She found herself in a warm and concerned embrace, much like the one she had felt from Lady Klaus and her mother.
It was an embrace that only someone as extremely affectionate as a mother could have. And the tears that seemed to have stopped flowed from her eyes again. But now they were hidden because of the woman's embrace.
But it wasn't just Celeste who was moved by the words, the green-haired woman seemed to remember something and began to subtly relax her expression. The memory seemed to cover up the reason why she was so hateful and disgusted.
Emmanuel and Daehyun were still surprised by the woman's behavior and Celeste's reaction. But they were more interested in knowing who the people in this group were and why they seemed so close to Apollo.
The golden-haired man, on the other hand, was the most affected by the cyan-haired woman's words; he was visibly sadder. However, he also began to speak even though the sadness was clear in his voice:
"He also has extremely low self-esteem just like little Aurora, that was one of the reasons they got on extremely well. It's kind of funny remembering all the times he came to me to ask if I was doing a good job teaching you."
He paused for a moment, seeming to want to let all the sadness out with the deep sigh he gave. It seemed to work, as he struggled to manage a cheerful smile while talking about some good memories:
"He also used to come to me for love advice because he was always shy and insecure... hehehe, he never really understood how relationships should be and how they were formed and didn't even have the courage to tell others about his feelings. But he was always too good at doing it without even noticing, hahahaha."
In the end, the joy was taking over and far outweighed the sadness he had. And his joy also seemed to reach the green-haired woman, for her expression was brimming with shy joy and nostalgia.
The mood seemed to suddenly change from tense to joyful.
The green-haired woman, who continued to warmly embrace Celeste, quickly shifted her focus to the man. She seemed embarrassed and in a hurry, as if the man had said something he shouldn't have. She then began to lightly scold the golden-haired man:
"Father, you shouldn't reveal secrets like these about treasure in public. The last time you said that, Lord Akachi and Lady Alcione spread it all over the village. Apollo spent almost half a year ashamed to come and visit us and was very angry with you."
The man was actually happy to remember how Apollo had reacted to the situation. But he changed his expression to a more serious one as he contained his laughter while apologizing to the cyan-haired woman:
"Hehehe, right, right, I just couldn't resist remembering how pathetic he looked. We have to solve the problem soon so we can have more moments like that."
The green-haired woman, who hadn't spoken yet, rolled her eyes as she listened to the man's thoughts. It was then that she supported the cyan-haired woman's argument and also began to scold the man. Her voice was much lower than the other woman's, but her voice was a little cold:
"Father, Svetlana didn't say that to prevent Apollo from getting angry about having his secrets revealed. She just wants to avoid Apollo being embarrassed about it, do you understand? He didn't come to visit us for six months because of you, Father. I hope you remember what happened after that."
It was a harsh rebuke, delivered with the professionalism of someone who has spent years of his life doing this. The green-haired woman seemed really cold when she scolded her father, but she also seemed to be efficient in doing so.
The man was then really affected by the green-haired daughter. He straightened his posture and his expression became serious, then he began to apologize sincerely:
"I'm very sorry for what I did, please forgive me... Svetlana and Milena, will you forgive me? Okay? You won't think of wandering off and leaving me alone again, will you? Okay?"
Svetlana, the cyan-haired woman, looked strangely cheerful as she realized that the reprimand given by Milena, the green-haired woman, had had a very good effect. She then looked at her sister and gave a small nod of thanks. At the same time, she decided to ignore her father.
Milena realized what Svetlana wanted and began to act accordingly. Ignoring her father, she returned to Celeste's group and began to examine their expressions. She had a very serious and almost emotionless expression, but there was no more hatred or disgust in it.
She noticed how depressed Celeste was, while Emmanuel and Daehyun were still surprised and curious. But she was happy to realize that they were strong and all three were at the rank of Great Aura Knights. That would be enough to show that the efforts Apollo had put into training them had not been in vain.
After some time examining the three of them in depth, she realized it was time to explain a few details. She looked at her father, a little depressed after being ignored, then at her sister and noticed that they didn't want to talk. So she decided to start talking:
"I think it's about time we introduced ourselves, this will be good to pass some time while the two of you are still to arrive. I'm Milena Aotrom and the woman hugging little Celeste is Svetlana Aotrom. This man is our father, he's Artorius Aotrom, but you may know him as the Great Dragon Lord Aotrom the Wise."