Huh? What was she talking about?
"Uhm, what are you talking about?" I asked her.
"Those flame arrows were made by not ordinary fire magic, not to mention the wind blade. Those shapes and techniques were possible if your element magic had evolved."
"Uhm…"
I scratched my head.
"Well, I imitated it," I said.
Raiden looked at me carefully and probably tried to read me with her status reader skill, but Cherubim had already activated concealment.
I knew she was suspicious, but I better keep everything to myself.
"So, uhm, are you going to continue?"
She smiled. "What do you mean? The battle is already over. Have you forgotten? I said that all I need you to do is show me that you are worthy; you don't need to prove anything anymore. At least that's the case for now," she said. She turned her back on me and raised her hand. "Why don't you congratulate the new ruler of the entire town Levaerûn?"
Ha?
The next thing I felt was the tight hug of Rafaela's arms on my waist.
"Big bro Troy."
Ha?
"I'm not gonna lie, that was a very spectacular fight, and to witness that someone had wounded Raiden was a privilege," Leal commented.
Ha?
"How does it feel like acquiring full control over Levaerûn?" Xin asked.
Ha?
Did I win?
Why?
Ha?
I patted Rafaela's head before gently putting her aside and rushed towards the three people sheltered by the huge tree's shade.
Raiden looked back at me.
"Do you mean that battle was just a test?"
She nodded. "Yes."
"And you are saying that I managed to pass?"
"Precisely."
"For what?"
"I'm afraid I can't tell."
I could feel my eyebrows instantly twitch.
"Doesn't that sound extremely suspicious?"
She turned her body and faced me while flashing a not-so-suspicious smile.
"Suspicious? Maybe."
Wow, she's not even trying to hide it.
"What are you planning?"
"Do not fret too much about it; I am not planning to use you as an ultimate weapon or plotting something very sinister. I'm just doing a favor for someone."
I can't even comprehend what that means!
"What favor and for whom?"
"Mmh! Phwa! Leal! I will beat your ass into nothingness once I get out of here!"
Our conversation was interrupted when I realized Leo was lying on the ground covered in a Mystic thread cocoon and couldn't get out.
"Can't you use your Wind magic to break it?" Raiden looked at him as if he's some kind of turd lying on the ground.
"That's what's wrong with you, mages; it doesn't mean you can easily do something everyone already can! I'm not a mage! My magic ability is not that strong!" He shouted while struggling inside.
"It can't be helped then; let me help you."
A gigantic cone-shaped rock spike materialized right above Leo, and he could only stare at it with his enlarged eyes.
"Old ha-" And he screamed his last.
After some time, we decided to get inside the mansion and rest after the tiring battle. Raiden gave me a plain white loose tunic and leggings that I could wear while the maids were washing my outfit, which miraculously wasn't burned or even cut into pieces.
But I think this set of clothes is already perfect for me.
What greeted us in the living room was a huge white dome full of decorations lying everywhere.
On our way toward the middle part of the living room, we stumbled upon the life-sized porcelain vases that I think will cost a fortune back on earth.
Hanging on the walls were artistically made paintings, but what took my attention was the one hanging at the very center of the living room. A gigantic portrait of Raiden, a half-body portrait of her crossing her arms while making a proud smile, the painting itself was screaming grandiose and pride.
Really fits her, if I must say.
I looked back at Leo, who was leaning his shoulder on one of the human-sized porcelain vases. Next to him was Leal and Xin, just silently looking all over the place.
On the other hand, Rafaela was abducted by an energetic beaver girl and a demon butler and is touring the other part of the mansion.
Raiden looked back at me as she leaned her hand on one of the white sofas neatly organized in a circular format around the center of the living room. "So, what do you think?"
Is she asking me what I think about her gargantuan mansion?
"I think it's great. Very spacious and seems comfortable to live in."
She nodded and raised her index finger.
"The two of you can now take your things and live here from now on."
"No. I don't plan on staying here. It's your mansion, you know? I can't just barge in, and I plan to go to the next town."
"Zephyros is next to this town. It's the largest nation in Korra and the home of wind magic users."
"Hah? I thought it was just a town like Levaerûn."
"No. Levaerûn is just a town and a gateway to the seven Elemental Nations. You cannot go there without passing here," Raiden replied. "So, why will you leave this town after becoming the leader?"
"I don't know. There's this intense feeling of someone calling me for adventure. Call it instinct or whatever, but I wanted to explore Orion. I also promised Ela that I would visit the demon kingdom."
Raiden chuckled.
"You are already planning your own route, huh? There's something I want to tell you about those seven nations. First, they hate demons, Summon, or just ordinary demons. A member of the holy knight governs each nation with incredible power. Try not to brew a fight against them, Troy, or your adventure will end here in Korra."
I narrowed my eyes and stared at her.
"Why are you helping me? No matter how much I think about it, I can't come up with a reason why. And the fact that you are so casual about the truth that you really have an ulterior motive really astonishes me."
"Believe me, if I don't have to, I won't waste my time doing all this."
"Are you sure you're not planning something awful?"
A puzzling smile emerged on her face. "I do, but I'm afraid I can't tell you what it is."
"Oh."
Rafaela, we're going back to the inn!
She chuckled. "It's just a joke. Don't take it seriously. I want to know how far you will go after freeing this town. Will you become a Calamity or the hero that Orion had been waiting for so long?"
Ermm…
The next thing we heard was the loud shattering sound coming from behind, and we found one of the vases shattered to the floor; it was the same vase that Leo was leaning on earlier.
"It's already broken when I touched it," Leo explained while walking away from the vase with Xin and Leal keeping their distance from him.
Raiden just stared at the shattered vase with her shivering, wide-opened mouth.
He is dead. Super dead.
I exhaled as I stared at the view outside the human-sized glass window, where I could see the forest behind the mansion.
Now that I could finally see the entirety of it, I discovered it was not part of the great forest surrounding the town. It's a miniature forest acting as the aesthetic of the backside of the mansion.
As I walked back from the glass window, I wandered my eyes throughout my room. It's a white room with a white king-size bed and red carpet. This room hasn't been designed yet, but Raiden mentioned that I will be the one in charge of choosing the room layout once I decide to move in temporarily.
However, it shouldn't happen as I plan to move to the next nation from here. I still have some things I need to deal with before I go.
Yep, I decided to go. I won't be a leader in a long time. I will let the three lead after I change this lawless town.
Who wants to avoid moving into a luxurious mansion with an elegant gothic fairy who happens to be planning something definitely not fishy on you?
Free accommodation is free accommodation!
But not me. I have more important things to do than sit in a town.
And besides, I'm interested in investigating what Raiden's cooking for me.
And I meant that figuratively.
I locked the last button of the long white sleeves they gave me because my clothes and black slacks, pants, and black shoes were filled with mud from earlier battles.
Yup, I finally did it. I finally attained full control over the entire town of Levaerûn
Now, all I need to do is to proceed as planned and pray that nothing will end up messing up.
Changing a lawless town? Even now, I can't believe that I came up with the idea of taking over the town just to build an ideal place to live.
The door sounded when someone knocked on my door.
I folded my long sleeve up to my upper arms first before opening the door.
"Oh," I said when I saw who was standing before the door.
Raiden assessed my clothes before putting her hand on her chin. "Not bad. Surprisingly, it looks good on you."