"What are we even here for?"
Claire grumbled, as she had run out of patience sitting on the chair for almost an hour. The main reason behind it was none other than the girl talking without a breather.
Aliana had indeed dragged them to the Elven village, but she never explained for what reason they were there. Jaden hadn't asked her anything because he had some clues about it.
Aliana was the person holding the national treasure of the elven forest within her storage magic. The purpose of their visit surely had something to do with that.
"I was invited here to take care of some matters. But why are you here?"
Blaise managed to pull himself away from the girl's grasp. He felt thankful to Claire, who had asked the question loudly, distracting the girl.
Claire tilted her head while shrugging her shoulders. She absolutely had no idea why Aliana had brought them to that place.
"As if I know. Ask her."
Claire's index finger pointed towards Aliana, who was simply observing others. Blaise's face had no expression, as he couldn't help but be confused by it.
Diona's eyebrows frowned as she listened to their conversation. It seemed like something was odd, but she couldn't figure it out.
She let out a sigh before getting up from her seat and moving close to the girl. The girl held the arms of the chair she sat in, trying to make it tough for someone to move her.
"Should I call 'her' or will you get up and follow me by yourself?"
Diona spoke coldly to the girl with her hands folded across her chest. The girl flinched, and her body stiffened at Diona's words.
The arms of the chair, which were being held tightly by the girl, were finally freed of the grip on them. The girl had stood up without making any further fuss.
She quietly followed Diona out of the room without asking any questions. Jaden wasn't really curious where and why the two went. Blaise's worries had finally lessened thanks to them taking their leave.
-[There's too little information. Let's try to gather some more intel.]
Claire flinched as the voice, which had been silent for a while, suddenly spoke. What the voice said was pretty accurate.
She couldn't expect anything from Aliana, as she had not told her a single thing. The only person who could actually tell her something was the red-haired man.
'What should I even ask?'
Blaise had already told them that he was invited to the elven village to take care of something. There was no question Claire could think of to ask him.
The voice in her mind stayed silent for a while. After a few minutes passed by, Claire flinched with tears in her eyes.
-[ARE YOU THAT DUMB? CAN'T YOU JUST ASK WHO INVITED HIM AND FOR WHAT TO TAKE CARE OF?]
The voice was scolding her so loudly that she could feel her head hurting. This wasn't her first time going through this, but she still wasn't used to it.
Whenever Claire made silly mistakes, the voice would begin scolding her till she cried. Claire understood very well that it was for her very own betterment.
'Fine. Fine. Stop yelling already.'
Claire rubbed her forehead, hoping for the pain to fade away soon. The voice stayed silent as Claire began speaking. Her voice was directed towards Blaise.
"Then, who invited you and why?"
He flinched at the question, and his face went pale. It seemed like Claire had hit the nail in a sensitive spot. He didn't say a word for a while.
As his gaze met Aliana's, Jaden had a bad feeling about it. The sweat on his forehead slowly drew down a line on his nose.
Blaise glanced around to check if anyone else aside from them was listening to him. He leaned forward after he confirmed that no one else was there in the room using his magic.
Jaden looked at the glass of water kept for him on the table they were sitting across. As Blaise began speaking, Jaden started drinking water.
"You must've heard rumours that the Tear of the Goddess has been stolen... I'm called here to catch the culprit behind the theft."
COUGH COUGH COUGH
Upon hearing that, Jaden was choking on the water out of fear. His gaze moved towards the culprit that was present among them. The drops of water dripped down his lips, landing on his robe.
Melanie maintained silence while patting Jaden's back. She didn't understand most of the things they were discussing, which made her stay quiet all this time.
Witnessing the sudden coughs at the mention of Tear of the Goddess, Blaise could assume that Jaden knew something about it. But before he got to ask him anything, Aliana spoke.
"You mean this?"
Snap
The gem fixed to the bracelet glistened white, and it was being spun around in the air by Aliana. Jaden held himself back from crying because of the nervousness he was feeling.
Claire and Blaise's jaws dropped simultaneously, identifying the item based on the descriptions they had heard. It was the very item whose theft had put the whole elven forest into a risky situation.
The questions Claire had were all answered within a moment. On the other hand, Blaise was panicking, trying to figure out what he should be doing next.
Telling the elves that he had found the culprit would be the best option for him. Thinking that, Blaise stood up and made a dash to the door. But his sprint came to a stop as soon as he heard Aliana's voice.
"We are with you. Isn't that right?"
Aliana was playing around with the words he had said earlier. He never imagined something like this to happen.
The words he said to Diona at the entrance had just begun haunting him. The person facing real tragedy was none other than the Tower Master, who had stood up for someone out of kindness.
-They are with me!
He understood just what mess he had gotten himself into. With a sweaty forehead and a twitching right eye, he smiled nervously after turning around.
He was regretting his actions from a few hours ago. Had he not done it, he wouldn't have been in such a situation.
'Ah, I shouldn't have gotten involved with her...'
-----------------
"Are you people also after 'it'?"
His voice spread through the foggy forest, making the group of people in black clothes tremble. The white shirt the man wore had red stains on it.
The blood trickled down his silver blade, drop by drop, as the man walked. His cold gaze was scanning his surroundings precisely.
As he was facing in front, a person sneaked behind him. He jumped with two daggers in his hands, crossing in front of his own chest. He was about to reach the man's neck when he noticed a light smile on his lips.
His whole body was getting goosebumps, but he couldn't feel it. He wondered why as the darkness engulfed his vision.
"Pathetic."
Slashhh
His black hair moved as he turned around, cutting off the head of the person who tried to attack him. No remorse displayed itself in his eyes as he continued cutting down his enemies.
The remaining few people started rushing towards him all together. But it was of no use. Rather than a fight, it was a one-sided massacre.
The drops of blood rained as his sword touched his enemies necks. The green floor had been tainted red just like that in a few moments.
"Are there any more of you left?"
The person to whom the cold voice was directed could feel his body shaking from fear. He could tell that it didn't matter whether he answered the question or not; he was bound to die at the hands of the man in front of him.
Making this man their foe was their greatest mistake. No matter how much they regretted it, there was no turning back.
'How did they find me...?'
His strength might've made him look like a muscle head, but he was in fact a smart person. Despite that, Adrienne couldn't determine the source that provided his location details to the assassins.
This wasn't the first time something like this had happened. Even before, in his castle, they would come after his neck no matter which room he was in.
Thinking about all that wasn't the main thing for him at the moment. He had a certain goal since the very beginning, which made him declare war on the elven forest.
Adrienne tried to listen to keen sounds with his eyes closed. There wasn't a trace of a single human around, but something was definitely lurking within the fog.
He approached in the direction of the sound, avoiding obstacles. To his surprise, there was nothing when he reached the place.
'Was it my imagination?'
His eyebrows frowned as he tried to listen to more sounds. Something was definitely making sounds to lead him in a certain direction.
This time Adrienne did the opposite of his previous action. The sound was coming from his right side, but he began sprinting towards the left.
He had realised what the sound was trying to do. It was all to lead him out of the forest by distracting him. His lips pursed together as he dashed at full speed.
"My, my. I'm here just for a talk."
Brushing away the blood on his cheeks with his hand, a grin was visible on his lips. The tone of his voice was the same as usual: cold.
The sword he was holding in his hand was slowly devoured by the black flames. He shut his left eye, while his right began shining golden.
His unique origin magic consisted of four stages. The first one allowed him to travel to distant places, while the second allowed him to detect traces of life within a certain distance.
He could sense a few living beings just a bit ahead of him. It was the people of the Elven village that he was able to detect without any issues. He slowly spoke as he reached closer to his destination.
"Be ready to welcome me."
-At the Elven Village-
"If you tell them the truth, you will be going down along with us."
Aliana's words were actual facts. Blaise had not only let them get out of the forest safely but also got them into the village.
If someone were to discover that the people he had brought along were the culprits, there was no way he would've gotten out of it unscathed. The only people he was familiar with were a few elves that he had met before, Diona, and the talkative girl.
"What do you want me to do then?"
Blaise straight away chased to the point. Aliana wasn't trying to get herself and others with her arrested just like that. She had a hidden agenda behind her actions.
But what it was about was all on Blaise to find out. He felt nervous as he observed Aliana thinking something.
He wasn't sure what unreasonable demand she was going to make. With no choice other than waiting for Aliana's response, Blaise's forehead got covered in sweat.
"Request an audience with the queen."
Blaise's expression went blank for a moment. He wondered if he was hallucinating because of the absurd things taking place.
A light smile appeared on his face; he had already lost hope. Jaden showed no emotion on his face as he heard Aliana speak.
It was a bit better than what he had expected. He was imagining them getting caught for theft and going through a trial before getting executed.
It had not happened yet, but it looked like it could occur at any time in the near future. As Jaden was about to interfere in their conversation, Blaise's next words made him flinch with astonishment.
"You have already met her, though?"