After the commotion that occurred in the meeting room, Glok and the others returned to the guest house, carrying Ailord, of course, because although he had fully recovered, and even grown stronger, he still couldn't move the Construct. For some reason. They could only trust his words for now that his Construct didn't use mana but something else. They had also tried to flow mana, and indeed, nothing happened.
The elders became more curious, wondering who the figure they had just saved really was. How could there be a Construct that didn't use mana? Was there any other power besides mana that could move such a heavy Construct?
They suspected Ailord deliberately severed the flow of mana to the Mana Stone to reduce their vigilance towards him. Therefore, they assigned none other than Reyn and Heyla to monitor them.
"Glok! You didn't tell me there was an iron Construct with you!" exclaimed Reyn, not expecting Glok to hide something from him.
"What else could I do? It's a secret task," he replied, shrugging.
After swearing to keep the secrecy of this task, they followed Glok into the guest house, where, in a few hours, the sun would rise, and Glok and the others had yet to rest at all.
"No, no!" Teena shouted. "If you sleep now, you'll be so hard to wake up! Just hold on to your drowsiness!" She urged Glok, who was already lying on the bed with his eyes closed, looking so peaceful and comfortable after the long journey.
He didn't want to hear Teena's nagging, which would only give him a headache. It was time for Glok to rest, especially for the blessing ceremony tomorrow. He had to present himself well as a goblin leader candidate and the son of Grako. He couldn't afford to tarnish the name of his father, who was already known by so many.
A figure of a goblin warrior who knew no fear even when facing life-or-death situations. The first goblin who succeeded in making his name known across the continent as the strongest goblin ever to appear. Even compared to the dark ages, Grako would be a terrifying figure there.
It was never expected that the goblin race, which was not a strong race, only destined to be subordinates of other races, could become one of the frightening forces. All of this was possible thanks to the hard struggle of his father, and Glok wanted to prove that he could stand by his side. Not only as a son but also as a leader of the goblin race in the future.
"Glok!"
As he was about to enter the dream world, suddenly, he caught a glimpse of a large meteor falling. At the same time, he felt a strong impact on his stomach, startling Glok with the sense of his life hanging in the balance. The single blow caused the guest house to tremble momentarily, waking everyone who was peacefully sleeping and rushing to grab their weapons, thinking there was an attack.
However, upon hearing Miss Teena's voice, the soldiers decided to return to their rooms rather than come to their captain's rescue. They realized that by entering the now noisy room, they would also receive the same blow. They closed the door, hoping that the young master could pass the night peacefully.
"What's the matter with you!? I just want to rest for a while!" Glok angrily replied. His hand was still on his stomach, trying to suppress the pain, especially in front of the two elves who could only sit silently in the corner of the room.
Not that they didn't want to help, they also knew how terrifying Teena could be when she was emotional.
"And what? Are you going to miss the blessing!? I'm actually helping you now!" Teena retorted, not backing down.
"Helping? You almost killed me!"
"Killed with just one small punch? Huh! Seems like you're getting weaker, my dear,"
Glok leaned closer, matching Teena's smirk with his own arrogant grin. "Oh yeah? Why don't you find out for yourself?"
A clearing of the throat was heard, drawing the attention of every pair of eyes in the room. "Sorry to interrupt you two. But please, remember there's someone else in this room, not just the two of you," Ailord spoke, truly wanting to look elsewhere but unable to. They propped him against the wall directly across Glok's bed.
"Oh? You can speak?" Reyn asked enthusiastically.
He truly thought Ailord was just a magical creature created by someone, given his unchanging expression. He hadn't uttered a single word even during the journey to Elder Leynar's guest house.
"How are you?" Teena approached, attempting to give him healing magic and was surprised to find him much better. "H-how is this possible? You were almost dead before. Now you're almost as strong as our elite forces?"
"Ah, yes, he accidentally received high-level healing magic from the elders," Glok's statement caused Reyn, Heyla, and Teena to all shout "HUH!?" simultaneously.
"Something as important as this, and you just go to sleep without telling us?"
A sigh escaped his lips. "Teena, I'm so tired. All I could think of was resting. I intended to tell you tomorrow, with the troops," Glok explained, looking at her.
Reyn shook his head in disagreement. "I know you're tired after the long journey, Glok. But you should have told us from the beginning so we could plan better. What if he suddenly does something and we're not prepared? We'll all suffer the consequences."
Heyla nodded in agreement. "That's right. We can't let even the smallest detail slip past us. The blessing will begin in a few hours, and if something happens, all the races that have come here will be affected. We don't want that, do we?"
His already messy hair, he began to mess it up more while groaning in frustration, feeling dizzy hearing all of this. "Can't you trust me? I've already told you, he's someone we can trust."
The three of them exchanged glances.
"It's not that we don't trust you, Glok. But he's a stranger. You don't even know his name. How can you just trust someone without knowing them?" Reyn asked, confused. It was the first time he had seen Glok behave so strangely. After all, he was the most cautious person at the academy.
Teena approached, grabbing her lover's cheeks and staring directly into his eyes. "Glok, listen to me. You're not enchanted, are you?"
He took hold of her warm hands. "No, Teena. I'm still the same Glok," he replied weakly. He didn't know what else to say to make them believe him. He himself didn't quite understand what he was feeling. However, their first meeting kept replaying in his head, like finding a sibling from another mother, even another race.
"Listen, both of you are here, and I trust that you, chosen by the elders, must have abilities. While I'm just someone who can't even move without the help of others. So, there's no need to worry. I don't want to do anything foolish that would get me killed."
They turned to look at him, observing the red eyes that were now gazing in their direction. Reyn stepped forward, kneeling down to be at eye level. "Exactly. It's impossible for you to be completely unable to move within this Construct. You're just trying to make us lower our guard and take the opportunity to do something. You're lucky to receive high-level healing magic that not only heals but also enhances."
"Ohh, so that's why my body feels a bit different," Ailord remarked.
Ailord had suspected it wasn't just simple healing if the elders were in such a fuss earlier. His body also felt lighter yet stronger. He even felt full of energy and capable of exercising all day long.
Heyla knelt beside him on his right side. "At least, show us your face if you want to be trusted."
Seeing no other way and not wanting to make things more difficult for Glok, Ailord finally sighed. "Try to find small indentations on the neck area and pull them forward."
Hearing that, they both searched and found it. The indentation was slightly larger than they expected, enough for two fingers to enter and pull the lock forward. It took a little effort for the lock to move, but once it did, a hissing sound of steam could be heard, startling them all, causing them to immediately stand up, pulling out arrows.
"You! You liar!" Reyn shouted.
But then, the helmet fell forward, rolling to the tip of his shoe.
"Ahh! Finally, I can breathe easier,"
When they looked in that direction, their eyes widened in surprise, didn't expect him to have such an appearance.