Sariel and Yaxun walked together to the palace.
The people were still working to extinguish the remaining flames, and the palace had escaped the eruption entirely intact.
They walked quickly to the king's chambers, who instructed his servants not to be interrupted by anyone during their conversation.
They both sat down, and the king, with a serious expression, did not hesitate to press Sariel.
"Very well, I imagine you know the reason for this..."
"Yes, but let me do something before we start."
Saying this, the traveler raised his hand, which emitted a pink light. It was the same magic he had used at the tavern in Fordurn.
As before, the entire room was enveloped in a layer where the sound from inside would never leak out.
The fact that Yaxun could see the pink light was entirely Sariel's choice, since this was an Illusion magic, so he could make it totally undetectable. It was just a way to show the king that he was casting a spell.
"Right, we can begin." Sariel stretched out relaxed on the sofa after completing his magic.
"Can you tell me why you killed Sak-Lu and Ti-Chaak?" The king had a terrifying tone.
"And Hunac too." The traveler, however, did not feel threatened and simply threw more wood on the fire.
"Hunac?!" Yaxun stood up, with a mix of surprise and indignation. "What the hell do you think you're doing in my kingdom?!"
"Wouldn't you prefer me to show you?" Sariel raised his hand, emitting a brown glow.
The king looked at him doubtfully.
"I can't trust that... What if you try to read my mind?"
"I already told you, Alteration is not my main element, and your magical power would be enough to block my magic."
However, Yaxun remained suspicious.
"You could show me false memories..."
"I killed those two around one in the morning, and now it's around six thirty. Do you really think that in just a few hours I would be able to construct complex memories?"
"Well... Okay, but you'll regret it if you try anything with me."
"Then, here I go." Sariel got up from the sofa and approached the king. "Can you sit down?"
Yaxun, due to his enormous stature, even taller than Aegreon, had to sit down again.
The traveler approached his glowing hand and touched Yaxun's forehead.
With that, he saw everything that had happened during the early morning, from the reason Sariel had gone after Ti-Chaak and Sak-Lu, to what had happened inside the mountain.
The memories were, for the most part, clear, however, when it came to the memories of other people, like Sak-Lu and that man in black robe, they were blurry and with unstable shapes, but it was still possible to understand their memories.
Upon seeing the memories of these two people, the king assumed a surprised expression that remained on his face, until the traveler removed his hand, allowing him to breathe.
"I can't believe it..." he gasped. "I've known Hunac since before I became king..."
"Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm just tired, it was a lot of memories... What about Hunac's memories?"
Sariel walked back to the sofa and sat down again.
"He killed Pagui, your daughter's best friend, and was clearly involved with the Sect of Elgor, do you still doubt what I showed you?"
"Well..."
"Besides, you saw that I killed him as quickly as possible, I had to be fast to get to the mountain."
"You're right..." Yaxun was conflicted. "I should thank you for that, you saved my kingdom."
"It's too early to relax, there may still be more infiltrators, so it's good that you conduct investigations."
"I will." The king remained silent for a few seconds. "And what about the Sanctuary? Do you still have the key?"
"Yes."
"Then can you hand it over to me?"
"The secrets of that place will remain sealed," Sariel said, unyielding.
Yaxun snorted in frustration and didn't insist further.
"Anyway, just let me know if you need anything. I'll do my best to grant your wish."
Hearing this, Sariel finally assumed a serious posture.
"In that case, refuse Aegreon's request."
"What?! Why?"
"It doesn't matter, just do it."
"But... I can't! He's from the Council and has saved my kingdom before!"
"And so have I, so I'm using my request to override Aegreon's."
The king remained silent, feeling conflicted.
"Besides," Sariel continued, "don't tell anyone that it was me who asked you to refuse his request, including Aegreon."
Hearing this, a firm expression appeared on the king's face.
"I agree to your request, however, I cannot agree to keep it a secret that the reason for this is you, since he is from the Council."
"Is there anything that would make you change your mind?"
With that, Yaxun's expression changed again, and a small smile appeared on his face.
"Give me the key, and I'll keep this a secret from Aegreon."
Sariel remained silent and thoughtful. He was clearly carefully considering the choice before him.
"I will only give you the Sealing Stone if we make a contract."
"Done!" The king walked over to his desk and removed a small, brown, diamond-shaped stone, an Alteration Stone.
Then, he sat down near the traveler and handed the Alteration Stone to him.
"You can start."
"Alright." Sariel took it and pressed the stone, which began to glow brown. "This recording is proof of the contract between me, Sariel, and..."
"Yaxun, King of the Scorched Mountain," the king completed.
"In this contract, Yaxun agrees to keep secret, between us only, about my request to refuse help to Aegreon, the Pillar of Conjuration. I, in exchange, offer a Sealing Stone, which serves as a key to a Sanctuary of the Angels in the ancient kingdom of the Great Forest. I, Sariel, agree to the terms of this contract."
"And I, Yaxun, also agree to these terms."
"In case of breach of this contract, whoever breaks it will be judged according to the Laws of Kura."
Saying this, the stone glowed even more intensely, and then its glow was completely extinguished.
This was a kind of contract created by humans even before the coming of the angels. It was believed to have been created by the Goddess Kura herself, to prevent ill-intentioned people from deceiving someone in a negotiation, therefore this was a sacred agreement that even the Council should obey, after all, no one should be above the great Goddess.
"It's done." The traveler put the Alteration stone in his clothes. "Here it is." He offered a silver stone, the Sealing Stone, to the king.
Yaxun took the stone.
"Very well, I will refuse the request of Aegreon and keep this a secret."
"Then, I must go now." Sariel got up and walked towards the door.
"Wait."
The traveler stopped and turned.
"Yes?"
"What happened to Pagui? You didn't show me."
"I've left him in the forest so his corpse would not be damaged during the fight. I'll retrieve him and hand him back to your daughter."
"I prefer you don't say anything to her. She will be devastated if she finds out... Just bury him in an appropriate place."
"Alright." Sariel opened the door and began to leave the room.
Meanwhile, Yaxun held the stone up to his eyes and observed it carefully. However, as he looked at it, a small crack appeared on the surface of the stone and spread throughout the object. In just a few seconds, the item was completely damaged, until it could not resist and broke into thousands of small silver particles.
As this stone was made of pure power of the Sealing element, the silver particles dissipated into the air, impregnating the environment with this element.
The king, surprised by what had just happened, looked at the traveler, who was standing with his back to him.
"It was a pleasure doing business with you, Yaxun." He turned his face slightly, allowing the king to see a playful smile on him. "See you soon..." Sariel then left the room.
"Damn it!" The king, furious, punched his table, breaking it instantly. The contract had been concluded, so he had to fulfill it, even though he had been deceived as never before in his entire life.
*****
Sariel and Yaxun had just left the place and headed to the palace, leaving Luna, Aegreon, Shiina, Raymond, and Quetzal.
Aegreon, without giving any satisfaction, walked towards the mountain and climbed it.
"I don't trust him... I'm going to follow him and see what he intends to do..." Raymond began to follow the Pillar.
"Raymond, wait!" Luna stopped him.
The bodyguard turned and approached her.
"Yes, Your... Luna?"
Luna looked deep into his eyes and asked: "Do you know who Elise is?"
Hearing this, a small expression of surprise appeared on his face.
"Where did you hear that name, Luna?" He asked in an almost imperceptibly nervous voice.
"From a conversation between the palace guards," the princess lied.
"Oh, I don't know, I've never heard that name before..."
"Liar..." said Quetzal. "Even I know who Elise is, why are you hiding it from Luna?"
The bodyguard looked surprised at Yaxun's daughter.
"Wait, you know?"
"Yes," affirmed Quetzal, who then looked at Raymond penetratingly. "Are you going to tell her everything or will I have to do it myself?"
The bodyguard looked at both princesses and sighed defeatedly.
"Elise... was the queen of Fordurn, Geoffrey's wife."
"What? He was married?!"
"Well..."
"We should talk about this in private," said Quetzal. "Let's go to my room."
Everyone agreed and headed to the palace. In a short time, they reached the princess's chambers.
"Can you tell us why you're with us?" Raymond confronted Shiina, who had followed them silently and almost unnoticed.
"It seems like something important; my magic can prevent anyone from hearing us." She showed her hand that emitted a pink glow. "May I?"
"Go ahead," said Quetzal.
Once again, Shiina enveloped the room with Illusion magic.
"Very well, please, start talking, Raymond."
"Well..." he began.