Third person POV
Later that afternoon, while Kelly and Azalea flew off to Leafmight so Azalea would return the other two quests to the adventurers' guild there, Russell and his party, alongside Cassius, went out to do some exploring, taking a short break from their investigation about the fraudsters who sold the fake medicine they bought yesterday and last time. Rai and Ria were left at the house, giving the old lady some company in her solitary time. Taryn was out monitoring the fraudsters for any next activity of theirs. It was in the afternoon, and the time was approximately 3:11 p.m.
At this hour, the market streets of the city were busy enough to be crowded.
Russell wanted to buy something but didn't know what to buy.
His uniform, despite being worn since his first day in this world, was clean, albeit smells a bit bad due to being exposed to the elements that long.
And then, all of them went through an alleyway to shorten their travel time through the city, only to encounter Elai and her party. "What the…?" Russell responded to this while being alerted. Adrian was scared of them, hiding behind Russell.
"We meet again…" Elai said to them with a little smirk on her face.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Russell retorted back sheepishly. "We had no time for you."
"Don't you ever think you could get away after what you did to us!" Belius responded back harshly.
"Hey, I only did the right thing there, you know," Russell responded back while folding his arms seriously. "I don't want to be silenced by selfish people like you."
John, who was being carried by Cassius, then nodded, agreeing with his master's statement.
"Why, you little bastard…" Elai was angry at him for saying that.
"You'll pay for this," Belius added, "we got suspended for a week because of your big mouth."
"Not nice!" Russell shouted back.
"What the…? No way…" Cassius was shocked to see them. "It's you guys?"
"Yes, it's us," Elai replied back, being oblivious from the fact that Cassius works for the royal family.
"She doesn't know that Cassius-san works for the royal family…" Russell thought while being stunned at her obliviousness.
"Anyhow, do you know where Aeri is?" Hans asked them.
"Oh, you mean that archer?" Russell responded back seriously. "She was at home being grounded by her family."
The Elai party was shocked to hear that, not knowing that Aeri had a family.
"She is?"
"No way…"
"What did she do?"
Adrian remain silent, being scared of his former party.
"Apparently," Cassius replied back, "she tried to get back at Russell by firing an arrow at his back."
Elai and her party were stunned but hid the fact that they had actually allowed Aeri to do what she can do to seek vengeance against Russell.
"Yes, she has a family here in Fernlay City," Russell added.
"And for your information," Cassius added a warning towards the suspended party, "you guys are not allowed to see her at her home during her time being grounded by her family either."
The Elai party couldn't believe that and couldn't accept that, either.
Russell watched their frustration and thought, "Take that, jerks."
After that, Elai threatened to tell her father, the duke of Geran, about all this. In response to that, Cassius handed John to Russell and pulled out a card from his pocket, showing it to the Elai party. "Oh, yeah? Try going against my masters, who were the royal family of this kingdom. I'm a spy working for them." Seeing his card, which is his ID, made Elai and her party tremble because the royal family is above Elai's father.
"What in the…?"
"The Passato family?"
Hearing the name, Russell wondered in his mind, "So that's the name of the royal family in this kingdom…"
Adrian, meanwhile, seemed to know about that but remained silent still.
Putting his ID back in his pocket, Cassius seriously responded, "So, you don't want to get apprehended by them, right? Then cut this out."
And so, the Elai party, still being afraid of the possibility of getting arrested by his royal masters, abruptly left the scene.
After that, Russell looked at Adrian and said, "Hey there, are you alright?" Adrian then nodded and came out. "Yeah, thanks for defending me from them."
"No problem, my friend." Russell smiled at him for a few seconds.
"I think I need to report this to my masters…" Cassius was a bit mentally exhausted after that unexpected encounter.
"Oh, you will?" Russell looked at him while holding John in his arms.
"Yes, it's my duty to protect Adr-"
Cassius' response was interrupted by Adrian, who covered his mouth, preventing him from saying his name.
"What?" Russell replied back in semi-confusion.
"Nothing, nothing." Adrian glanced at him and John while chuckling nervously. "That was just nothing."
Russell was a bit suspicious of his response but buys it and replied, "Okay then. Let's continue on our walk in this city."
And all of them resumed walking through the alleyway, with Adrian telling Cassius off for saying that to Russell and John.
Cassius understood that and apologized to Adrian, silently knowing that revealing Adrian's status as an adopted member of the royal family would be a big shock for Russell and his party and group.
Russell and John heard that but didn't what they are talking about, shrugging it off.