Roughly an hour later, at the shores of a river stream in the forest;
Noah was seen grilling the meat while humming an unfamiliar tune. Virgo, while catering to the black pegasus, was seen watching her lord like an infatuated girl, although others would argue that she is more like a puppy that enjoys staring at her master.
The high school teenagers were also busy with one thing or another.
Mark was trying to fish. Silver and Marie were busy cooking veggies and soup, and Jasmine who didn't want to do any work took the job of looking after Nash, whose injuries were healed but currently in an unconscious state.
Once he was done cooking the soup, Silver took the opportunity to converse with Noah.
"So, umm… Mr. Noah…" Silver tried his best to use his polite tone, glancing at Virgo's face to see her reaction; his entire body would feel tremors whenever he tried to sense her realm and she would be the last person he would dare to offend even in his dreams. Not to mention the fact that despite her appearance, the maiden doesn't look like a human. He gets a feeling like he is standing in the presence of a pure dragon. Hence, he was extra cautious as he approached them.
As Noah briefly glanced at the teenage boy he saved, the latter asked, "May I know what you plan to do after this?"
"What is it your business, human?" Virgo gave him a quick side glare, not intending to her animosity against Silver, who made her lord not only help him but even willing to cook.
Silver shivered for a second, feeling chills down his spine, but he gulped his saliva and controlled his best to calm down his heart, "If you aren't in a hurry to go somewhere, I would like to invite both of you to our house. I want to thank you properly."
"Sure, not an issue," Noah readily agreed, making Virgo uncomfortable once again. She squinted as she questioned the boy, "How far is your house, human?"
"Eh? Uhhh… it is not far from here. Just around two hours of travel," Silver replied. He was quite careful in maintaining his tone, kept one.
"And in which direction your residence is at?" Virgo dropped another question. Silver found it weird but still answered by pointing in his 2 o'clock, "The northeast, more or less."
Virgo gave a subtle nod but quickly turned toward her master, "Milord, our destination is in the south. It would be a waste of time to go with this human. Recovering your power takes priority."
"Recovering?" Silver couldn't help but take another look at Noah, thinking, "No wonder. He had such a powerful subordinate. How could he still be in Tier 0? Did his Astron core get damaged or something?"
Noah shrugged his shoulders in response to his servant's suggestion, "Virgo, I have all the time in the world to recover my strength. Let's go and explore the City, first." After spending with Virgo for several hours, he had already gotten used to her behavior and tried his best to play his part as a lord, too. Since he was born as a prince in his past life, Noah knew how to maintain the demeanor of a royal and it also helped him in conversing properly with Virgo.
At the same time, having the experience of an adventurer in his past life also helped Noah in mingling with high school students like Silver.
The only problem was that everyone was quite tense when they sat together while eating. They were afraid to speak in the presence of Virgo and they were uncomfortable speaking with a stranger like Noah, who was quite interested in learning various things about them while talking about strange foods such as pizzas and burgers which they never heard of, making him seem like he is from a faraway land that is isolated from the rest of the world.
Noah couldn't do anything about it either. He doesn't have the memories of the host, and his memories are from far away from the future, where apart from the language and the ancient history, everything looks different from the present. Even the names of several landscapes have changed. If not for the system that confirmed that he indeed traveled into the past and transmigrated, he would have believed that he ended up in a completely different world.
In the end, the three of them parted ways, leaving the forest through a different exit using the excuse of reporting to the academy.
***
Meanwhile, somewhere in a faraway land, fifteen mysterious figures, shrouded in darkness, gathered in a dim-lit room.
One after another, each figure took a seat on a high-backed chair, each marked by a number, from I to XVII. Two seats were seen empty.
The figure last to arrive sat at the head of the table and spoke, "Thank you for attending the meeting on urgent notice. Third Elder and Sixth Elder couldn't make it due to unexpected circumstances."
Ninth Elder: The last time you called for such an all-elder meeting was forty-two years ago when Aynor continent resurfaced.
Thirteenth Elder: Does this something have anything to do with Dinosaur Prince?
Fifteenth Elder: The Dinosaur Prince is a history, Thirteenth Elder. He had long been dead.
Thirteenth Elder: I don't think so. My sources say that Liu Wei entered the third stage of ascendancy and achieved immortality long ago.
Fifteenth Elder: And, my sources say that he failed during the breakthrough and died.
Fourth Elder: We are not here to listen to your argument, Thirteenth Elder and Fifteenth Elder. Let the President speak.
As the two elders stopped their argument right away and placed their attention on the first elder, the latter spoke calmly, "I have three things to announce. One, according to my spy, the Noah Tower was left empty."
"What!" Several elders reacted at the same time, getting up from their seats. The surprise in their voices is evident.
Second Elder: But, there is atleast a hundred years before his time for awakening arrives.
The first elder cast a sidelong glance at his left and gave a subtle nod, "Yes, but this is the truth you must face. Leo was spotted at Egmor City. His target was naturally the sixth elder, but the third elder was on his way. If nothing unexpected happens, Leo should be defeated, but he won't be the problem we have to face. If 'He' takes the action by himself, we will be in trouble."
Amidst the gasps of panic from the left side of the table, the first elder continued, "Hence, for the time being, Elders numbered from II to VIII must stay low." He then shifted his gaze to the curious elders sitting on the right side, "The remaining can act as they are doing currently."
Several questions popped up in the heads of elders but everyone just nodded in understanding in the end.
"Good, for the next agenda. The Werewolf Lord and Dale-The Butcher were going to be executed eight days from now. This is going to be a public execution."
Ninth elder: But they have been imprisoned for more than six decades. They have grown weak to the point that even our Elites could beat them with ease. Is there a point in saving them?
Seventeenth Elder: Moreover, it won't be easy for us to save them. If the Dragon God, Kael Dragonheart, supervises this execution, even if we have to make the move in person while expecting significant losses for the distraction, the chances won't be high. Too much of a risk when we don't get much in return.
Eleventh Elder: Kael is no longer the warrior he once was. He is now nothing but an old commander who spends most of his day with paperwork. But I agree with one thing. If we have to save both of them while keeping our losses minimum, one elder won't be enough, even if Kael doesn't supervise the execution.
Sixteenth Elder: Dale could be worthless, but the Werewolf lord makes a wonderful specimen. He is the last werewolf still alive in the world. I would like to study his body… he he he he…
The creepy laughter filled the room and sent a cold shiver down the spine of a couple of elders.
The First Elder gave a tap to the table, gaining attention from the rest, "We decide it by vote."