(Third Person POV)
In front of the old Elin family house.
Riana stood there, gazing at it longingly, mories of her ti in this house flooding her mind.
She took a deep breath, opened the door, and walked inside, followed silently by the others.
The Elin family house wasn’t large, so only a small number of servants were assigned to clean and maintain it.
In front of Riana, almost all the servants were gathered in one place, looking around anxiously.
Curious about their odd behavior, she stepped forward.
"What’s wrong with all of you? Why are you gathered like this and not doing your work?"
The servants turned to her, surprised by her voice, but relief soon spread across their faces as if they had found their savior. They rushed toward her.
"Lady Riana!"
"Thank goodness you’re here."
"There’s a serious problem."
They surrounded her in a circle, making her slightly uncomfortable.
"Calm down. Tell what’s going on."
Riana raised her hand, trying to quiet them.
They fell silent for a mont before one of them stepped forward to speak.
"Well, I think it’s better if you see for yourself than for us to explain."
They cleared the path for her, and she saw the door to Baron Elin’s office ahead.
She took a deep breath, stepped forward, opened the door, and walked in.
What she saw inside left her speechless for a while.
"Yo, you’re a bit late, Riana."
Inside the office sat a boy with black hair and red eyes, resting his feet arrogantly on Baron Elin’s desk.
As soon as he saw her enter, a faint smile appeared on his face and he waved lazily with his right hand.
There were four others in the room—her uncle, his twin sons, and a girl with black hair and red eyes leaning against the window, staring at the snowy mountains in the distance.
Riana felt a wave of helplessness at the scene and rubbed her temples from the headache.
"What are you doing here, Your Majesty?"
"Oh? Looks like you have so manners after all. You didn’t say my na in front of strangers. Good, good."
Orlax nodded as if proud of her, which made a vein bulge on Riana’s forehead from frustration.
"Thank you. Now can you please tell the reason for your visit here?"
"Of course. I ca here to hunt so animals. I heard there’s a rare kind of bear in the Elin barony. I want to taste it. Isn’t that right, Elena?"
Elena nodded lazily, looking entirely uninterested.
’I just want to go back to the palace and read my book.’
She shook her head, brushing the thought away, and returned to staring at the snowy peaks.
"Sigh, if you were coming here anyway, why did you assign this task to in the first place?"
"What do you an? I won’t interfere with your mission at all. I already told you why I’m here—to greet Baron Elin."
Orlax shrugged and stood up, walking past Riana.
"Anyway, I’m off to hunt now. Good luck with your mission. Elena! Let’s go!"
He walked past Riana and exited the office, with Elena silently following him.
After they left, only Riana, her uncle, and his sons remained in the room.
"Ahem, welco ho."
Her uncle cleared his throat and awkwardly greeted her.
"Thank you, Uncle. Can you tell what the Emperor was doing here?"
Riana sat on the sofa across from him, trying to relax a little.
"Well, he arrived about half an hour ago with that girl. He sat in silence until you ca."
’Damn it! I envy those damned wings of his. They’re so useful.’
"Ahem, never mind that. I’m here to capture a group of criminals who fled here. Have there been any suspicious newcors to the city recently?"
"Well, as you know, after the attack the city suffered a few months ago, we haven’t had many visitors lately. People are still afraid another attack might happen."
The red-haired, golden-eyed man looked at her seriously, causing Riana to focus.
"And we haven’t noticed anything unusual about anyone recently. Maybe the information you received was wrong or inaccurate."
Riana placed a hand on her chin, thinking over the intel she had.
’Orlax was the one who gave this information, and he rarely makes mistakes. He wouldn’t send here without being sure.’
"Alright, thank you. I’ll investigate the matter myself and return later tonight. It was nice seeing you, Uncle."
She stood up, and her uncle followed her.
"You look so much like him, Riana. I feel like he’s standing right in front of ."
There was a nostalgic look on his face as he rembered the late baron.
"Oh please, I’ll never beco like my father. He’s the kind of man I’ll probably look up to for the rest of my life."
Riana shook her head, with a smile that didn’t feel like a smile at all.
She walked out of the room and found the five people waiting for her by the door.
"I didn’t get any useful information. Looks like we’ll have to investigate ourselves. Let’s head into the city and see what we can find."
"Yes!"
"Alright!"
Zaria and Zack replied enthusiastically, while the others stayed silent and followed her calmly.
And so, they all headed toward the city, asking around for anything that might lead them to the criminals.
On the other side, deep in the mountains, stood two figures side by side, each holding a hunting rifle.
"Alright, our target is the Nartic Bear. It’s a Class Two beast, but extrely rare and hard to find. Any questions?"
"Yeah, why are we using these rifles when we could easily take it down with our bare hands?"
Elena’s hand was visibly annoyed as she held the unfamiliar weapon.
"Seriously, Elena, we’re here to hunt, not fight. Try to relax and don’t use your ability. I promise, you’ll actually enjoy this."
Orlax patted her shoulder and started walking, scanning for signs of the Nartic Bear.
"But if we take it down with a gun, wouldn’t that be ch—"
"Yes. And that’s exactly what I want."
He cut her off with a faint smile on his face.
"As you wish."
Elena nodded and followed behind him, the two of them beginning their search through the vast mountains.
Several hours passed, and night fell over the city of Elin.
Riana and her team had been searching for hours, but it had all been fruitless.
Now, they were gathered in the middle of the city, disappointnt evident on their faces.
"I asked everyone—and they all gave the sa answer."
Marcus spoke while rubbing his temples, exhausted from hours of questioning.
"I’ve checked all the recent entry records to the city. No suspicious individuals at all."
Alex leaned against the wall of a house, eyes closed and arms crossed over his chest.
"Just our luck."
Zaria kicked a small stone on the ground in frustration.
"Alright, alright, let’s get so rest and see what we can do tomorrow."
Riana’s voice drew everyone’s attention as she sat down, clearly tired.
Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to shake violently, causing everyone to look around cautiously.
Doom! Doom! Doom!
A loud, heavy sound echoed from outside the city gates.
"This sound..."
"Doesn’t it sound like footsteps?"
Riana’s eyes widened suddenly, and her heartbeat quickened wildly as she rembered a scene similar to this one from months ago.
"No, no, no, no, no..."
She stood up in a flash, muttering frantically to herself.
Everyone looked at her in confusion, but she ignored them and ran toward the city walls at full speed.
People began stepping out of their hos and saw Riana moving with incredible speed.
"Riana, what’s going on?!"
"Is it an earthquake?!"
No words reached her ears anymore. Her mind was filled with only the worst-case scenario.
Once she was close to the wall, she leapt with all her strength and climbed to the top.
The sight before her was almost identical to what had happened months ago—a monster wave.
Stretching as far as her eyes could see, hundreds of beasts were charging toward the city, ready to attack.
"No, no... not again... not again..."
Riana fell to her knees, overwheld by the despair of the scene.
"My God..."
"Damn it..."
Riana’s companions arrived monts later and were stunned by the terrifying sight, their hearts pounding from fear.
’Why? Everything was going so well... Why is this happening again?’
That was the only thought occupying Riana’s mind as she sat frozen on the ground.
’What should I do? What should I—Wait! Orlax! He’s here!’
Hope sparked in her chest as she jumped to her feet—only to have it quickly crushed when she didn’t see the one person she was counting on.
’Damn it... Where are you when I need you...?’
"Lady Riana! What should we do?!"
Riana turned around at the sound of her na and saw everyone looking at her, waiting for orders.
Below the wall, she saw the citizens of the city staring up at her with hope, increasing the pressure on her even more.
’Don’t look at like that... What can I even do...?’
Her breathing was uneven as she struggled to calm herself.
"Riana! Get a hold of yourself! You need to think about how to overco this! Stay calm!"
A small girl with red hair and golden eyes floated in front of Riana, speaking loudly so she could hear her clearly.
Riana looked into the girl’s eyes, and a strange calmness washed over her.
"Thank you."
Riana gripped her sword tightly and looked at the incoming monsters with fierce determination.
"Co at ! I won’t fall like I did last ti!"
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