"I have lived long enough to see past the liars. So, your attempts to shift the bla are futile."
"Now you are just being rude." He chuckled.
"What were you doing in the Elysian Empire?" She asked, and he silently sank back into his chair, looking her in the eyes but not answering her. "So, you are going to play dumb now?"
Mirka took out a tallic ball from her space ring, and then she activated the device, which soon floated in the air and generated a holographic screen.
A series of images was played on the screen, from the mont he and his wives arrived at the Gate of the City of Sin from the Elysian Empire, and then the images of him and his family during their ti in the city.
"The girl with white hair, she is an Orayen, isn't she?" She asked, but he stayed silent. "You arrived at the Gate of the City of Sin a few hours after the death of my son. And then three beca seven when you exited into the Sylvanian Empire the sa day. Last night, you brought three more people with you into the city. And this morning, you ca here with four girls, who have recently created a new Guild."
Keith still stayed silent at her words, and seeing that he was not going to speak, she continued.
"What are the odds that you accepted a Quest from the House of Nerus, the Zurks, whom my son had gone to battle against? And now you are here, having lunch and making yourself at ho?" She smiled. "We know that the Zurks were trying to reach the City of Sin and co here to take refuge under the Nerus Family. Zyron had promised them a haven."
Her words made the two Nerus furrow their brows, and whilst they were fretting over who leaked this information, Keith just raised his brow and confusedly looked at the woman, who was clenching her hand a little too hard.
"You doubt that I helped the Zurks?" He asked.
"No. You killed them." She coldly smiled. "And you are here to kill the Nerus Family as well. My son and his platoon just happened to be at the wrong place and at the wrong ti, right?"
"Why would I kill the Zurks?" He curiously asked, ignoring the look the two Nerus were giving him.
"The Orayen have a blood feud against the Barbarian Tribes, and Zurks are their enemies. The Nerus Family has a blood feud with them as well."
"Interesting hypothesis, but you are wrong. I have nothing to do with the Orayen Family, and my wife is not an Orayen." He shook his head. "And I ca here to save their son and finish a quest that my daughters picked up for their Guild."
Mirka narrowed her eyes at him and smiled.
"You saved their child in less than half an hour when the finest of doctors had failed." She said, and her smile deepened. "Looks like the work of a poison master who knew exactly how to solve the poison and the curse that he himself created."
As soon as he heard those words, he started laughing, confusing the other people at the table.
"You are clever and quite masterful at pushing people to explain themselves and reveal things that they otherwise would not." He exposed her goal. "Sorry, but I am not going to explain myself or excuse myself out of the accusations you have made against . You are free to bla all you want." He shrugged and then stayed seated in the chair, still looking into her eyes.
As ti passed and both of them remained silent, Zyron, who had finally made up his mind, spoke up.
"You have overstayed your visit, Elysian. Please leave my ho."
As soon as he said it, he stood up, and his wife followed his lead.
Mirka kept looking at Keith and then she slowly stood up on her feet before turning to the Nerus couple.
"Pray that I don't find out about your involvent in my child's death, Zyron. And if those Zurks are still alive, I will find them." She promised and then turned around to leave.
Cairo seed a little conflicted at his mother's behaviour, and he politely nodded to all of them before leaving with her.
"Interesting woman." He chuckled when he observed the frowns that the two Nerus were wearing on their faces.
"There is a reason why she is known as the Rogue Queen of Elysia." Zilya sighed and then smiled at him. "Sorry for the inconvenience. She was targeting you because of us."
"It's fine. And no, she was genuinely suspicious of ." He chuckled. "Then again, my actions in the South were indeed a bit suspicious for anyone who was looking for a suspect."
His words made the couple curiously look at him, but they did not raise any questions, respecting his privacy.
Both sighed in their hearts as they realised that if they had been less experienced, they might have fallen into Mirka's ga and doubted their benefactor.
She truly was a Rogue Queen, who was soon going to beco a Rogue Empress.
The couple then led him to the dining hall, where they joined the girls and continued with their al there.
"Are you going to stay in Westesia for a while?"
"No, I will be leaving soon." He shook his head. "The girls plan on exploring the Grimgrove, and they might stay here for a while."
"It's not a safe place for a group of four," Zilya advised as she looked at the girls, and Kiara smiled at her.
"We have numbers, who are already waiting for us in the forest. We will be fine."
"Oh." The Lady of the Nerus Family smiled in relief, and she excused herself from the table first as she wanted to check up on her child and stay by his side.
"Are the Elysian Zurks dead?" Keith curiously asked after he finished eating, and Zyron sighed at his question.
"Most of the princes of the Neron Family are dead, but the Patriarch and his two grandsons are still alive. Most of the Life Cards of the females belonging to the main family are safe as well. We are trying to search for them, but they have simply disappeared. We have no leads at all."
"If they are safe, then I guess it is best that they can't be found." He comnted, and Zyron smiled and nodded his head.
The Demiliore stayed at the Nerus Estate for a couple of hours. After finalising the transfer and accepting the Property Deed of the Black Nest, and collecting their set of 10 Earth-Grade Armours, they took their leave.
Zilya seed to have used a very precious Life-Rejuvenating Treasure on her son, as he was awake when they were leaving, and the girls imdiately took a liking to how cute the little boy looked.
Ingrid and Ingvild laughed when he innocently confused them as family, given their red hair, and it was only after their explanation that he noticed the difference in the shade.
The Carmilla Princesses possessed carmine-red hair, whereas the Zurks possessed a shade closer to scarlet colour. And then there was the obvious difference in the shade of their eyes.
"Zyrios is cute. We will recruit him in our Guild when he is older." Alana decided, and her sisters agreed with her suggestion.
They did not rush out of the city, but once they entered the woods, they picked up the pace to shake off the spies who were following them.
Keith already knew that he was on Mirka's radar, and she was not going to easily let go of her suspicions.
And the issue was that there were only a few hours left before the Steele of Ti & Space would initiate the Cataclysm.
He had to find a place where he could take everyone, including the Zurks, out. A place where they could stay for a couple of weeks.
It took them a while to trick the spies, and Keith used the System to disguise their trail.
Once he was out of their perceptive range, he sent the girls inside Aerzar and moved forward more freely.
"Find a suitable place." He asked the System, which used up so System Points and then guided him to the very centre of the forest.
Exactly three hours later, he arrived next to the lake, which was ford thanks to the stream that ca down the mountains.
This was the place where the most dangerous of the Magical Beasts of this forest resided. And he could sense a few signatures deep inside the lake, where the water shimred under the dappled sunlight filtering through the ancient trees.
However, for him and his family, wild Magical Beasts were not an issue at all.
Keith still took so precautionary asures and spent the next hour creating a Formation that isolated the vicinity of the lake from the prying eyes, and then he finally called everyone out of Aerzar.
"Get to work. Set up the cabins." He told his daughters who were ready to start playing around, and the girls pouted at him before they started creating wooden houses for everyone.
"Interesting place." Venessa mysteriously smiled as she looked around and then her eyes settled on the lake.
"Have you been here before?" He asked, and she surprisedly looked at him.
"Why do you say that?"
"Just a hunch." He smiled at her when she nodded her head.
"I have been to Amaya before. But it has been a long ti, and this world has gone through a lot of changes..." She isolated their conversation and then stopped talking when she saw Minami approach the lake and sit by its side.
Keith too curiously looked at his daughter, and he noticed the pendant that she was wearing on her neck.
"She gave her Beast Ring to Alana, so, I gave her sothing even better."
"You should give sothing too." He smiled at her and received a grin in return.
"No. You will have to work for things that you want." She told him and then walked over to sit next to her daughter.
It took the girls well over an hour to set up three campsites, and once the job was done, they started preparing the als for the family, the savoury scents of roasting ats and simring herbs wafting through the crisp forest air.
The Blood Guards were in the second campsite with the Hubo Family, and the third and largest campsite belonged to the Zurks.
Qingyue was with them, making sure that everyone was settled in, and she was helping them out with the preparation of als as well.
Seeing him approach, the old Patriarch, who seed to be in much better health, bowed his head.
"Tell about the Zurk Tribe." He asked the old man as he sat down on the bench, next to Qingyue.
"What does the Lord wish to know about our Tribe?"
"Everything that you know about your Tribe." He smiled at the surprise on the old man's face. "Take your ti. We will be staying here for a couple of weeks."
Reviews
All reviews (0)