Chapter 30: The Mayor

Tristan quickly went into full alert the moment he heard and perceived the groups of people approaching the two of them, which were currently located in the middle of the streets. He gripped the hilt of his sword, while waiting for the appearance of those that were surrounding them. Seeing and noticing all of them wearing the same uniform, he finally decided to loosen his grip and wait to see how the situation would evolve.

"Halt!" said one figure who wore slightly different attire among the group.

There were at least two dozen men surrounding them, which caused Layla to fidget her feet. Observing each and every person carefully, Tristan realized all of them seemed extremely tense, as if they were ready to attack at any moment but, strangely, there was no one who dared to raise the weapons in their hand towards him.

The one in a different attire, who ordered them to stop, was apparently their captain.

"Dear sir elf, I am truly sorry, but you are being suspected of a murder." Despite the unpleasant words coming out of his mouth, the captain tried his best to show his respect to Tristan. Noticing Tristan's raised eyebrows, he quickly continued, "I invite you to come with me, sir elf. The mayor wishes to speak with you and the girl."

Tristan found the words to be funny. On one part, they told him he was suspected for a crime, but on other part, it also seemed like he was being rewarded, as he was able to meet the leader of the town. There was also the part where the captain specifically mentioned Layla, which intrigued him even more than anything else so far.

Layla quietly closed on Tristan and whispered, "Should we run from them, Tris?"

Tristan did not answer her question, he glanced at the twenty or so people around them. Even though they seemed to be well trained, he believed that he could break through their encirclement quite easily. 

When push came to shove, he would only need to dash through them, and with his overwhelming Battle Power, no one would be able to slow him, much less stop him.

However, there would be a small chance that Layla would get hurt in the process. Hence, Tristan would shelve the idea for the time being and tried to think of another way.

Calculating his chances, and thinking about the offer to meet the town mayor, Tristan finally decided to follow these people and see what they had prepared for him. After all, it still wasn't too late if they began to run after meeting the mayor.

"Alright. I will meet the mayor. Lead the way."

"That's a wise choice, sir elf. Please, follow me."

The siblings then quickly followed this group of people. It looked like they were being led into the center of the town, towards a building that had the appearance of a palace. Compared to the palaces he had seen on Earth, Tristan found that this palace was a bit underwhelming. He gave it a solid ten on design, while a meagre five on size.

However, it appeared that his initial thought was wrong.

The moment Tristan walked through the gate and entered the place, he realized that it actually looked more like a fort than a palace. He could see at least one hundred guards stationed along the walls and gate of the place.

Before they went into the actual building, the captain asked Tristan to hand over his sword, for safekeeping. Knowing that he could not act carelessly, Tristan reluctantly passed the sword to one of the soldiers.

He watched as the poor soldier who received his sword almost tripped his leg and fell to the ground due to its massive weight. On the other hand, Layla tried her best to suppress her giggle.

The two then continued following the captain, walking through the long corridor, passing countless doors, until they reached a huge chamber.

Inside, there was a figure in gold clothes waiting for him, sitting on a luxurious chair. Looking at him carefully, Tristan was quite surprised. But then, it quickly turned into amusement.

The reason he was surprised was because this person in front of them was an elf. However, it didn't stop there. This elf was different from those Tristan had seen so far; he was short as well as chubby. A fat elf.

"..."

Oblivious to the thoughts inside Tristan's mind, the elf said, "Aah! Greetings, fellow elf. I am Uriel of House Axion, the Lord and Mayor of Erantell."

Tristan watched the half dozen guards who came with them give a bow to the elf. Not for him though, Tristan just stands there act like seeing nothing.

The elf, Uriel, walked closer to Layla, bowed slightly and slowly reached out to her arm before proceeding to kiss it.

"You must be the lovely Layla."

Tristan could clearly see the disgusted expression on Layla's face, she was currently trying her best to not make any sound with said expression.

Following that, Uriel made his way to him, and he swore if the short fat elf dared to grab his arm, he would kick him, killing him on the spot.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the elf only gave him a light bow while saying his name, "Sir Tristan."

The fact that the town mayor knew both of their names, with them only appearing in the town yesterday, made Tristan even more suspicious. He only just gave out his name to the Magus Guild a few hours ago, and the elf already took information from that. It meant that this mayor either was very well informed or took special interest in them.

Tristan did not want to waste time. Therefore, he immediately cut all the pleasantries and dived into the point. "Spill it. What do you want with us? We have absolutely no knowledge of any murder."

Ariel was startled with Tristan's straightforward attitude for a moment before he revealed a grin, "Please, Sir Tristan. You don't need to lie, I know that you kill a person. Your sister's excellent performance can provide a lot of memorable witnesses"

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Tristan answered with normal expression. This is some of the basic knowledge that he had learned during his 4 years of 'advance study'. Unless they showed you real evidence, deny everything until the end.

Uriel still looked calm, as if he already expected it. Then, he unexpectedly said something that aroused Tristan's interest, "Don't worry, Sir Tristan. I don't really care about one dead drunk human. It was his own foolishness that resulted in his doom. However, I could not say the same with you and your sister, Sir Tristan. I am deeply interested in you two."

"Why?" 

The elf turned around, and with his back facing Tristan, the smile on his face grew even wider than before, "Tell me, Sir Tristan. Are you an outcast or an outlander?"