Chapter 94 - The Bloody Bounty - Part 1

Night had finally fallen after an eventful first day in the city of Findel and many of the faction members felt they could finally take a break and relax.

Jagu, who had gone to vent his anger, was still nowhere to be seen while Jin and Xavier, along with a few other members,drunk themselves silly under Jin's influence in the building's large dining area, the whole scene resembled a lively inn full of adventurers. 'Just a sip he said, Aron said we should relax he said.' Xavier was quick to regret his decision to join Jin in drinking.

He came from a proud aristocratic family and had so far only ever drunk fine wine moderately. However, he didn't want to come across as stuck up, drinking with everyone would help build his relationships with them. Now, his only thoughts were regret and promises that he'd never drink again.

Claudia, along with the few girls in the faction including Evanora, remained sober and just watched the guys get drunk silly from a table in the corner of the room. She was extremely curious as to how Aron handled the situation because first the fourth prince came downstairs and left them after some time, the woman she was wary of left alone as well. Just what did Aron say and do?

Although he had Khalifa swear servitude to him, he thought it best that the others remain oblivious to this fact, Lady Rose included. Should anything ever occur, he needed to have his own cards ready to be played.

Khalifa was perfect for carrying out secretive missions and her information network was far more extensive than he had initially thought, reaching deep into underground operations such as the black market. The only shortcoming was her organization had no roots in the major noble households and higher levels of the Galos Academy but that was fine sine he had Anastasia and a good relationship with Lady Uva.

Information wise, there was now very little he wouldn't know on the continent of Drotzi. For now, Khalifa left to send a message to the other heads about the new state of things, leaving out the swearing of servitude of course.

The actual reason Aron delayed coming downstairs was because he went to the room assigned to Evanora where he began setting up runes to prevent a massacre when she fell asleep. 'This method is going to become insufficient should we move about too much, and she can't always be by my side.'

As Aron carefully drew the runes, he began to ponder whether he should leave her or not once again. She was truly rare, but the danger of keeping her close was also extremely high, her demon would drain any fearful living creature of their mana dry. He didn't know how to stop this nor if it had a limit to tiers it could attack.

'First, let's ask Rose about her informant, if he or she is still missing then I'll pass the task of finding them to Khalifa while I focus on Evanora, perhaps I'll learn more then.' Aron planned his next move while adding the finishing touches to the runes he was setting.

Like an artist admiring his work, he looked at the runes as they slowly began to fade and gave a satisfied nod before leaving the room. He quickly put aside his brush and then made his way downstairs.

As soon as he did so, all gazes focused onto him. The first to call out to him was the drunk who wore a bright smile. "Eyy, Aron! Come join us, today might be the day I finally get you drunk!" Jin offered with vigor, but Aron was quick to turn him down. "You should know at this point that's not possible. It's like flavored water to me," Aron stated and gave Jin a shrug since he was unable to say otherwise.

Back at Hilda's tavern in Galos City, all attempts to get Aron drunk failed miserably. His body just couldn't be brought to that state naturally. "Fine, this liquor is weaker than what Hilda had anyways... Hic." Jin didn't bother Aron any further and turned his attention back to the others.

"Has Lady Rose still not come out of her quarters?" Aron walked over to Claudia's table in the corner and asked curiously. For other girls there, it was their first time being so close to Aron since he interviewed them back at the academy.

After seeing what he was capable of, it was natural for these commoner girls to have slight crushes on someone as strong and good looking as he was.

Claudia wasn't part of this group of admirers he had but she was impressed with him time and time again. However, she had her own focus that wouldn't be so easily forgotten. "No, from the time we arrived till now she hasn't left the room. By the way,how did everything turn out with the prince and that woman?" she answered before asking what had been on her mind for a while now.

Aron expected this much from someone as curious as her, so he gave her an answer. "It's ended quite well, being a Harbinger has its perks. They shouldn't be a bother to our affairs, so we can rest easy for now." Aron gave her a vague yet concise answer, she knew she wouldn't be getting more information, so she smiled and nodded.

His response also made the others feel at ease, it was good for them to relax and enjoy some benefits in following him. So that when it was time to work they did so with vigor.

"Alright, well, I best discuss some matters with Lady Rose. You girls should go out into the town and buy things that catch your eye or gifts for your families back home, it would be a waste to spend the whole trip in our lodgings. Don't worry, everything you buy no matter the price will be covered by the faction. Evanora, come along," Aron declared in a charming manner before calling Evanora over.

His words left the commoner girls ecstatic, what girl didn't love to shop? And on an endless budget at that. They came from poor backgrounds, so such an offer being given casually only further increased their affection towards him.

Claudia could tell this wasn't an act out of generosity but to build either the faction members morale or loyalty to him.

She and others soon left, and Aron went over to Lady Rose's room with a silent Evanora in toll, after lightly knocking on the door, Rose's voice could be heard on the other side telling him to enter.

"Did you not hear the commotion outside or were you simply ignoring it?" Aron walked in and immediately asked in a casual tone. Lady Rose was seated in front of a desk with her focus on a piece of parchment laid before her so even as she responded,she didn't move her head. "Is my presence required for every small issue? I simply didn't see the need for me to act, my time is better spent here trying to discern the exact location we should focus our efforts on. Why waste it conversating with children," she replied bluntly, and her tone made her come across as harshbut she was this way towards everyone, so Aron paid no mind to it and moved on.

"Fair point. Have you contacted your informant? If not, I may as well focus my investigations there while you keep zoning in on the precise location." Seeing as she had no interest at all in what happened, Aron brought up the reason he had come to see her.

Unlike the others, he didn't have the time to sit around leisurely and wait for Lady Rose to figure out the location. "No, I have not. I'm starting to believe something may have happened to him, but I have neither the time nor interest in finding out what that something is. It may slow down my efforts, but I'll still manage to narrow in on the location eventually." Lady Rose dismissed the matter of the informant completely, since he missed the scheduled time to meet, it was natural for Lady Rose to assume something happened.

However, she didn't have any interest in wasting time investigating the matter, their relationship was strictly business. "I see, well, can you give me his name in case I come across it as I do my own digging around? I also want to know the exact area where those beasts were sighted." As if expecting Aron to ask this, Lady Rose picked up a small journal and turned around to give it to him.

"This has everything I know so far regarding the matter. Let's talk again once we both make progress, preferably before the other factions arrive in less than ten days." Lady Rose only glanced at Aron for a moment and turned back to her to work, he had nothing more to say so he left with Evanora. Once outside,Evanora looked up at him with her ever sleepy eyes.

"Will Evanora help with investe...invasti...ineves. Evanora can't say big words..." Evanora failed to ask her questions and seemingly gave up just like that while maintaining her usual expression. "The investigation, and yes, you'll be helping me with this." Aron nodded as the two began to walk to the building's exit.

"Evanora will do her best..." she added blankly and received a glance from Aron. She really was hard to read.

[A/N: Sorry if the chapter is short, I haven't counted the words, I've got a big pile of schoolwork to deal with, damn. Welp, it's the editor's problem now…]