Chapter 339 - Ingrid, Once Again

Wail glanced at Naila that nodded before he looked at the golems behind them and sighed before he spoke

"Let them pass"

Then he walked over and got into the active mana armor before his voice sounded out through the speaker

"Don't you worry Naila, I'll get to the bottom of this, I'll leave to inform the elder now"

Naila nodded so did Mercury before they passed through the toll station without any problems from there they walked into the Ingrid forest a few days after passing through the pass, Mercury walked in the front along with Julia and Marie and chatted with them soon however they stopped chatting and stopped walking, the whole of the convoy stopped and waited and soon a group of gorilla-like magic beast images from the surroundings, Maire bowed down and spoke to the oldest in the group

"Elder"

The elder gazed at Marie for a bit before it looked at Mercury and after a bit, it chuckled and spoke via telepathy that sounded out in the head of everyone present

"I didn't think that I would meet the 'shadow of the immortal' in this life… We greet you Shadow"

Then the gorilla-like magic beasts knelled down, just as Mercury was about to ask what was going on a cold female voice sounded out inside his head

"Mars is not going to like this… Oh well, I guess that I am exposed now, it was getting stuffy inside that shadow anyways, plus I don't think he was expecting me to meet a magic beast that was able to detect me…"

Mercury felt a chill and slowly looked down at his own shadow, there a pair of feline blue eyes were present, he felt an overwhelming amount of pressure from those eyes as well as a feeling of cold annoyance, the feline eyes looked back at him for a bit before they closed again as the voice sounded out again

"The immortal sent me here to watch over this one, I go where he does… I didn't mean to disturb you, elder"

The gorilla-like magic beast laughed out loud before it lowered its head even more and spoke out again

"It's an honor to meet the shadow, please feel free to pass through our territory as you please… And please just call me Moira, I don't deserve to be called elder in  your presence shadow"

The cold female voice sounded out again after a brief pause

"Now that you know I am here living god cub I'll stretch my legs a bit"

Mercury felt something emerge from his shadow right behind him and slowly turned around and saw a black panther with orange stripes and clear blue eyes, it also had horns

"Wha--- Who are you?"

The panther's horns flashed for a moment as a voice entered the head of everyone present

"Victoria is Victoria"

"...Well then, nice to meet you Victoria"

Victoria turned her head away and looked over at the elder of the gorilla-like magic beast before her horns flashed again

"I'll stretch my legs a bit and clear out some of the invasive species of magic beast in the forest… I'll be back in a bit cub, so don't wander too far"

With that 'said' Victoria disappeared from view, as she disappeared Mercury wiped the sweat from his brows before he sighed and muttered

"Where did Mars find such a magic beast… And how did he tame it?"

The elder chuckled a bit before it stood up again and spoke to the group via telepathy

"Come, I'll take you all to the city"

Mercury nodded and spoke

"Thank you elder"

The group moved swiftly through the Ingrid forest, after a night of camping Victoria rejoined the group, and then eventually the group reached the city of Ingrid where they parted ways with the elder and her pack

"I'm finally back home…"

Marie looked especially emotional as she spoke, then she turned to Merucyr and spoke

"I'll go see dad!"

Then before Merucyr could say anything she ran off into the city, Mercury let out a sigh before he turned to Julia and the others

"Let's go too"

The group followed after Marie that had run ahead and soon they made it to Marie's dad (James') workshop, Mercury walked into the workshop and saw Marie explaining a hundred things at a time to her dad James that looked a little confused but was still visibly over the moon that his daughter had returned in one piece, he looked over and Mercury and greeted him with a nod before he turned his attention back at Marie, Mercury sighed before he told the others to find some accommodation, then he and Julia joined the conversation with James and Marie, eventually, Marie mentioned that she had gotten injured severely and that Ode had been razed, James frowned his brows deeply before he looked over at Mercury that spoke

"She's fine now, though some parts of her spine have been replaced with living metal"

James' frown remained for a bit before he muttered

"Living metal…Marie, do you mind?"

Marie shook her head and turned her back to her father that carefully touched her back and felt the cold metal under her shirt, he frowned even deeper and looked over at Mercury before he asked

"That living metal… It doesn't have any negative side effects does it?"

Mercury shook his head, he had asked Party about this last time they were together since he had the same concern that James had

"No, I've got an archangel's word on that it's harmless"

James nodded before he looked back at Marie's back and removed his hand before he spoke

"It's good that you're safe Marie"

Marie turned back around to face her dad before she gave him a hug and spoke

"I was a little scared but I am fine now dad"

James patted her on the back as he nodded, then he looked past Mercury and Julia and saw the Model 'Grizly' standing outside of the workshop before he asked

"That your work Marie?"

Marie looked over at the Model 'Grizly' before she nodded and spoke

"Yeah Mercury and I made the parts for it, then Mercury supplied the golem core with a skill"

"Hoo~ Mind if I take a look?"

"No, not at all"

James walked out on the street, Mercury, Marie and Julia followed after him and looked at the golem as they began to discuss the golems design and functionality, Mercury also showed him the Model 'Hound' and Model 'Sparrow' which he was very impressed about, as they were talking about golems a couple of important guests came strolling down the street, it was Evelin, Marie's friend, and Tivan the king of the Ingrid forest

"Evelin~"

"Marie~"

While Evelin and Maire did their usual rubbing their cheeks against each other Mercury chatted with Tivan along with Julia, eventually, the entire group moved to Marie's home and met up with the rest and held a lively gathering that lasted long into the night…

The next morning Mercury awoke and stretched before he looked around and noticed that he was alone in bed, he showed a smile and got out of bed before he got dressed and walked downstairs and found a lively kitchen with Julia and Maire cooking along with Naila while Jey sat with closed eyes and a cup of tea in front of her, Mercury quickly greeted the people present before he asked Jey

"Where's Ben?"

The gem embedded on her armor flashed before she opened her eyes and sipped her tea, then she spoke

"He's out shopping, Julia's orders"

Mercury nodded before he sat down on an empty chair and looked at the 3 women in the kitchen, soon Ben returned with some more foodstuff, and then after another 10 minutes of waiting and lively breakfast began, once they were done eating Marie dragged Julia and the two crusaders out to show them around the city leaving Mercury alone, he sighed before he showed a smile and walked out of the house carrying his backpack, then he walked towards the center of the city and soon found himself in the castle and walked in and took a seat in the reception area, soon an elf arrived to show him to Tivan's office where he soon arrived and walked in

"Hey Tivan"

Tivan sat and looked at some documents when Mercury walked in he spoke without looking up from the document

"Everyone except Mercury, out"

His assistant and the elf that showed Mercury the way bowed before they walked out of the office and shut the door after them, only then did Tivan look up from the documents and showed a smile

"Well then, shall we get down to business?"

"Sure"

Mercury placed his backpack on the table and took out a folder with documents as well as the two pieces of the superweapon he had broken after he retrieved it in Ode, then he spoke

"This is what I've got, the details are in the folder, you might not have wanted to eat breakfast before though…"

Tivan showed a confident smile and asked

"How bad can it be?"