Chapter 344 - The Culprit

Mercury narrowed his eyes slightly and remained silent as he looked at the matriarch that was kneeling down in front of him, as her words spread out the other Word Sharmans also quickly kneeled down and addressed him as 'savior' in unison

'She sure is cunning…'

By addressing Mercury as the savior in front of all the Word Shamans she had made sure that he couldn't deny it, she had essentially nailed him to their boat, he would sink or have to swim if their boat went down, he sighed before he asked

"Can we talk privately?"

The matriarch flashed a cunning smile before she quickly put on a humble expression and nodded

'This old fox…'

Mercury followed the matriarch into a tent, surprisingly Asma also followed after them, the matriarch sat down on the carpet, Mercury sat down in front of her and Asma sat down next to him and at a distance that Mercury felt was a little close and then the matriarch began speaking

"So you're probably wondering about the savior title we have giv---"

"Excuse us!"

Just as the matriarch had begun speaking Julia and Marie bragged into the tent, Marie politely closed the tent behind them before they sat down next to Mercury, then Julia spoke

"My name is Julia Helia Agustus, I am the first in line to the throne of Julinatia"

"A-And my name is Marie, we will be sitting in on this discussion"

The matriarch narrowed her eyes, just as she was about to question them another figure entered the tent

"Who is it n...o…...w"

The steam gradually left the matriarch as she saw the avatar standing at the entrance of the tent, she and Asma hurriedly lowered their heads, Mercury, Julia, and Marie showed smiles before Mercury spoke without looking back

"Well this is a nice surprise"

The avatar walked over and stood behind Mercury so far it acted rather dignified, that was until it affectionately hugged Mercury's neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek

[Miss me, Mercury~?]

"Of course I miss you Party… I was planning to visit you when we reached Cana if you have time?"

[Hmm~ Sure! I am already looking forwards to it~]

"E-Excuse me… Lady archangel may I inquire as to why you have graced us with your presence"

Part looked up and glared at the matriarch for a bit before Mercury shook his head slowly, then after letting out a huff she spoke

[To make sure that my dear Mercury doesn't get taken advantage of, of course~]

Julia nodded and spoke confidently

"That's right, that's why we're here too, right Marie?"

Marie nodded and after visibly gathering courage for a few seconds she spoke

"That's right if you want to take advantage of our man you'll have to be ready to face the consequences!"

Party showed a fox-like smile as she asked

[Can you bear the consequences~? Or rather can your clan survive the consequences?]

By now the Matriarch was shaking slightly, her face was pale, she spoke trying to salvage the situation

"I… We never had the intention of taking advantage of our savior, I simply invited Mercury in here to have a more private talk… About the myth of the savior and why we are addressing him as such"

[... I see, then proceed]

Mercury pacified Party by putting the avatar in his lap before he looked at the matriarch and spoke

"If you would explain, then I am all ears"

The matriarch closed her eyes for a moment before she began speaking

"First I would like to explain a little about the myth of the Word Sharmans, the power or rather magic that we use is called bestowal magic, though a ceremony we bestow all our members with the ability to use the power of the ancient words, this power stems from the vessel of a living god"

Mercury took a few moments to realize what the matriarch was saying, but once he realized it he asked

"So you use the power of a dead living god?"

"....Yes"

"What does that have to do with the legend of your savior?"

"Well it's said that one day the vessel will once again be filled and that the living god will wander away from us, leaving us without the power we so heavily rely on, it is there that it is said that a living god who's vessel stem from the heart of the desert will bestow us new power"

"And this new power is… What exactly?"

"... The myth doesn't mention this"

"And you are sure that I am your savior?"

""Yes""

Not only the matriarch but also Asma spoke, Mercury looked into the matriarch's eyes for a bit before he sighed and spoke

"Good grief… First, off there's a couple of things I want to know"

"As long as it's something I know"

Mercury sighed before a spark of blue lightning passed from one finger to the next on his right hand without himself noticing as it did Mercury's aura flickered for a moment revealing something terrifying beneath his calm exterior before it was once again hidden, this greatly intimidated the matriarch, Party also noticed this but kept silent, so did Julia and Marie, only Asma tilted her head and asked Mercury

"Mercury? Okay?"

Mercury nodded Asma narrowed her eye for a moment before she tilted her head slightly and mumbled

"What's open. Never closed. Again"

The matriarch looked over at Asma before she asked

"Did you open the dragon seal?"

Asma nodded

"Mmn, emergency"

"What kind of emergency could possibly be big enough to open the dragon seal!?"

Mercury didn't like the tone that the matriarch used with Asma and spoke at once

"That's what I wanted to ask you about, actually"

"...Ask away"

"How many times has the United Cana tribes used a superweapon?"

"...Twice to drive off the attempts at retaking Ode"

Mercury showed a slight smile and spoke

"I don't believe you"

The matriarch's face showed confusion for a moment before she realized what Mercury really was saying and she spoke

"You mean… That they have been used more times?"

"Yeah, the same superweapon was first used to raze Ode then used to attempt to kill me a few days ago… As for why I have no idea, but I intend to find out why and as for the one responsible… Well let's just say that they'll die a horrible death"

The matriarch trembled slightly before she spoke

"The use of the Superweapons is supposed to be only allowed after all 3 clan elders have decided on it… But I sense no falsehood in your statement and since I haven't given the order to use any of the Superweapon's then it could only be one of the other 2… Though knowing both of them there is only one elder's that would be able to use them… Rasul Shad"

"So it's that guy…"

"I've taken it you've met him?"

"Yeah briefly"

The matriarch nodded before she glanced at the avatar and spoke

"I would not dare to lie in front of an archangel and the other elder Ridwan Wasim, even though he's a little rough around the edges… And is battle-hungry like no other... is honor-bound to never strike down an unarmed person"

"I see… Well, then where would I be able to find this Rasul Shad?"

The matriarch shook her head

"I don't know his whereabouts… Though there is an upcoming elder meeting he's bound to attend"

"Where and when?"

"In Cana… In a week"

"I see… Then we have no time to waste, let's go to Cana right away"

The matriarch saw Mercury and the girls get up from the carpet and noticed a glint of sadness in Asma's eyes, so she quickly suggested

"You can travel with us, this convoy's objective was to make contact with you anyway… So why not travel together?"

Mercury thought about it for a few seconds and was about to refuse when he saw a lonely looking Asma starting at him and so after a sigh he spoke

"Sure"

Asma's face lit up, so did the matriarch's that quickly stood up and spoke

"Then let's set out at once, you won't regret this decision, Mercury, I'll make sure of it"

Mercury nodded and noticed Asma had approached him before she outright hugged him once again

"My oh my~"

"Geez…"

[My oh my~ Who's this Mercury?]

Mercury suddenly found himself being in the spotlight of his 3 women while another one was embarrassing him, naturally, he was a little nervous but he wouldn't let it show, it was not like he had done anything wrong after all, patting Asma on the head was not a crime after all, or was it? He was suddenly a little confused, anyway, he calmly introduced Asma to Party

"This is Asma"

[My~ What a cute child~]

The avatar floated over and took a closer look at Asma as its violet eye sparkled

[Nice to meet you Asma~ I hope to get along from now on~]

"Mmn… Likewise"