Chapter 154 - Cap 153: It's Him!?

Prince Drago Pov: 

This month has been difficult, with so many things to do, I never thought I would stay so long in the city of Valen, I've been in this Kingdom for almost a month and I haven't even met King Trigan yet. 

As soon as I arrived in this city I asked my maid Mia to get information from the Assassin Guild, I wanted to know more about this city and find out more about the five nobles who helped in my ambush. 

I have been staying at Duke Valen's mansion during my stay here, my servants have been cured for a few days, but I can't leave yet, as I'm collaborating with the Duke on the investigation, while he investigates here, I have trusted people investigating the Reino Cartoza, I have been using a magic item that allows my direct communication with my father, the magic item is called Communication Orb and it belongs to the Duke, this item needs a special room and a lot of magic power to work, it can only communicate with other Orbs of communication that the person has come into contact with. 

My father was furious when he heard what happened, but I convinced him not to do anything other than the investigation, for the time being, I told him to keep hidden the fact that he knew of the Church of Light's involvement, I asked him to spread the word that at the time of the ambush of five assassins a second group attacked and killed several soldiers and also the two faceless brothers. 

I did this to secretly investigate the Church of Light, Mia who is a spy at my service is always by my side to protect and help me, but she is not good at judging people. 

My time in Valen City was spent staying at the Duke's mansion until the investigation shows I'm safe, luckily we managed to prove there was no longer any plan to kill me, so in a few days, I'm heading to the capital of Trigan Kingdom. 

But before that I want to get information about those people in red clothes, I asked the Duke about it, but he doesn't seem to know anything, I wanted to ask the leader of the Adventurers Guild of this town, but I never found the opportunity, he and the Duke meet frequently to take care of matters pertaining to a new dungeon that has appeared near the city of Valen. 

As I never had the opportunity to talk to him at the Duke's mansion I thought about going to the Adventurers Guild today and trying to talk to him there, I waited until it was early afternoon so I wouldn't disturb him at a time when the Guild should be busier. 

I'm just going with the Royal Guard who's already recovered and Mia who's still disguising herself as my maid. 

When we arrive at the Adventurers Guild I go to the counter and tell the receptionist who I am, she freezes and starts sweating for a few seconds before running for the stairs saying she's going to get her supervisor. 

After a few minutes, I see the receptionist come back along with a beautiful white elf with blonde hair, but she wasn't the one who caught my attention. 

"..." (I) 

What caught my attention was the child beside her, a child with dark skin, red hair, and eyes with different colors. 

The moment I saw those eyes I could see a glint of intelligence and maturity that someone his age shouldn't have, he was walking down the stairs talking to the beautiful White Elf. 

But the biggest reason for me to be surprised by that child is my ability to sense danger that is warning me not to face him at all, only three people have made me stay in this alert state, the first is my father, the second is my younger sister and the third person would be the leader of that group in red that saved us. 

His height is similar, I try to rate him but to no avail, he may be using an item to hide his status or has some ability to do so. 

For some reason, the image of the leader of that group in red continues to overpower the image of this child in my vision, but this child looks a little shorter. 

"(Is it him!?)" (I) 

When they are approaching me I can hear their conversation. 

"You guys did really well on this Dungeon exploration, I think I was really worried about nothing."  (White Elf) 

"I hope you understand why I'm not selling the other stuff."  (strange child) 

"I understand, what you get during your adventures belongs only to you."  (White Elf) 

"Try showing up at the mansion later with Carlos, you'll love Freya and Caryna's food."  (wolf woman) 

"Diana is right, I would also like to meet the Guild leader."  (strange child) 

"We'll save that for next month, things have been a little busy since this new dungeon came along."  (White Elf) 

"So I'll talk about it with you again next month, we're coming back so I'll see you later."  (wolf woman) 

"See you later, Mari."  (strange child) 

"Goodbye."  (White Elf) 

As they're approaching the child turns to me but doesn't show any reaction, I see him and a woman from the Wolf Man-Beast tribe who hadn't paid attention so far walking away from the Guild past me, while the White Elf comes into my direction. 

"Good afternoon and welcome your Highness Prince Drago de Cartoza, my name is Mari and I am the supervisor of receptionists."  (Mari) 

"Good afternoon Miss Mari, you can just call me Drago, I don't like formalities very much."  (I) 

"As you wish Drago."  (Mari) 

"Let me introduce you to my personal maid, her name is Mia."  (I) 

Mia steps forward and bows politely as she greets Mari. 

"A pleasure to meet you Miss Mari."  (Mia) 

"Nice to meet you too Miss Mia, I see you've been well trained."  (Mari) 

"Then why are you here, Prince Drago?"  (Mari) 

"Would I like to speak with the Guild master if possible?"  (I) 

"Follow me please, I'll take you to him."  (Mari) 

I follow Mari to the top floor of the Guild and she leads me to a room with two big doors, she opens both doors and enters. 

"Darling, the Prince of Cartoza is here to speak to you."  (Mari) 

Mari enters the room without knocking and speaking casually to the man who was signing a document with dark circles under his eyes. 

After Mari entered the Guild Leader's office he stopped what he was doing and looked at her and then at us still at the door. 

"Please come in Prince, have a seat."  (Carlos) 

He points to a couple of chairs on the opposite side of the table he's at, I go in and take a seat in one of those chairs and Mia stands behind me. 

The guild master looks at her and then at me and shows a slight smile. 

"So, to what do I owe your visit Prince Drago?"  (Carlos) 

"I wonder if you've gotten any leads on the group in red suits who saved me during the ambush."  (I) 

Sigh 

"I already told the Duke this, but I couldn't find anything, besides their heights, we don't have anything else, in fact, they could have even hidden their true heights using some tricks."  (Carlos) 

"We haven't found any evidence of them, or even a clue if they want to continue the investigation."  (Carlos) 

So he didn't find anything either, I'm running out of options, at that moment an image of the strange child I just found popped into my mind. 

"Thank you for helping Guild master, sorry if I'm bothering you."  (I) 

"I'm sorry to ask, but who was the red-haired child accompanying Miss Mari earlier?"  (I) 

"Was there a child like that here?"  (Carlos) 

The Guild Master looks at Mari who also looks at him. 

"Have you forgotten about him?"  (Mari) 

"Like this?"  (Carlos) 

Sigh 

"The child Prince Drago is talking about is the leader of Diana's new group, how can you forget about him, as far as I know, he's the only one in the Guild who looks like a child."  (Mari) 

"Now I remember, I don't have much impression of him as I still haven't been able to meet him in person."  (Carlos) 

"He came to receive the reward of his mission and also invited us to visit his mansion."  (Mari) 

"I'd love to drop all this paperwork and go, maybe I should bring some beer as a present."  (Carlos) 

"I told him we'll leave it for a month as we're still busy with the new dungeon, so don't think of ways to get away from work."  (Mari) 

"Can't I just rest for one night, it's been almost a month since I've had a drop of beer."  (Carlos) 

"I already said no, when we get rid of this problem beforehand, we can rest sooner."  (Mari) 

"(But what's going on here?)" (I) 

Suddenly the Guild master and the Receptionist Supervisor started to argue without answering me, but why does it seem like Mari is in charge and not the Guild master? 

Mia puts her hand on my shoulder and approaches my ear from behind, then she speaks in a low voice so that only I can hear. 

"I have information that Mari is the wife of Guild master Carlos."  (Mia) 

"They also say she's a former Grade A adventurer."  (Mia) 

"(Now that makes sense.)" (I) 

"Cough...cough..." (I) 

"..." (Mari/Carlos) 

I try to get their attention back to me with a slight cough as they hear them turn to me at the same time. 

"I'm sorry for showing such a shameful scene to Prince Drago."  (Carlos) 

"Don't worry about it, but importantly, did I hear you guys say that this kid was the leader of a group of adventurers?"  (I) 

"I'm sorry but we can't say anything more to you, the guild doesn't release information about your adventurers."  (Carlos) 

"I understand, but isn't there anything you can tell me about him?"  (I) 

"I'm sorry to ask, but why is Prince Drago interested in him?"  (Mari) 

"I had a feeling he looked very capable for his appearance, I also noticed a gleam of maturity and intelligence in his eyes that no child should have."  (I) 

"As you know I'm a Prince, among my family I'm proud to know how to judge people well, as such, I like to form connections with people I think are capable like him."  (I) 

"That makes sense, we can't divulge information about our adventurers, but I can tell you he's a Grade -C adventurer, he's also the leader of an Adventurer Group by the name of Shadow Eclipse."  (Mari) 

"I won't talk about his personal information, but I can share common information for you, it might be good for him too."  (Mari) 

"This is common information and is the only one we can divulge to Prince Drago."  (Mari) 

"Thank you so much for that, but could you tell me his name too?"  (I) 

"Of course, his name is Zenos."  (Mari)