Chapter 244 - Cap 243: Zenos Plans Part 1

Sapphire Pov: 

The moment I saw Jana and Dora I was happy, I was relieved that the two were okay, I was also happy to see that they were accompanying a Fairy and a red-haired woman, but when I saw that woman opened a Dungeon gate using her shadow, I thought it was an enemy, if not for Jana who knelt down asking not to attack, then a battle would have taken place there. 

As the Keeper had informed me that a Fairy King had passed through the village warning that Jana would return with reinforcements, I decided to trust Jana and not attack, but I almost changed my mind when more people came out of that Dungeon's gate. 

I looked at each of those people and I was surprised by many things, the first thing that surprised me was the variety of races, the second thing that surprised me was that I discovered an Undead among them, at that moment I was about to attack when I saw that child with red hair and eyes of different colors. 

As a leader and also as the strongest warrior in the village for decades, one of the things I had to learn was to know how to quickly analyze a situation and also analyze the people around me, whether to assign a capable person to the most suitable job for them or to analyze an enemy's strength to decide whether to fight or run. 

So, as soon as I saw that child, I knew he was the leader, I could see that he was trying to hide his Aura, I also noticed that all those people stood next to this child's Tatras, but what surprised me the most was also realizing that The red-haired woman was a Spirit and her features looked a lot like this child, the same for the strange Fairy who was together with this child, she also had similar features like skin color, hair color, and different colored eyes. 

My instincts were telling me that this child was dangerous, if the situation had been different I would have attacked, but seeing Jana and Dora along with them, also remembering about the Fairy King's warning that the Guardian informed me, I couldn't be sure if these people were trustworthy. 

I tried to test the child by directing my Aura and bloodlust towards him, to my surprise, he didn't react, it was as if he didn't care about me, when he looked at me an intense sense of danger ran through my body, I became alert and squeezed the handle of my sword, at that moment I was influenced by the Aura trace I felt in her eyes and I almost attacked, but at that moment the Guardian appeared, calming the situation and resolving the misunderstandings. 

I even found out that the red-haired boy was a Guardian of the Faeries, strange as he might appear to me. 

After these people entered the village I took them straight to my house, I wanted to try to talk more calmly with them to find out if they can be trusted and to see if they will be able to help us. 

The boy I discovered bearing the name Zenos wanted to start by listening to the situation we are in at the moment. 

I thought it would be a good way to test his ability and intelligence, I let him ask whatever he wanted. 

With each question that this boy asked, I could see that he has an analytical mind and that he knows how to see the big picture of a situation, most people wouldn't ask such complete questions, he even said he had some ideas that we could use in this situation, but who would need some time before talking to me. 

I thought he might be making excuses, but if that's the case, then he wouldn't have asked for such a short time of a day, so I decided to wait and see if he'd actually come up with a good plan. 

During my conversation with him I was as honest as possible with my answers, he needed to know the truth if he was going to help me, so I had to save my shame and fury and talk about my daughter too, being betrayed by your own family is the worst nightmare for races like mine who see all of their community as family, knowing that my own blood daughter has joined the enemy broke my heart. 

After talking to Zenos and showing him his room, I was invited to briefly enter his Dungeon and then I left my house and went to the center of the village where the tree that is the Guardian's true body is, it was a tree of 25 meters tall, all its leaves were red and the trunk was dark giving more contrast to the red leaves. 

I went to the tree and sat on the ground leaning against the tree, on a low branch the Guardian appeared sitting on it. 

"What did you think of him?"  (Dryad) 

"Smart, weird, mysterious and dangerous."  (I) 

"You're right, it looks like you've grown to become a good leader, congratulations Sapphire."  (Dryad) 

"Please don't treat me like a child, I'm not that child you could pester all day anymore."  (I) 

"For me, you and everyone in this village will always be my children, the children I taught, coached, and loved."  (Dryad) 

"Now tell me, in your opinion, do you think he will help us?"  (Dryad) 

"He seemed sincere to help us, I also liked the questions he asked, but the reward for his help worries me."  (I) 

"It should be good for him to ask for a reward, those who do dangerous things for no benefit are either fools or they are up to something."  (Dryad) 

"I think so too, but I think there is more to what he asked for as a reward."  (I) 

"What's it?"  (Dryad) 

"He asked to keep everything he and his group took from Farus, it looks to me like he's working for free."  (I) 

"It could also mean that he's sure to win, maybe he's being clear about how he's going to share everything Farus has because he thinks victory is certain."  (Dryad) 

"He may be trying to resolve a likely misunderstanding that could happen in the future if we beat Farus, if you agree now, then you won't be able to say anything when he takes all he wants from Farus for himself."  (Dryad) 

"He said something like that, but I don't care about Farus' resources and treasure, all I want is enough food for the whole village and nothing else."  (I) 

"After Farus is defeated, we can achieve anything else by exploring the Dungeons that were once monopolized by the three races."  (I) 

"Because our village has become so big, we will be able to rule the entire mountain range after defeating Farus, so I don't care how much wealth he accumulates."  (I) 

"Good way of thinking, you can give this group what they want, if they help us we have no reason to complain about giving them a reward they only get if we win against Farus."  (Dryad) 

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Pov Zenos: 

After the village leader leads us to a large room where she says we can use it as our bedroom, I tell Nix to open a dungeon entrance here. 

As soon as we're all inside we head straight to the third floor, then we gather in the rooms inside the mansion. 

"I think everything went well today, I'm impressed we didn't have to fight."  (I) 

"I thought I would be attacked the moment I showed my body, those were large amounts of bloodlust directed at me."  (Ivan) 

"What did you expect, the enemy of this village is a Necromancer with an army of Undead."  (Érica) 

"Distrusting you was inevitable, but something we were already expecting."  (Érica) 

"Yes, I planned to introduce you from the start, but I was surprised she noticed you're an Undead without my having to say it."  (I) 

"She has good senses, she is also very strong."  (Kira) 

"The way she held that big sword shows her strength, but that was to deceive, her movements were subtle, she must have a great fighting technique."  (Irius) 

"Her Aura control was also great, in that situation, she directed her Aura only to the master and sent her bloodlust through her Aura, that's not something easy to learn, she has full control of her Aura."  (Sophia) 

"I like to hear your opinion on the strength of the village leader, but I would like to know what you think about her personality and emotional state?"  (I) 

"I think we've all noticed that the only times she lost control was when she mentioned her daughter."  (Irina) 

"She must be pretty shaken up still, I don't think I should let her fight until she gets her emotions under control."  (Irina) 

"I don't think she'll listen if I ask her not to fight, so we can only pray that everything works out."  (I) 

"Master, during your questions I noticed strange behavior from this village leader."  (Nira) 

"What did you notice, Nira?"  (I) 

"It looked like she was testing you, she didn't elaborate on her information, she just answered exactly what you asked."  (Nira) 

"I also noticed that the way the village leader looked at you was like she was analyzing you, she probably wanted to see how far her questions would go."  (Nira) 

"That's because she was testing the master's intelligence, probably wanted to find out if he could see the big picture."  (Ivan) 

"She also tried to analyze the master at the gate when we arrived."  (Diana) 

"This village leader made two tests for you master, the one at the gate was to see how strong you were and to find out how you were going to deal with an Aura like hers." (Freya) 

"Inside her house, the master was tested to know how smart he is, also to know the way he does things."  (Freya) 

"I think she got a good first impression of the Lord, we should be fine for now."  (Irina) 

"I think we should discuss the master's plan."  (lyra) 

"I understand that we are going to use the potions I made, but so far I don't know how the master plans to do that."  (lyra) 

"Lyra is right, I'll start telling you what I have planned."  (I) 

"I want to hear your opinions before I speak with the village leader tomorrow."  (I)