Chapter 99 Undercurrents



"I see." Ravenna went quiet after Benimaru explained it to her.

Benimaru watched carefully and asked. "Do you want him to join so badly?"

Ravenna hesitated at first but eventually blurted it out. "Yes. I have never met such a nice person other than you all. And he also is a demon; I am sure he would be rejected by humans now; not even his human form can save him."

Benimaru went silent before saying something while sighing. "Ravenna, only time will tell if he wants to join or not. Let fate decide."

"Hmm." Ravenna nodded her head and continued focusing on running.

Meanwhile, Benimaru thought silently. 'Fate..huh…'

…

All Peoples shop.

"A half breed? What a blasphemy." Okarino said this with wonder after hearing the news from the guard in front of him. "Half breeds are hated by both races and even by gods. I am sure he will be hunted by humans and demons, but not as much as churches and temples." 

"Do you know where the half-breed went?" Okarno asked his guard.

"No, sir. We were too late to send men to search. Only the Paladin Captain of Migotanie Church, Ahat, might know. From what we heard, Ahat had used a Basic Teleportation Scroll to chase after them."

"Oh," Okarino said, surprised. He also knew the value of a Basic Teleportation Scroll, it is only used for strategic values, and only people with high status could get their hands on them as they were very scarce. Only the temples and churches had the highest supply to let it be used by the top figures of their branches.

While Okarino was contemplating deeply about the situation, his guard suddenly called him. "Sir Okarino, I have something else to report to you."

"What is it?" Okarino asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Sir, the shop you have told me to keep an eye on was suddenly closed." 

"Well, shops can be closed and opened at any moment. There are multiple occasions that can cause it. This shouldn't be enough for you to report this to me. What is it? I am sure there is more to it." Okarino immediately caught onto many things in that small sentence.

"Yes, sir. You are completely right. There is something more. The moment they closed their shop, we were still unaware of the half-breed incident. So, when we connected two of the occurrences together, we found they happened at the same time."

"Okay, you leave." Okarino ordered his guard and then closed his eyes, going into deep contemplation.

The guard left before giving a small salute.

All alone in his office, Okarino thought with a calm mind. 'Maybe they went to hunt the half breed just after knowing about it. But that doesn't make sense, no one knew the guy would be a demon, and it wasn't for him that it was revealed he was a demon. It was for his mother.'

'For the sake of her child, she had to show her true form. If not, we would have never known….wait….she was hiding it, playing sight, but we didn't know because she was hiding her power and was in human form. Don't tell me, Benimaru and the people with him are demons too.'

'Yes, yes, so much makes sense now.' Okarino felt he had caught onto something and just needed a way to affirm it.

…

Baron Arash's castle, assembly hall.

"Sire, this is all we have gathered." A soldier closed a scroll that he had just read to Arash and the ministers below. 

Arash rubbed his forehead with his fingers, getting a giant headache after hearing about the half-breed situation. 

"Lord Arash, what should we do now?" One of the ministers started sharing the concerns of others. "Now the city might fall into potential chaos. Demons are hiding among us in their human form, which is unheard of, but it happened and we weren't able to detect it. Lord, this would make the citizens lose trust in us.'

"I know, I know." Arash said with a sigh, already feeling exhausted thinking of the future troubles. He looked at the soldier who did the reporting and asked. "Did Ahat find the half breed?"

"Not yet, sire." The soldier said it with a bow, feeling guilty for giving bad news. "There has been no news about the Paladin Captain since he left chasing after them."

Arash instantly knew that wasn't good news and that something had gone wrong. He knew how strong Ahat was, and from what he heard, the half breed and his team weren't that strong, so it would have been very easy for him to capture them. 

'This only means one thing: someone as strong as him is helping the half breed. This is bad.' Arash's face turned gloomy thinking about it.

His ministers noticed his expression and asked. "What is wrong, Lord?"

Arash looked at his scared ministers and decided not to tell them. "Nothing, I am just worried about the priest, who will blame me for many things now. But don't worry, his words do not mean anything to me now. You guys leave."

The ministers looked at each other and decided to do as he told them to. 

After they left, Arash ordered the soldier beside him. "Summon the general; I want to talk with him."

"Yes, sire." The soldier quickly left for the barracks, to deliver this message to the general of Migotanie City.

Arash sat quietly on his throne and went into deep thought. 'What is happening all of a sudden? Demons are building an army near me, and we are having one inside the city too. They become active so suddenly. What is happening to the world? Am I not being noticed because I am still weak?'

Then something popped into his mind. 'Should I tell, Ana? She might now be strong and influential to help the city.'

'No,' Then, realization hit Arash. 'What am I thinking? I sent Ana with the intention of letting her become someone who would shine brightly in this dark world. I can't let her know about this, I will protect this city, even if I have to use my powers once again.'