Aurdis's brow furrowed at Saeldir's words.
"(You know something?)" Aurdis asked.
Saeldir sighed. "(Yeah. I know something related to what you found.)"
"(What is it? Tell me!)"
"(Relax. I'll tell you,)" Saeldir said. Saeldir was a bit surprised to hear Aurdis' tone which was a bit harsh.
"(First, do you know what kind of temple Ozynk Temple is?)" Saeldir started.
"(I only know that it was an old temple that has turned into ruins. I also heard that we are, the ones who destroyed the temple,)" Aurdis answered.
"(I'll just be brief because it's late and I'm very tired,)" Saeldir said.
Saeldir started digging the ground again with his Magic. Removing part of the land to deepen the existing hole into this mass grave.
"(So the temple was used by a devotee of the Chaos God named Ozynk, Lord of The Web,)" Saeldir said.
"(Legend says that He is the ruler of the paths that connect Portals to dark and hidden places. Places we can't find no matter how hard we search.)"
Aurdis' heartbeat increased after hearing Saeldir's explanation.
"(So... Laston was using the help from that God?)" Aurdis asked in a worried tone.
"(As I said. It's highly unlikely,)" Saeldir said.
"(That God's existence hasn't even been proven. I can't find any records of his existence anywhere.)"
"(But...)"
"(Yes. I know,)" Saeldir said. "(One way to summon that God is the blood of the three different races.)"
"(That means, there's a high chance that Laston managed to summon that God and then escaped with his help!)" Aurdis's voice started to sound restless.
"(We can't jump to that conclusion right away. You know that Laston is smart. He might use those signs to distract us,)" Saeldir said in a calm tone.
Hearing Saeldir's words, Aurdis also calmed down a bit.
Laston is smart. So there was a possibility that he had planned everything.
He decided not to flee to Ozynk Temple just because it was nearby. But also so he could link his escape with that God Ozynk.
That way, their attention can be diverted by looking for traces of the truth of God Ozynk's whereabouts. And that will give him more time to hide.
But, what if it turns out that God Ozynk's existence is true? And Laston had asked for his help in escaping?
After all, the God has followers who make temples for him.
? However, maybe this is what Laston wants. He knew that what he was doing would indeed create confusion.
That way, they would have a hard time figuring out which way to take next to catch him.
"(Then what should we do now?)" Aurdis asked as she was already too deep into confusion.
Her mind was too foggy to think about anything right now.
"(Now we have to clean up the palace first,)" Saeldir said in a calm tone.
"(You don't think we should go after Laston?)"
"(Think about it,)" Saeldir said. "(If you look at the state we are in right now, you can tell we are in no condition to engage in any kind of pursuit.)"
Aurdis fell silent. She came into consciousness after a few moments.
"(You're right,)" Aurdis said.
"(You can rest.)"
"(No. I will help you.)"
After that Aurdis and Saeldir worked together to clean up the palace.
Aurdis and Saeldir temporarily ignored their tiredness and pain and took up their individual duties to make the palace look a little better.
After that, Aurdis and Saeldir intended to restore order to the palace. So that everything can go back to how it was before.
~~~
Billy jumped to his feet when he heard the hiss of the Portal. He rubbed the drool that had fallen down roughly and turned his head.
He saw Erend coming out of the Portal.
"WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN GOING!"
Billy immediately swore loudly as soon as he saw Erend's arrival.
Erend winced. "Sorry. I've been caught up in something unexpected."
Billy sighed and chose to forgive him.
"Did you meet a ghost?" Erend asked jokingly.
"I met something worse while waiting for you for hours," said Billy.
"What's that?"
"Hungry. You made me wait here like an idiot until I starve." Billy glared at Erend. As if starving him was a grave sin.
Erend snorted. "Let's go to my house."
N0 v el Next. CoM
Billy nodded knowing that meant he would be eating at Erend's house to enjoy Erend's mother's delicious cooking.
The two of them came out of the old, dark, and rickety factory.
The light from Billy's flashlight lit up a quiet corner of Slum Street.
At night, this one corner of the Slum becomes a very dark place. No lights were turned on even though there were several lamps around the place.
It's all because the residents in the Slum don't want to waste electricity to light up this neglected corner of Slums.
Indeed, there are no houses inhabited by anyone on this side, so no one is harmed.
Only the inside of the houses is illuminated by the light. The streets outside the houses were lit only by moonlight - if there is one.
Erend invited Billy to have dinner at his house and Billy enjoyed it with all his heart.
Since he was little, Billy has often been eating at his house. He always praised his mother's cooking so Erend let him eat here.
His mother was a woman who loved when her cooking was praised and throughout the meal, Billy would praise his mother's cooking every time it entered his mouth.
~~~
As soon as the next day arrives, Erend and Billy agree to visit the cemetery where the victims of the war are buried.
After taking Arty to school by the official car, they went straight to the cemetery.
Since it wasn't the weekend, they assumed that no one would come to clean the graves.
However, they saw someone sitting pensively in the gazebo while smoking a cigarette.
The man sat with his big and straight body. So that makes him look like the guardian of this cemetery.
"Good morning, Lieutenant."
Erend and Billy greeted simultaneously.
~~~