Chapter 61: Immediately – Part 2

Chapter 61: Immediately – Part 2

Well... this is awkward...

Aoi and Hana back off, then I summon a Holly, and one nature and two earth elementals.

"Hold him in place," I order the nature elemental and we move into a circle formation around Alissa and Roxanne.

The man warily eyes the approaching curvy dryad, but doesn't resist the vines as they wrap around his limbs.

"Forgive me if I don't believe you immediately, but I'll ask that you remain still and avoid making any sudden movements," I say and smile apologetically.

"Can I... at least remove this arrow?" The man asks and grabs the shaft of the arrow sticking out of his waist.

"Sure... but we can't get close enough to heal you."

The nature elemental allows him to move up to a point, so, with a yank and a heavy groan, he pulls out the arrow and throws it towards us. Since it's a bodkin arrow, it didn't get caught on his insides, making it easy for him to remove it.

"I have potions..." The man says and drinks something out of a metal flask hidden below his shirt, then he pours the rest on the wound and applies pressure on it so that the bleeding stops.

The man sighs and relaxes in the dirt. Then he removes his balaclava and I see a mature, but still very pretty, golden elf man with cheek-long hair. With his short, whitening beard, he's got a bit of a "classy dad" kind of charm, so I feel a little bad about his situation.

"How did you find me?" He asks.

I get a nudge from Alissa in my soul space that directs me to say, "I'd prefer not to reveal that, for now."

He chuckles once. "Fair enough."

"But how did you?" I whisper to Alissa.

"I smelled anti-scent, something that only happens if there's somebody else using one. Then I felt an odd lack of presence in this mana-filled place and thought that there could be someone there, so I decided to act," she whispers back.

She had so little evidence that it was almost paranoia, but I'm thankful that she's that aware of our surroundings.

"What's your name?" I ask.

"Ervo," he says without hesitation.

He's not lying.

Curiously, he doesn't have a last name. Perhaps he's a Blood Slave or an orphan.

"I see a few daggers under his clothes," Alissa whispers.

"I'm more worried that he might try to escape after hearing what we talked about," I whisper.

"Yeah. We also mentioned [Gate]. It wouldn't be good to let that leak just yet," Lina whispers.

I pull out our scrubber, keeping the onyx disk hidden behind my shield, ready to activate it the moment that I see or feel anything resembling a [Gate].

"He seems physically weak, but I'd bet that he's at least fast," Hana whispers.

"If he attacks, I'd be more concerned about poison than lethal blows," Ciel whispers.

"If anything happens, I'll immediately [Explode] his arms and knees," Roxanne whispers.

"Don't get too nervous. Remember to breathe and stay calm, but alert," I whisper.

"Always," Lina whispers with confidence.

I whisper an order to the Holly near me, and she perches herself on one of the branches of this ginormous tree that we're inside.

After a few awkwardly silent minutes, the Holly sees a white, nearly transparent bubble with a bunch of people inside flying down from a similar hole to the one that we came from.

The ball floats towards us and takes two more minutes before it enters Alissa's senses.

"Seven people," she says.

"Why didn't he come through [Gate]?" Ciel asks Ervo.

"It would leave him vulnerable to you. No offense, but it's better to not risk it," he says and smiles cordially.

"None taken," I respond.

The ball lands effortlessly at the shore of the island and I feel mana escaping from one of the female mages as she bends the air to her will and allows all seven to walk towards the ginormous tree unimpeded.

The party crosses into the net-like tree just before the ball is dispelled, allowing us to properly see them.

The most striking one is in the middle. A mature golden elf man with thin eyes and an oval face. His graying golden hair is conservatively styled and the lack of a beard makes him look rather youthful, but confident. He walks forward with a slight smirk, but his posture is impeccable and his presence is slightly humbling.

His armor is a pure shining white that makes me uncertain if it's the usual wood or actual metal. Multiple gems are proudly displayed in his armor, shield, and sheathed sword.

Soul InfoNameConfiel RincipioRaceGolden ElfLevel90HP100MP9,120Magic Power2,250Strength18Endurance23

On his sides, there are two similar-looking mature women with cute eyes and round faces, his wives. One is a golden elf, while the other is a silver elf. They look kind, but a hint of smug and refined pride makes them look mischievous. Their presence is the opposite of Confiel's, and looking at them makes me feel slightly at ease.

They wear fine mage robes that are faintly transparent, revealing a set of chain and padded leather armor below. Both hold simply-designed staves, each composed entirely of a single crystal that slowly pulses with light. Luz, the golden elf, has a red staff while Lua, the silver elf, has a blue staff. Their hair is tied up in a bun so that they can wear helmets, but still look regal. Alissa and Roxanne take mental notes about that hairstyle.

Soul InfoName:Luz RincipioRace:Golden ElfLevel:77HP100MP15,340Magic Power5,005Strength13Endurance19Soul InfoName:Lua RincipioRace:Silver ElfLevel:77HP100MP15,340Magic Power5,005Strength13Endurance19

The fact that their stats are exactly the same is very interesting.

Diamond dragon scales... they are basically half as powerful as Werner Rizek...

Beside Confiel's wives, there are two tall and buff soldiers in armor similar to Confiel's, their personal bodyguards. Behind them, there's an old mage holding a vine staff adorned with a white gem, likely the healer. And behind them all, there's a tall dragonkin man in dark metal armor. He has lustrous long brown hair and scales, and a scarred face, making him look like a handsome barbarian.

The bodyguards all have their swords drawn, but the blades are pointing down in a non-threatening posture, so we mirror them.

Confiel's eyes scan over our party and his gaze slightly unnerves me. It's far from being as powerful as the Anaras' piercing eyes, but it's still a mysterious power that makes me wary. I feel like it's different from the Anaras' mental attack; it's a feeling that he represents "danger."

His smirk turns into a normal smile. He nods respectfully as he says, "Greetings, Helios. I am Crown Lord Confiel. Ruler of the Eastern High Forest."

I bow to him and the girls repeat the gesture after I'm done. I summon all my courage to speak with clarity. The memories of Gify's vision about dragons seem to release whatever hold Confiel's presence was gaining over my heart. "Greetings, Lord Confiel. I am Wolf Ryder, and these are my wives."

He nods in response and his eyes turn to Ervo, still being held by the nature elemental. "First, I'd like to apologize for unknowingly spying on your fellowship, but you must understand the importance of this door. My intention was to know if Lord Mavel would ever find this place, not to spy on you, specifically."

I turn to Ervo and say, "You can stand." He obeys with a slight grunt as his wound is still not fully healed, then I continue, "Apologies accepted. I also apologize for wounding your agent. Lately, we've been very wary of ambushes, but unfortunately, he did hear some things that he shouldn't have."

"Has he heard something sensitive enough that requires his death?" Confiel asks, still in a calm tone.

That nearly throws me off, but I remain composed. "No, but if we are to negotiate, his return must be postponed until we are done."

He nods once. "Agreed. But can you finish healing him? From what I know, your fellowship has two healers."

I unsummon the nature elemental, then Ciel nods and walks towards Ervo, who straightens his posture as she approaches. He still holds his hand over his wound, and I see that it's bleeding slightly.

After a short chant, Ervo nearly releases a sigh of relief and his posture relaxes. He [Clean]s his hand and inspects the now perfectly closed wound.

The bodyguards sheathe their weapons, and the mages store their staves inside their [Item Boxes], so we do the same. Aoi doesn't have a sling, so she just stores her halberd in her [Item Box], provoking a short look of surprise from Confiel, his wives, and the old mage.

Ervo kneels and looks down. "Forgiveness, my Lord, I have compromised your position with my failure," he says.

"I don't fully fault you for that. Misty Foxes are famous for being spy-killers," Confiel says and sends an amused glance towards Alissa, who simply smiles proudly, though I can feel that her heart is also being affected a little by his presence.

Then he smiles and his threatening presence fades. "With that done, I believe that we have some business to discuss," he says.

"Mr. Bastico has suggested that we might benefit from working together," I say and give him my best business smile.

He nods and responds without hesitation, "Indeed, we might. But this is not a comfortable place to talk about such things. Would you accept a [Gate] to our castle in Goloria?"

"Certainly."Visitt novelbin(.)co/m for the latest updates

Luz seems to become pleased while her sister(?) maintains a calm expression.

"Ervo, follow them," Confiel orders, then turns to the old mage behind them. "Ceiro, if you please."

"Putting it that way, anyone would make the connection to us," Roxanne says.

"Only if they had the first bit of information. Otherwise, it would be more correct to assume that Katasko merely wants to throw the blame at someone to recover some of their pride," Luz says.

That seems to be all they have to say about that for now, so I ask something else, "How is Katasko seen by the nobility? We don't know much about them, after all."

Lua wrinkles her nose for a moment and says, "A disease. Imperial nobility trying to hoard power and influence for themselves and infringe upon our right of self-governance."

"With the way that the Western High Forest is right now, we lack the unity to block their advances," Confiel says, becoming more serious.

"Katasko tried to recruit us, but after we refused, they immediately turned hostile, so I assume they're trying to aggressively gain power?" I ask.

Confiel nods gently. "Indeed. Their method of operation is the same at all levels."

"We don't seem to need help with the trial against Katasko, but a letter of commendation from you would be a nice guarantee in case things go wrong."

Confiel doesn't hesitate to answer. "That will cost us very little, so I'll allow you to use our [Eternal Gate] network to go to Goldcross for the trial at any time."

I smile and bow shortly. "That is appreciated, but we will also require more."

Confiel leans forward and interlaces his fingers over the table. Luz seems a little amused and Lua remains neutral.

I become serious again and continue, "We have a certain crafty and resourceful enemy that wants us dead. His name is Darean and he's a former member of the fellowship Great Destiny that operates out of Rabanara. We have reason to believe that he's the one that guided Dawn of Fire to attack Este Escort Company's caravan."

Luz and Lua open their eyes wide and hum in unison. "Ooh..."

Confiel sighs and says, "It really was too reckless for Dawn of Fire to do such a thing without outside influence."

"We require assistance in finding Darean so that we can kill him once and for all," I add.

Confiel relaxes a little and says, "That should be simple. Dawn of Fire assured us that the 'agitator' responsible for their 'mistake' is inside Escanso. Even Crown Lord Este seems to show some willingness to help hunt him down. I'm assuming that this Darean and the person that Dawn of Fire is hunting are one and the same."

A collective sigh resounds inside my soul space. Darean is a problem that was becoming too big for us, so it's very reassuring to know that he's finally finished even without our help.

Feeling a little more sure about this deal, I continue, "In addition to that, I'd like access to your spy network, or whatever you might call it. We are tired of being in the dark about our enemies, so we'd like to receive information about matters that pertain to us."

Now Lua seems to be the one more amused while Confiel and Luz are pensive.

"I can arrange this for you," Lua says, then both Lords turn to Lua and look at her questioningly. "I'll censor sensitive information about us, but you can be sure that it's in our mutual interest to keep you informed."

I'll just have to trust that they'll really never lie about or omit anything relevant to us.

Confiel and Luz seem satisfied and say nothing, then return to looking at us, so I continue, "There's also the need to define the length of time that we'll work with you. We have plans to leave the High Forest at some point, so we won't swear to become your knights."

Confiel answers, "We also do not want that kind of relationship. After our plans are complete, there will be a time of instability in the High Forest, so we want you to stay for a few months, at least."

I nod. "That's acceptable, but if we are going to behave like knights, then we'd like to be paid as such."

Lua's mouth twitches and her stare intensifies, then she says, "You won't be official knights, so you'll have your pay reduced by thirty percent. It's still more than the average fellowship is paid for this sort of job."

"That is fair," I say and bow shortly again. "Now, lastly, I want you to swear to the Gods that you will not try to kill us."

The three Lords freeze and even Conan, the barbarian, reacts with mild surprise. Both Luz and Lua let a small smirk form, but Confiel remains impassive.

"I can't promise you that, not with those exact words, at least," Confiel says and finally drinks some of the cold tea to wet his throat. "Such a simple promise to someone of your potential would be irresponsible of me. What I can promise though, is that if our paths ever bring us against one another, then I'll make sure to warn you of that and give you ample time to change your ways. If you continue on your path despite that warning, then I'll kill you."

We spend a few seconds processing his words, but we don't find any fault in them.

"That'll be enough," I say with a nod.

"You ask for a lot," Confiel says.

I smile with confidence. "You know that our price is worth it."

Confiel readjusts himself in his seat, and we all unconsciously stiffen our postures in expectancy. "Very well... I'm going to tell you our plan, so after this, you're not allowed to leave if you reject it." I nod in agreement, and he clears his throat. "We request that you use your Gift, that we assume might be [Monster Summoning], to break the Shell around Escanso's castle, so that we can invade and execute Crown Lord Mavel Este and his wives."

We assumed that he probably wanted something like that, but we didn't know exactly what.

We've already discussed this, so there's no hesitation in my words as I bow and say, "We accept your request."

The three Lords get up, and their faces turn stern. "Then we depart. Immediately," Confiel says.

"W-what? Immediately?" I ask.

"Immediately," he repeats with a nod.

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