Andreas had mixed feelings. On the one hand, he was disappointed that he didn't know the truth until now. On the other hand, he also felt angry at everything.
While clenching his fists, Andreas ended up storming out of the building.
Old Ru opened his mouth as he wanted to call his grandson's name, but he wondered if he truly had the right to do it.
The overseer patted Old Ru's shoulder and nodded. "Go. I will take care of the rest."
Old Ru closed his eyes, lowered his head, and left.
At the same time, Noel didn't respond to Anna for a bit since he didn't know the answer yet.
Because of the awkward silence, the overseer continued, "I will be giving you back this scabbard. In exchange, I want you to remove this curse from our bodies."
Noel glanced at the scabbard. On the one hand, he would love to have it, wondering what he would get after recovering that scabbard. On the other hand, he didn't want to lie, especially to the Beast Kingdom, which had kept the scabbard safe, as well as for a few other reasons.
Noel sighed. "As much as I'd love to get that scabbard, I don't think I have any solutions to remove that curse right now."
"Even though you are not a human anymore?" The vampire suddenly spoke.
"!!!" All of them suddenly widened their eyes in shock.
The overseer asked, "What do you mean?"
The vampire simply said with a tired expression, "His blood doesn't smell like a human anymore. There is a human smell, but there's something else. And it's not the smell of a demon or a beast like us. Hence, it could only mean one thing."
"!!!" They immediately saw through Noel's identity. The overseer couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows. "You are a spirit now? No, half spirit?"
If this was something normal for humans, Anna would be the same. Hence, this was not normal. The only thing that could make such a thing was none other than Ardagan.
The overseer looked down for a moment while muttering, "There was no record about your ancestor being a half spirit. The sign of a counterattack." The overseer gasped at the realization. "You... Have you fused with Ardagan?"
"Indeed," Noel confirmed. "At the moment, Ardagan is in a slumber. Hence, I can only say everything from my perspective.
"Of course, we'll help you take down that army. If the demon king succeeds, we'll be the next target anyway."
"I'm not sure if this is fate or an objective..." Noel sighed before turning to the two women aside from the phantom. "If I may be so bold, may I know which one of you is the diva?"
The Arctic Queen remained silent.
"Mhmm?" The diva frowned. "The Prophet or Andreas told you about me?"
"No. The Spirit God."
"!!!" The elders and the overseer turned to the diva in shock.
The diva shook her head. "He is not lying." After that, the diva explained to Noel, "I have a sharp sense for sound. No matter how great you are at lying, there will be a slight difference in the sound you make. However, I don't sense any of that from your words..."
"I heard that the Spirit God was the one who created Ardagan..." The overseer mumbled.
"Yeah. He was the one who helped me fuse with Ardagan as well." Noel nodded.
The overseer sucked a cold breath. If that were true, this might also be a sign. The Spirit God might want to use this cooperation as a sign of trust. With the diva helping Noel and Noel helping them, the Spirit God would use this as a reason to bless the beast-people.
The overseer said, "That'll be up to Elder Diva whether to accept it or not."
The diva actually answered without hesitation, "Sure. I'll help you. However, I also want to ask you something."
"And that is..." Noel nodded.
"I'll say it later in private."
"Alright."
The overseer then proceeded to hand the box to the Arctic Queen, as if asking her to give it to him. The Arctic Queen then stood up, bringing the box to Noel.
"I want you to accept this first. In the end, it's the wish of our ancestors to let you have it. Even if you can't solve our curses, then so be it. We have been independent for a thousand years, so it's fine if we have to search for it independently." The overseer extended his hand. "Please take this scabbard."