Chapter 79 - VERONICA IS UPSET

She stomped her foot and said, "You are acting like this because you saw me, didn't you? You always say that I'm your friend but you always take advantage of me. That's it. I won't ever talk to you anymore."

She had enough of his games. He said he thought of her as a friend but he acted like he was her lover or something. He told her that she was his partner but didn't trust her enough. Sometimes he would act like a good guy and make her think of him highly and sometimes he would act so ruthlessly that she would lose her confidence in him. She would feel deceived.

It was like she was a fish and he was a fisherman. He would dangle the food using his fishing rod. Once she trusted him and bit the food, she would get hurt and realize that it was a trap. That would make her feel betrayed. It would hurt her immensely.

"Hey, wait-" Arthur reached out and grabbed her hand.

"Let go!" Veronica snatched her hand away from him. "I don't care whether you saw or not. So, leave me alone!"

"!!!" Arthur clearly saw a pained expression on her face. He paused and finally took down his hand. He saw her going in the direction of the tent. He decided not to follow her.

He didn't know why but he got upset seeing her anguish. He clearly didn't like that feeling. To relieve his emotions, he kicked a nearby pebble and it fell on the pond. Still, those unsettling emotions wouldn't go away. He punched a tree. 'Damn it!'

[A/N: how dare you disturb my pond and hurt my tree! They give us water and oxygen you fool! X(( ]

At that time, a black shadow landed on the ground and knelt in front of him. After that, the person politely said, "Master, I've arrived."

Arthur didn't want to show his expression to Sebastian. He controlled his emotions and asked in a cold tone, "What did you find? It better be good."

After being threatened, Sebastian flinched. He didn't know what happened to his master but he knew he better not anger him further. He answered, "We have found who delivered the crystal magic ball illegally to the black market."

Arthur was expecting this news as there wasn't any reason for his man to come here unannounced. He questioned him, "Who did this?"

Sebastian was slightly disappointed as his master wasn't thrilled to hear the news. He narrated in detail, "A low ranked magician from Tybu who recently came to live in Utahill. We have captured him and interrogated him. He told us everything. He sold the crystal magic balls two months before Riverhill declared war against Synetia. He also said that his family was poor and his daughter was sick. He didn't have enough money to treat her illness."

Arthur mumbled, "Just like that?" He thought about it for a while and shook his head, "It was too simple. Even without selling it to the black market, he could've easily sold it to a legitimate buyer if he looked for some connections. However, he went all the way to the black market."

Sebastian reported, "Master, he has to be powerful enough to get some connections. Moreover, selling in the black market is easier than finding a connection." It wasn't that he was siding with the low-rank magician. He was telling his master the fact.

Arthur knew it. Therefore, he didn't argue back. He inquired, "Did you check his family?"

"Yes, the girl is indeed sick as he spoke. She needs an expensive herb to cure it." Sebastian personally investigated that part and he made sure the illness wasn't fake.

"What illness?" Arthur moved further to the pond and took a stone to throw it to the river.

Sebastian was waiting for that question. He told him, "It's a lung disease. For an eight year old girl to suffer from it isn't rare."

Arthur agreed to his last sentence., "You are right. But everything looks way too convenient. It's almost like he knew Riverhill and Synetia would go to war."

Sebastian shared some more information.  "We have investigated the black market seller to whom he had sold the crystal magic balls. The seller gave us an affirmative reply."

"…Is that so?" Arthur threw some more pebbles on the quiet pond while thinking about the entire situation. The pebbles fell on the pond and created ripples and spread through the pond and vanished at the edge.

No matter how many times he thought about it, it seemed fishy. The girl suddenly caught a cold when it was only Autumn in Utahill. Since that magician and his family were migrants, it must be why she couldn't adapt to the environment where it was always cold.

But it didn't make sense for a poor magician to come to Utahill when it was going to be so cold. He could have waited for spring and summer. Something must have happened for him to choose the time of autumn to go to Utahill.

The place he was from was named Tybu.

'This is bad,' he thought it hard and then ordered Sebastian, "I think this is way too smooth. Investigate things further. And the magician, check his history and find out with whom he and his family members had contact. Also, find out how the girl caught the illness."

"Yes, Master."

"Don't come back until you find out about anything else."

He realized that his master was in a bad mood because of a quarrel and so he didn't wish to stay near him any more than this. "…Yes, Master…" saying that he quickly left the place. As he left, he kept sulking. He thought he was going to be praised and so he came here as soon as he found out everything but the master's mood worsened just by seeing him. 'What a bad night,' he thought.

As soon as Sebastian left, Arthur thought of the kingdom named Tybu.

Tybu is the southeast kingdom in their continent while Utahill and Synetia are situated in the northwest. Tybu is a powerful kingdom and is known for its sorcery. They dedicate their lives to learn magic and they create master magicians and sorcerers. There is a great Magic Tower in Tybu and there the world's most high-level magic tools are created. Crystal magic ball is one of them.

The magician might have poor abilities and so he couldn't do well in his kingdom. So, he decided to go somewhere he could earn a bit of money. He must have stolen the magic ball from the Magic Tower. Such an expensive magical object to be stolen by a magician, the Magic Tower would go berserk. The magicians might have already sent a search party.

He pondered, 'We have to find out everything from that thief (poor magician) before the search party comes to get him. It won't be good to face them so soon. It will look like we are betraying them. It's too early to be in the spotlight. The time hasn't come yet.'

He looked at the sky. Maybe to mirror how he was feeling right now, the dark clouds covered the moon. The clouds blocked the silver light to shine on the humans in the forest. Thus, the place darkened in the blink of an eye. The wind had a thick smell of water or wetness.

'It's going to rain soon. I have to go back,' Arthur told himself in his mind. However, he was too reluctant to face Veronica right now. He didn't want to make her madder than she already was.

They were in a foreign country and there was no one she could rely on. Although she got some girlfriends, they were not here at that moment. Even if they were present, they couldn't do anything in front of the hungry wolves.

For a beauty like her walking around the soldiers unprotected…

Arthur sighed deeply and decided to head back. He wanted to reach her before she put some distance between them.

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Meanwhile, Veronica got mad at Arthur and left on his own. She went back to the tent she and Arthur were sharing. She sat on the bed quietly. Slowly, she cooled her head down.

'Honestly, what I was expecting. Just because I was thinking of him as a good friend, it didn't mean he had to do the same. No one is obliged to do anything. Moreover, I owe him a lot. I should repay his kindness,' pondering about that, she let out a sigh.

Who would like to pay a debt to someone they got into a fight with? It wasn't like money could solve anything right now. She had to help him when he was in danger to repay his kindness.

She gasped, 'Oh, no! I shouldn't have gotten mad at him when I didn't even repay him. What am I going to do now? Should I avoid him? How should I do that? I almost know no one other than him. It's a bit scary. Uff! Catherine is much better than him. We never argued. That's what we call a true friend. She could have given me some ideas. I miss her so much.'

When she was going crazy over that, someone spoke outside the tent, "Miss Veronica, are you busy? May I come inside?"