Chapter 192 - Poison?

Zaos sighed once he put on the formal clothes that he always wore during parties. He disliked those… even though they were so soft and light. He felt way more comfortable wearing his armor and carrying his big-ass sword.

"It is just like they say, the clothes really make the man," Erean said with his arms crossed and while grinning.

Fortunately, things were somewhat simple for man. They basically wore the same kind of clothes at parties, at least in the Sairus kingdom, but women rarely wore the same dresses two times in a year. At least things were that much practical to him.

"Did you notice anything off until now?" Zaos asked since Erean was observing things through the window of their room.

"No, everyone looks pretty much like ordinary people," Erean said, taking a glance outside again. "Outside from the kids and the women, the men here are a bit out of shape, since they are merchants and all. Despite that, not a single one of them walk like they can protect themselves in a fight."

"What are the chances of some infiltrator faking that kind of posture?" Zaos asked.

"Pretty low," Erean said. "Modesty aside, I am pretty good at judging those that seem like good fighters and those who aren't."

Zaos almost mentioned the three riders that they met on the first day of travel who were armed and looked attentively at the carriage, and he didn't notice, but Zaos decided to keep quiet about it.

"Let's see… will you stay here throughout the whole night?" Zaos asked while looking through the window as well.

"Yeah, why?" Erean asked.

"If something happens outside, I will fire a Fire Sword through that window," Zaos pointed at the tallest window right above the entrance door of the mansion.

"All right, it might take a while even for the guards outside the mansion to notice something," Erean nodded. "That will alert them and we will have room to enter once they leave their positions."

"Well, I am going then," Zaos said.

"Try not to fool around too much, remember, you are on duty," Erean smirked.

Zaos sighed. Erean was treating Zaos like he was an old friend that change happened since they sparred. While Zaos didn't dislike those, who were practical and had the same mindset as him.

"I had considered learning how to throw knives and enhance them by using magic, but I gave up on it when I found those crossbows," Zaos thought. "In a situation like this, I can see that was a mistake."

Zaos wasn't exactly completely vulnerable without his sword and armor, but still, the presence of some tools made Zaos feel more confident in his abilities. While Zaos approached the mansion gate, he noticed that some of the guests were looking at him. Probably because he was alone, and his clothes were different from others. Compared to the others, he seemed a bit old-fashioned. Regardless, he couldn't care less about that.

Once Zaos entered the mansion, he looked around, trying to have a good view of all the guests inside the mansion. People were pretty relaxed inside. Those who hadn't greeted Noemi and her family were making a line to do so. They were pretty much wearing the same clothes as the previous night, but Noemi was wearing a pink dress. A few meters to the left side of the Ojala family, Zaos found Drannor and Ameria. Ameria was wearing a dress similar to Noemi's. She probably received that as a gift… even though she was supposed to be the one to give gifts.

Since Zaos had been invited only because he was a friend of Ameria and because he was her bodyguard, he decided to move to the corner as usual in order to have a good view of the entire room. Since Drannor and Ameria were close enough to the Ojala family, he could take quick action if something were to happen to both groups.

After a while, Drannor and Ameria finally noticed that Zaos had shown up. Still, their behavior seemed weird. They walked towards him as if they couldn't see him.

"Oh? I thought this was a statue, but it is actually Zaos," Drannor said. "Who could have guessed it?"

"Ha-ha, very funny," Zaos said.

In the end, it seemed it was just a joke the blockheads had prepared. Ameria was trying really hard not to burst into a burst of laughter. They couldn't help but do that since that was his usual modus operandi. 

"You guys should get going," Zaos said. "It seems the Ojala family wants to introduce Ameria to some families of the region."

"What are you going to do?" Ameria asked.

"I am going to keep myself incognito in order to have the chance to check every one of those people from afar," Zaos replied. "Anyway, don't look for me too much, or these people will notice that I am a guard."

"Let's get going then," Drannor said. "Regardless, don't start liking this kind of secretive task, Zaos. Guys like us don't suit that kind of role."

Zaos couldn't agree more, but he didn't know anyone else who could do that in the end. Just as Zaos imagined, at some point during the party, the Ojala family invited Ameria to stay nearby once most of the guests had greeted them.

At some point, Zaos couldn't help but relax a little. After four hours of the party, he didn't notice anything going on with the guests. The only weird thing that he noticed was the fact that some guests apparently were laughing too much. They sure were happy. Even though Zaos couldn't see them drinking or eating anything…

"Hmm?" Zaos frowned when he looked around and noticed that only a small group of people didn't eat or drink anything."

Zaos checked the surroundings again and confirmed that. Soon after, he tried to look for that group of individuals that seemed so out of place, but he only caught a glimpse of them leaving the mansion. Zaos decided to follow them, but he was forced to stop when he noticed that the guests were suddenly sitting on some chairs and quickly falling asleep.