The Elusive Sorcerer

Chapter 119

As the three people left, Aaron's body became like a breathing statue as he suddenly remembered the condition of his older sister, wondering whether she had done what he told her to do back then.

Even though he had thought about the same thing several years ago, for some reason, today he questioned himself about it again.

'Damn Siena... of all times, why do you suddenly show up in my head again at a moment like this?' Aaron thought as he gave a brief shake of his head before turning around and walking toward Zavi, who was standing across the street.

The 16th. Thursday. Year 1544 according to the Star Calendar. Five minutes past 2 in the morning.

He had already set aside the money and tucked it into his pocket, while 50 Pace was given to Zavi freely as compensation, even though he hadn't done anything.

"Take this." Aaron held out around five banknotes toward him.

Zavi immediately stared at him with an expression that was difficult to describe, never once expecting Aaron to share money from his odd jobs with him.

"For me?" Zavi asked to make sure as he happily accepted the money and quickly slipped it into his shirt pocket.

"Of course," Aaron replied. "Looks like we're pretty far from that bar now, so what are we going to do after this?" Aaron asked while letting out a sigh and stretching his body as the surrounding air suddenly felt colder while snow fell faintly around them.

"...."

Zavi did not respond to the question at all, leaving Aaron drowning in silence and disbelief as he looked at Zavi's indifferent attitude.

Aaron clicked his tongue inwardly.

'Is this guy angry at me? I don't understand what made him act like this. Could it be because of what happened earlier or because I couldn't control my mouth?'

He tried to remember which part of his words had slipped out wrong. But after thinking too deeply about it, the only thing he could recall was about Zavi being a beginner and himself being experienced.

'Is that why he doesn't want to talk to me?'

He didn't really understand, but he had said the same thing to him before and Zavi had never shown any hostility over it.

As they stood there in silence, looking away from each other while both wrestled with their own thoughts. Aaron decided to leave this place, feeling there was nothing important left to do, and thinking that if Zavi's mood improved, he would surely come looking for him.

'After all, I'm the valuable asset you own.'

Then he stepped forward steadily as the light from the street lamps illuminated his body for a few seconds before he disappeared without a trace from the street.

A short message appeared right on the sidewalk beside a roadside plant pot and a street sign.

In Talazze Lirei language, the shadows formed neatly arranged words, the kind Aaron always showed to Zavi.

Aware of the strange sound coming from the lower right side of him, Zavi lowered his gaze, stepping back steadily as he realized there was a message written across the stone pavement.

'From Aaron?' Zavi thought as he wiped the sweat from his forehead, not knowing why the surrounding air suddenly felt suffocating along with his irregular heartbeat.

As soon as the words formed completely from the shadows and ended with a slightly irritating sentence, he read it inwardly as the corners of his lips lifted upward, almost forming a smile because of Aaron's usual antics.

'I know you're too lazy to talk to me for whatever reason, but it seems I'll be leaving for a while to look for something, and I'm not too worried whether you'll leave me behind or even kill me. Greetings from an experienced person to a strange beginner.'

Zavi let out an angry growl, though in truth he was laughing at the contents of the message.

Then he stepped forward, crushing the shadowy words beneath the heel of his shoe with all his strength before continuing down the sidewalk to catch up with him.

But without realizing it, even though he sensed something strange, Zavi never noticed that something mysterious had been following him all this time, perfectly concealing its presence without leaving even the slightest opening.

He would never know about it, even until now.

....

Meanwhile, in southern Minehold, Menotalle, in Haven. On the outskirts of Haven stood a village that was lively, peaceful, safe, and prosperous.

The villagers lived side by side, often sharing opinions, and even when disagreements happened, they never became enemies, choosing instead to find ways to reach a consensus.

Paradise was indeed the perfect name for that village.

However, inside that village were a group of people who had survived the fierce battle in Forgenate, though they themselves did not realize it, and had also survived the comet that struck northern Niki.

Inside a hut with two pairs of lanterns hanging from bamboo poles, and on the terrace, on a long bench shaped almost like a bed, several people gathered together, sharing their thoughts on the same topic, even though all of it meant nothing anymore.

They were the group from the meeting inside the main tent at the refugee camp, Coordination 15. After leaving aboard a steam carriage, without bringing important belongings, including their previous documents, carrying only the tension born from the bitter truth haunting their minds.

One of them, a blue-eyed man named Zaharon, immediately voiced his thoughts.

"Mr. Fererra," he said hesitantly, "have you found any clues regarding the mastermind behind Moran's destruction?"

He did not expect much from the answer to that question.

Fererra seemed hesitant at the question, and he never expected the group from the meeting arranged by the city officials and the higher-ups of Morotuane's main church in Moran to survive this long.

While busily observing some of them sitting, standing, and chatting with acquaintances, he drew a deep breath and answered the question properly.

"Even until now, we still haven't been able to determine their whereabouts, nor the man we captured earlier."

"But," Evan said as he joined the discussion on the same matter. "Did you really not get any information at all from the church people?"

Fererra shook his head as a sign of disappointment. He almost spoke, but stopped himself when Cathal began explaining what he currently knew.

"It's not as easy as you think, and there's no way they'd go through all that trouble just to send their messengers to deliver that information." Cathal observed the expressions of the three of them with a calculating look on his face.

On the other side, not far from the four people conversing, the group consisting of Arvrenda, Zeta, Albert, and two of their companions including Aurora, sat almost side by side, while some others stepped outside the hut's terrace without caring if the snow soaked their bodies.

She was a woman named Natasya, Evan's friend, and she no longer knew what to do after realizing her life had changed within the span of two months.

She bit her finger while letting out a growl and thought angrily.

'Damn you, I'll find you and torture you until you receive the punishment you deserve for this.'

Since none of them were particularly close to Natasya, and they had already warned her to take shelter under the hut provided by the villagers, but she flatly rejected the invitation because her mind was filled with irritation and the burning turmoil in her chest fueled by vengeance.

Then, feeling the atmosphere on the right side of the hut had become unbearably quiet, Albert finally decided to liven things up again like the previous evening by asking Zeta a question.

"Is she still unconscious even now?"

"Ah, Vinora, right? Even until now, she still hasn't woken up from that long sleep, and I honestly don't understand what her parents are thinking, not knowing the condition of their own children up to this point."

Zeta shook her head to hide her disappointment, having once suspected that Forn's younger siblings hadn't survived the horrifying incident.

"So that's how it is, huh?" Albert nodded as he glanced toward Feyne and Luke sitting side by side to his right.

Then, a cold and loud voice that showed not the slightest trace of femininity rang out sharply enough to make the air feel frozen, causing everyone inside the hut to turn toward the source of the voice.

"Tell me what you actually know about that man."

The voice belonged to a woman named Aurora Chevalya, who was trying to interrogate a man wearing thin-framed glasses, none other than Arvrenda Guelhram.

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