Silence descended in the hall with Yuri’s words, as everyone fixed their eyes on Daes and Tia. Even the two women themselves glanced at each other, taking a few moments to come back to their senses, before turning back towards Yuri in all their solemness.

  “Do you understand what you are saying, little girl?” Tia said, frowning at Yuri, while Daes released a hint of coercion from her Spirit, making Alnea and the girls feel as if they had an ocean pressing upon their shoulders.

  “Who do you think you are?” Daes said, almost in a growl. “What gives you the right to question our loyalty?”

  “Daes—

  “Maybe I was being a little too friendly with you, so you got the wrong impression. But do not forget. I am a True Wanderer. And there is only one end for a False Wanderer disrespecting a True Wanderer… Were you not Alnea’s lover… What are you doing?”

  Alnea ignored the stupefied gaze of the people around him, as he blessed himself with Oren, giving himself just enough strength to move under the pressure of Daes’ Spirit Power pressing down on them, putting himself in between Daes and Yuri.

  “Put away your Spirit Power, Daes.”

  “…But she questioned my loyalty!”

  “I said, put away your Spirit Power.”

  “…You…”

  “Daes… Put away your Spirit Power first,” Tia said. “Or do you want to prove her right?”

  “…This is insane!” Daes said, but did as Tia asked anyway, withdrawing her Spirit Power back into her Spirit World. “You better give me an explanation!”

  Instead of giving Daes the explanation she wanted, Alnea gave her a warning.

  “…Never, ever, threaten Yuri again. Or even Lia and Vestia.”

  “…Did you not listen to what she said about us?”

  “I did, but it looks you did not listen to her carefully,” Alnea said, glancing at Yuri from over his shoulders. “Can you repeat what you said, Yuri?”

  “…I was just wondering why they have not triggered my Roots yet.”

  “I do not hear any questions of loyalty in those words,” Alnea said, turning back to Daes and Tia. “Do you?”

  “…She clearly—

  “Daes,” Tia said, grabbing Dae’s hand, and shaking her head, before turning towards Alnea. “Then can you please explain to us what her words mean?”

  “It means, that your fate has not been changed,” Alnea said. “And if nothing extraordinary happens, you will not be able to leave the city with me.”

  “…What?”

  “That is—

  “Impossible? Yet, it is the truth.”

  “…No… her Roots are lying…”

  “Roots cannot lie, Daes. You should know this better than anyone. And if her Roots say that your fate has not been changed, then it means that if we try to leave the city right away, then we will most likely fail. At the very least, you two would not be able to leave the city with us.”

  “…But… what about the things that my Roots said? What about the Good Fortune that I was promised?”

  “You were never promised anything, Daes. Your Roots just guided you to me. Just like it guided you to your teammates fourteen years ago. But you never understood what your Roots were trying to say.”

  “…I do not understand my own Roots?” Daes said, with an ugly expression on her face, raising her voice with every word that she spoke. “You say that I do not understand my own Roots?”

  “If you did, maybe you would not have had to suffer their betrayal or be trapped within the city.”

  “Shut up!” Daes said, growling at Alnea with a glare, barely suppressing herself from reaching for her Glyph Tokens. “You do not know anything about what happened back then.”

  “…But I do have an inkling of what is happening right now,” Alnea said. “Do you think Good Fortune will come falling down on your laps if you just follow your Roots?”

  “…Shut up!”

  “No, you will have to fight for that Good Fortune.”

  “Shut up!”

  “That is how the world works. If you want something, then you must fight for it.”

  “I said, shut up!” Daes said, releasing—

  Tia pressed her hand on Daes’ shoulder and shook her head.

  “Stop being stubborn, Daes,” Tia said, before glancing at Alnea with a complicated gaze. “He is right.”

  “…No, he is not right…”

  “Daes…”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “…It was not my fault…”

  “Daes!”

  “…I did not kill them… I…”

  …Why did he always have to deal with such troublesome women? Maybe Zain was right… Sighing to himself, Alnea moved closer to Daes, and slapped her left cheek, just hard enough to snap her out of her daze.

  “Are you trying to run away?”

  “…No. I…”

  “Then stop shifting the blame. Admit that you were wrong. And then promise yourself that you will never repeat the same mistake.”

  “…I…”

  “Do you understand?”

  “…Yes.”

  “…Now, do you still need an explanation for what Yuri said?”

  “…No.”

  “What about you?” Alnea said, glancing at Tia. “Do you need any explanations?”

  Tia shook her head

  “Then, shall we discuss the more important issue?” Alnea said, returning to his seat. “Why have your fates not changed yet?”

  “…Is it because we have not registered ourselves as your Dependents?”

  “…Perhaps,” Alnea said. “But we cannot take any chances. Can you contact your mother, Daes?”

  “…Yes.”

  “Then please ask her when she can come to the Blood Hall. Yuri…”

  “I have already asked big sis Nyssa. She said that she can get there by in an hour at the latest.”

  “…Daes.”

  “…Give me a moment,” Daes said, and took out a Glyph Token from her storage ring. A fist sized, white token, barely an inch thick, with bluish lightning running around the edge of its six sides. Not true lightning, of course. It was just a decorative feature, like the figure of the Thunderbird in token’s centre, marking it as unique to the Thunderbird clan. Though it could also be serving some purpose. Like hiding the Glyphs. Or—

  Alnea had barely had a moment’s look of the token, when Daes poured Oren into the Glyphs hiding somewhere beneath its surface, activating the token, making it glow in a bluish white light. A flickering light, that breathed life into the lightning dancing around the token’s edge, mesmerising him with its illusory movements. Unfortunately, the light did not last long, fading away after just a few moments, returning the token back to its lifeless appearance.

  “She will meet us at the Blood Hall in an hour.”

  “…An hour,” Alnea mumbled. “How long will it take to reach the Blood Hall?”

  “Five minutes, if we walk. Less than one, if we run.”

  “And does the inner city allows people to run around in its streets?”

  “I have never seen anyone being punished for running around.”

  “…We will leave for the Blood Hall five minutes before the hour is up,” Alnea said after some thought. “Till then, let us try to list down all the people who would want to prevent you from leaving the city.”

  “It might not be just them,” Yuri said. “Maybe, we are the ones being targeted.”

  “…The Lotus clan?”

  “No, it should not be the Lotus clan. On the contrary, they probably cannot wait for me to leave the city.”

  “Why?”

  “…I told you before. I have an agreement with them, that I must take part their Rising Wanderer Trials.”

  “…So? What is keeping you from breaking that agreement?”

  “…I would never break my word.”

  “Of course, I know that you would never break your word,” Vestia said. “But the Lotus clan does not know that. Especially after their last attempt… They have already shown to what length they can go to capture you. Not to mention the losses you have made them suffer. In your situation, any sane person would just flee to the Union.”

  “I will never flee.”

  “…That is why I said any sane person.”

  “…I am sane.”

  “…Anyways, the Lotus clan probably just wants you to stay in the city until Ilea’s month. And when you do leave, they might even send some Wanderers to escort you to the Rising Wanderer Trials.”

  “…That does seem like what the Lotus clan can do.”

  “…Other than the Lotus clan, does anyone have any other guesses?”

  “Their allies—

  “And their allies.”

  “…The other clans who suffered losses at your hands in the Final World.”

  “…But they were the ones who challenged us. And we tried not to kill unless necessary.”

  “The losses I am talking about does not necessarily have to be in terms of their Wanderers lost.”

  “And we did kill quite a few people.”

  “…Exactly how many clans did we face in the Final World?”

  “Face? Probably about a hundred and thirty to a hundred and forty. The number of clans that challenged us to the Trial? Somewhere around two hundred.”

  “Two hundred…” Alnea mumbled, trailing off a little, before shifting his attention to Daes and Tia. “What about you two? Is there anyone whom you can think of that might not want you to leave the city?”

  Daes and Tia glanced at each other, and shook their heads, before turning back towards Alnea.

  “We told you before. There are too many people who would not be happy seeing us leave the city.”

  “But we have yet to register as your Dependents… And you are just False Wanderers… Even if other people saw us with you, they would only think that we are optimistic about you, not that you are about to take us out of the city…”

  “Unless…”

  “…No. It cannot be Tivya and Nanya.”

  “…We did not part on the best of terms…”

  “You do not understand. I have known Nanya for over a decade. She may seem harsh on the surface, but that is just her way of keeping everyone away from herself. As for Tivya…”

  “She would not dare,” Daes said, shaking her head. “The kind of people that Nanya hates most are traitors. Not to mention the debt she owes me and Nubia. Then there are also your own privileges… In short, the chances of her leaking our information are even lower than Nanya’s.”

  “But it is not inexistent,” Alnea said. “Unlike Nanya, she seemed to have not given up her hopes yet.”

  “…I guess, if someone offered to take her out of the city… or at least give her a chance… Though that seems a little far-fetched.”

  “Still, we cannot take any chances,” Alnea said. “Remember to keep your distance from them when we return to the Blood Hall. At least, do not give them any more information about us.”

  “…We understand.”

  “…Speaking of information, I remember you mentioning that we can buy information in the Blood Hall…”

  “…The Blood Hall does sell information.”

  “…Even ours?”

  “…I know what you are thinking. And yes, people can indeed buy your information from the Blood Hall. But only if their privileges are higher than yours. In other words, no one in the inner city can buy your information.”

  “…That is not necessarily true,” Yuri said. “Sometimes, no information is also a kind of information.”

  “…You mean…”

  “Let us proceed while assuming the worst,” Alnea said. “Maybe we should have bought some information before leaving the Blood Hall…”

  “…It is not too late…”

  “Indeed,” Alnea said. “And not just for gathering the information. Since we have already brought trouble to ourselves, then there is no need to leave in a hurry. I might as well make some use of my privileges first. Though, before doing anything, we need to register you two as my Dependents…”