Helena and the others didn't know what to do with their current state of emotions. Their ally? Their enemy? They couldn't decide. Helena, especially, was struggling about whether to trust Ed or not. Her father's death, the splattered body stuck on the ground or Ed's conviction. She didn't know what to trust in.
"Helena, right?" Ed called out to the young daughter of Alexander, who raised her head as fast as she could. "Do you have any siblings?" Ed asked her lightly.
"…Why would you want to know?" She became apprehensive as soon as Ed asked. The first thing she thought about was if Ed wanted to kill her, and her entire family.
"Because, out of all the people surrounding you, none of them feel like a family member to you. And, since I asked the guard to call all the important people of Sword sect, the fact that another family member isn't present can only mean two things. You're the only remaining family member of Alexander, or…the others are incapable of coming to meet me. If it's the latter, then I would like to see what's wrong with them."
The room turned silent after Ed finished speaking. Only the slithering of Mehen, the only one to remain behind out of Ed's monsters, was heard. Helena and the others gazed at Ed, unbelieving the fact that he saw right through their situation. From their relationships to their current situation. Ed knew all about it and had them lagging behind on information.
'If he were an enemy, would we stand a chance…?' Some of them couldn't help but think such a thing. From his martial might to his mental prowess. They were far behind him.
"So, what is it, miss Helena?" Ed asked again.
Helen remained silent for a while, contemplating about whether to tell him or not, but as she thought about it hard enough, she reached a conclusion.
"My mother and my older brother." She revealed her remaining family members, thinking how she could just kill Ed in case he tried to do something to them. Seemingly, she forgot how he managed to stop her without lifting a single finger before.
"What happened to them?"
"…" For some reason, Helena and the others turned silent. Ed didn't pester them and instead waited for them to talk on their own.
"My mother is fine…if anything she's only experienced shock. My brother, however, is incapacitated." Helena's voice cracked as she told Ed the situation of the two.
"I see. Then I suppose it's time someone did something about it. Take me to them." Ed waited for the surprised eight to start walking.
'System, un-summon Suika and Merry,' Ed contacted the system through his mind.
[The two of them are currently engaged in combat. I'll unsummon after they finish.]
'Okay.'
Ed, Emilia, Bella, and the eight members of Sword sect. The exotic group started walking through the sect grounds, catching the attention of the disciples.
"It's Miss Helena. She's okay!"
"What happened to that arrogant man?"
"More like, who's the one following after the Elders?"
The disciples started to murmur, their weakened voice picked up on strength as their curiosity filled them with power. However, not forgetting their duties, they went back to train.
.
.
.
After walking for a while, they reached a home, in the middle of the city. Ed was surprised to see that Alexander lived right in the middle of the city, next to his citizens. The reason why he was so sure about it was that the citizens they met on the way didn't react strangely to seeing Helena and the others. They were used to seeing them in the middle of the city every day since they lived next to them.
Helena twisted the doorknob, opening it without the need for a key. Right behind the door, two women stood there, with a katana hanging on their waists.
'Guards, I see…' Ed guessed how these two were stationed here to protect the mother and son pair.
The other seven people chose to stay behind, allowing only Helena to go inside with Ed and the two others.
"Who are you?" the lady on the left said.
"You can't go inside," the lady on the right said.
"Prove to us that you aren't an enemy!" both of them said in unison.
'…Did they train to be able to do this?' Ed thought to himself but soon noticed how similar the two ladies were. 'They're twins…' He wanted to facepalm himself due to his stupidity sometimes.
"This should be enough, right?" Ed said as he showed them the sect master insignia.
"…" The two ladies went silent, as they turned to face Helena. Their gaze asked her what to do in such a situation.
"He says he might be able to help. In case he does something, we'll attack him." They retracted their gaze after listening to Helena's suggestion.
Taking the stairs leading up, they reached a room on the second floor. The room seemed to be closed off tightly from the outside, as if afraid of something breaking out instead of in.
"If my guess is correct, your brother was poisoned, right?"
"Yes. Luckily, it wasn't the Poison sect's master, but instead only an Elder. However, thanks to my brother's fight, he managed to drive the Elder off," Helena explained as they stood outside of the door.
"And your mother, she's experienced shock due to the damage done to the sect and…the loss of her husband." Ed summarized again.
"Yes…"
"Emilia, Bella. I need you two to meet with Sieg and the others when they get back from their hunt. Tell those that remained outside to make a notice and invite the whole city to the sect. The disciples as well. Tell them to announce that the sect has a new master." Ed asked Emilia and Bella a favor as he crushed the cards of Suika and Merry who were un-summoned.
"Merry, go with Helena. She'll take you to her mother, who suffers from mental damage. That should be your specialty. Suika, we're going to cure a poisoned man."
Enjoy!