Bab 22: Young Mistress
Inside the forest that was full of pieces of evidence of the fight between humans and beasts, the stench of blood was still in the air and the corpses of the pyro foxes were still lying at the same spot. Now, a woman in knight’s armor had appeared. She was glaring at the mysterious young man who was standing beside a beautiful woman in bloodstained clothes.
Arias was a little perplexed by the situation, but he could tell that this was probably the ‘group’ that Helena was talking about.
“Do not be rude to him, Jessica! This person saved my life. Lower your spear now.”
Helena quickly said aloud before there could be any more misunderstanding. The woman in knight’s armor was Jessica, Helena’s personal guard. She had been assigned by Helena’s parents to take care of her since Helena was still young.
“What kind of trick did you use to deceive Young Mistress, Answer me!”
The spear was not lower and was still pointing at Arias. She already used her power to examine this young man and found out that he was only a neophyte. How could someone as weak as this be able to save Helena’s life? Helena, despite being stronger than people her age, was quite naïve. She had hardly been close to any men before aside from her father. This young man must be deceiving her using some kind of trick. The way he was dressing mysteriously made him look even more suspicious.
“Calm down, miss. Didn’t you hear what your mistress said?”
Arias still replied airily. The situation might seem bad, but it was not the worst.
“You…!”
“Jessica, I said lower your spear.”
Helena glared at her personal guard with a little bit of irritation. She knew that Jessica acted like this out of concern, but she was still angry that the other would not listen to what she said.
“Seems like you’ve found your group. Then, I will take my leave.”
Since she had found the group that she mentioned, there was no need for him to take her to the city anymore. Arias slowly walked away.
“Who said you could go!?”
Jessica disappeared from the spot in a flash and reappeared in front of Arias, her spear pointing at his face in close proximity.
“Hey, hey, hey. This is dangerous, miss. Haven’t you been listening to what she just said?”
Arias quickly moved backward and away from the spear’s reach. He was starting to feel irritated.
“Jessica! If you won’t stop, I’ll tell Father that you try to take the life of the person who saved me.”
Helena said, her patience gone. Jessica was a bit shocked. She had not seen Helena being this angry with her for a long time. She could only lower the spear in her hand and let Arias walk away, though the look in her eyes showed that she was still wary. Then, Jessica stopped concerning herself with Arias and turned to look at the injuries on Helena’s body. However, she found that the wounds had been healed and were no longer in a critical state. That made her turn to take a look at the back of the young man who just left. ‘Is it perhaps true that the kid really saved the mistress’ life?’
“I never got his name.”
Helena let out a sad sigh. She told Jessica everything, though the other still remained skeptical of the story. It was too hard to believe that a neophyte would be able to deal with a mid-level beast that was also a pack leader. But when she looked over to the corpses of pyro foxes lying on the ground, she had no choice but to believe it. Even about the matter of the elixir, it was the first time she had ever heard about it as well. She needed to look into this after they got back to the manor.
“Young Mistress, when would you stop sneaking out like this? I have warned you before, haven’t I, that there is some strange situation going on. More beasts are roaming the forest border than usual. There’s also that incident where the goblins attack the Hobson’s people, injuring Lord Kazas’ niece. The Master has been preoccupied with the inspection of this incident. If he knew about this, surely you would be grounded. Maybe I’ll even get punished as well.”
Jessica said, feeling tired from the mischievous behavior of her mistress. Helena did not get separated from Jessica, in fact, she sneaked out when Jessica was not paying attention. Normally, Jessica would always accompany her when she went outside of the family manor. Helena was attacked by a beast when she was young, and the incident left her parents so worried that they decided to appoint a personal guard to watch over her at all times.
After parting with the two women, Arias immediately headed back to the family manor. He, unfortunately, ran into his mother, who was shocked to find that he had wounds on his body. She used both her healing magic and several herbs to heal him without worrying about the number of resources she would waste.
“What did you do to get yourself injured like this? Look at these scratches, were you attacked by a beast?”
She used her healing magic while simultaneously asking Arias questions. Maria was a Water-Wielder, and she was quite skilled in healing magic. These wounds were just shallow, it did not take long for them to be healed.
“I was attacked by the one that looked like a rabbit, Mother. But it seemed a tad bigger. I was lucky that someone passed by, that’s how I managed to escape.”
Arias lied.
“That must’ve been a bestial rabbit. Strange things have been happening all over the city, with so many beasts wandering around. Next time you wish to enter the city, have me or your father go with you. You were lucky it was just a bestial rabbit that you ran into. You could have been killed if it was some other beasts.”
She glanced at Arias’ wounds, still worried but also a little curious. These wounds did not really look like a bestial rabbit’s claw marks.
Bestial rabbits were low-level beasts. They were quite weak, and even neophytes would be able to kill them without much trouble. But if Maria was to know what kind of beasts Arias had actually run into, she definitely would have fainted. At last, Arias found out why there were so many beasts wandering around like this.
On the other side of the manor, inside Mashelle’s room.
“Is it true, the thing you just said?”
“Of course. I heard it with my own ears from a servant.”
“Hahaha, truly worthless trash. Even a kid who just learned magic can beat a bestial rabbit.”
Feeling pleased after hearing from Danesse that Arias had been injured, Mashelle laughed at the other’s misfortune. Bestial rabbits were the lowest of the low-level beasts that even a neophyte could kill easily.
Suddenly, the door to Mashelle’s room was opened by a middle-aged man. His appearance looked quite similar to Arias’ father, Albert. The difference between them was that this man had a cold and cruel air about him. His eyes were cunning, and it was hard to tell what was going on inside his mind. This was Albert’s younger brother, Merson.
“My respects to you, Father!”
As soon as they saw Merson walking in, both Mashelle and Danesse quickly paid their respects. They immediately became calm and respectful without a trace of the haughtiness that they had shown a moment ago.
“What are you two doing, not practicing your magic? The Hargen will be hosting the Tournament in three months. If you’re just lazing around like this, you are going to lose to the children of the other clans.”
As Merson reprimanded them, the two could only lower their heads and listen without making any protest.
“There’s a rumor that this year’s reward will be more valuable than any other year. Plus, it is said that Duke Coven’s daughter herself will be spectating the Tournament as well.”
Merson seemed to emphasize his last sentence. At the same time, he narrowed his eyes at Mashelle who looked up with sparkles in his eyes. Merson knew that his son had been in love with Duke Coven’s daughter for a long time. Knowing that the women they loved would be watching, every man would be sure to not embarrass themselves in a fight.
“I won’t let you down, Father.”
Mashelle replied determinedly. He was filled with excitement and delight like never before. He would become the victor. And he would surely impress her as well.
Hadiah
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