章節 9: Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Ruins of ancient Dracaenae enclave, Continent: Barat, the Year 2041, Planet: Grimoire

The ancient canopy and trunks provided sufficient cover within the primeval forest. Firenze finally located a turret that seemed unusually warmer than others. This was where that revolting stench was emanating from. He looked around warily.

Firenze cast a glance back over his left shoulder. There was nothing to be seen. He'd ensured no tracks were left behind with that persnickety erasure magic. Grifton had taken great pains to teach him the proper usage.

At the time, Firenze didn't appreciate the intricacy and delicacy of creating an erasure spell. This spell remained active after being connected to a small branch or even a tiny thread of clothing. Now, Firenze was grateful for the lessons. The permanent erasure spell was used when he realized how insane Dekert had turned in the last decade.

If he becomes the emperor, neither Galos nor Bellonia will survive the aftermath of his tyranny. Everything was so exhausting now. Firenze wondered when he'd be able to return to his mate. This was different from how he'd envisioned that ambassador/envoy delegate party of a mission going.

In fact, it had been entirely uneventful until the moment they'd stepped foot into Bellonia Empire. From that moment onward, that brainless cousin, Dekert Jesso, had done his level best to ruin the experience of interesting new acquaintances Firenze and Chester might've made.

Luckily, Firenze had made earlier trips. Therefore, he'd been able to warn acquaintances ahead of time to disregard anything that happened while he was in Dekert's company. He learned that Chester's acquaintances received similar warnings.

For once, the twin brothers had the same thought in mind.

As Firenze discovered the turret, he immediately spotted the owner—a very tall, rough-looking draconic knight named Clarence Delarosa—in the flesh. "So, you're the one who helped us?"

Clarence inclined his head. "go inside," He told Firenze coldly. "Or else you'll simply present a target for those fools to fire upon from sheer frustration." Clarence had gone against those of Dekert's entourage before.

"All right and thank you." Fortunately, Firenze had already imprinted upon Grifton; otherwise, he would've been hard-put not to fall for the scent and fragrance of that elusive dracaena knight, who was undoubtedly a dominant Alpha. "I appreciate what you're doing." He wished his brother would be that polite as well. However, Firenze just didn't think he was capable of common sense.

Only some things within the campsite's environs would help Dekert and his companions. At last, Dekert glanced at the mages. "Were you saying all of that for spies lurking around?" He could sense myriad spirits and elementals hiding everywhere.

The mages frowned at Dekert in confusion. "Not exactly," the female from earlier told him. "It is more like someone, or something was stealing from the supplies while we were traveling." She scowled. "I thought it was those idiot twins that were raised in Bellonia and the Republic. However, it still happened after they had departed." Clearly, she was pissed that it wasn't the twins who were the theft culprits.

Now, that was worrisome. So, there was a thief in their ranks? Dekert was exasperated. Well, there was a way to deal with that quickly enough. It's time to throw out some bait and see what hooked them. As for the assumption regarding his twin cousins, that was just petty and unworthy of a response to that woman.

Now, then, what else could he think of to say right now? "Ah, right. There might be another reason for the disappearance of certain supplies." He shook his head. "Well, we did need to make some offerings to the spirits around us," Dekert recalled, which was one way of appeasing them and gaining information.

The mages looked skeptical at his statement. "We didn't know you were superstitious."

Dekert blinked. "It is common sense to make the elementals and spirits happy." That was something he'd learned even as a child when he had no latent abilities to call forth other than being able to sense and see the elementals.

Chester was having difficulty shaking off one pursuer in the forest near the turrets. He had paid attention to everything in his training. That particular tracker was persistent and single-minded in his determination to retrieve something to return to Dekert. Unfortunately, he'd return empty-handed because Chester refused to fall into their clutches.

Even contemplating his choices, he caught that honeysuckle scent again and flinched. Right now, was the worst time to feel attracted to someone based on a scent that would drive away common sense. Chester spotted elementals and spirits forming a pattern. After a moment, he nodded silently, thanks to them.

With some fiddling, Chester tossed down several nets that would entangle the pursuer's hands and feet. That would give him ten minutes to escape by following the pattern he'd seen through the aerial pathway. Now that he had a plan, he took off when the two trackers were temporarily disabled.

Chester saw no reason to stick around. After all, it was merely a delaying tactic, not something designed to kill. He headed in the direction the spirits were showing him to go. Simultaneously, Chester erased his tracks. Even in trees, anything could leave visible scratches. That was the last thing he wanted in his consciousness. It was bad enough that Chester inadvertently led the crown prince to Clarence's hideout.

Ten minutes later, Chester found the designated turret to escape into. Strangely, it was smaller than the others he had noticed in the area. However, he wouldn't look like a gift horse in the mouth. {Thank you.} He sent it to the one who'd given them this opportunity to hide for a few hours at least.

{You're welcome. Now, go down the staircase to the left.} Clarence's gruff voice directed him. {Your brother is also down there. There are curative hot springs down below.} It seemed he would not be accompanying them right now.

Well, that was fine with Chester. He needed to figure out a way to regain his composure.

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