Chapter 2165: Temporary "Tenant
The sword drawn was not the "Night Watchman" but the Dragon Scale Sword. As the sword light slashed down, the black light on that unfamiliar Circle Sorcerer’s body gushed out like the crows earlier, but the next moment it burst like a bubble under the sword light.
"I thought there was a huge conspiracy involved, but after all this, you just had the misfortune of targeting Emilia."
Shard led Emilia forward instead of pursuing further. The Circle Sorcerer wearing the jester mask was already coughing blood and sprawled on the ground. As Shard and Emilia got closer, he conjured a black mist and turned to escape. Shard didn’t chase after him, because soon after, Emilia’s two companions, Mr. Rio Enhill and Miss Matilda Delas, returned with the fleeing man.
The mask was removed from his face, and Emilia, clutching Shard’s arm, immediately recognized him:
"It’s him, the one who sold me that metal dice on the train!"
"You’ll never find out the secrets of the Order!"
Even under control, the man continued to curse everyone present with vicious slurs.
"Do you want us to ignore your other accomplice, the one who released the crows?"
Shard asked, and then they heard more footsteps approaching. Luviya, Miss Shalina Murris, and two Circle Sorcerers Shard didn’t recognize, came over, escorting another Circle Sorcerer dressed in a black cloak and wearing a mask.
Miss Shalina Murris was also from Saint Byrons. After graduating as a sixth grader in 1852, she was assigned to manage the Academy’s business in the Tobesk Region.
Even though Shard wanted to help Emilia after the cultists targeted her, he certainly wasn’t going to hide it from the Academy. After receiving the news, the Academy immediately contacted Miss Murris. In fact, there weren’t just these people present in this small grove. To ensure the arrest plan went off without a hitch, besides Shard, Luviya, and Emilia’s two teammates, Miss Murris had gathered her subordinate Circle Sorcerers and hired reliable Circle Sorcerers, over ten people in total, all waiting in ambush around the grove.
After capturing these two, a thorough search was conducted in the surrounding area, but in the end, they didn’t find a third accomplice. Although they hadn’t yet interrogated the two cultists about the details, it seemed this incident really was due to Emilia’s bad luck.
"Mr. Hamilton, thank you for your hard work tonight. Mr. Rio Enhill, Miss Matilda Delas, and I will first take these two cultists to the transfer station. The Academy will soon take them away, and the Academy needs to determine exactly how they targeted our students. We’ll also need you and Miss Annette to take care of Miss Sianod tonight."
After the search concluded, Miss Murris spoke to Shard. Shard didn’t mind; having Luviya and Emilia spend the night at his house wasn’t troublesome, since his house was large and had comfortable beds.
The Elf Girl still clung to Shard’s sleeve, asking Miss Murris:
"Will the Academy let us end our summer internship early and return now? We’ve only been in Tobesk for a week; the original plan was four weeks."
Miss Murris shook her head:
"Sorry, I’m not responsible for that area. You’ll have to wait for the official notification from the Academy regarding your exact arrangements. But Miss Sianod, please do not leave Mr. Hamilton until the Academy issues an official notice."
In other words, until the Academy decides on the next plan for Emilia and the others, the Elf Girl would have to stay at Shard’s home. As for choosing Shard over others, it was naturally because, although Bill Schneider had the highest level in the group of five, for certain unspeakable reasons — which is that all but Shard might have issues — Shard, being Miss Danester’s student, was the most reassuring choice for the Academy.
Of course, Dr. Schneider has temporarily left Tobesk for an academic conference in the nearby city and won’t return until Friday, so the Academy doesn’t even need an excuse not to assign this to him.
The evening’s operation started and ended quickly. After saying goodbye to everyone else, Shard took Luviya and Emilia again through the small village outside the city. Once in the city, they found a carriage and headed for the Three Cats Inn.
This time, they were to bring all of Emilia’s belongings from the inn and move them into Shard’s home. However, Emilia wouldn’t be staying at Shard’s for too long; Saint Byrons wasn’t bogged down by bureaucracy and would arrange the next steps for Emilia and her companions within two to three days.
Of course, because the cultist attack mainly targeted Emilia, the other two members of the group didn’t have to move out of the Three Cats Inn, so only Emilia would be staying at Shard’s house.
"It was so hard to leave the Academy..."
On the carriage, the Blonde Elf said pitiably, to which Luviya, seated next to Shard, comforted her:
"The Academy might not necessarily make you leave Tobesk; maybe they’ll just send you some safety instructions and let you continue the mission locally."
Although she said that, even Shard could guess that the Academy would most likely not let them stay any longer. Emilia was quite regretful, and Shard was too, since he had promised Emilia to show her around the city, but now time was running short.
"For the next few days, staying at my place, you don’t have to continue your mission. Just consider it a holiday and rest well. If I have the chance, I’ll contact Her Highness Angelina Cavendish and ask her to take you on a tour of Yordle Palace."
If she had heard this news at normal times, Emilia would have been very happy. But now, she just lowered her head and said "Hmm", even her pointed ears seemed to droop... Shard always felt that she looked very similar to when his cat was sad.
"Shard, Luviya, thank you."
The understanding elf did not forget to thank them for this matter.
"No need to be so polite, didn’t you help me so much in Randall Valley? Besides, we are friends. It’s a pity that the unicorn can’t come to Tobesk at will, otherwise Mia would be very happy."
Mentioning the unicorn made Emilia feel a little better. Though leaving Tobesk meant the end of her holiday, thinking of the many friends awaiting her after returning, she... still felt regretful.
It was still not too late in the night, and the Three Cats Inn had entered its nighttime mode. Many guests were still on the first floor; the scantily clad Willow Warblers waited at the wall for guests. There was no need for Emilia to check out her room; she was only taking her luggage tonight. Shard and Luviya wanted to help her upstairs to pack, but Emilia claimed she didn’t have much luggage and declined their assistance, asking them to wait for her downstairs. She would soon come down with her luggage.
Considering that the Elf Girl might have private items, Shard and Luviya did not insist on helping her but asked for two cups of hot tea at the counter and sat down at the table next to the bard, who was playing the lute.
The bard, whose singing was quite passable, was playing and singing an ancient legend of a hero and a dragon. The basic story was that a dragon had kidnapped a princess, the hero went to rescue her, exchanged himself for the princess, and lived happily with the dragon from then on.
"You seem a little regretful, is it because you couldn’t bring the [Night Watchman] out?"
Holding the teacup, Luviya said with a smile to Shard.
"Of course not, tonight I acted together with others from the Academy, how could I bring it along? I did want to demonstrate the Arcane Technique I just learned to you all, but Dorothy couldn’t come because she had other matters. So, I didn’t get the chance to cast the Arcane Technique after all; those Cultists were too weak."
"I’ve always known you’re amazing."
The purple-eyed girl pinched Shard’s hand, then teasingly said:
"Emilia is likely to stay at your place for two or three days. I can’t spend the night there every day, and Dorothy probably, like today, won’t be able to come because of various matters. So, your nights alone with Emilia..."
"Oh, Luviya, do you really have so little faith in me?"
Shard widened his eyes, and then his hand was pinched again by the purple-eyed girl, who jokingly said:
"What are you talking about, could I have little faith in you? I’m worried Emilia might do something irrational, a man and a woman alone in the house, you’ve saved her so many times, and you’re so handsome. I’m aware of your charm."
"Hmm... Isn’t this teasing me?"
Luviya laughed softly; such reminders were enough for Shard. As she had just said, she had great faith in Shard, believing he would do the right thing.
Holding the teacup, the two talked about Moon Bay, about how Shard would soon enter the sewer and pursue the Dragon Feast Cult’s laboratory with Mr. Benhart.
The conversation was initially whispered, with the bard’s voice completely overshadowing theirs. But as they talked, Shard suddenly looked upward:
"For some reason, I feel this matter isn’t over yet. After all, tonight everything progressed too smoothly. Besides, aren’t there doubts about it? The Withered Leaf Bookmark that Emilia first obtained isn’t confirmed to have been given by the cultists. Also, didn’t Priest Augustus say Emilia’s misfortune in the deep mountain was too exaggerated?
Are we being too reckless letting Emilia go upstairs alone... When she first asked for my help, she mentioned having nightmares ever since she moved in here, but none of the three Relics so far have the trait of causing continuous nightmares.
Shard spoke this sentence because of a lingering unease, and he trusted his Sixth Sense intensely.
Luviya then took out the Divination Cards, an action reminding Shard of the blonde witch from Moon Bay. But compared to Miss Belindel, Luviya’s divination was clearly more helpful to Shard:
"An omen of misfortune, does this matter truly have no end? Is there a mastermind behind it?"
The purple eyes carried a suspicious look; however, Luviya, who was always cautious, wouldn’t let any doubts slip:
"Shard, maybe you will still have a chance to demonstrate the Arcane Technique you’ve learned tonight, but I’d rather hope you only showcase your talents on the bed tonight. Come on, let’s go upstairs and take a look."