Six hours of rest was all they had to recover. Now it was time to present their spoils as proof to the regional headquarters for adventurers in Loran. This was a province at the border in the Kingdom of Asram, sharing a common boundary with Elnor. They had strong ties since trade parties existed between the two provinces. Loran was a town fairly the same size as Elnor. It was ruled by the Arthur family and was backed up by another strong province, Waterwheel, which was a large trading island to the south.

  They had spent five days traveling to the salamander, and now they needed another day's journey to reach Loran. They will most likely reach Elnor on the second day of the night cycle. Entering the gate, Gilly's eyes lit up as she observed the diverse amount of races and creatures present. It had the third regional headquarters of the adventurer's guild. She was a bit nervous since this was her first time in another city.

  Some people rode on flying beasts, and the town was more active than Elnor. Katherine was up ahead talking to a group of knights in silver armor. Her expression was too sour as she gave them instructions. The knights saluted before heading off.

  "I heard Katherine is the assistant captain of knights in this town."

  Zenora passed this information to Gilly, seeing how her eyes were darting around, surprised to see more diversity in Loran. She was so engrossed in the city that she failed to notice Katharine ahead.

  She turned her head to see new faces; though familiar, it was still a pleasant sight from all the stress going on. They approached her, she up a simile trying to cover the current situation.

  "Did something happen?"

  The question she was trying to hide was asked by an innocent girl with brown hair.

  Zin did not speak but waved a small bag; this made Gilly's eyes sparkle. Siel had explained the concept of that small bag; it was a special bag used to store large amounts of items. It occurred in grades. Katherine seeing that led them all to a large building that was just two streets ahead.

  They walked to a large hallway, then took a left to a silver door that had a mixture of auras seeping out. The sight of that made Gilly's skin tingle. This was a basic reflex telling her that the people in there were strong. Opening the door revealed Hilary standing beside a man with a long beard across a table that had a pile of books.

  The room smelled of old books and perfumes. On entering, I revealed a woman with a stunning figure having a similar appearance to Katherine. She had a fan in hand, wearing a long black gown. A man who had goat legs sat next to her, and opposite was a dwarf. They had strange colors of auras coming from them.

  This made Gilly uneasy. Because when she entered, all eyes were on her. She could feel them scanning her. They all bowed, and Gilly copied them.

  "Greetings, elders."

  The room fell silent for a bit as they began to look at Gilly once more.

  "Dwarf."

  Gilly blurted before Zenora hushed her. The dwarf laughed, and the old man smiled when they made eye contact. They were now face to face with the town's elite, the four powers of Loran.

  .....

  In Valmor's office stood Ephini and her father; opposite was a green-haired elf in emerald clothing with a tree design on it.

  "I told you I had my hands full. I tried to convince them, but they still decreased the allocation to your province since you refused Her Majesty's proposal.”

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  Valmor squeezed the document he had, his eyebrow twitching.

  A smug expression appeared on his face, seeing Valmor. A sense of overwhelming danger crept into the room as Ephini's aura began to seep out. The guards behind Benny shook in fright as their senses were being restricted.

  "Ephini, calm down. Violence does not solve everything; don't be like Zin or Seras."

  She let out a long breath, and the room went back to normal. Benny almost fainted, his breath heaving, and his face looked like someone who had been dipped in water. Valmor shook his head and let out a long sigh.

  "I have said it several times: the world tree sapling chooses the leader; if she does not want to follow tradition, then I can't comply."

  Seeing the negotiation was failing, he took a sip of tea and then gave a glance at the guards behind him who were still shaking. Benny got up to leave, and the guards followed.

  "One more thing: Lord Mizin is watching, so be careful, Ben."

  The man's face froze, resembling that of a corpse after hearing those words, and he struggled on his feet out of the building.

  They had no use for the allocation; Mizin, the guardian of their village, had provided more than enough, and the Queen knew this. Even if they stopped all their supplies, they still had enough to go through for the year.

  "Ephini…"

  She smiled hearing her name.

  "Make sure not to spare those who go against the will of the world tree. Remember what Seras said."

  Valmor continued with his tea, and the day went on.

  ……

  Siel asked the question that had been on his mind. He noticed that there were an unusual number of guards for a province that is considered safe. He was a guard himself, so he could not hide his curiosity. Killing the silence, he asked.

  "I noticed the guards of the town were active; was there an incident?"

  Bathemul, the man with horns and goat legs, had a similar white beard to the man seated beside Hilary, and he stroked it slightly. Kalin, who bore a resemblance to Katharine, used the fan in her hand to hide a part of her face; a slight chuckle was heard as she spoke up.

  "How it feels to be young."

  "Don't tease them; you're only young once."

  Bathemul retorted as he scanned the youngsters in the room, with his scan ending on Gilly. Kalin had her eyes on Gilly this whole time, and she forced a smile back at Kalin.

  "Like master, like disciple."

  The dwarf was just out to tease Zin since they had not met in years. The grandmaster laughed slightly, signaling the end of idle talk. The room switched back to the tense mood it had been in a few minutes ago.

  "A few weeks ago, a Kitsune was found in a near-dead state. Her mana had been sucked, almost dried, and her skin was withered like an old man."

  Hilary continued;

  "A few days later, some adventurers took up a mission close to the open field in Tomaria, just before the land of the constellation. They found all the beasts had died similarly."

  Gilly held her breath; she was tensed from the report Hilary had given, not being used to death on such a scale.

  "How far did this corpse's trail span? How many people died?"

  Zin was curious since the mobilization of both adventurers and knights was obvious from the amount in the town. Jim raised his hand while the elders nodded in approval.

  "It spanned an area of twelve villages and two towns; no one was spared, man and beast alike.”

  Zenora could now see why Gilly shook at the report.

  "Where did it end?" The curious elf with blue hair asked.

  "Just before the forest of memories south of your province."

  The room fell into silence as they all contemplated the matter for a while.

  "Neather creatures…"

  Bathemul looked at Zin as he looked confident in what he said. The eyes of the grandmaster expanded as he raised his brows, looking at Kalin.

  "It is possible." but they were all skeptical.

  "A few days ago we defeated a group of orcs who were led by a knight and an orc lord."

  Siel also thought of the same conclusion as Zin since he made this odd comment also. This news made the expression of the elders serious.

  "Orcs."

  Vultor the dwarf muttered.

  "Are you sure? Don't phantoms do the same thing?"

  Hilary shook her head at Jim’s statement.

  "Phantoms suck the soul out of a being, leaving a layer of frost on the skin. Neather creatures, on the other hand, suck the mana and life force from any being."

  The elder nodded in unity, making Jim feel awkward.

  They had concluded the type of monster, but the aim was still not clear.

  "I heard that Harzil is acting up again."

  Bathemul said, looking at Zin. Strings of thoughts flowed through Zin's head as she realized what was going on. His eyes widened as he connected the dots. Siel had also come to the same conclusion.

  "For them to break or cross the barrier, they need help."

  His thought trailed off as a name came to mind. Zin, Siel, Kalin, and the grandmaster mentioned a name unanimously.

  "Zatrynx."

  She had not been following, not knowing the history of the world. Gilly asked innocently.

  "Who is Zatrynx?"

  "He means trouble."

  Siel frowned as he answered Gilly's question. The atmosphere was tense, and everybody's face turned grim.