Chapter 101: Aligned Interests (1/2)
An uncomfortable silence followed the 'bomb' that Number 3 dropped on both boys. Both of them stared at each other with a mixture of disbelief and stubbornness.
”W-Who are you people?! And you!” The silver-haired boy who already fell down to the ground pointed at Number 3. ”How do you know me? Why do you have one of our family artifacts! TELL ME!”
As he became increasingly more agitated, he was already back on his two feet. Pointing at Aiden, he continued. As his mind and heart were now in chaos, his voice carried this chaotic undertone of mixed emotions. His tone was fluctuating.
”A-And t-this boy… How can such a weak, scrawny nobody, carry such an explosive strength? W-who are you people?” He repeated his earlier question.
Meanwhile, Granny, who arrived in the meantime, walked to the silver-haired kid, and placed her wrinkled right hand on his shoulder, gently caressing, massaging it. Warm invisible strands of calming energy entered the boy's body through that point of contact, untangling the chaotic emotions that were already wrapped around his agitated heart.
A good ten seconds passed in silence as she continued to calm the silver-haired boy before she spoke.
”Calm down, dearie, we are not bad people, and from what we've seen and heard so far, you don't seem to be one either. Let's just all take a step back, and talk, like civilized people, okay?”
She was facing Aiden, directing her words to both of them. She also slightly increased her grip on the boy's tired shoulders, sending a warning to him as well.
As expected, both boys replied with unison. While Aiden's voice didn't fluctuate and was emotionless, Drake was frightened.
”Yes, ma'am!”
”Yes, Granny!”
”Great! Let's go back to the house and talk about who you are dearie and what you want, and then who we are and what we are here for.” She said, and with that, she pulled the still trapped frightened boy with her. Number 3 and Aiden silently followed behind.
Due to the house's unfurnished state, they all leaned against a section of the wall close to each other, with the exception of Granny who stood between the three.
”So, let's start with introductions.” she started. ”My name… well, everybody just calls me Granny, so feel free to do so yourself. That boy there is Aiden, and the last one is his master, who goes by her title, Number 3. We are here to save Aiden's sister, a blonde-haired girl who came to the city a few days ago. We came to know that she may have encountered some trouble and needs our help, so we came.”
Then, looking at the silver-haired boy, she asked.
”Now it's your turn. Who are you, and what are you doing here?”
Gritting his teeth, he refused to answer and just turned his head away in stubborn defiance, with an audible ”Humpf!”
”He is Draco Morth'gan de Draquilea, the current crown prince of this very kingdom.” Number 3 answered the question instead of him, dropping another bomb into the conversation.
As soon as he heard his name being mentioned, Drake or Draco faced the masked woman, and with his hands balled into fists, seething with anger, he grumbled just loud enough for all of them to hear.
”I'm not the crown prince anymore, I refused that title, and I don't listen to that name either! My name is Drake Aquila, an adventurer.”
”I see… So, Draco, sorry, Drake, right?” Granny continued, while removing her hood, and revealing her wrinkled but kind-looking face. ”What are you doing here? Why did you spy on us?”
Refusing to answer once again, Drake was looking at the masked feminine figure leaning against the wall with her arms folded. Instead of coherent words, Drake was merely grumbling at the sight of her.
”Ah, sure, let me answer that for you as well then.” Number 3 straightened up. ”He was drawn to us when I used my search magic using one of the ancient artifacts. These artifacts, you see...”
As she said it, the tiny emerald eyes of the skull on her ring momentarily flashed with a green light, and in the next moment, a black crystal about 30 centimeters tall appeared hovering above her open palm. The crystal shape was basically a bundle of triangle-shaped surfaces that came together and formed an intricate object. It looked like two pyramids attached at their bottoms.
(AN: Sorry for the short interruption, but I just wanted to mention that the geometrical shape is called a scalenohedron. I probably spent an entire morning trying to find a better term for it, but in the end, there wasn't any. So, instead of using a phrase that 99% will not be able to understand, I went the roundabout way. Also, I made sure this 78 extra words will not go over the usual length of a chapter.)
”...have a special connection with each other. They can sense when another is close-by. That's how our prince, oh sorry, ADVENTURER noticed us. He probably wants to know how am I holding this crystal, right?” Number 3 looked at the stunned boy. Her tone carried a hint of smugness.