Chapter 352: Family Relations (1/2)
”Miss Rox, please show us to your office room, and please call your mother immediately. Tell her that her better half is back and is requiring her debt to be paid back in full. She will understand.”
Luckily, her face and with that her expressions and pale, shocked face were covered behind her magical hood. One had to know that being gifted with the power of the mind due to her unique bloodline power, nobody besides her mother managed to get through her mental barriers before. So for her, to suddenly hear another voice, sending her a message without her knowledge or consent was a frightening revelation.
Still, it didn't take more than a glance to understand who the owner of the intrusive voice was. Knowing the severity of the situation, she only nodded, and silently walked forward, away from the group, behind the counter, and hurried to the back office door without saying another word.
As she walked away, Number 3 turned towards the royal siblings and spoke to them normally. Her voice however carried a slight concern, and a hint of familiarity as she addressed them.
”You two could either wait here or explore the city while we are busy. I presume you all have a meeting point already set. I'm sorry but for the time being, we will have to leave you.”
—
For a moment, the royal siblings couldn't respond, they turned utterly speechless at this mysterious masked woman's words. However, Drake quickly regained his senses and tried to come with an argument.
”Wait! W-we also want to help! Our brot-”
Unfortunately for him, he was mercilessly cut off, when Number 3 raised her right hand again.
”No. Not yet. You both will be included in that part of the planning, but before that, I need to talk with my apprentices.” Her tone was cold, however, there was a certain strangeness to it, that only Aiden seemed to pick up. As if she merely put up a play, she used her mind and energies to mask the true depth of her feelings and only let this rigid coldness reach the surface.
Still, without the system, he couldn't be sure, so in the end, he didn't say a word about it. Instead, he turned to Drake and Scarlet, looking at them apologetically.
”Sorry, you two. While we are busy, why don't you guys go ahead with Scarlet's registration? She will need to go through that examination anyway. By the time you guys finish, we should be back as well!”
Seeing as how Lily had a pouting expression on her face and was about to speak up, reminding her brother about their exercise they were planning, he turned to look at her and speak with a smile.
”We can still test our limits. I'm sure there are private rooms available for such purposes in the back.”
”Y-Yes, A-Aiden is right, you two will be able to find a room if you wish to… ehrm, duel.”
Gathering all her courage, Mary suddenly interjected, confirming Aiden's words. In fact, Aiden knew very well that there were such rooms designed specifically for that purpose. After spending quite some time at the back side of the Adventurer's Guild, the system conveniently mapped everything out for him to see and memorize before.
He was even aware of several hidden underground tunnels that would lead out or into the guild. Whilst he wasn't sure where they led, he was fairly certain that most of them were used by the several other factions and big families to gather intelligence either on the prominent figures associated or working with the guild, or the guild's machinations itself.
Being the largest, and international organization as it was, knowledge about the local branch's dealings could come in handy after all.
Anyway, after listening to Aiden and the others, Drake and Scarlet finally acquiesced and agreed to stay behind, albeit quite begrudgingly. Both of them being somewhat similar in nature to Aiden, they wanted to be involved, and not just left behind. They were sure that despite being a 'Master-Disciple' premise that the masked lady had said, whatever they would be talking about would be related to their situation as well.
In the end, though, they could only agree even if they didn't want to. The lack of presence that they felt from the masked woman had told them that she was most likely much stronger than them. Adding the fact that she addressed them with such distant coldness, both of them understood that they shouldn't get on her bad side.
With the situation addressed, Number 3 turned towards Mary, who jumped in fright upon being inspected to this terrifying figure's gaze, she hurriedly turned around and scampered towards the back door, opening it and signaling for Aiden and his family to come over.