Chapter 96

The light had mostly faded by then, leaving streaks of long shadows stretching from the buildings and over the street, the mana lamps doing their best to combat the encroaching darkness.

Eve’s cloak helped her blend into the murky darkness of the night, the moon merely a sliver overhead as it cast a dull silver over the streets. Even still, the occasional passerby scurried down dark alleys.

A city of such size never truly slept.

From where she sat, the guild’s guarded entrance looked more like the fortified entry of a keep than any sort of common guild hall. The walls around the entire guild premises didn’t help.

The blue light of the lamps shimmered at either end of the street.

She’d been waiting there for a few hours already, eyes narrowed, head down in an act of drunken stupor.

Every now and then, she shifted a bit to fight off the discomfort of the stone digging into her body.

‘I wish I’d bought a better cloak,’ she thought to herself. ‘More padding, perhaps?’

It’s not like the heat could’ve bothered her.

‘I’ve seen patrols walk along this street twice now. The Lion Guild already has its share of guards, and I don’t think such well-armed patrols are the norm for this area of the guild district.’

Indeed, most city guards she’d seen wore standard, somewhat dull armor and their weapons of choice. Meanwhile, the armor on guards she’d seen patrolling the area since she started waiting absolutely shone in comparison.

Was it specific to the Lion Guild? No doubt they dealt with some city matters, but that wasn’t what she intended to find out.

Finally, her patience paid off, and her target scurried down the street, a cloak over his shoulders and several other figures positioned around him. It didn’t take a genius to see that the figure was important.

Judging from the finery of their garments and the glimpse of the man’s face she managed to catch in the dim light, she was almost sure of who it was—the city lord.

A frown crept across her face. ‘Why would he be visiting in secret in the middle of the night?’

It wouldn’t have been unusual for Gregor and the city lord to be communicating since the Lion Guild was one of the largest guilds in the human territories, but it would have usually been done in the lord’s castle near the center of the city.

Why, exactly, was the lord the one doing the visiting?

‘Whatever it is, it can’t be good.’

Clandestine meetings in the moonlight rarely heralded good times ahead, after all.

The group of cloaked figures were waved through the guild’s doors without so much as a question.

After the city lord and his men vanished inside, Eve continued her patient wait, flexing the warmth around her with gentle Pulls and Pushes.

Her patience was rewarded when, not long after, another figure walked down the street toward the guild.

She didn’t recognize the individual, but she at least recognized that familiar stature and build as that of a fellow elf.

‘What the hell?’ she wondered, lowering her head even further in the shadows of the alcove.

The elf glanced her way for a moment but didn’t seem to recognize her as kin.

Elves were a free people, but their Emperor could call them back at any time, so the Emperor should have already had all the information he needed if there was another elf so close to the central guilds.

‘Has he gone rogue, or is it that the emperor doesn’t entirely trust him?’ Either way, her mission didn’t change.

Since it would be far too dangerous to try infiltrating the guild hall when Awakeners with all sorts of unknown abilities served as guards, she had to be patient.

The unknown elf and the city lord both entering the Lion Guild in the dead of the night couldn’t have been a coincidence.

Just as with the city lord, the elf walked up to the doors unquestioned and was waved through into the guild hall. She had a bad feeling about whatever was happening on the other side of those doors.

‘I need to learn more, but it would be suicidal to try breaking into the guild or to approach the city lord.’

She also didn’t like the idea of attacking one of her own kin without good reason. She needed someone she could take by surprise who knew enough to sate her curiosity.

More time passed. The stone pressed into her more uncomfortably than ever, but she continued to wait, entering a meditative state to conserve energy until the sun’s first light crept over the horizon.

Finally, the elf emerged from the guild hall first and took off at a determined pace down the street. He wasn’t her target, though.

The city lord exited next, his guard retinue following closely behind him. She wasn’t after him, either, as much as she would have liked to get the information directly from his mouth.

Instead, she focused on the guards in front of the guild.

It wasn’t until the sun peeked over the walls of the city itself that the moment she was waiting for arrived.

Another pair of guards arrived and relieved the night guards of their post. With only a few words of parting, the guards separated and meandered down the street, presumably toward their homes.

Picking one at random, Eve pushed herself into a standing position and followed the guard.

After a good night of rest, I headed to the unified supply depot just outside the gate headed to Karfana while Koise secured a wagon. The magic pouches were limited to what you could fit into them, after all, and even then, they could only fit so much.

On the way there, I fiddled with my new armor. I already had the gauntlet from Krylla and my abilities, so there was no need for a new weapon.

In the end, we’d traded the lord’s items for gold and a new suit of pliable leather armor, enchanted with a ‘toughening’ aspect that dynamically resisted impacts and slashes the moment an attack landed.

That meant it was both as good as metal armor and gave the flexibility of leather.

[Enchanted Leather Armor

– A set of leather armor protecting the wearer’s vital points while affording flexibility.

– Dynamic ‘Toughening’ Enchantment

When a damaging impact strikes the armor, this enchantment toughens the armor, absorbing shock and strengthening itself.]

Approaching the caravan supply depot, I raised my hand in greeting. It was early in the morning, but they were already hard at work.

“The road to Karfana is open again?” the caravan master asked me, loading up one of many wagons for a supply run along with his crew.

A mountain of a man, he thunked the heavy metal crate down on the back of the wagon being prepared and turned to us.

“And I take it I have you two to thank for that?” From his tone of voice, he didn’t sound all too eager to start supplying Karfana again.

I nodded. “Well, me, more specifically, but yes, the road is open again. We’re in desperate need of supplies over there. When do you think you can resume trips?”

The caravan master frowned. “Well, seeing as we lost two caravans that way already, and some of the other Central Cities are facing supply shortages themselves, you’ll have to wait a bit.”

He picked up a clipboard from a nearby crate and perused its contents for a moment. “Do you speak for the city lord of Karfana?”

‘At this point, I might as well.’ I’d saved the city and opened the supply route, so if I couldn’t speak for the city at that point, then who could?

“Yes, and I’m saying we need these supplies as quickly as possible. On top of that, we need an escort group as well. We have a large group of new Unawakened.”

That was enough to surprise him out of his casual demeanor.

“New Unawakened?” he asked in surprise. “Where the hell did you find them?”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Up north, in the mountains. Anyway, that’s not important. When can you send a caravan?”

“Ahh…” he scratched the back of his head, lost in thought. “We’ll send a first shipment sometime this week.”

‘That’ll have to be enough,’ I thought.

I reached out my hand for a firm shake. “Sounds good. You can definitely look forward to more than a few happy faces when you arrive.”

That being done, I met up with Koise in front of the gates toward Karfana.

“Any sign of your elf friend?” he asked, sitting on the floating mana wagon we’d be taking for the trip back.

“No, I figured she’d be with you.”

Koise shrugged. “She was a bit suspicious anyway. You haven’t had a great track record with elves so far, yeah? You should be happier than anyone to see her go.”

“Alikr was a one-time thing. I don’t think most elves are about to take up arms with the demons.”

“My point was that neither of the elves you’ve encountered has exactly made their goals clear. My record with them isn’t much better. I swear it’s a trait of their species or something.”

“Who knows? She saved me back in the dungeon, so she’s good in my book,” I replied. “You’re right, though. She owes us no obligation, and this is as good a place as any to say our goodbyes.”

I hopped up onto the wagon and sat next to Koise. “Since it doesn’t look like she’s coming with us, let’s get these supplies back to Karfana already. I’m anxious to see how the others are doing.”

Koise gave me a grin. “You don’t have to say that twice.”