381 Meeting from afar [1]

"Say, demons are not going to suddenly show up out of nowhere and attack us, right?"

Walking through the city, a rough voice sounded next to me. It was Leopold.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, just that…"

Leopold looked around and lowered his voice.

"I'm kinda tired of dealing with demons, and I was wondering if another situation similar to Henlour might happen."

Oh, it was about that. I nodded.

"Not sure, to be honest. But unlike the dwarves, elves are much better at detecting demons since they are super sensitive to mana, so there's a chance that no such thing will happen."

"…what do you mean?"

"Just like I said, elves are much more sensitive to demonic energy. Therefore, it is a lot easier for them to spot demons. In fact, didn't you notice the barrier before?"

Squinting, Leopold looked behind him.

"The one at the bridge?"

"Yeah, that alone should stop most of the demons."

Had Angelica not worn the special bracelet, she would've easily been found out. Even if she had turned into a ring form there was a chance for her to get spotted.

During The Conference, in the novel, it was because of this that no demons managed to interfere. That being said, never say never. 

"That's reassuring."

Leopold finally relaxed and took a deep breath of the fresh air. 

Then, his footsteps suddenly halted as he brought his hands closer to his face. A clicking sound repeatedly rang in the air.

Click— Click—

"What are you doing?"

"Ah, shit."

With an embarrassed look, Leopold lowered his hands and scratched the back of his head.

"I was trying to have a smoke, but I forgot we can't do that here."

"…."

Seriously?

Before coming here, I remember expressively reminding Leopold that he couldn't smoke lest he wanted to piss off the elves. I even took away his cigarettes in order to make sure he didn't. He was just that addicted. 

Plus, with how nature oriented the elves were, any form of littering or smoking was a big no-no. 

"Right, sorry."

Putting the lighter away, Leopold's face scrunched up a little. 

Staring at him, I shook my head. 

'He's already suffering withdrawal symptoms.'

The last time he smoked was not that long ago, maybe half a day? Just how addicted was he?

Shaking my head, I followed the rest of the group around the city. 

Ignoring Leopold's progressively worsening face, we continued our tour of the city. 

Most of the city was accessible to us apart from a few places, like the enormous building that stood in the middle of the lake.

Apparently, that place was where the elders held important discussions, and since we were not that important, we could not go there. That was probably where Douglas went. 

"I wonder if we're going to be participating in the tournament…" Hein murmured from the side. It was audible enough for everyone present to hear.

"You want to participate?" Ava curiously lifted her head.  "From what I've heard, we don't really need to participate."

"We don't," I replied with a nod. 

"We've already proven our qualifications to the others, so, realistically speaking, we don't have to participate, but…"

"But?"

'Looks like everyone is interested.'

Seeing everyone stare in my direction, my lips tugged upwards.

"…but no one said we couldn't. I mean, if you guys want to participate, go. Do your thing. In fact, use this chance to see how much you guys have improved over the past month."

If there was one thing my group had an edge over all the other people their age participating in the tournament was true combat experience.

Sure, some might have a bit of experience fighting against demons and the like, but who could proudly say they had fought a war against a full-on attack from the demons and came out on top?

I don't think there are many.

"I heard that the winners from each respective age range will get quite a reward…"

'Oh right, there's that too.'

Snapping my head towards Hein, I grabbed his shoulder.

"Hein, remember how I told you that there's a way to cure your father?"

"You don't mean…?"

With my eyes locked onto Hein's, I nodded.

"Yes, one of the top prices for the tournament is in fact the elixir that can cure your father of his disability."

There were many prices granted to the top winner of the tournament, and if I didn't recall it wrong, one of them was the elixir that Hein could use to heal his father.

Honestly, with how much the dwarves favored us, there was a possibility of them giving it to us if we just asked, but that might result in the elves losing favourability with us. 

Plus, this was a good way to motivate Hein into joining the tournament and even win. 

It was time to finally let the world see just how talented he was. 

"You're…not joking, right?"

Hein's voice sounded rather weak. Completely different from his usual deep and confident one. 

'He must care a lot about his father.'

I thought with a smile before patting him on the shoulder.

"We've already signed a contract, why would I lie to you?"

"I se—"

Click— Click—

It was then that we heard a clicking sound coming from the side. When we turned our heads, we saw Leopold with his hand on his mouth, trying to light up a non-existent cigarette.

"Anyways, this is the opportunity that I promised you. It's up to you whether you will grasp it or no—"

"No, I will take it."

A resolute looked appeared on Hein's face as his fists clenched tightly.

"Having spent over a year with you guys, I had almost forgotten my one true goal, and that was to save my father…"

Hein said as the air around him changed. He gave out an aura of a man who was about to go to war.

'Looks like he's made up his mind.'

As long as Hein resolved the one knot that was tying him down, his family, his growth would reach a new, unprecedented level.

This was what I was waiting for.

"Well, I'm glad that y—"

Bang—

Mid way through my speech, my body crashed against something soft and hard. 

"Ow."

Massaging my head, I slowly looked up. It appeared that I had bumped against Waylan.

"Hey, is everything okay?"

I was met with no response. Waylan stood motionless in the middle of the streets, prompting me to frown.

'Just what in the world…'

Sensing that something was wrong, I looked in the direction of where he was staring at. 

"Ah…"

It was then that I let out a strange noise, as my face froze. 

Walking on the opposite side of the street, far into the distance, was a certain group. 

But that wasn't the reason for my reaction.

"…they're here."

***

"As I was saying, if we're going to meet each other during the tournament, I'm going to go all out and won't hold back."

Emma's energetic voice rang out. 

Having crossed the bridge with the group and entering the city, once she got a close look at the place, Emma couldn't hide her excitement, curiously looking at everything like a newborn child.

"Oh wow, look at that!"

Taking out her phone, she snapped photos of the place. 

Once she took enough pictures, Emma put her phone away.

"What was I saying again…?"

Trying to recall what she was trying to say before, Emma's brows knit, forming a frown.

"Ah, right!"

Then, hitting her right fist on the palm of her left hand, she turned to look at Amanda and Melissa with a challenging look on her face.

"If we meet each other in the tournament, don't expect me to hold back. I'll show you how much stronger I've gotten during the time we've not seen each other."

"I'm not fighting."

With a scornful look, Melissa took her glasses out and replaced them with sunglasses.

Squinting, Emma looked at Melissa and muttered out loud, "Those don't really fit you." 

"As long as they do the job, it doesn't really matter."

Lowering her head and staring in Emma's direction, Melissa repeatedly nodded her head.

"Yup, yup, I can no longer see you."

It took a while for Emma to get her comment. Once she did, she shot a glare in Melissa's direction.

"It's obvious that you can still see."

"Who's talking? Is someone there?"

"You…"

"Please stop."

Before things got heated, Amanda decided to step in.

"Save this stuff for later when we're in private."

Fortunately, Amanda now had plenty of experience in handling these sorts of situations. 

With her having an active role in her guild, she was well-versed in handling disputes amongst guild members. 

She was also quite familiar with the two of them, so it wasn't that hard for her to calm Emma down. 

"We're soon going to meet up with the others and—"

"Who are they?"

Amanda's footsteps came to a sudden halt. Emma's voice attracted her attention. 

Turning her head, her eyes paused on a certain group in the distance who was, at the moment, looking at them as well.

"Are they looking at us?"

Emma turned her head left and right before her eyes paused on Amanda who nodded in affirmation.

"They are…"

Although they were quite far from each other, Amanda was able to get a good look at the people in the other group, and she could tell that the two of them were staring in their direction.

The two staring were people she had never seen before. One was a middle-aged man with dark gray hair and a goatee, while the other was a young man with light brown hair and green eyes.

'Why does he feel familiar?' Amanda thought, her eyes squinting. 

That young man… He felt familiar. But, how? His demeanor reminded her of someone, but at the same time, it wasn't exactly the same.

There were differences. 

Still, that nagging feeling continued to grow in Amanda's heart as she stared in their direction.

"Creep."

That was, however, disturbed by Emma's comments as she stared at the middle-aged man in the distance with a scornful look.

Turning her head, Amanda saw Emma visibly shiver as she took a step back. 

"Ugh, I thought I was used to the stares, but when an old man stares at me like that, it's still creepy."

Paying close attention to Emma's words, Amanda turned her attention back towards the group in the distance.

"They're gone."

But they were already gone before she knew it.

"I'm glad they are."

Emma replied by the side, still visibly shaken by the experience. 

"That guy's eyes were totally creepy. He was looking at me with—ukh, I'd rather not talk about it."

Shivering from cringe, Emma vented her frustration to Amanda. 

"Did they also look at you like that?"

"I'm not sure," Amanda replied. She had been so distracted by their appearance that she had not seen the looks on their faces. 

"They're probably from another group that came earlier. Anyway, let's go."

With her hands in her pocket and styling her sunglasses, Melissa followed the group. 

Turning her head, Emma followed Melissa.

"I have to agree with you for once…"

Stopping next to Melissa, Emma tilted her head and asked, "Hey, are you not creeped out by what you just saw?"

"Someone talking to me?"

"You!"

Brushing her silky black hair behind her ear, Amanda's eyes continued to linger towards the previous spot where the humans stood.

'Strange…'

The more she thought about it, the stronger the familiar feeling she felt when looking at him grew.

It was starting to invade her mind, as she stood in a daze, trying to piece the puzzle together, but before she could do that, a voice called out to her. It was Emma.

"Amanda, are you coming or not…?"

Turning her head and seeing that the group was quite a distance away from her, taking one last glance at the previous spot, she followed the two.

"I'm coming."