Chapter 65 : We're Just Talking With This...

How does the Fate work?

Do they guide and appear like the brightest stars only in the face of the grand scheme of things?

Or are they also playful in every corner of someone's life?

I used to have at least a clue as to what the answer was. Yes, back when God seamed the world's fragment deep inside my soul, I swear I could've at least guessed what the answer was.

What's with the sudden rambling, you might ask? It's because I was frustrated. That's why...

I feel like Fate had been deceivingly generous, yet it also teased me to no end.

"An Alchemist, Healer, Priest, and Doctor?" I reiterated the sum of information placed on the desk. 'Is he the Helios I'm looking for or not...Or is he the same case just like Howard?'

Someone would be awfully close to plunging the world into the pit of despair. And he was infamously known as the Helios, the Poison Overlord.

Coming in contact with his toxic concoction would leave nothing but their skin and bones while their inside dissolved into the void.

It spread in the air and even gnawed on erecting barriers, eating away the mana slowly until the poison was no more.

To the truly strong one, it simply felt troublesome to have something chip your mana and geast every now and then. But to the weak, Helios's poison was akin to a slow and horrifyingly painful death sentence. 

And the question left in the wake of said tragedy was, could the world function without the weak?

Of course not. If you miss enough of the small cogs, the whole system will come crashing down sooner than you would think.

That's why Helios was dangerous. He was very dangerous...

My initial plan was to find him and kill him myself, and I would do it without batting an eyelid.

But over the course of time, that initial thought seemed to change.

If he had not become a mass genocide psychopath yet, then I would spare and bind him to the ways of light. I have ways and power to do that, after all.

'Search the Dwarven alchemist or Healer Helios within the Boreas Kingdom and show me his general direction.'

I closed my eyes and concentrated on using the word magic. A connection was built, but all of a sudden, it got broken in the middle.

'This doesn't work either...'

And that was the reason why I was so frustrated.

Ever since Clara told us that she had found Helios's trace, I have tried to use word magic to find his whereabouts.

But I couldn't do it for some bizarre reason.

Even when I changed the command to something specific, the results were the same in the end.

It's like whenever I was about to succeed, a gigantic ass wall would suddenly come crashing down from the sky and block the answer right before me.

I could try and be stubborn, brute forcing it with word magic, but my blessing of danger told me it would only result in my death.

'I guess there'll be no shortcut this time around...' I sighed low, trying to settle down the gnawing feelings in the back of my mind.

Fortunately, I had people on my side, and our plan seemed to work flawlessly. 

That bastard Melkor looked utterly sold on the performance the other day. According to Renata, he stated that he would need about a month to prepare everything.

It was a smoke screen anyway, so we accepted his request. Little did he know that time also signified just how long he would live.

'That trash...He should've asked for more time. If only he knew...' I thought in disdain.

The slick degenerate aside, it was now the weekend. And at long last, it was time for the party at the Dawson's family vassal.

The carriage was far too silent while I was busy thinking about all this.

Judging by Adam's expression and Howard, who was sitting beside him, things seemed to be awfully awkward.

Alyson and Helena were not speaking again...It was one thing when they kept fighting, but this persistent cold war between them was awful, if not more.

All the more so because it became unbearable since my thoughts no longer swam around.

"Hey..." I called out weakly.

"It will be fine, Alex. It is our problem. We'll solve it ourselves." Said Sister Alyson, smiling tenderly to both Adam and me. She then turned to Helena, staring straight at her.

"...Yeah." Helena only replied as such before tossing her gaze into the moving landscapes behind the window.

'Yeap, this is hopeless...Whatever. I don't know anymore. Let's just train.' The carriage rocked around the stifling silence.

Soon before long, we arrived at our destination. Since our vassal, Count Grey's territory, was only a short distance from Germund city of Dawson, we didn't need to burn the whole day to get there.

It was visibly different from Germund. Here, more people were strolling about, plentiful with merchants and peddlers.

Truly a festive and bustling place, just like a huge marketplace.

"Uwa...Many. People..." Adam jumped up and down in front of the window.

We saw many red brick houses and buildings on the way to the Count's mansion. There were also distinguished stores with branding here and there.

'It'd be nice to have Margareth have a branch near here...' I mused inside.

"We're here. Look, Adam! Those Knights are here to escort us." Exclaimed Howard, following the little munchkin spirit.

He picked Adam up, placed him on his lap, and answered the boy's questions one after the other.

'Heh, this punk...He really took a liking to Adam.' I smiled lightly, watching the two. 

Little by little, the deafening air from before slowly melted into nothing.

After a while, the carriage finally stopped, and the door creaked open slowly.

Following Alyson's lead, we made our way out.

Sure enough, rows of guards and servants were ready to welcome us. Count Grey and his family were also there, standing with nothing but smiles at the mansion entrance. He strode forward to welcome Father and Mother, who took a separate carriage before us. Afterward, we joined them and gave out our greetings properly.

The man led us inside when all the pleasantries were done.

There was still some time before the party started, so they brought us to a guest room instead.

And the minute we entered the room, Sister Alyson was kidnapped...I kid. She was snatched to the side...

Count Grey fathered two children, a girl and a boy. The eldest was a girl at Sister Alyson's age. Sarah Grey was her name. She had a slightly chubby build that complemented well with her innocent looks. Her blonde hair was tied to a side tail that would sway whenever she squealed in high spirits.

The other one, with a two-year difference, was Damian Grey. Unlike his sister, Damian's body was packed with growing muscles, and he stood over a head taller than Howard. Seeing the calluses on his hands, anyone could tell he was training to be a Knight. He had jagged hair that showcased his rough and wild charm.

Right now, Damian seemed to have a dilemma of his own. He looked like he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

As I said, Alyson immediately got snatched away the minute we arrived at the guest room, Sarah being the culprit.

Now Damian was a bonafide Knight-to-be. He was a dude who spent his day sweating by swinging swords with the other sweaty dudes. Would he know anything about whispers of romance that roam the streets or a tale of a tragic love coming from a novel?

I reckoned not.

In short, he just couldn't, for his dear life, follow the conversation between Sarah and Sister Alyson. And it's not like his sister appreciated him for staying only to bother them.

So, with that option out of the window, Damian made his way towards us.

Howard was playing with Adam, so it was up to me to handle the talking with the approaching Damian since it'd be better that it was me than Helena.

"Greetings, heir of Dawson. Greetings, fifth Princess."

"Ah, there's no need for that, Damian. We know who you are already from, my Sister." I replied lightheartedly, hearing how stiff he was.

His eyes traced between Helena and Howard in that split second of pause.

Helena was pushing my wheelchair, so I couldn't precisely capture the expression on her face, but I could imagine it. As for Howard, he was using the excuse of playing with Adam to stop minding us.

'What an irresponsible punk...' I cursed at him silently in my mind.

"Then I will do so!" Bright red like a tomato, Damian almost stuttered. He even suddenly started pledging himself out of nowhere. "I will train myself to be stronger so I may pledge my sword as Dawson's loyal vassal like my father before me."

It was refreshing to see a character like Damian. It was like he didn't mind wearing his heart on the sleeve.

And it was contagious...

"Hahaha...Then you better take good care of our Adam, Damian." I chuckled.

"Alex!" Helena's sharp and prickly words came from behind.

'...Ah, shit. I messed up!'

Even Damian gaped in surprise at my remark.

To put things into perspective, one of the purposes of this trip was, in fact, to quell the brewing rumors about my health and the future power struggles between Adam and me. From others' points of view, hearing me say that could either mean my health was terrible, like the rumors, or I had given up my rights as Dawson's firstborn son to Adam.

"Why do you say that!?" Hissed Helena, turning the wheelchair in one big motion. The world whizzed blurry before Helena's distraught face appeared close before me.

"Nothing...It's a joke, Helena." I laughed wryly.

"Tch...Don't ever say that again. Even as a joke." She frowned skeptically before warning me in the end.

"Yeah, of course." I wiped the imaginary sweat off my temple. 'Whew...I'm safe.' 

"Is something wrong?" Sister Alyson, who caught a whiff of the situation, came near with Sarah, who followed nervously from behind.

I shook my head and put on my best smile. "Nothing. We're just talking with this..."

"Damian." Chimed Howard from the side.

"We're just talking with Damian."

She glanced toward Damian, who didn't dare to meet her eyes and just nodded in silence.

"...Very well. It's almost time for the ball. Let's pass this one without making trouble this time, shall we?"

Her eyes lingered a second longer on Helena before she addressed us all.