Chapter 9: Brewing Currents

Trace was over joyed, all these days he had been going to Central Holdinberg early in the morning. Each time he managed to explore a little farther than before because the first day he got lost. Unable to control himself he took a step forward. Staying out for long meant that he could collect information at the fastest and probably find his master in a very short time. He looked at Darkseal questioningly as to why did he held his hand to stop me. Darkseal could only sigh because he knew, he thought, that Trace was a lunatic with mind of a kid.

"Are you not going to pack stuff for travel? You don't even have the communication journal right now".

Trace rubbed his head in embarrassment and then rushed into the castle. Again, Darkseal had the urge to peek inside but he restrained himself. The horror from last time had sunk into his bones. Patiently waiting for sometime, he saw Trace come out with a smile that could not be held. This made Darkseal sigh. He thought maybe Trace only went to ask permission from that terror existence.

"Where is your travel bag?"

"Bag? Don't worry about it. Everything is in here" Trace with the same smile as before pointed to one of his bracelets.

"What?!"

"I have food supplies, band-aids, tents, firewood, rope, boat,....."

Darkseal felt his heart ripped out of his chest. He could not listen more. He did not wised to listen more. The reason to this was that he knew this type of treasure was extremely rare. A small treasure that had about eighth or night cubic meter space in it. He did not know what it was named but he knew that such a treasure of lifeline of a small nation such as Central Holdinberg. All the important treasury, documents and stuff was stored inside it and kept by the leader at all time. Because even if others wanted to have the contents inside, there was no way. Beacuse it was a treasure and there was no way to own it without the owners consent.

Just how many treasures was this lunatic carrying. If only Darkseal knew then he would have tried to take one of the other bracelets that he originally intended to take. Darn that twin sisters magic. What a useless magic, could not identify such godly treasures. Darkseal felt like cussing he heart out. Such an heartache was difficult to describe. It was like trying to rob an unbreakable treasure chest when you are surrounded by open chests. The possibility that maybe he could have stolen one of the other bracelets made Darkseal want to cough fresh blood.

"Are you alright mister?" Trace asked when he saw all the color drained from Darkseal's face.

Darkseal tried to console himself but couldn't. He had an urge to beat up this kid and snatch all his bracelets. But then he thought of the mysterious existence and the last time he was beaten half to death by this lunatic, with the face of a kid, in front of him. He could only gulp all his regrets and helplessness. All of this also made him feel jumpy about going back to Central.

"Let's go" Darkseal said without looking at Trace.

Trace did not notice Darkseal's peculiar behavior and followed him. After reaching the boundary, they did the same thing as before. Darkseal held Trace's bracelet through the shirt piece. This time however he was stuck with a mountain of regrets rather than feeling overwhelmed and happy. His mood only got better after he noticed that Central was peaceful. There was no sign of Yuushine guards or executioners. What could have happened, he had his guesses. And thus changed his route towards the other mansion where the sisters could have gone.

Along the way, Trace saw the old bun maker. He couldn't help but add more joy to his current mood. This made him give Darkseal an aproving look. After spending a minute to talk with the bun maker, Trace rushed to follow Darkseal who had not stopped at the bun stand. It remained unclear whether Darkseal chose this route to pass though the bun stand. Perhaps, it was to solidify Trace's trust in him.

All this time, Trace was blindly following Darkseal without having a clue to where they were going but he was on the ninth heaven. Darkseal stopped in front of a huge mansion, it clearly stood out among the other buildings. This mansion even had a garden, this in itself was very rare in Central Holdinberg. Seeing that there was no guards, Darkseal went towards the door. To his surprise the door was opened. Trace entered the mansion after Darkeal and as soon as they entered they heard a faint vailing cry.

Trace's expression lessened, Darkseal however cautiously moved towards the sound of the vail. Passing through the hallway they entered the room. Lorry was crying at a corner of the room like a kitten. Her voice was frail and Darkseal could immediately guess that he had not stopped crying for a long time. Darkseal tried to guess what could have happened but did not find an answer. While he only stood there, Trace was already near Lorry slowly patting her head.

"Why are you sad?" Trace asked.

Lorry looked up in surprise. On seeing Trace and Darkseal her crying increased.

"It is your fault", she tried to hit Trace but her frail hands did not have the energy to go on.

"The-they took sister, it's your fault"

"Who?" Darkseal could not guess.

"Degenre.."

Darkseal felt a heart string snap. Naturally, Darkseal knew that Degenre fancied the sisters, particularly women with long hair. Years ago, he saw Degenre almost everyday. This was one of the minor reasons why the king sent him out of Central for the mission. The major reason was obviously the lack of Level 3 Magicians. He scratched his head. The sisters did a big favor to him by not reporting his betrayal but right now he wanted to do nothing with the sisters anymore.

"Don't worry we will save your sisters" Trace Suddenly said.

"What are you talking about" Darkseal snapped.

But he regretted this soon after when he saw Trace's face. The eyes were determined and Darkseal knew that this lunatic won't have it any other way. Darkeal rubbed his wrist at the ruins. Maybe he could do his first good deed and get a mark. However, Degernre was a Level 3 Sorcerer, this made him grin. Trace took the grin as an approval and was ready to rescue.

Dakeseal's grin vanished as quick as it came. He stood by the window with his back towards Lorry and Trace. They want to rescue Dorry from Degenre? The determination is clear on the face of this kid? At this moment his face was fully of twisted bliss. Lorry at this moment was in Trace arms and they both were waiting for Darkseal's approval because both of them knew that Darkseal was a smart old man. Tactically, everything is fair, even deceiving kids. Darkseal for the fist time in, he did not remember how many years, felt like laughing like a shrewd hyena.

"Ahem" he turned back, barely holding back his laughter.

"It is very easy to rescue Dorry. Let's wait for the night and ambush Degenre's resident".

"That would be too late" Lorry protested.

"Do not worry," Darkseal reassured, "Degenre's resident is very far from here. He would only reach there in the evening and we can make it there before anything happens."

Trace eyes lit up and he nodded showing great approval of the plan. However, Lorry did not look satisfied. This was within Darkseal's expectations. The sisters were the same age as Trace but were many times clever than Trace because of the constant pressure from the family. Knowledgeble and being clever are completely different, for Darksael's proposal to work he had to hammer down both Lorry's cleverness and knowledgeability.

"Are you forgetting that Degenre is also a Yuushine? With the blood of Yuushine flowing in him, his powers are greatly affected at night. But Trace and I..", he felt that continuing on was necessary.

Lorry was now in the same boat as Trace. They would go wherever their captain Darksael wanted to go now. Darkseal turned his back towards then and looked out of the window. Coincidentally this window was facing West.