The Truth

  The others patiently waited as Era continued to sob, her telling her past bringing back fresh wounds that would likely not heal. Ryker continued to provide her with his support, letting her let out tears of sorrow.

  After she finished crying herself to sleep, Ryker gently put her down next to him before walking to grab something. However, Era's grip on her makes him hesitate before he lies down next to her, cuddling with her.

  He looked at Mashia, motioning her to come close. The dragon princess did so, wondering what it was all about, though a part of her mind thought that he wanted to do something with her.

  'Don't even think about you perverted human. I won't let you touch me anymore!' she thought in her head. Still, she followed his orders, lowering her head next to him.

  Ryker quickly whispered a few things, the dragon princess's eyes went wide before nodding, doing what he told her to do. Both Ina and Miriam looked at him, surprised by how the dragon princess acted when he whispered to her.

  'Did he tell her something embarrassing,' they thought at the same time. Before they could ask him, a wave of qi dragged them to him, making them fall into his embrace.

  The two struggle for a bit before Ryker puts an arm around them, realizing what he wants to do, the two let out a sigh before closing their eyes, falling into slumber as Ryker keeps his arms around his lovers, vowing to protect them with all he has.

-x-

  When they had awakened, they were met with a glare from Mashia, but she didn't say anything. Her red face all but confirmed she was embarrassed, though they couldn't fathom why she was embarrassed. After all, all they did was cuddle.

  Needless to say, she didn't look at them for the morning, instead playing with the children as the others helped prepare breakfast.

  Because they lacked tables, they ate on the ground, thankfully he had taken some bowls, plates, and eating utensils the night before.

  "I still can't understand why those bandits attack the town. Maybe they believe in those rumors," Ina questioned.

  "I think so. If not, they won't attack the town. But how come they get my father's trusted assistant to help them?" Era said. Similar to the others, she had her doubts about the bandits' attack.

  "Maybe he was bribed," Miriam gave her two cents. The others think about it before Era shakes her head. 

  "I don't think bandits could offer him anything more than what my father could give. The only possible thing that's worth it is the town, and it was destroyed during the attack," she refuted Miriam's suggestion.

  While everyone, including Miriam, nodded, Mashia seemed to be in deep thought, "What if he was bribed, but not by the bandits?" she said her thoughts out loud, making the others look at her in surprise.

  However, she didn't react to the looks, saying her thought for them to hear, "Maybe the bandits also get paid to attack the town,"

  "But who can make those bandits, whose leaders are at the peak of Genesis Condensing realm, listen to them unless they receive huge benefits but who could do that?" Era tried to refute, remembering how her father, after sending her siblings away, fought someone at the same level as he was.

  "The family that threatened your father, how strong are they?" Mashia asked her instead, her question made her gasp in horror.

  "They have an expert at the Genesis Core realm," she muttered, everything starting to make sense except one thing.

  "But why would they do that? Unless they also believe my father found some treasure. But surely it wouldn't be something that would attract their attention," she exclaimed. She seemed to found the question she was looking for but missing one piece to tie them all together, making her grow frustrated.

  While the girls having their discussion, Ryker, hearing them couldn't help but think about something he found in the town.

He took out the pear-like object, attracting the attention of the girls. He then gave it to Era, his instinct telling him it would be important for her.

  "Where did you find this?" she asked, trembling as tears formed in her eyes.

  "Under the town hall. I sensed it after dealing with the bandits. Why, is it important to you?" he told her, looking at her expectantly.

  "Yes, this belonged to my father, a gift from the baron for his service. This is a spatial tool he uses to store really important stuff. But why wo- ouch!" she yelped, a cut formed on her hand.

  Ryker was about to take it away when he saw the blood from her hand dripping onto the pearl. Suddenly, a silhouette of a middle-aged man appeared, his face had some resemblance with Era.

  "Father," she croaked out, tears beginning to fall, staining her cheeks.

  The silhouette seemed to not hear her, which makes sense as it was a spiritual image left by someone at the Genesis Condensing realm. It seemed to wait for a moment before speaking,

  "Hello, my children. I don't know which children of mine found this spatial tool but I'm glad you are okay. I left this image to tell you the truth," it said, Era parroting the image.

  "The truth is that I do find a treasure when I investigate the anomaly. We found a small space, containing many treasures. However, the most important thing is not the treasure but a map, containing information on an inheritance belonging to an expert in the Earth Source realm.

  The inheritance is something l wished to keep for our town, maybe with the treasure and inheritance I could take the next step. Unfortunately, on the way back a group of bandits noticed us, leading to the fight that nearly ended our group. We were able to kill lots of them but some escaped. If I had known the consequences of letting one go I would have killed them all.

  Most likely, the rumor was spread by the survivor, who possesses the same strength as me. He likely contacted the Tol Family, which started the rumor and made the Tol Family target our town. I tried to act clueless, and the Tol seemed to stop their attempt, which made me believe they wouldn't do anything.

  But, I started to hear rumors of a large bandit movement. So I tried to get the help of the capital city but my message seemed to never arrive. So I come to the conclusion that the Tol intended for our town to be destroyed to get what they wanted.

  I tried to contact them, saying I would exchange the treasure for the safety of the town but they killed all of my messengers. The only thing I could do was prepare for the inevitable. 

  So, my children, if you still listening, I apologize. My greed had led to the destruction of our home, if I had known better, I would have given it in the first place. The only thing I can ask is not your forgiveness, but for you to live your life happily,"