Chapter 63: Impostor Among Us

"Are you Heron?"

Her question made the atmosphere heavier than before. Dalary couldn't even keep up with it, as her legs shivered out of fear of the outcome. If he is indeed the Heron, then they wouldn't have to do the mission again. But… is it really that easy? Is fate just giving them freebies?

Until the man released a deep sigh, which made Dalary raised her eyebrow, questioning his response to him. Then, he put his palm on his face and sighed once again. She just continued to keep quiet and listen to what he was about to say.

"That bastard," He cursed with a low voice and released his third sigh. She keeps on listening, even though she doesn't want to hear anything from him. It seems like she could feel his annoyance in his words. But why is he cursing?

"He's still using my identity as an excuse." He said, whispering to himself, but even with the quiet voice, she could still hear it between the walls of the corridor. There was no one to be seen except the two of them. So they could hear each other clearly.

"Kid–"

"It's Dalary."

As soon as she heard him treating her like a child, she introduced her name immediately with glaring eyes of threat. It's true that she was still young in tendrin years, but with four years gap between them and the humans', she was elder to the man in front of her, no matter how mature he was.

The man felt the rage in her eyes, which made him uneasy. He wouldn't expect her to be upset at the fact that she was called a 'kid'. But he didn't let it bother him.

"Well, Dalary, I'm not Heron." He said naturally, still couldn't be able to see his whole face. This made her eyes widened, filled with confusion and shock. Indeed, she had doubts about what Vison said, but she was still surprised that it was true. "My name is Saulin."

She didn't say anything as it seems like the man named Saulin was about to say more while he raised his hand and rubbed the back of his neck, cold sweat dripped through his cheeks.

"The Heron you were looking for is right under the biggest blacksmith shop at the Rochound District." He said, which made Dalary more shocked. "And you probably have met him already."

"What?"

She couldn't help but stand at her position, with jaw dropped and eyes widened. Unlike what he said earlier, she didn't expect the information he gave right now. She didn't have the slightest idea about it.

If what he said was true, then the real Heron could be inside of the blacksmith shop, especially Nilo and Vison. She thought that he couldn't be in the tournament at all, but she wouldn't guess that it was one of the guys that helped them. She knew that she couldn't be able to trust them.

"Sorry to disappoint you, see ya." Saulin bid goodbye, as he turned around in the opposite direction, leaving her stunned.

It could be possible that he was lying, trying to avoid people that were searching for him. But if he is, then he couldn't be able to escape from the tournament right now. Because of the encounter, she didn't know who to believe anymore. Is it Vison, the lazy blacksmith, or Saulin, the unknown warrior?

Without any leads who were telling the truth, she went back to their lounge where she saw Pholly on their way. They started to discuss their own encounters, which left each of them surprised.

"If that's the case, then we should tell the others," Pholly said, with her arms crossed on her chest, sitting on the couch, while her sister was sitting on a small wooden plank. Her doubts started to become true, but she didn't know that it could be one of the guys at the shop.

Her decision made Dalary lift her head and stand up, her face was loud of enough to tell her that she was against her decision.

"But we aren't sure of it yet!" She yelled, which she expected her to do. Her sister was cautious and full of suspicions on everything that they first met, and this time was no exception.

"It's better if we will move a step forward than just stay here, hoping that Heron will show up, right?" Pholly responded.

This made Dalary sit back on her seat, clenched her fists as she lowered her head. She gritted her teeth, didn't know what to decide. True, they must collect possible information that they could get, and confirm it rather than disregard it.

She couldn't help but sigh in her position and raised her head.

"Okay, I'll tell Meria and Cainne." She said, which made the others' eyes widened. "I'll let myself lose this round and you'll keep going to the final round."

"What?" She exclaimed, but with a lower voice than her shout before. Indeed, she said that one must tell the others the new information, but she didn't mean that one will sacrifice their position at the tournament.

"I mean, what else would it be?" Dalary shrugged as she moved the glowing light in her eyes, saying it was one of the obvious choices they could get in order to achieve their mission fast and direct. "Do you want me to be on the tournament up to finals and just chicken out?"

"I-I suppose…" Her idea made Pholly lowered her head, didn't have a choice but to accept her plan. It makes sense. Kandani was outside, clueless about the information or even what had been happening at the tournament, so he wouldn't be the best bet. It will only be one of them.

She stood up once again and smile, overflowing with confidence in her plan. If they could execute it nicely, then they could be able to find Heron fast and avoid the chasers that could possibly go at the kingdom.

"It's settled then!"

***

The one-hour break was finally over and the audience was back to their seats. Cainne and Meria didn't even bother to move away from their position, as there's a chance that it could be stolen. They continued to take the track of who was gonna enter the gates, with the encantor on the farther one and Meria on the gate below the stage.

The contestants including the two sisters moved out of their lounge and into the arena. The audience started cheering and yelling once again as they saw them. Meria only focused on Dalary, worried about her condition. She didn't witness the incident at Zentra, which led her friend into a deep sleep, but right now, she finally knew how frightening it was.

"Now, we'll be moving on to the second stage!" The announcer yelled at the top of his lungs, causing the crowd to scream louder than before. "But don't worry, that will be cut off immediately into 6! Because in this round, we'll be having… Egg Hunters!"

All of the people inside the dome started to cheer as loud as they can after hearing the title of the round. Cutting the contestants into only 6 finalists made them more excited about the event. This round might be disastrous than the previous one.

At the same time, a gigantic maze showed up from the ground in the middle of the arena in front of the contestants. The tall walls were made of hard steel, keeping from intruders to break it down on both sides. Inside this maze where golden eggs, some are guarded by giant monsters and beasts. Some of them are well-known ones, but the danger wasn't crossed out in their description.

The announcer explained the rules and regulations. He said that players will be divided into 9 groups. And in the maze, there are 9 eggs that were waiting for them.

"To win, one team must obtain all nine eggs!" He said, sticking his megaphone to his mouth, "Which means, only one team can move on to the final stage!"

His announcement made Dalary released a wide smirk on her face up to her ears, as she turned around to look at her sister, saying that everything went as she planned. Pholly noticed it and sighed at her overconfidence.

The group had finally been announced. Fortunately, Dalary and Pholly were on different teams, which made one's elimination much easier. And coincidence, the latter was on the same team as the mysterious lady that she met in the corridor.

They finally lined up and meet with their teams. Pholly was just waiting for the cue of the bell to execute their plan when suddenly, the mysterious lady, who was later known as Redael, approached her. She turned her head around with a raised eyebrow.

"You should listen to my advice earlier, or else…" She lowered her voice to keep the others from eavesdropping. Her arms crossed on her chest, with her eyes glaring at her, "You'll be doomed."

Pholly gulped at the second threat she was giving at the same time, the bell rang, signaling for them to start.