The Elusive Sorcerer

Chapter 127

"I don't want anything," Aaron replied calmly.

"Then...?" Zavi stared at his face cautiously.

"It's not that I'm rejecting your invitation, I just don't agree with the 'two days' in Kuranda you mentioned." Aaron played with the sand crumbling from the wall using his hand.

"..."

Zavi was left confused. He could only lower the bamboo hat blocking his eyes.

Realizing he had to explain it properly, Aaron quickly offered a suggestion that would benefit both of them.

"We're still going to Kuranda," Aaron said, "for one week or more. Besides, Kuranda is a major city in Havanuheta with technology far more advanced than this place. As for Synomia, there's no need to rush over there yet, and right now, there's something you need to settle first."

As Zavi listened carefully to Aaron's words, his eyes immediately lit up beneath the bamboo hat, realizing Aaron understood his situation.

"Thanks for the suggestion," Zavi said while lifting the brim of his bamboo hat with his thumb.

Aaron sighed, as if he didn't want to lose the moment itself, then quickly added:

"About the Finiscya sect hunting you that time.... by the way, what time is it now?"

He suddenly cut himself off after feeling as though something invisible was watching him, and changing the topic to confirm the current time felt like the safest option before continuing the conversation.

Zavi immediately pulled out his pocket watch and opened the lid.

Click...

Then he pointed it toward Aaron, lips tightly shut and face somewhat apathetic.

"Almost eleven at night, huh?"

He made a humming sound like a moth buzzing as he pondered whether this hour was suitable for an important discussion.

"I've been hunted for almost ten years by bounty hunters, underground groups, secret organizations, and one of the oldest orders; Soas Repena. That's what confuses me. We all know the three of us already told each other the reasons we became fugitives, right?"

"..."

Zavi responded with a nod.

Even though he already knew the answer, Aaron immediately continued after receiving it.

"Strangely enough, they're chasing you nonstop, and they seem obsessed with you."

Although Aaron's face remained indifferent and cold on the outside, inwardly he was laughing after learning why the heretical sect was hunting Zavi.

Especially the famous hunter group he suspected to be Seiaoffire based on the descriptions Zavi gave him, when in reality the group's name was Eistender.

Aaron felt Zavi's life was on an entirely different level compared to his own, even though his name and portrait had already appeared on wanted posters with a reward of 1000 Pace three months ago.

Zavi considered revealing his thoughts because he was deeply interested in discussing the demons.

"Yeah. Aaron. I know that something as ridiculous as 'saving kidnapped people' could completely turn my life upside down. I don't understand it, and I feel like an idiot because it's as if they somehow knew I survived that sudden hunt..."

Aaron responded with a serious gaze.

"There must've been something you did while rescuing those people kidnapped by the sect. Try to remember carefully!" Aaron said uncertainly.

"Did something while rescuing them?" Zavi repeated with a puzzled look.

He didn't remember doing anything unusual while saving the hostages, including his mother.

'Could it have something to do with those six people who died in the exact same gruesome way in Tezny?'

After muttering to himself, feeling the information he had heard from Karl still wasn't enough, he traced back his memories to when he was inside the KYomi library.

'KYomi? The war over five hundred years ago coincided with the 800s according to the lunar calendar. The era when tailed stars or comets fell. The mystery of petrified corpses in different positions? Discrimination between classes that still exists even now? Or because of that figure...'

Already traumatized from discussing the 'Myth of the 9 mysterious figures' whose legends had spread throughout almost the entire world, Zavi pushed his memories further to Ahiston, in the Tezny district.

'Could it be the destruction of Eaurealis Castle?'

His pupils widened and his breathing hitched as he stared at Aaron hopefully.

"A-Aaron," Zavi stammered, unable to continue as the words caught in his throat.

"Yeah. What is it?" Aaron replied somewhat apathetically.

"You... you were in Tezny during the fourth month, April, last year, right?" he asked hopefully.

Aaron fell silent for a moment, wondering what exactly Zavi was trying to find.

Not knowing what Zavi was truly after, a feeling of wariness instantly gripped his mind as he tightly clenched the dust beside him.

"Yeah, I arrived in Moran at the end of April..." Aaron answered hesitantly. "Why are you asking about that?"

"The destruction of Eaurealis Castle. Do you know who did it?"

"No idea," Aaron replied indifferently.

"Damn it..." Zavi cursed. "You definitely know about the destruction of that castle, and how the news blew up for days before it got buried under the usual stupid headlines."

Aaron stroked his chin.

"That much I know," he said while nodding. "The people you're talking about are a group called Mukaden, a notorious terrorist organization active across major provinces like Ninesorals, Vinohoshi, Nature, and cities like Greysia, Layana, and Yorkshire within Havanuheta's territory. They were all involved in those terrorist attacks."

"Was the damage really that bad?" Zavi asked curiously.

He didn't remember that the strange man speaking atop the bright green castle plaza, claiming Moran would become a sea of flames, had actually been telling the truth months earlier.

Aaron raised both hands while speaking in a tone as though he fully understood their acts of terror.

"Uuihh, their actions were like a blazing theater performance on a stage filled with cheering spectators, except this time the applause was replaced by the screams of the victims."

A deep sense of sorrow welled up inside Zavi as he silently mourned and prayed for the victims of those atrocities, hoping they rested peacefully above without resentment toward the people who killed them.

After several seconds of silence filled the room, Aaron immediately asked why.

"Are you searching for some kind of information?"

Zavi took a deep breath and answered tiredly, "Yeah, I'm searching for information related to our earlier conversation."

And only seconds after saying that, realization suddenly struck him.

'Eh, did I actually do something that makes me so easy for them to track? This definitely has something to do with occultism. I hate this...'

"I don't have any other choice..." Zavi whispered with a serious face.

After muttering to himself, Zavi immediately stood up, leaving Aaron alone without revealing his true purpose as he walked toward a room at the far end of where they had been talking.

Aaron, still sitting silently, watched Zavi's slightly straightened back and drooping shoulders as though he were searching for something important.

"Ck, sleeping sounds like a good idea," Aaron thought as drowsiness slowly overtook him while he watched the falling snow, his head turning to the right through the shattered glass window.

He had only been asleep for less than five minutes when his consciousness suddenly felt as though something touched it from within. Then he jolted awake as something rough pulled at his cheek, followed by a rough voice mixed with warmth.

"Wake up, hey... Looks like you slept pretty well too."

Even though the voice belonged to a woman, Aaron genuinely couldn't sense any femininity from her as he stared at the three people standing before him with narrowed eyes.

"What is it...?" he asked while yawning and unconsciously groping around as though searching for something.

The important conversation between the four of them finally began after a long pause while Aaron struggled to fully gather his senses.