Chapter 339 - Sasha?
After Valdel was done talking to Afeus he started walking back to the inn he was staying at. He continued feeling a little disappointed as he walked the nightly streets of the kingdom. He could hear the joyous conversations among the people regarding the fight earlier today. It would seem like everybody was talking about the tournament while drinking ale and being merry.
Watching a couple of friends talking to each other laughing and generally having a good time, Valdel was once again reminded about his own childhood friends. One of them was dead, this event had almost torn his heart apart. Another was missing, this was something he expected from Ren, but it has been too long and he was getting worried. While the last one who was still with him was not in the mood to talk to him.
"Lisa's gone, making Lara feel a bit distant nowadays. I know she's always been like that, but before no matter how distant I could still feel that our friendship was intact. Yet now I'm not sure anymore… Then when I finally got a lead on Ren's whereabouts it turns out it was nothing."
…
When Valdel saw Afeus in the qualifiers he was astonished to see that his way of combat looked a little bit like Ren's style of combat. It was incredibly crude compared to Ren's overwhelming style but the basics were still there.
Valdel truly thought that Afeus was someone personally taught by Ren. Yet the truth was a bit of a disappointment. Afeus wasn't taught by Ren but was taught by someone named Kretos.
'Was that style widely spread? Does that mean Ren was also taught by someone? If that's true then who taught him and when? I've been with Ren for so long and I haven't noticed anyone that could have taught him those things.'
While Valdel was thinking about his childhood, he saw Natasha running towards him.
"Valdel something happened to Sasha."
"Huh, what happened, is she alright?!"
"Yeah she's fine, but… You just need to come." Natasha pulled Valdel forward.
…
Valdel arrived at the inn they were he and the others were currently staying at. He quickly entered the room he rented and saw sitting at the corner of the room was a frightened-looking Sasha. She was looking at Valdel and the others with utmost fear.
"Who are you people, where have you taken me?!" She shouted as she tried looking for something she can use as a weapon.
"What's happening to you, Sasha?" Valdel tried to approach the frightened girl but she then started throwing things at him.
"Why do you people keep on calling me Sasha, my name's not Sasha!" Sasha(?) screamed at them.
"Alright, I believe you, so calm down first. We're not here to hurt you, we just want to understand what's happening." When Sasha(?) heard Valdel's voice she somehow felt soothed. When she looked at how sincere and worried he was Sasha(?) felt comforted. It was like an unknown force was making her feel better. A few minutes later Sasha finally calmed down.
"Are you feeling better now?" Zwei handed a glass of water. Sasha(?) nodded her head as she drank the glass of water seemingly no longer wary of Valdel and the others.
"So can you tell us what's your real name?"
"I'm called Meline."
"So Meline, what's the last thing you remember before waking up here?" As Valdel asked this he checked Meline's mana signature and felt that it was really different from Sasha's. Yet there was no mistaking that the person in front of him was the girl who named herself Sasha.
"The last thing I remember was that I was in my room sleeping when I heard someone whispering in my ear, after that nothing. I don't know how I came to this town nor how I met you, everything is a blank to me. Actually, we've been talking so much about me that I haven't even gotten your names. Who are you people, and where am I?"
Valdel introduced himself and the group before starting to tell the tale of how he and Meline met and how she called herself Sasha. After telling the story Meline looked even more confused and was starting to feel frightened again.
"What the heck?! I'm now in the Serbek Kingdom, that's two kingdoms over…" As Meline was getting even more disoriented, Valdel interrupted her thoughts.
"You said you heard someone whispering while you were asleep, do you remember what that person said? Can you remember if the person who was talking was a male or a female? Tell me everything you can about that whispering voice. We should be able to understand what happened to you."
"I was asleep, and I think the voice was that of a male… I'm not sure since it sounded weird in my ear. The voice sounded like scratches, I can't really explain it better. Just hearing it made me frightened since it felt like it was coming from a monster. I assumed I was having a nightmare as I couldn't move an inch. I simply closed my eyes and hope the nightmare will end."
Meline started to shiver as she recalled that night. It was so vivid in her memory it felt like it has just happened a few seconds ago. Her body was unable to move at the time as the voice felt like it was whispering directly in her ear. She even felt the person's breath or so she thought. As she was feeling afraid again, she suddenly felt a warm hand, hold onto her hand.
She looked and saw that the smiling boy called Valdel had held onto her hands. Seeing his smile and feeling his warmth made Meline feel secure, it made her feel safe. For some reason, this man that she just met made her feel confident.
"It's alright there's nothing to be scared of. If anything happens I promise I will protect you, no matter what." Hearing Valdel's resolute promise made Meline nod her head unconsciously. The three maidens with Valdel looked at the scene and sighed.
'This guy can really talk.' Natasha frowned as she watched the scene happening before her.
'The worst part is he isn't aware of what he's doing… Or is he aware?' Zwei pondered as she looked at her master.
'I wish master would hold me like that ' Nika thought to herself as she pouted.
Unaware of the thoughts of three girls Meline held onto Valdel's hand even tighter as she tried recalling what the voice said.
"I'm not entirely sure, but I think he said was something like. This vessel isn't worthy but I have no time. I'll use her for now and find a better vessel later. After that my consciousness blacked out, and when I came to I was already here."
…
While Valdel was trying to figure out what was happening to Meline, in another inn the hooded fighter Artifice was frowning.
"The target suddenly disappeared. This mission is getting more troublesome by the minute." Artifice sighed as he remembered that he was the only one in the organization able to do this mission since he was the youngest. He was the only one able to enter the tournament without raising too much suspicion.
'The target must have hidden her mana signature. Based on the reports the target would surely join the tournament. So that must mean the target is one of the participants but I checked all of them and none of them fit the bill. Is there perhaps a mistake in the intelligence we gathered?'
Artifice couldn't help but feel irritated by the increasing difficulty of the mission at hand. He was sent here to deal with some evil being, but even after four whole days in the city, he couldn't find the target. Worse yet was that until recently he could somehow sense the mana signature of the target and Artifice knew she was surely within the city but now Artifice wasn't so sure.
"Tsk, not only is the target hard to find but the contestants in the tournament aren't pushovers either. To fulfill the mission I must win the tournament and kill the target. Yet it's now proven that both will be quite difficult to achieve." Artifice once again sighed as he found his whole situation troublesome.
…
In a certain room, someone was looking at a mirror with a smile on their face.
"Now this is what I'm talking about. This one is way better than the last one I had. With this, I can finally do what I want." The mysterious person started to circulate their mana to see what he was dealing with. Once the person felt every inch of the new body they obtained the person was pleasantly surprised.
"This body is better than I thought! It's not as good as my original body but it can do. I can use this body to find my original one and then true fun chaos can start again. But for now, I guess I can settle with a little mischief."
"Hrl zngl hrmh fpgji, irmdei hrmh fnjd, seal he bnzl, mjd fl dlznjld. Flseal ao wpwwlhi mjd iwglmd hro zlmg mjd vbegnepi srmei irmbb mwwlmg!" The person started speaking in an unknown language that has been long forgotten.
A number of shadow figures appeared before the person. Seeing this made the person chuckle and smile a very sinister smile. "Now let's have some fun shall we." The person gave these shadowy figures an order. Hearing the person's orders the shadowy figures were about to disperse, someone else spoke which surprised the person.
"Oh, you want to have fun can I join in as well."
"Who's there?!"
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