Chapter 333
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Alec was rendered speechless when he realized that Elysia had picked up a new pet – or rather, a new familiar – the Ash Phoenix that had led him on a merry chase all a few years ago.
He was relatively certain that it was the same Ash Phoenix.
It made him wonder if the Ash Phoenix knew that some day it would bond with Elysia and was thus nearby when she first broke out together with Haphira.
It wouldn't surprise him. They said that animals and creatures, not to mention magical beasts, had a higher connection with 'fate' and were able to sense the person they have a connection to in the future.
As he had a staring contest with the Ash Phoenix, who stared back at him with unblinking eyes, Elysia was cooing over the little girl that looked almost like a miniature version of herself with Alec's eyes.
She was already attached without the little girl doing anything. One was quiet and smiled at Elysia from time to time, which made Dominique unbearably jealous.
One seemed rather docile in Elysia's grip as well, and Dominique looked hilariously abandoned by the side, his arms empty.
Alec's lips almost wanted to twitch, but he didn't because he was still locked in a staring contest together with the Ash Phoenix.
Alec reached forward a little to the Ash Phoenix, who nipped his fingers before flying back to Elysia and burrowing under her shirt.
Alec felt his brow twitch as he glared at the offending avian creature, his fingers similarly twitching.
The Ash Phoenix peeked out from under Elysia's shirt.
Alec glared at it.
It also made him wonder… Ash Phoenixes were said to be the herald of death, but it wasn't singing this time.
Alec made a hesitant conclusion that it was more that the Ash Phoenix was able to sense the upcoming events that resulted in numerous deaths, but not the outright cause of it.
Thinking up to this point, he felt a little better about his subordinate having an Ash Phoenix as a familiar.
Maybe this would allow Dominique and Elysia to get along better –
"So, we're going to Rosier City?" Elysia asked, her eyes bright.
"Yes," Alec said, "their information gathering should have been complete by now. The Ross Clan is rather large, and Travis should have information that he'd be willing to part with."
Alec watched Elysia to see if she had any misgivings about seeing Travis again, then wondered whether or not she knew who he was talking about.
"That's the guy who we saw back when we first arrived on the Awerk continent," Alec added.
Elysia nodded cheerfully. "Ooh, the one with the other – er – Sounds fun!" she chirped.
Alec looked carefully to see whether she was hiding anything, only to relax a little when he saw that she didn't show any signs.
"There's no time to waste."
-Author only posts on w.e.b.n.o.v.e.l.-
Rosier City was on a much tighter lockdown compared to before.
The security was stricter, but it wasn't obviously so. At least, the civilians obviously hadn't noticed much of an increase, and that was how the Ross Clan wanted it.
But Alec could feel their roving eyes, and the way there were a lot more patrols in the city.
Still, he had to wonder about the efficiency about having more patrols instead of running damage control over their clan.
He definitely wouldn't just add more patrols throughout the city. He had to find out if the security over the clan compounds had increased more as well.
Alec supposed that them wearing cloaks with hoods didn't help matters any, but when they lowered them, the scrutiny on them lessened a little.
"Master," Loeri said, "that person is looking at you!"
"Yes, Loeri. I know. Can you track them down for me?"
"I can."
Loeri waited for the wind to blow in that person's direction before she sprinkled some of her seeds, satisfied when it stuck to that person's clothes.
Since her seeds were so small and naked to the eye, they wouldn't be discovered.
"They're bad people," Loeri said seriously, waving in Alec's hair.
"Good job." Alec reached up and patted Loeri on her cap.
The System got a vague sense that Loeri was preening.
There was a vague sense of dissatisfaction that Alec felt coming from Bunbun, and the System helplessly patted his bunny as well, then his wolf. All three of his familiars preened under his attention.
Bunbun and Fenrir were gathered in the hollow of his hood now that he wasn't wearing it, and he was attracting a few more glances than usual.
He'd already arranged to meet Travis later on discreetly, and anyone that was keeping more than a passing glance on him probably didn't have any good intentions.
More than that, his gut was screaming at him that this was possibly part of 'the company' that had escaped the Ross Clan's tightened security.
He just knew it. He wasn't a Main Character himself for nothing.
The thought made him bitter, but he was willing to use it for what it was worth.
Alec ducked into a nearby alleyway, following Loeri's instructions.
While he could track them using his range detection, it was much harder to do so in a city like this where there were a lot of people mingling together and overlapping.
These days, he tried not to look too hard lest he spontaneously combust one day. There were downsides to finer control over his magic.
"There!" Loeri pointed, and it led to an abandoned warehouse that looked like it had seen better days.
Alec was briefly speechless.
Why did it always lead to some sort of abandoned building?
Wasn't it more covert if it was in a populated building that had a lot of people going in and out?
Wouldn't that make it a lot easier to blend in and hide their 'covert' doings?
Damn common plot points!
There wasn't one time where he was led to a nice, clean place where he didn't have to worry about the conspicuous amounts of dust in the air.
There was more than one person waiting inside, and Alec briefly wondered about what the patrols from the Ross Clan were doing if they allowed a number of people like this to gather.
No.
Okay, that was it.
This was the last straw. Or, rather, the last abandoned building.
The Ross Clan patrols could deal with it.
Alec didn't enter the building (thank god), but instead moved away from it.
While he could, of course, enter and dispatch all of the people inside, why should he do that when he could pass on the job and avoid getting his hands dirty?
So, Alec slipped out from the alleyways and quickly alerted the nearest patrol team.
"Excuse me, I spotted some suspicious people going into an abandoned warehouse down that alleyway!"
While some of them gave him suspicious looks, they still went after his lead while they left one person behind.
The security guard questioned Alec, "Why were you following them?"
At this moment, there was an outbreak of chaos when one of the nearby fruit stands came crashing down, sending the people passing by into a moment of confusion and panic.
The security guard's head whipped in that direction, but when he saw that it was being neatly contained, he turned back to continue questioning the person giving them a lead.
Only to find that he was gone.
The security guard gawked at the empty space. The hooded informant was gone.
Nearby, Bunbun hopped back onto Alec's cloak and burrowed under it after he finished causing a disturbance nearby for Alec to get away unseen. He popped back out and joined Fenrir after Alec swept his hood back down.
Alec would never complain again about how differently people treated him when the hood was up and the hood was down.
Troublesome matters dealt with; Alec headed towards the place where he was supposed to meet up with Travis.
No doubt that the young master of the Ross Clan would receive news later on about the people that had likely been apprehended already.
The System sat down on a table at the bar, his hood now back up as he drank his mildly alcoholic drink.
Alec licked his lips. It was rather sweet.
What Alec didn't see was the various looks of confusion when he drank his various mugs of alcohol without a problem.
The amount of alcohol in this one particular drink was known to knock people out with just a small little glass.
Yet, Alec was chugging it down with a mug instead.
He drew both admiration and worry from the bar's inhabitants.
Within ten minutes, Travis entered the place, and the people that had been staring at Alec still drinking looked away.
No wonder.
This person was a friend of the first young master of the Ross Clan.
Young Master Travis sure had powerful friends!
"Hey," Travis greeted, "how could you just ditch me like that without a word? You caused so much chaos!"
Alec snorted before pasting down a silencing seal on the table.
The people that had been listening in sighed in dissatisfaction when the sound cut off.
The young master's friend had to be rich. Or really influential. Silencing seals like that were only used by those who could get them.
And they weren't so easy to make.
Up to this point, there had been a few people that had been having a few extra thoughts about Alec, but not anymore.
Travis' eyes flashed with appreciation at the silencing seal.
"So, what is it you want?" The young master leaned back in his seat.
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Alec was rendered speechless when he realized that Elysia had picked up a new pet – or rather, a new familiar – the Ash Phoenix that had led him on a merry chase all a few years ago.
He was relatively certain that it was the same Ash Phoenix.
It made him wonder if the Ash Phoenix knew that some day it would bond with Elysia and was thus nearby when she first broke out together with Haphira.
It wouldn't surprise him. They said that animals and creatures, not to mention magical beasts, had a higher connection with 'fate' and were able to sense the person they have a connection to in the future.
As he had a staring contest with the Ash Phoenix, who stared back at him with unblinking eyes, Elysia was cooing over the little girl that looked almost like a miniature version of herself with Alec's eyes.
She was already attached without the little girl doing anything. One was quiet and smiled at Elysia from time to time, which made Dominique unbearably jealous.
One seemed rather docile in Elysia's grip as well, and Dominique looked hilariously abandoned by the side, his arms empty.
Alec's lips almost wanted to twitch, but he didn't because he was still locked in a staring contest together with the Ash Phoenix.
Alec reached forward a little to the Ash Phoenix, who nipped his fingers before flying back to Elysia and burrowing under her shirt.
Alec felt his brow twitch as he glared at the offending avian creature, his fingers similarly twitching.
The Ash Phoenix peeked out from under Elysia's shirt.
Alec glared at it.
It also made him wonder… Ash Phoenixes were said to be the herald of death, but it wasn't singing this time.
Alec made a hesitant conclusion that it was more that the Ash Phoenix was able to sense the upcoming events that resulted in numerous deaths, but not the outright cause of it.
Thinking up to this point, he felt a little better about his subordinate having an Ash Phoenix as a familiar.
Maybe this would allow Dominique and Elysia to get along better –
"So, we're going to Rosier City?" Elysia asked, her eyes bright.
"Yes," Alec said, "their information gathering should have been complete by now. The Ross Clan is rather large, and Travis should have information that he'd be willing to part with."
Alec watched Elysia to see if she had any misgivings about seeing Travis again, then wondered whether or not she knew who he was talking about.
"That's the guy who we saw back when we first arrived on the Awerk continent," Alec added.
Elysia nodded cheerfully. "Ooh, the one with the other – er – Sounds fun!" she chirped.
Alec looked carefully to see whether she was hiding anything, only to relax a little when he saw that she didn't show any signs.
"There's no time to waste."
-Author only posts on w.e.b.n.o.v.e.l.-
Rosier City was on a much tighter lockdown compared to before.
The security was stricter, but it wasn't obviously so. At least, the civilians obviously hadn't noticed much of an increase, and that was how the Ross Clan wanted it.
But Alec could feel their roving eyes, and the way there were a lot more patrols in the city.
Still, he had to wonder about the efficiency about having more patrols instead of running damage control over their clan.
He definitely wouldn't just add more patrols throughout the city. He had to find out if the security over the clan compounds had increased more as well.
Alec supposed that them wearing cloaks with hoods didn't help matters any, but when they lowered them, the scrutiny on them lessened a little.
"Master," Loeri said, "that person is looking at you!"
"Yes, Loeri. I know. Can you track them down for me?"
"I can."
Loeri waited for the wind to blow in that person's direction before she sprinkled some of her seeds, satisfied when it stuck to that person's clothes.
Since her seeds were so small and naked to the eye, they wouldn't be discovered.
"They're bad people," Loeri said seriously, waving in Alec's hair.
"Good job." Alec reached up and patted Loeri on her cap.
The System got a vague sense that Loeri was preening.
There was a vague sense of dissatisfaction that Alec felt coming from Bunbun, and the System helplessly patted his bunny as well, then his wolf. All three of his familiars preened under his attention.
Bunbun and Fenrir were gathered in the hollow of his hood now that he wasn't wearing it, and he was attracting a few more glances than usual.
He'd already arranged to meet Travis later on discreetly, and anyone that was keeping more than a passing glance on him probably didn't have any good intentions.
More than that, his gut was screaming at him that this was possibly part of 'the company' that had escaped the Ross Clan's tightened security.
He just knew it. He wasn't a Main Character himself for nothing.
The thought made him bitter, but he was willing to use it for what it was worth.
Alec ducked into a nearby alleyway, following Loeri's instructions.
While he could track them using his range detection, it was much harder to do so in a city like this where there were a lot of people mingling together and overlapping.
These days, he tried not to look too hard lest he spontaneously combust one day. There were downsides to finer control over his magic.
"There!" Loeri pointed, and it led to an abandoned warehouse that looked like it had seen better days.
Alec was briefly speechless.
Why did it always lead to some sort of abandoned building?
Wasn't it more covert if it was in a populated building that had a lot of people going in and out?
Wouldn't that make it a lot easier to blend in and hide their 'covert' doings?
Damn common plot points!
There wasn't one time where he was led to a nice, clean place where he didn't have to worry about the conspicuous amounts of dust in the air.
There was more than one person waiting inside, and Alec briefly wondered about what the patrols from the Ross Clan were doing if they allowed a number of people like this to gather.
No.
Okay, that was it.
This was the last straw. Or, rather, the last abandoned building.
The Ross Clan patrols could deal with it.
Alec didn't enter the building (thank god), but instead moved away from it.
While he could, of course, enter and dispatch all of the people inside, why should he do that when he could pass on the job and avoid getting his hands dirty?
So, Alec slipped out from the alleyways and quickly alerted the nearest patrol team.
"Excuse me, I spotted some suspicious people going into an abandoned warehouse down that alleyway!"
While some of them gave him suspicious looks, they still went after his lead while they left one person behind.
The security guard questioned Alec, "Why were you following them?"
At this moment, there was an outbreak of chaos when one of the nearby fruit stands came crashing down, sending the people passing by into a moment of confusion and panic.
The security guard's head whipped in that direction, but when he saw that it was being neatly contained, he turned back to continue questioning the person giving them a lead.
Only to find that he was gone.
The security guard gawked at the empty space. The hooded informant was gone.
Nearby, Bunbun hopped back onto Alec's cloak and burrowed under it after he finished causing a disturbance nearby for Alec to get away unseen. He popped back out and joined Fenrir after Alec swept his hood back down.
Alec would never complain again about how differently people treated him when the hood was up and the hood was down.
Troublesome matters dealt with; Alec headed towards the place where he was supposed to meet up with Travis.
No doubt that the young master of the Ross Clan would receive news later on about the people that had likely been apprehended already.
The System sat down on a table at the bar, his hood now back up as he drank his mildly alcoholic drink.
Alec licked his lips. It was rather sweet.
What Alec didn't see was the various looks of confusion when he drank his various mugs of alcohol without a problem.
The amount of alcohol in this one particular drink was known to knock people out with just a small little glass.
Yet, Alec was chugging it down with a mug instead.
He drew both admiration and worry from the bar's inhabitants.
Within ten minutes, Travis entered the place, and the people that had been staring at Alec still drinking looked away.
No wonder.
This person was a friend of the first young master of the Ross Clan.
Young Master Travis sure had powerful friends!
"Hey," Travis greeted, "how could you just ditch me like that without a word? You caused so much chaos!"
Alec snorted before pasting down a silencing seal on the table.
The people that had been listening in sighed in dissatisfaction when the sound cut off.
The young master's friend had to be rich. Or really influential. Silencing seals like that were only used by those who could get them.
And they weren't so easy to make.
Up to this point, there had been a few people that had been having a few extra thoughts about Alec, but not anymore.
Travis' eyes flashed with appreciation at the silencing seal.
"So, what is it you want?" The young master leaned back in his seat.
Alec was rendered speechless when he realized that Elysia had picked up a new pet or rather, a new familiar the Ash Phoenix that had led him on a merry chase all a few years ago.He was relatively certain that it was the same Ash Phoenix.It made him wonder if the Ash Phoenix knew that some day it would bond with Elysia and was thus nearby when she first broke out together with Haphira.It wouldn't surprise him. They said that animals and creatures, not to mention magical beasts, had a higher connection with 'fate' and were able to sense the person they have a connection to in the future.As he had a staring contest with the Ash Phoenix, who stared back at him with unblinking eyes, Elysia was cooing over the little girl that looked almost like a miniature version of herself with Alec's eyes.She was already attached without the little girl doing anything. One was quiet and smiled at Elysia from time to time, which made Dominique unbearably jealous.One seemed rather docile in Elysia's grip as well, and Dominique looked hilariously abandoned by the side, his arms empty.Alec's lips almost wanted to twitch, but he didn't because he was still locked in a staring contest together with the Ash Phoenix.Alec reached forward a little to the Ash Phoenix, who nipped his fingers before flying back to Elysia and burrowing under her shirt.Alec felt his brow twitch as he glared at the offending avian creature, his fingers similarly twitching.The Ash Phoenix peeked out from under Elysia's shirt.Alec glared at it.It also made him wonder Ash Phoenixes were said to be the herald of death, but it wasn't singing this time.Alec made a hesitant conclusion that it was more that the Ash Phoenix was able to sense the upcoming events that resulted in numerous deaths, but not the outright cause of it.Thinking up to this point, he felt a little better about his subordinate having an Ash Phoenix as a familiar.Maybe this would allow Dominique and Elysia to get along better "So, we're going to Rosier City?" Elysia asked, her eyes bright."Yes," Alec said, "their information gathering should have been complete by now. The Ross Clan is rather large, and Travis should have information that he'd be willing to part with."Alec watched Elysia to see if she had any misgivings about seeing Travis again, then wondered whether or not she knew who he was talking about."That's the guy who we saw back when we first arrived on the Awerk continent," Alec added.Elysia nodded cheerfully. "Ooh, the one with the other er Sounds fun!" she chirped.Alec looked carefully to see whether she was hiding anything, only to relax a little when he saw that she didn't show any signs."There's no time to waste."-Author only posts on w.e.b.n.o.v.e.l.-Rosier City was on a much tighter lockdown compared to before.The security was stricter, but it wasn't obviously so. At least, the civilians obviously hadn't noticed much of an increase, and that was how the Ross Clan wanted it.But Alec could feel their roving eyes, and the way there were a lot more patrols in the city.Still, he had to wonder about the efficiency about having more patrols instead of running damage control over their clan.He definitely wouldn't just add more patrols throughout the city. He had to find out if the security over the clan compounds had increased more as well.Alec supposed that them wearing cloaks with hoods didn't help matters any, but when they lowered them, the scrutiny on them lessened a little."Master," Loeri said, "that person is looking at you!""Yes, Loeri. I know. Can you track them down for me?""I can."Loeri waited for the wind to blow in that person's direction before she sprinkled some of her seeds, satisfied when it stuck to that person's clothes.Since her seeds were so small and naked to the eye, they wouldn't be discovered."They're bad people," Loeri said seriously, waving in Alec's hair."Good job." Alec reached up and patted Loeri on her cap.The System got a vague sense that Loeri was preening.There was a vague sense of dissatisfaction that Alec felt coming from Bunbun, and the System helplessly patted his bunny as well, then his wolf. All three of his familiars preened under his attention.Bunbun and Fenrir were gathered in the hollow of his hood now that he wasn't wearing it, and he was attracting a few more glances than usual.He'd already arranged to meet Travis later on discreetly, and anyone that was keeping more than a passing glance on him probably didn't have any good intentions.More than that, his gut was screaming at him that this was possibly part of 'the company' that had escaped the Ross Clan's tightened security.He just knew it. He wasn't a Main Character himself for nothing.The thought made him bitter, but he was willing to use it for what it was worth.Alec ducked into a nearby alleyway, following Loeri's instructions.While he could track them using his range detection, it was much harder to do so in a city like this where there were a lot of people mingling together and overlapping.These days, he tried not to look too hard lest he spontaneously combust one day. There were downsides to finer control over his magic."There!" Loeri pointed, and it led to an abandoned warehouse that looked like it had seen better days.Alec was briefly speechless.Why did it always lead to some sort of abandoned building?Wasn't it more covert if it was in a populated building that had a lot of people going in and out?Wouldn't that make it a lot easier to blend in and hide their 'covert' doings?Damn common plot points!There wasn't one time where he was led to a nice, clean place where he didn't have to worry about the conspicuous amounts of dust in the air.There was more than one person waiting inside, and Alec briefly wondered about what the patrols from the Ross Clan were doing if they allowed a number of people like this to gather.No.Okay, that was it.This was the last straw. Or, rather, the last abandoned building.The Ross Clan patrols could deal with it.Alec didn't enter the building thank god, but instead moved away from it.While he could, of course, enter and dispatch all of the people inside, why should he do that when he could pass on the job and avoid getting his hands dirty?So, Alec slipped out from the alleyways and quickly alerted the nearest patrol team."Excuse me, I spotted some suspicious people going into an abandoned warehouse down that alleyway!"While some of them gave him suspicious looks, they still went after his lead while they left one person behind.The security guard questioned Alec, "Why were you following them?"At this moment, there was an outbreak of chaos when one of the nearby fruit stands came crashing down, sending the people passing by into a moment of confusion and panic.The security guard's head whipped in that direction, but when he saw that it was being neatly contained, he turned back to continue questioning the person giving them a lead.Only to find that he was gone.The security guard gawked at the empty space. The hooded informant was gone.Nearby, Bunbun hopped back onto Alec's cloak and burrowed under it after he finished causing a disturbance nearby for Alec to get away unseen. He popped back out and joined Fenrir after Alec swept his hood back down.Alec would never complain again about how differently people treated him when the hood was up and the hood was down.Troublesome matters dealt with; Alec headed towards the place where he was supposed to meet up with Travis.No doubt that the young master of the Ross Clan would receive news later on about the people that had likely been apprehended already.The System sat down on a table at the bar, his hood now back up as he drank his mildly alcoholic drink.Alec licked his lips. It was rather sweet.What Alec didn't see was the various looks of confusion when he drank his various mugs of alcohol without a problem.The amount of alcohol in this one particular drink was known to knock people out with just a small little glass.Yet, Alec was chugging it down with a mug instead.He drew both admiration and worry from the bar's inhabitants.Within ten minutes, Travis entered the place, and the people that had been staring at Alec still drinking looked away.No wonder.This person was a friend of the first young master of the Ross Clan.Young Master Travis sure had powerful friends!"Hey," Travis greeted, "how could you just ditch me like that without a word? You caused so much chaos!"Alec snorted before pasting down a silencing seal on the table.The people that had been listening in sighed in dissatisfaction when the sound cut off.The young master's friend had to be rich. Or really influential. Silencing seals like that were only used by those who could get them.And they weren't so easy to make.Up to this point, there had been a few people that had been having a few extra thoughts about Alec, but not anymore.Travis' eyes flashed with appreciation at the silencing seal."So, what is it you want?" The young master leaned back in his seat.
