Chapter 178: Simple Reasons

In the city of Frein.

"Ah!" — a woman’s loud scream echoed through the streets.

Many men rushed out with weapons in hand, their steps filled with fear, to see what had happened. When they reached the woman, they looked at her in confusion.

"Sorry, it was just a rat among the rubble..." she explained, lowering her head in embarrassment.

The men frowned, but they still couldn’t relax. They couldn’t; not after what had happened, not after what they had witnessed that day. None of them wanted to approach the city gates. The smell of blood and the human remains that still lingered there were not something any of them wanted to deal with.

"Do you think...?" — the doubtful voice of one of the men broke the silence. "Do you think this is God’s punishment? Maybe our empire shouldn’t be worshiping that woman..."

No one answered. No one dared to. Only the ominous sound of fear remained in the air.

DONG! DONG!

The sound of the bells at the front of the city startled everyone. The guards had left that area long ago; everyone thought no one would be crazy enough to approach with the scene that remained outside.

Their leader stepped forward, swallowed hard, and turned to head toward the gate where the bells had rung. Some followed him, while curious civilians began appearing along the way. When he finally reached the entrance, he slowly raised his hand. With the other, he took out the key to remove the padlocks that kept them "safe" inside, and opened the door.

It was just one person standing there, looking around uncertainly. When the door opened, his eyes widened in disbelief. He looked at the people inside, who were staring at him as if he were the devil himself, and frowned.

He straightened his clothes, swallowed once to gather strength, and introduced himself:

"I am an informant for the Empress of Weaver. I was supposed to follow the Third Sword, but I was delayed by a few days. Can you tell me what happened? I need to report this urgently."

The citizens looked at one another.

What could they say to him?

They had no idea what had happened, and the vast majority of them were already exhausted from the attack by the corroded beasts. No one wanted to mention that, on top of that, the people who had come to "help" had exploded out of nowhere into a mist of blood.

But someone we already knew—the guard who had stopped Thalassa and Cassian’s carriage—stepped forward hesitantly.

He wasn’t sure if what he was about to say was relevant, but he was certain they had to offer an explanation; otherwise, the next sword sent by the empire wouldn’t be to steal their supplies, but to hang them all.

...

Xana’s gaze traveled across the carriage and her new clothes with excitement as she looked at the man who had defeated her with deep admiration.

"Don’t bother him," Thalassa’s voice drew the wolf woman’s attention. She turned her gaze toward her with curiosity.

"Is he tired from fighting Xana?"

Thalassa shook her head and instead asked back: "Where are you going?"

"Huh? Xana isn’t going anywhere, she just wants to travel."

The siren frowned. "If you’re going to come with us, you should know that this man is deceiving you. You can’t trust him."

The wild-looking woman’s eyelashes blinked rapidly in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Do you have that little common sense?"

"Xana doesn’t need that! Xana respects the strong!" — her tail bristled with annoyance. "If you have a problem, we can settle it by fighting." The wolf woman’s eyes began to burn with excitement; her pupils dilated and a smile revealed just how thrilled the idea made her.

Thalassa frowned, but before she could say anything, Cassian interrupted her: "Xana, come here."

The beast woman obeyed instantly and approached him. He gestured to his side, and she sat down beside him without resistance. Cassian opened his eyes slightly to look at the woman who had stayed on the other side—just to irritate her—then closed them again and rested his head on the wolf girl’s lap, adopting a completely relaxed posture.

Thalassa clenched her fist, but quickly calmed down, trying not to let the situation affect her. "I hope you don’t act like this when we arrive," she said angrily, feeling ignored.

He opened one eye while simultaneously bringing a hand to his mouth and letting out a long yawn. "Are you that afraid I’ll end up being the one who destroys your race?"

Thalassa’s eyes suddenly widened as she realized in that instant that she was bringing a ticking time bomb to her own home. She rolled her eyes and tried to compose herself. "No one in Azure is that stupid. The person I bring will be treated in the best possible way."

"So sure..." he murmured. "But if you don’t tell them the real reason I’m going, I highly doubt there won’t be comments. In fact, we could make a bet about it."

"I’m not going to bet on the possibility of you destroying my home. And you still owe me..." she whispered the last part very quietly, trying not to bring up the previous bet again.

"Mmm, but we could cancel that bet. Although, if you lose again, the burden will increase."

"Doesn’t sound like a good deal for you."

He shrugged on Xana’s lap. The wolf woman remained stiff beside him, though her tail wagged from side to side, clearly pleased.

"Xana wants a bet too!" the wolf girl exclaimed enthusiastically. "If Xana wins, Xana gets to fight you again!"

His laughter filled the carriage. "Mmm, we’ll fight again soon, Xana. But for that, you have to make sure you listen to me properly."

"Mmm, Xana will listen to her owner!"

He stroked her head in response.

"You’re very gentle with her," Thalassa added, watching the gesture.

"I like people with simple reasons," he replied, like a direct jab at the blue-haired woman.

"What makes you think she’s simple? She could be faking everything. It’s not like you haven’t shown what you’re capable of just a little while ago."

Xana didn’t seem affected by Thalassa’s words, while Cassian had no interest in listening to a jealous woman.

Although... his eyes narrowed slightly. Maybe she wasn’t entirely wrong.

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Author’s Note

Hello everyone!

Let’s not talk about Cassian’s betrayal of Adela... or this suspiciously foolish wolfgirl.

If you want to read ahead or throw some support my way, you can check out my Patreon. Otherwise, that’s all for this week’s batch of Chapters.

Hope you liked them!

Thank you for reading! Have a great weekend, and see you on Monday!

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