Chapter 471: The Aslan Tribe’s Most Trustworthy Residents

Never in Hyacinthe’s wildest dreams did he expect this simple infiltration mission to turn into a life-threatening ordeal.

It would have been better if only Blitz and Astravor were the ones chasing him. However, Boris wasn’t the smartest nor the most subtle monster in the Aslan Tribe.

The moment he descended from the mountain, the Drake Sovereign announced its presence by unleashing a deafening roar.

Naturally, this alerted the guards, causing them to finally see the movements of the intruder, who had managed to get past their first defensive wall.

"Intruder!" the guard shouted as he immediately started banging the bell, resulting in it being heard within Aslan City.

Suddenly, more bells started ringing, informing everyone that there was some kind of emergency.

The Sky Drakes, the Pteranodons, the Dread Wyverns, the Dread Condors, as well as the other flying monsters in the Aslan Tribe, all started to stir and took flight.

Soon, the skies were filled with roars and screeches as they all locked in on the Half-Elf that was jumping from one roof to the next.

’Damn it!’ Hyacinthe finally felt what it was like to stir a hornet’s nest. He didn’t even know what to think of it, too busy fleeing for his life.

It was then that he saw something flash in the darkness, forcing him to evade.

A lightning bolt struck the place where he stood a few seconds ago, making the Half-Elf understand that this had truly turned into a bad situation.

’I guess I have no choice!’ Hyacinthe gritted his teeth as he used the ability that might help him overcome this situation. "Phantasmagoria."

A ripple of power expanded from his body before Hyacinthe jumped down into an alley between two houses.

It was then that Blitz dived down like a bolt of lightning and landed in the alley where it had seen Hyacinthe go.

The flying squirrel, who was only one step away from winning, scanned his surroundings.

The intruder was nowhere to be found.

However, it did spot someone in the alley.

It was none other than... a squirrel.

*Squeak?* Blitz asked the squirrel if it had seen someone appear in the alley just a while ago.

The squirrel that Blitz asked blinked before raising its paw to point at the exit of the alley.

*Squeak!* Blitz thanked one of its brethren and sprinted to the other side.

Seeing that the flying squirrel was headed in another direction, Boris made a turn and followed behind Blitz.

Astravor was not far behind, its watchful gaze scanning the streets of the city.

Soon, more flying monsters flew over the alley as they spread out to continue their pursuit of the invader that they had lost sight of.

A few minutes later, the squirrel Blitz had seen in the alley climbed up on the rooftop and sighed in relief.

This squirrel was none other than Hyacinthe, who had temporarily morphed into a squirrel.

’What a mess,’ Hyacinthe thought as he listened to the alarm bells that were still ringing in the night.

By now, every other tribe was already up, asking the patrolling warriors of the Aslan Tribe about what had just happened.

When they were told that an intruder had tried to enter the fortress earlier, the tribes went into full alert.

Some had even volunteered to help in the search, to which the Aslan Warriors agreed.

Soon, hundreds of warriors were roaming the streets.

Most of them thought that the infiltrator might have belonged to a high-ranking tribe, and they were very curious to see what the Aslan Tribe’s fortress was like.

So, in order to avoid suspicion that this intruder had come from their tribe, they decided to participate and clear their names.

Not wanting to draw any attention to himself any longer, Hyacinthe made his way back to his own quarters.

But to his dismay, several squirrels ran alongside him. They, too, were helping in the search for the intruder.

Some of them even squeaked in Hyacinthe’s direction, probably asking him about something. However, since the Half-Elf couldn’t understand these beasts, he didn’t reply and simply ran as fast as he could.

Half an hour later, he finally arrived at his residence.

The alarm bells had also stopped ringing after Leone assured them that the situation was now under control.

After making sure that there was no one around, the Half-Elf finally returned to his original form.

"What a mess." Hyacinthe sighed. "That was a close call."

"Indeed. That was a close call."

The Half-Elf’s body stiffened as he slowly turned around to look at the couch in the dining room.

There, Leone sat feeling very much at home with a smile on his face.

"L-Lord Leone, what are you doing here?" Hyacinthe asked. "Do you need something from me?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," Leone replied. "I came here to apologize to you."

"Ah?" Hyacinthe blinked in confusion. "Apologize for what exactly?"

"I apologize that my friends got a bit too excited when they saw your attempt to infiltrate our fortress in Grimjaw Mountain," Leone answered.

At the young man’s words, the leader of the Orion Troupe’s body visibly flinched.

"...So you knew it was me." Hyacinthe didn’t know how Leone found out about his infiltration mission, but he had no plans to deny it.

If he did, things might escalate in the wrong direction, and he might lose the trust of his Master’s great-grandson.

"I apologize for my offense, Lord Leone." Hyacinthe bowed apologetically. "I was too full of myself, thinking no one would notice. I’ve greatly underestimated the warriors of the Aslan Tribe."

Leone didn’t bother to correct the Half-Elf’s misunderstanding. His warriors hadn’t been the ones who discovered him.

If anything, it was actually the squirrels who warned Blitz that there was a suspicious individual jumping from one roof to the other.

Of course, Daedalus had already detected Hyacinthe’s movements because it had secretly put a tracking spell on him earlier.

The grimoire then informed Leone of the situation, which led the young chieftain to observe how capable the leader of the Orion Troupe was.

"Since you want to see the fortress so much, then why don’t I take this opportunity to give you a tour?" Leone asked. "How does that sound?"

Hyacinthe’s first thought was to reject Leone’s invitation. However, rejecting him now might not be a good idea, especially after what had just happened earlier.

"I’m really sorry, Lord Leone." Hyacinthe knelt on one knee. "If you wish to punish me, I will accept any and all punishment for my transgressions."

He thought that the real reason why Leone was inviting him to the fortress was to interrogate him.

The young chieftain stared back at the kneeling Half-Elf for a moment before letting out a chuckle.

"Why are you kneeling? I already said that I came here to apologize," Leone said. "Why would I punish you after that?"

"But I tried to infiltrate your fortress without permission," Hyacinthe answered. "I might be a guest sent here by your great-grandfather, but I still did something unacceptable."

"And I said I wasn’t angry about it." Leone shrugged. "Besides, if I really wanted to punish you, do you really think I would have waited until now?"

Hyacinthe fell silent.

Good point.

If Leone truly had such an intention, he could have ordered his subordinates to capture him the moment his infiltration was discovered.

Instead, the young chieftain personally came to his residence and even offered to give him a tour of the fortress.

However, rather than feeling relieved, Hyacinthe found himself becoming even more wary.

There was no such thing as a free lunch.

And considering that Leone Frontera was the great-grandson of his Master, Lugh, he wondered who was more shameless between the two of them.

The more Hyacinthe observed the young man before him, the more he realized that he had truly underestimated this young chieftain.

He didn’t even sense his presence earlier when he entered his home.

Of course, Hyacinthe had no idea that the person sitting in front of him was not really Leone.

Instead, it was the young man’s clone, whom he had sent to wait in the Half-Elf’s house for his return.

Leone had only swapped consciousness with his clone the moment he confirmed that Hyacinthe had changed back to his original form.

The two then walked along the streets of the city, greeting the warriors who hurried to his side.

Leone’s clone explained that the intruder had already been captured, and that everyone should now go back to their posts.

The young man then called out to two passing Pteranodons and asked them to give him a lift back to the fortress.

Naturally, they obeyed the order of the young chieftain and descended to the ground.

When they reached the part of the city where Boris was circling around in search of the intruder, Leone’s clone told the Drake Sovereign that the intruder had already been caught.

He then asked Boris to follow him to the fortress since he had just received news from Eden that they had caught some more Black Hawks, which he believed would make Boris very happy.

Although it was disappointed that its prey had already been captured, Boris obediently flew ahead of Leone and Hyacinthe.

The three headed back to the fortress, while Blitz and the squirrels held a strategy meeting to ensure that no intruders would escape their sight ever again.

The little ones had no idea that the intruder had actually transformed into a squirrel, allowing him to escape.

If the Half-Elf hadn’t chosen a squirrel as a disguise, he wouldn’t have been able to escape the pursuit of Boris, Blitz, and Astravor.

In short, nobody would ever suspect the squirrels. After all, they were the Aslan Tribe’s most adorable and trustworthy residents!

And at the same time that Leone’s clone and Hyacinthe neared the fortress in Grimjaw Mountain, Otto’s night assault against the Aurelion Army had begun in full.