154 154 – The Clash
“So, he’s making a special suit for the Scarlet Wizard so that she can become equal to a god?” Raymund concluded. “What do you think, Kimi? Will it work?”
“Honestly, I don’t know, My Lord.” Kimi clenched her fists. “And I don’t understand why it has to be a dress? Does it also contain seven elements like the ritual we used to do? Then, my father should have died in the land of the elves. He should have been hit by that blast of magic energy when Vilja succeeded….”
“I think that’s enough, Kimi.” Yua patted the petite elf’s shoulder. “Take a deep breath.”
Kimi obeyed what Yua said, then massaged her forehead again.
“Is there a chance you’ll talk to him?” Raymund continued.
“No.” The elf shook her head. “He’s on bad terms with me. I stole his research about the ritual and refined it. He considers me a very rebellious child.”
“So, he’s jealous of his own daughter… Ah, sorry.” Raymund was silent for a moment to think. “If you can’t talk to him, this might end badly. Perhaps we’ll have to fight your father to destroy that dress.”
“Honestly, it doesn’t matter to me, My Lord.” Kimi looked up, showing her expressionless face again. “I wanted to save him. He shouldn’t be in this world anymore. And, of course, I don’t want that energy explosion similar to my past ritual to happen again. There will be many victims.”.
“I know.” Raymund’s tone became more serious. “Listen to me then.”
***
Raymund’s servants were awakened by the commotion that had occurred that morning. They were still very sleepy because they had something to do last night, namely Kimi practicing to flow magic energy into Yua’s body. The kunoichi then used her illusion skills with Elise as a guinea pig.
“Come on! Hurry up!” Megan walked over, clapping her hands together. “We just got word from one of the scouts! He found the place where the cursed dress was hidden! Now we’re going to raid there!”
Lynn hurried over to the leader. “But, we can’t be reckless like that, madam! The first information we got was a trap, and we lost a lot of members!
“So, what should we do?” Megan put her hands on her hips, bringing her face closer to Lynn’s, while the other members watched. “We should just keep quiet while we have the information!? Is that what you want!?”
“Well, at least check it more carefully!”
A loud laugh escaped the leader’s mouth. “Well, we’ve confirmed that! That cursed outfit is in there! Why waste time!?”
Before they could yell at each other again, Rupert came and separated the two women. “Stop. There’s no point in fighting like this.”
Yua then approached them and spoke. “I know it might not be appropriate for me to speak like this. We are new members, after all. However, we have a strategy…”
“Sorry, we may have accepted the three of you, but that doesn’t mean you can meddle in our affairs.” Grayson interrupted. The bald man came to the kunoichi with a big smile.
“But…”
“Please, the situation is not good, and we are going on a big mission.” The bald man continued. “Don’t make things worse. If you want to come with us, go ahead. Otherwise, you are free to stay here or leave.”
“Enough, Yua.” Raymund prevented his servant from making an argument. “Leave them alone. We’ll do that plan later after this raid.”
The servants were somewhat surprised by their master’s decision, but no one objected.
“Relax.” The god added. “No one’s going to die yet. The people in the town just want to make other people wear clothes.”
Yua couldn’t help but close her eyes and sigh, frustrated that she wasn’t given a chance to speak yet again.
“We’ve wasted a lot of time on this bullshit!” Megan made another announcement. “Get everything ready. We’ll be leaving in a minute.”
Rupert approached Raymund’s servants, whispering to them. “I hope you girls are careful and don’t get caught by the people in that town. If this raid fails and many of us are caught, we will definitely ask for your help.”
“It’s too late. We’re screwed.” With teary eyes, Lynn looked at her comrades who were getting ready, “Why did you stop me earlier?”
Rupert rubbed his face. “Believe me, shouting like that is useless. After all, Megan is their leader. Our friends will still follow her in the end. You will be the one who will be in trouble if you continue to fight her.”
Raymund’s servants exchanged glances for a few seconds.
“Alright, we’ll also ask for your help later.” Yua finally answered.
***
People were divided into four groups, each taking a different path to that dress location. Lynn, Rupert, and the three female servants walk along with the other three members.
“So far, all of you are still on the right track to where the cursed dress is hidden.” Raymund continued to survey the buildings around the street. “But I’m still not sure about separating groups like this. They can’t make communication for long-distance. Coordination will be difficult. What if they ambush one or more groups? The plan to attack the dress location all at once got ruined.”
Elise glanced at the three women following her and her companions. The camp members’ gazes had softened to Raymund’s servants, except for those three.
“You feel it too, right?” Yua made as quiet a voice as possible. “Something’s not right.”
“But, it’s better than you guys making a fuss at the beginning. Even if those people sympathize with Elise, they will still help their friends against the three of you.” Raymund responded. “The best way is to play along with them for a while.”
Suddenly, Elise stopped and looked up at the roof of one of the buildings. “Looks like we’re being followed.”
The three other members of that group raised their weapons, then someone jumped from the roof of the building that Elise was looking at.
“What does all this mean, Greyson!?” Lynn raised her knife in a huff of emotion.
The bald man, who had just landed on the marble road, gave an arrogant smile.
Not long after that, someone else emerged from an alley, strolling and whistling.
“Zak.” Rupert hissed, picking up the club from his belt.
“Hello, big brother.” The man with orange hair smirked.