"Now that you mention it, I see it too." Another girl agreed. She didn't believe she hadn't noticed it before. "Other than the two people who escorted us, we haven't seen a single person in this town. What is happening here?"
"What's there to be surprised about?" Rong burst into laughter. "You're all overthinking. This is a small town. What else did you expect from it? This town is near the beast mountain. It's clear that people would prefer to stay in much safer towns. Most of them would've already left this town, leaving this place almost empty. Just stop overthinking."
"That's quite possible," Huang agreed. "Instead of worrying about such minor things, we should keep our focus on the Beast Mountain. Don't forget what we're here for."
Even though the empty town was slightly strange, Rong's excuse also made sense for most. In any case, they hadn't sensed any danger in this town.
After around five minutes, Olivia came out of the house and escorted the six inside the house, where they were provided accommodation.
After showing everyone their rooms and helping them settle down, Olivia finally left the place with Gabriel. She didn't forget to tell the Guest House Owner to make sure that these people didn't see the destroyed Church.
Xin stood in her room near the window, looking at Gabriel on the streets, who was walking toward the center of the town. Even now, she couldn't take her focus off him.
"A ghost town, and that strange man... Something really doesn't feel right." She placed her hand on her chest. "Just why am I having this uneasy feeling? It's as if something really bad is about to happen..."
"I need to find out more about it." She made a determination.
She couldn't just relax in her room at a time like this with such a feeling. She was the Princess of the Yan Empire. She was always taught to be careful and be suspicious of others.
After a few minutes, making sure that Gabriel and Olivia had left, she came out of her room. She gathered her friends.
"What happened? I was about to go take a shower!"
"I also wanted to take a short nap. Do you have something to talk about?"
"Is it about what we have to do tomorrow? Is there a change in plan?"
All the Nobles tried to guess her reasoning for calling them out so soon.
"I just can't shake this feeling that something is really wrong with this town. I want to investigate," Xin answered.
"You're still on that?" Rong asked, shaking his head. "I told you, you're overthinking. It's a small town. There is nothing wrong here. Just rest and stop thinking about it. Tomorrow is going to be a big day. We need to be well rested."
"We can rest later. First, we need to get to the bottom of it. If I'm wrong, I'll make it up to you all in the future! Just treat it as a favor to me!" Xin was quite stern. That uneasy feeling wasn't leaving her.
"Argh!" Rong scratched the back of his head. "You are so troublesome. Fine. I'll do it."
"Let's get some answers so we can put your mind at ease!" Rong took the lead. He wanted to be done with it fast so he could finish his shower and go to sleep!
He went downstairs, followed by the others. As soon as he reached the ground floor, before others could even say anything, he grabbed the collar of the middle-aged man who was the owner of this place.
He pulled out the man from behind the counter and raised him in the air. "Tell us the truth! Why are you all hiding? Why isn't there anyone on the streets? If you don't tell me, even gods won't be able to save you today!"
Rong didn't expect to get any significant answers. He was sure that Xin was wrong, but if this man's confirmation was going to put her mind at ease, he was willing to bully him a little. He was confident that it was what he thought and that the people of the town migrated.
Rong was just bluffing. He wasn't intending to kill the middle-aged man at all since he knew that Xin was wrong. But he still had to put on a show.
Unfortunately, the middle-aged man didn't know this was an act. He believed that these people had already seen through everything, and if he didn't come out clean, he was going to be killed!
"D-dark Mage..."
The middle-aged man said only two words, but those two words were enough to send chills down the spine of the youngsters present there.
"What do you mean?" Rong was just playing before, but hearing those two words, even he understood that maybe Xin was right! There was something these people were hiding. His grip tightened around the man's throat.
"Tell us everything!"
****
"I really thought that you were going to kill them. Thank you for being patient." Back at her home, Olivia respectfully bowed before Gabriel.
Despite Rong talking in such a rude manner, Gabriel still didn't kill him. She knew that even if Gabriel had killed them, it wouldn't have mattered to him.
The man who was against all the Churches, why would he care if one measly Empire was against him too? That meant the only reason he didn't kill them was for this town.
"I am hungry," Gabriel stated. He still hadn't eaten anything. He didn't respond to her gratitude since he knew he hadn't done anything special. What he did was just a way of thanking Olivia for helping him.
She helped him heal faster when he needed it. He didn't want to put her in trouble right away by killing a bunch of idiots. In any case, it wasn't as if those people attacked him. Those were just some words. If he wanted, he could still kill them and clean the streets with their blood.
"Ah, right!" Olivia rushed inside the kitchen to get something for Gabriel to eat.
Gabriel walked to the dining table, waiting for the food to arrive. The Infernal King wasn't here yet either. The day felt so long...
****
"Two Dark Mages took this city hostage? They destroyed the Branch of the Church of Light?!" Huang exclaimed in shock, hearing the entire story from the middle-aged man.
"Nonsense. You're saying that the stupid kid who escorted us was a Dark Mage? Absolute bull***t!" Rong scoffed. Initially, he took the story seriously, but after hearing who these people considered a dark mage, he could only laugh.
"There is no way he is a dark mage! If he were one, I would've sensed it already! That man has no Magical Aura around him!" he further stated.
"I haven't seen him using any magic since he was unconscious when he was brought here. Maybe he wasn't a mage, and I was confused about him," the middle-aged man clarified. "But his partner was definitely a dark mage! I can never forget that sight of the Church of Light burning in blazing dark flames!"
"There is a Dark Mage in this town? I think we should leave now!" Huang stated. "Let's go back to Yan!"
"I agree. We shouldn't get involved in the matter of this town. This is getting too dangerous for even us!"
"Nonsense! How can you all be such a coward?" Rong roared angrily, seeing such cowardice. "Why are you so scared of a Dark Mage? Did you forget how they are hunted like dogs? There is nothing special about them!"
"Just think about it!" he further stated. "If it were really a powerful Dark Mage, he would've killed us already as soon as we entered their Territory. Even after being insulted, they did nothing. That means they were scared of us! They can't be very strong, can they?"
"If they are scared of us, that means they are weak and can be killed by us! Instead of running away, we should kill them and take their bodies back to Yan as proof of our achievement! Just think about the glory!"
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