Chapter 141: [141] Artie’s Mission Report

Throughout the entire night, no one in Eliron’s party had had a wink of sleep.

From the moment they arrived in Kingsbridge, down to late at night, they had been burdened with activities.

Even now, probably around 3 AM in the morning, Eliron was seated on a bench just outside the inn, Artie sitting next to him, both of them underneath the starry skies above.

In their hands were steaming cups of coffee, courtesy of the old innkeeper, who for whatever reason was still awake.

As to why they were outside…

Well, Yen had basically chased them out, shouting something about a possible infection.

Apparently, she needed to change Cassandra’s clothes and properly clean her…

But since they were not done with their conversation, Artie joined him outside.

Of course, he could have moved to his room, but Eliron wanted a change of environment.

Ash on the other hand was just outside yen’s door, guarding the room in case of any unforeseen circumstances.

That was how Artie and Eliron ended up alone, discussing what had happened while Eliron was away.

’It seems their mission was very fruitful…’ Eliron mused.

From what she had told him thus far, Artie and Yen had gathered far more information than he would have expected them to, especially considering the little time they had.

Eliron sipped from his cup. “So the baron has really shut off all contact with others?”

Artie nodded. “From what I’ve heard, even his highest officials can hardly arrange a meeting with him.”

Eliron stared at the street for a moment while contemplating.

If the baron was not even meeting important members of his cabinet, then meeting with him would be next to impossible.

Originally, he planned on just having Casandra arrange a meeting, but now, it was unlikely that would even pull through.

“I see… you said Cassandra was the key to meeting him, I’m guessing you have a solution then?”

“Who do you think I am?” The ghost of a smile appeared on her lips. “Of course I did.”

“And what is it?”

Artie turned to face Eliron, her eyes settling on his clothes. He had long done away with the blood soaked suit and wore simpler clothes.

She frowned slightly and pointed at them with a smirk. “It looks like you’re going to need a new suit, we are going to the ball.”

“…”

Eliron was silent for a few seconds.

“You’re joking right?”

“Have you ever heard me make a joke?”

Eliron sighed and stared up at the sky. ’Of all things, why did it have to be a ball?!’

Throughout his life on earth, he had never even been to a formal party, talk less of a ball.

’Balls involve dancing right?’

Eliron felt sweat already forming on his brows. Unless there was an SSSR dancing skill, he was sure to make a fool of himself.

And of course, Artie would be there to poke fun at him!

Eliron could already imagine the smug look.

Artie raised a brow. “What is the matter? Wait, don’t tell me, do you not know how to danc—”

“What? Pfft! Do you know who you are talking to?” Eliron quickly cut in.

“Anyways, so you need Cassandra to get us tickets right? That shouldn’t be a problem.” He quickly added, changing the topic.

Artie stared at him for a while longer before deciding to drop the topic.

“Now that the issue about the baron has mostly been resolved, there is another thing you should know.”

Artie’s voice became a little more serious, her tone going down a notch.

“Something is terribly wrong with the Kingsbridge barony…”

<•••>

’Something is wrong with the barony?’

Eliron raised a brow. “What exactly do you mean?”

Artie drank from her cup before speaking. “Let’s start from the begining…”

“Why do you think the baron is acting this way? Why would he only appear when duty demands it?”

Eliron shrugged.

“From hiding the baroness from the public eye, plus limiting visits to his estate… the baron is clearly hiding something.” Artie continued.

“… something he must believe is capable of causing a public uproar. This is what I discovered—”

Artie then went on to tell him about her findings, the things she had heard from mingling with the shopkeeper, and others she had discovered from her own investigations.

Eliron stroked his chin as he absorbed the information. Everything made sense, apart from one fundamental problem.

“The truth always changes form as it passes from one lip to the other, how are we sure that these rumours are not over exaggerations of a much simpler issue?”

Artie crossed her legs, while staring at the streets. “True, it is too big an issue to make any conclusions based on rumours…”

“That is exactly why I verified the information myself.”

She placed her hand into her pocket, and to Eliron surprise, she pulled out an envelope—

One bearing a noble seal.

“Wait, when did you have time to get that?”

Artie laughed softly.

“It was easy really, just a quick in and out and I had what I needed. I would have investigated further, but security is extremely tight in the estate. And I didn’t want to leave Yen alone for long.”

A smile crawled up to Eliron’s face as he saw the letter.

What this meant, was that in the time Eliron was battling Kyros, she had snuck into the well guarded barony, stolen a confidential letter, and returned without being caught.

“If you’re this good at sneaking, maybe we should skip everything and break into his bedroom already.” Eliron chuckled.

“If only it were that easy…” Artie smiled.

When building a relationship, breaking into your future ally’s home was not the best way to start.

This was especially the case considering how secretive they were currently being, an act like that would scramble their relationship before it ever even began.

Nobles did not think the same way normal citizens did…

To a noble, breaking into his home was not just a criminal act, it was a statement.

’I can kill you whenever I want…’ that would be the message he was passing.

“The baron has apparently been sending out these letters to high ranking individuals around the continent.” Artie explained, twirling the envelope in her fingers.

“His receivers vary from top martial artists, to doctors, religious leaders and all sorts of people. Makes you wonder what he is really after right?”

Eliron nodded. “Let’s not waste anytime, let’s find out what is inside it—”

He was suddenly interrupted by a loud scream:

— Knights, draw you blades! We are about to encounter a foul beast of calamitous proportions!

— Well surround them on all sides and bombard them with our strongest spells.

— Charge! We don’t have much time, lest our city be consumed!

“Huh?” Eliron suddenly raised his head, only to see a mob of knights rushing towards them.

Their loud voices and clatter of armour had destroyed the serene atmosphere they had been enjoying, and for a second, Eliron thought just maybe they were after him…

That was until the knights rushed past, racing towards the gates in hopes of capturing a monster that did not exist.

Eliron sighed as he watched them go. “Those poor knights are going to be searching all night.

Artie on the other hand stared blankly at him. “Just how much damage did you guys do to make them react like that?”

It was so severe that they were not even entertaining the thought that it might have been elves who fought, but rather, monsters…

“Hmm?” Eliron hummed.

Then he remembered just how much damage that had done to the terrain outside Kingsbridge and shook his head.

“You don’t want to know…”

Artie sighed. “Let’s just check the letter…”

She broke off the seal and pulled out the paper, both of them reading through the content.

The letter was addressed to a monk from the Eastern region, and it detailed a request from the baron as well as an enormous cash prize for completing it.

But the more Eliron read through the letter, the more his eyes widened.

Her skin is as black as coal, and the frothing on her mouth has not ceased…

…cell death, fits of madness

The subject seems to have forgotten her name…

Today, she tried to bite me…

I need your help.

It turned out, there was some sense to the gossip.

The baron was indeed trying to gather the help of as many people as he could to cure an ’illness’, and the reason the baroness was not seeing anyone was because of that said illness.

But the truth about the Baroness’s condition was far more sinister than anyone could have predicted.

For starters, it was not an illness at all…

It was a curse. One so bad, that it had the potential to end the entire barony…

A curse by the Lord Of The Dead.

One of the twelve titans of the novel, Titan’s Tribulations, a walking calamity in on itself.

Somehow, his influence had come all the way to Kingsbridge.

’I guess it’s really about that time…’ Eliron mused.

Artie glanced at him, a distraught look on her face. “Let me guess, you know exactly what this evil sickness is.”

“I do…” Eliron smirked. “And I know exactly how to cure it.”

It would be their bargaining chip, the leverage he would have over the baron!

Artie relaxed her back on the bench and finished her coffee. “Why am I not even surprised?”

<•••>

The next morning, Cassandra’s eyes fluttered open, only for her to be stunned by the strange scenery in front of her.

But the more surprising part was…

“I’m still alive?” She blinked and sat up straight.

’Not only that, I don’t feel any pain. All my wounds were healed?’

Hope swelled up in her heart and she raised her hands in joy.

“I must have been found by one of my fathers guards, or maybe one of my workers survived!”

“Ahh, thank goodness I somehow got away from that devil—”

“Devil, really? You’re going to break my fragile heart…”

Cassandra froze, her hands wobbling in the air. She stole a glance at her side, only to see Eliron sitting cross-legged on the chair by her bed.

“Cassandra Kingsbridge, First daughter of Baron Pieter.” Eliron did a mock bow.

“Welcome back to the land of the living…”

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