Fiona was left alone in the inn room after Sirius disappeared from the scene.
Forget about betrayal or pressure tactics. The man refused to do anything that could even remotely upset Eren. He destroyed the array disk right away to prevent other clans from Last-Blood Bastian from ever embarking on that road.
One could say that Sirius was spooked by Eren for some reason after he met him in private. Their meeting had only taken place once just outside the city of White Raven after Fiona organized it for them. The meeting was brief and only intended to serve as a formality to establish deeper ties between the White Raven guild and Last-Blood Bastian.
Since the meeting took place between only Eren and Sirius, she wasn't aware of what had happened between the two. Only now did she realize that Eren had managed to intimidate even someone as bloodthirsty as Sirius using means not known to her.
The half-blood couldn't believe that a Grandmaster ranker like Sirius Fenris would say that he was scared of a mere Adept ranker. It was the equivalent of an elephant admitting that he was scared of an ant.
Being from the same clan, Fiona knew about the ability to harness animal instincts. Something that was possessed by all the half-bloods. She also felt that Eren was a dangerous man when she was in the same room with him and was being interrogated by him. But her mind was at ease when he hosted her and treated her nicely.
'Hmph! He is just another man with a giant ball of ego inflated by his wealth. What's there to be scared of?'
Fiona said to herself as she lay on the bed and looked at the room's ceiling. She closed her eyes and slowly started touching herself while thinking about a certain green-eyed man.
***
Dark Daniera county. Kingdom of Edinburgh.
Around 2 AM. The starry night kept pitch-black darkness at bay. Yet, the dark patches were not as visible as they would typically be because of the clouded moon.
The westernmost part of Dark Daniera was a dense and large forest region 9 days' horseback ride away from the city of Lancelot. It would take someone months on end to reach the city of White Raven if the same type of transportation was used.
Even those who use flying artifacts or beasts would have to travel long distances. Thankfully, there were spatial teleportation channels one could use to cut down this distance by a lot, reducing it to a mere three days of travel.
There was a group of three people meeting inside the Dark Daiera forest. They were waiting for some pursuers to follow them inside. All so that they could wipe them out in one go.
One of the three people was a man who looked to be in his early 20s. He had emerald green eyes and a low-key presence. But there was something about this man that made his audience look at him from time to time. As if their eyes were trying to find something that their subconscious could feel.
The second person in the group was also a man who seemed to be in the same age group as the first man. It was just that he had bags under his eyes and sharp expressions. His sunken eyes made him look cruel.
This second man's presence was a bit unstable. As if he was used to being jittery because of the need to constantly look over his shoulders. As if he was the most wanted criminal in the kingdom, which he was. That's because all the people in the kingdom of Edinburgh now knew him by his wanted poster nameâ€" Osan Woods' Butcher.
The third person on the team was a young girl who looked to be in her early teens. She looked like a regular girl but her aura was anything but. That's because she was a homunculus.
"Hmph! What took you this long?"
Layla complained to Eren in her bratty-girl voice. The trio was sitting around a large cauldron. The contents of the cauldron didn't smell. But it was dark green with a thick viscosity, making it odd to look at.
The concoction inside the cauldron was bubbling without there being any source of heat present. The runes present on the surface of the cauldron would light up from time to time, indicating that the concoction was being processed.
Eren looked at Alephee and Ivor who looked like they were some kind of gypsies. He doubted either of them had taken a real shower in the week. They could fix their appearances with magic but they could not wash away the fatigue of always being on the move from their faces.
Eren shrugged his shoulders before replying.
"I have a guild to run, in case you forgot. I can't just be at your beck and call all the time. I needed to get a few things in order before leaving my guild and my city in the right hands."
Layla's displeased expression indicated that she was about to say something to Eren. But Eren beat her to it.
"That being said, I know the deal between me and Sage Eliza and I'm here to honor it. Tell me when they will arrive.
Eren rubbed his hands together before placing them in front of him. The cauldron was radiating heat like a campfire. It also emanated a faint green luminescence, which painted his face in the same hue.
Layla twitched her nose at the butcher's diverting skills. Still, she closed her eyes and tried to gauge something using an unknown method before answering.
"Those bastards only have one job. Follow the breadcrumbs I have left for them. If they don't fail to perform a simple job like this, I believe we will be hosting our dear guests when dawn breaks."
"So roughly four hours..."
Ivor mumbled to himself after listening to Layla. He narrowed his eyes at Eren before saying something the butcher or Layla did not see coming.
"Eren, do you dare to duel me once again?"
