Hunter of the Evernight
Chapter 254: Preparations

Chapter 254: Preparations

"Are you alright?" Ana inquired after she and Alex had stepped out of Victoria’s lab.

Glancing at Ana to find her worrying about him, he nodded. "Mn."

"You seemed disturbed when Victoria asked you to name the flower."

"I did?... Must have been your senses playing tricks on you."

"Hmmph." Pouting slightly, Ana turned her face away, eliciting a slight chuckle from Alex.

"Don’t worry, I’m fine."

"... That’s good." Ana nodded before deciding to change the topic. "So what now?"

"Hmm?"

"You wish to meet with the current king of Aragon, correct?"

"As that’s our only way to get in touch with the mysterious organization’s proxy, yes."

"The BeastMen are a complicated race so I understand the difficulty."

Alex paused, turning to regard Ana for a moment before inquiring. "What do you know about Aragon?"

"Well... my knowledge is not as extensive as other subjects but, BeastMen or rather, members of the Beast Wheel are quite the outcasts."

"Oh?"

"Mn, they aren’t considered Cryptids, neither do they much like humans, so they are stuck in their little bubble. It’s somewhat similar to the Storm Wheel."

"That explains their tight-knit bond with each other," Alex remarked as he strolled through Evernight with Ana.

Taking a peek at the sky above with the hanging moon, Ana continued. "But that doesn’t mean they are completely cut off. To my understanding, Thebes turned into a market of sorts to facilitate trading between Aragon and the Empire."

"Oh?... What’s sold there?"

"Food, clothing with coal being the main commercial product... There’s no such thing as a black market, so it’s a rather eye-catching spot for merchants, especially those involved in industrial production."

Alex’s expression shifted as he seemed to have realized something causing him to come to a stop.

Ana took a few steps forward before noticing his pause.

"What’s wrong?"

"Perhaps the mission to infiltrate Aragon might be easier than I thought."

"Hmm?" Ana blinked a few times, perplexed by his words.

Ignoring her confused stare, Alex remarked. "It seems I’ll have to meet with Arthur again but before that, it’s time for another meeting."

***

The grand hall was once again occupied by members of Constellations with Alex taking his place at the seat of power.

Noticing the curiosity of the others at the sudden call-up, he promptly began. "The mission to infiltrate Aragon is about to commence and this meeting is to assign each of you a task to accomplish during this period."

Hearing his words, the group sat up and listened attentively, unwilling to miss anything said.

"Cassiopeia, Apys... you both shall remain on the island to train and gain a better understanding of your domains while utilizing the resources available to purchase materials from the outside needed for settling here."

Albeit disappointed, the duo didn’t offer any rebuttals as after a few trials, they realized how lacking they were compared to the others.

In the meantime, they had no choice but to accept that they were functionally useless.

Regardless, that didn’t mean it would remain that way after all, wasn’t it because of their growth potential that they could be a part of this budding organization?

Seeing as both accepted his decision, Alex nodded in satisfaction as he continued. "Andromeda, you will return to the Great Families and inform them about the incident with Fear."

"But..."

"You are also free to inform them about your desire to be set free. Regardless of their response, you may return."

"... I understand." Ana slumped into her chair, sulking at being left out of the mission though the reason was indeed understandable.

She was the last dragon with her identity being integral to the Empire and so, moving about without first informing the Patriarchs could lead to friction between Constellations and the Great Families.

It was best to extricate herself first so that in case of any conflict in the future, there would be no confusion about her allegiance.

"Finally, Lupus and Ara. You both shall accompany me to Thebes. Further debriefing on the specifics of the mission will be carried out en route."

With that, Alex sat up and asked. "Any questions?"

Apart from a harrumph from Ana, the others remained silent.

"In that case, you all are dismissed."

***

Lionel sat atop a hill overlooking Krobridge as it was being rebuilt.

He couldn’t have imagined that in his search for Ana, he would end up coming across the happenings in the academic city.

It was quite troubling, revealing that the Great Families and the system they had in place was no longer sufficient to keep the empire safe.

He remained in deep thought for a moment before glancing to the side where a pale-skinned man lying on his stomach with his hands pinned to the ground with an ebony blade, one palm over the other.

"And you said this... man, he was the Dark Lord?"

"I don’t believe I stuttered," Roland replied harshly, his eyes not losing any of the fighting spirit he held despite his precarious state.

Lionel regarded him with interest as he said. "You don’t seem afraid of me, it’s the first I’ve seen of that."

"I’ve lost everything and the only thing left is the tombstone on this hill. If you wish to kill me, I would willingly give that away as well."

"You are lost."

"I watched my people die, unable to do anything about it. What do you expect?"

Turning silent for a moment, Lionel soon turned away to regard the city yet again.

"How powerful was he?"

"Who?"

"The Dark Lord."

"... Strong enough to make even Devils accord him respect."

Lionel’s expression turned sour for a moment before quickly returning to normal. "... I see."

"And you saw the Last Dragon as well?" He probed further.

"Her scent was hard to miss. She was quite domineering."

"Oh Ana..." Lionel lamented as he closed his eyes and leaned back on the tree behind him.

Letting out a sigh, he continued. "Just what kind of company have you gotten yourself involved in this time?"

Just then, the caw of a hawk removed him from his brooding, allowing him to spot a brown hawk approaching his position.

Stretching out a hand, the hawk soon arrived and perched calmly on his wrist.

Noticing a note tied to its feet, Lionel promptly took it and opened it only for his expression to fall even further at the one line written on it.

Sensing the change, Roland intoned. "I presume you’ll be leaving soon based on whatever the contents of the note say."

"Indeed. It would seem your brethren in the Highlands have finally found a reason to reveal their fangs once again." Lionel grimly muttered.