The Ogre Strength Fairy and the Eldest 'Son'
Chapter 246 - The Wing & Talon’s Grand Display...

Chapter 246: Chapter 246 - The Wing & Talon’s Grand Display...

Within the bustling marketplace after the noon exhibitions were through, cultivators from various guilds mingled. The entire competition grounds hummed with voices boasting and with speculations mounting about the upcoming events. Elua wove through the crowd attached to Qatrand’s arm, her keen ears catching snippets of their conversations.

"So, where are we actually going?"

"You ask that as if I bothered to make a plan in the moment other than to walk with you."

"Didn’t you?"

The brunette ’giggled’ and smirked up at her beloved. Mint eyes dulled slightly before rebounding back to life.

"Well~ I did, but convincing you to kiss me as much as you are willing is more like a life goal than a specific scheme."

When a calloused hand reached over and palmed her forehead, a section of the venue they strolled through drew their attention. A bit of a crowd had gathered around a central stage making it seem like some sort of show or announcement was about to happen. The Wing & Talon Enclave’s banner soon unfurled from a frame dramatically in ’explanation’ and silenced the commotion.

The intricate design of interwoven feathers and scales on the canvas represented their focus. The study, collection, training, and overall obsession with all things avian or reptilian. An imposing elderly figure stepped forward, known by some to be the Guild’s current leader.

His weather-beaten face was a map of scars and wrinkles. Still, the reincarnator could tell that he was less frail than he appeared. He also seemed like he could be related to the old man she knew, but a quick probe with her spiritual sense found it to be a coincidence.

’Well, the world is small, but there are also only so many faces.’

Having encountered Talva, that remnant, and the body double... the illusionist was expecting for a moment that all the webs of potential interconnection were trying to converge at this spot! She mused on how it would not be the first time. Orchestrating things toward that sort of dramatic crescendo had even been conducted intentionally by her, once.

"The payoff was disappointing for the effort involved."

Qat looked at her mumbling wife as the man’s voice - amplified by a Sound essence ritual similar to the one on the main venue stage - cut through all the chatter. The crowd hushed during his words with palpable anticipation.

"Esteemed cultivators and honored guests! The Wing & Talon Enclave is proud to announce a special addition as a contribution to this year’s competition. Behold!"

With a flourish of his hand, four fancy cages were unveiled by other members. Inside each was a bird of beauty and clear intelligence. They peered out at the gathered crowd as the afternoon light struck their feathers. Each shimmered with a different and almost ethereal quality hue - twilight purples, dawn golds, midnight blues, and one in forest greens.

Gasps and murmurs rippled through the onlookers. Many were familiar with one of the creatures already, as Elua er Goltbred’s bird had been allowed to come and go mostly as it pleased. This led to lots of sightings of the creature that most mortals would never achieve.

"These are Whispering Skydancers. Rare and magnificent creatures, capable of trained feats beyond ordinary avians."

The leader continued his explanation, pride evident in his voice. The heiress smiled a little ’smug’. The more he tried to play them up, the more people would realize how special her companion was. Some had likely heard gossip spread from those that had recognized it - but now a more official source had just proclaimed it to a crowd.

"In three days’ time, we will host a special contest to showcase their abilities - and the skills of the four chosen handlers that will receive them as the prize."

A twilight-color blur streaked in Qat’s sightline before she could ask her wife about what she knew of the announcement. Things like this were usually planned with the venue committee ahead of time. Their Skydancer circled above the crowd, drawing attention as it trilled a musical greeting.

Of course, that caused the caged birds to ruffle their feathers and respond despite their training.

"Are you going to enter?"

The question came quietly as Elua tracked her bird’s path and gave it additional orders. She felt the two figures that were already working their way through the crowd toward where it would land on her shoulder.

"Depends what they want from their animal handlers. I imagine the contest is intended to be fair, and I suppose having one already gives me an advantage in understanding their nature. They might not appreciate my entry."

Her tone remained ’casual’, but the swordswoman could feel the calculations in her complicated spirit. The bird swooped in after a spinning dive and landed elegantly on the heiress. Before Qat could poke with her tendrils or questions at it further, Nohre and Fusand broke from the crowd near them.

"E-Elua. We heard there was going to be an announcement..."

The teen hesitated less from using her name and more out of habit that she was saying the wrong address first again. The pair of orphans had been approached by one of the individuals attempting to hype the event. As the moved that way, they’d noticed her flying companion moving in the same direction.

"Yes, I’ll explain-"

"It seems we have an unexpected guest. Perhaps the fates have decreed a guest participant should appear in our contest."

The Enclave leader’s voice continued. The man’s eyes had tracked the Skydancer’s flight with a firm look. Their Guild had spent time and effort on every single bird they released for sale, but the one the Goltbred had obtained supposedly had no records attached to its training.

’A black market deal. How expected of those in high regional places. I knew her mother was not as clean as her father has claimed all these years.’

Despite sensing his level of displeasure, Elua stepped forward with her ’innocent’ smile. The effectiveness of her persona was part of what made people like this leader first assume that her ’backing’ were the ones at ’fault’.

Of course, none of them on stage could even imagine that she was the creator of the lures that their members did their best to snatch up... when they hit the very same markets he disdained. The exiled elder she did business with kept her secrets well. He was making too much as a middle-man not to!

’If only they knew how many of the wild-caught specimens moving into their guild in recent years came from my designs...’