"No one you should know of, I'm but a mere traveler, more importantly, what is your price?"

Belic was really stunned and confused right now, for someone to take out such a weapon is not a mere 'traveler', the E-clips Company doesn't even have a single legendary weapon like this one, even though he saw one in the past, that didn't mean he had it

Although Robin is the head of the company, Belic, as her grandfather, can take decisions in her place if the situation is serious, after all, she is still young and she may do something reckless.

"Friend, please do not misunderstand, your offer is very good, in fact, we would very much like to accept it, but it's that......the method to cure the blindness is not easy....."

Belic stopped speaking for a second before he resumed explaining

"Curing blindness is not the same as regrowing a limb or healing a serious injury......we indeed have a method to heal that little girl, however, it requires the world tree...you see the elven chief owes us a favor, we can use the world tree's extraordinary healing powers to heal her but such a big favor should be kept and we are not willing to use it on a stranger...please understand"

Belic didn't want to anger Arthur, much less disappoint him but he really couldn't use that favor for a stranger like Arthur, they barely knew each other and their relationship started badly, no matter how much money he proposes, it's still not enough.

The world tree can do many things besides healing, like blessings, increase stats, etcetera...and to use it just to cure blindness is laughable and isn't really worth it, however, it's true that Belic was drawn by the weapon he was currently holding, but after a couple of seconds of pondering, he reluctantly gave it back to its owner.

Arthur was truly depressed right now, no matter how much he had, it was still not enough, but at least he got a clue about the world tree.

He had already read about it when he was in Willsden town, it had immense power, it even fed the whole continent's ground so it can survive and without it, the land would crumble and most likely disappear.

He received the long axe from Belic and stored it, then he looked at the old man and asked

"Is there any other method? I'm willing to pay just for information"

He still didn't give up, after all, getting the world tree to cure Saly might be hard, so having other options may be helpful.

This time, it was Robin who replied, though she was in a daze because of the long axe, she regained her senses moments earlier and her view of Arthur dramatically changed.

"There is an elexir...it's called 'Rebirth Elixir", it's very expensive but I'm sure you can buy it...the problem is....you cannot find it easily, usually it's only available on the black market and there is a high demand for it, so you have to be lucky to find one...however, if you announce that you will trade that axe for an elixir, I'm sure there may be people who will be interested...."

She felt perplexed, firstly because of his identity, she only knew very few people that had a weapon like that, and all of them were terrifying figures, secondly, she pondered about why?

Why would he be willing to even let go of a legendary weapon such as this just to cure a slave he never met, assuming he just met her of course, but that appeared to be the case and there is no way he is acting, I mean, what would he gain from doing that.

Arthur nodded towards her and stood from his chair while saying

"Well, thank you for your help, I won't be disturbing you any further, have a good night"

He could threaten her and Belic but he won't, he was not that kind of man, he was desperate to cure Saly, but he won't resort to such means, it's not like Robin was a bad person, she may be hot-headed but she's not cunning or evil.

Arthur didn't linger there any longer, he headed towards the sitting Lucy and Saly and took a seat right next to them, he took Saly from Lucy's lap and put her on his.

He enjoyed patting her head and enjoying the feeling of her fluffy and cute ears, they were just adorable, it's really a pity she can't see or else he would teach her some fighting techniques, not a serious training but just enough so she could defend herself if they ever separated, he didn't want her to be a slave ever again.

Nothing special happened, they passed the night eating the delicacies served there and relaxing there, other nobles chatted non-stop or danced, no one came to bother them, only a few glances here and there but nothing too serious.

They went back to their room late at night, Saly fell asleep in Arthur's arms, she completely ignored her surroundings and soundlessly slept.

She held Arthur's clothes tightly without letting go, it was a rather cute scene, Arthur and Lucy couldn't help but laugh, seeing her do that.

...

He gently put her on the bed and covered her with blankets then sat next to Lucy on a nearby sofa, they both leaned on each other and stayed silent until some time passed.

"So...is there a way?"

Arthur gazed at her alluring eyes, there was a tinge of hope and warmth in them, she wanted to cure Saly as she already considered her more than a friend.

"There is, 2 actually, the first is impossible, it requires the world tree and the other is by an Elixir."

He then explained what Robin told him without missing a single detail, he and Lucy could be considered one person and he didn't and couldn't hide anything from her, they would both consult each other when making a decision and would never decide alone selfishly.

"Are we going to buy the elixir then...?"(Lucy)

"I still don't know, maybe there are other ways....when we reach the Itas continent, we'll try to seek the world tree's help first, if it's not willing then the elixir is the only option left.

Lucy only nodded at him then gave him a deep kiss.

....

Days passed slowly as the three of them would pass every day either having fun or sometimes going outside to breathe some fresh air, of course, no one had the guts to provoke or anger them.

One day, when Arthur and Lucy were leisurely sitting on a bench outside, Saly was between them humming and giggling, her behavior changed for the better and she became more cheerful as the days passed, she managed to barely forget about her master and his orders, and she now called Arthur and Lucy by their names without adding anything like 'Aunty' or 'Mister'.

Although at first, she said it a few times after both of them insisted, as time passed, she had gotten used to calling them like that.

It was like any other day, they were outside to enjoy the view, however, something unexpected happened.

The cool and calm weather changed and the blue sky turned black, it happened in a split second, Arthur and Lucy, who were enjoying their time, were both startled by this, however, that didn't mean they were afraid, they were merely stunned.

It only took Arthur a second to understand what actually happened

"Teleportation.."

They were no longer in the vast sea, they were in some kind of an isolated place, there was no sky, just a wooden roof and some lights here and there to provide vision, the other ships were not teleported.

Saly who was humming, heard Arthur but she still didn't understand

"Tel-teleportation?"

A term like this was confused as to why he would suddenly say that, she noticed the slight coldness but maybe it was some wind, she couldn't see the surroundings so how could she not what just happened.

"Little girl, don't worry, it's nothing, just stick with Lucy okay?"

As he said that, he looked at Lucy, only to see her nodding at him, she understood what he meant immediately, though they had enough strength to be called gods or monsters. One never knows when something unexpected may happen so he wanted her to watch Saly.

He observed his surroundings and noticed that it was indeed a place similar to a port, there were some small boats here and there but they were either destroyed or unfunctional, there were also a lot of black-clothed people.

He immediately knew their origin as he saw people like them not long ago, that's right, it was the two people from 'Medusa' they were dressed the same as Bony and his comrade.

There were a lot of them and once he appraised them their LVLs were ranging from 50 to a whopping 200.

'They already found us? not that's impossible....that's right! I heard them talking about infiltration, so their target is not us?..'

Although they may not be targeting Lucy and Arthur, they were surely not kind enough to let them live right? after all, what would you expect from an evil organization?

The nobles who were also relaxing outside of the ship completely freaked out by the sudden turn of events, albeit their surprise, no one dared to curse or shout out loud, there were just too many black clothes people and anyone with a good thinking can understand that these people were not friendly.

It did not take long for Robin and Belic to come out from the ship with a panicked face, they already saw what happened to the outside and they immediately understood that they were either under attack or something unexpected occurred.

Once they saw the several black clothes figures, their bodies stiffened and their faces paled, especially Belic's.

Just a simple glimpse of those people made him affirm his suspicions, though 'Medusa' is a secretive organization, how could someone who holds much power like him not know about it? Furthermore, this organization already made several attempts to attack them.

As Arthur was observing the situation and pondering on what to do, a voice came out from one of the black-clothed people, he had nothing special and resembled the others.

"Hahaha, Belic, we meet yet again....although this time you won't be as lucky as last time...."

The person who talked suddenly flew from the air, and landed on the boat, he completely ignored the nobles and only stared at Belic.

"C12.....so it's you....what do you want?"

Belic's face turned ugly, it was not the first time he crossed paths with C12, he was a member of Medusa and had a high rank.

He didn't know a lot about Medusa but what he knew was already sufficient for him to know that C12 is not someone to mess with.

In this organization, when someone is of high rank, their names will be changed as to not discover their identities, and there was a special naming to every person.

each letter is a category of people and the number indicated that person' strength in that category, C12 is obviously in the C category and was ranked 12th, the higher the ranking the stronger the person.

it is said that people who have names with A in Medusa are extremely strong, as, for those with S, that was confidential.

C12 was already considered strong, though not as strong as someone like Belic. However there were a lot of people with him and Belic can't face them all, even his guards can't handle that much.

C12 took off his mask and smirked at Belic, he didn't care if his face was shown as all witnesses will die anyway.

"You know damn well what we want, f*king geezer, you better give 'it' to me or else I assure you, we would not give you an easy death, especially for your granddaughter."

C12 didn't stop grinning as he stared lecherously at Robin's body, sizing her up and down.

As for Belic, he didn't know what to do right now, what C12 want cannot be given to him, however, he doesn't want to send his guards to their death or fight until his last breath against those people, it was obvious he had no chance, C12's LVL was indeed lower than his, but that didn't mean he is weak or should be underestimated, quite the opposite, people with high ranking like him can use special magic that is rather troublesome so it would be wise to avoid a fight against him.

Belic unconsciously glanced at Arthur, if there is someone who can get him out of this mess, it would surely be him.

He never suspected Arthur to be from 'Medusa', because if he was, then this ambush would be completely useless, he, more than anyone, knew how terrifying Arthur is, and he would be able to wipe out all his guards without the help of these people.

As his eyes landed on Arthur, Belic was surprised to see that he(Arthur) was still sitting on the bench leisurely with Lucy and Saly, he didn't appear the least bit worried and observed the situation as if he was watching a show.

Arthur was still cautious of the enemies but so far, they didn't seem that threatening, even that C12 or whatever was not impressing, with a LVL of 239, he sure was strong to other people but for him? pfft! he was mere trash.

However, for some odd reason, he felt a familiar presence from C12, he didn't know but he felt some kind of connection.

He noticed the gaze of Belic but he pretended not doing so, he has no reason whatsoever to help them get out of this mess, only if those people attacked him will he kill them, but a thought struck his mind and made him decide to proceed in a different way.

There was a moment of silence before Belic, in the blink of an eye, he appeared next to C12, a metal gauntlet formed around his hand, he then punched C12 hazard.

Just by his punch, Arthur immediately concluded that he was a beginner in close-combat so he was confused as to why he would use that instead of attacking from afar, that seemed idiotic and reckless.

Just as the strike was going to land, a black barrier formed and completely blocked the incoming attack.

Arthur who had his eyes on the punch, was flabbergasted, that black barrier astonished him, for a second, he couldn't believe what he was seeing, it was the same as his before his dark magic evolved, though it was a bit weak, it nonetheless was from dark magic, so how could he not be surprised?

A lot of thoughts raced through his mind, he was confused as to why this man can use dark magic, normally, only he could use it so how?

'did he discover the use of dark mana and dark magic by chance? no that's impossible....but I could feel the dark magic from that barrier, I'm sure of it! I can't be wrong!'

After C12 defended against the sudden attack of Belic, his hand transformed into a dark sword and without wasting time he slashed at Belic, who was centimeters away from him.

'What? his hand?'

Though he had perfect control in dark magic, Arthur can't transform his body into dark magic, after all, it was still mana, but a different kind, no matter how proficient he was in using it he still can't do something like that, it was not possible, literally, but he was someone doing it now, which confused him a lot.

Maybe his control is lacking? but C12 sword or barrier was beyond weak, they even weaker than Arthur's when he just possessed Zodiak.

Unlike Belic, C12's usage of his dark sword was of an expert, it seems he was good with a sword and even his movements were not useless.

Though it took a lot to explain this, it happened in just seconds, from the first attack of Belic to the slash of C12.

....

Belic was no fool and he fought in countless battles, his high LVL was proof of that, so when C12 slashed at him, a 3-meter metal shield was created in a second, he lifted it to defend against the slash.

Soon enough, the sword landed on the metal shield, Belic backed away a couple of steps, even with that metal shield he still can't defend against that strange sword.

Even in the last fight between him and C12, it was the same, he was heavily injured, but fortunately, someone came to save him at the last second, or else he would surely have died at the enemy's hands.

His shield was almost destroyed, even a simple slash from that weird sword was deadly, if not for his quick reaction he would have been injured if not killed.

Whenever he came too close to that weird magic of C12, he would have the chills and feel it's ominous aura.

Last time he tried fighting from afar, but that was worse as C12 would bombard him with weird dark balls made from this magic, they were not that fast but he can make a lot of them so dodging becomes rather hard.

Now that the situation is dire and he can't do anything to C12, he began to feel hopeless as even if goes all out in fighting C12, there is no way the other black clothed people would stand there and watch, furthermore, there surely is some powerful individuals amongst them so how can he fight against them?

.....