453. Familiarizing

“Now, this here is the treasure room.”

“The treasure room?”

“Well, it’s more of an armory. One for High and Epic Grade artifacts. I know that High Grade artifacts don’t seem too special to you. But you must remember, Alyras is a small country in the grand scale of things. The fact that we even have Epic Grade artifacts at our disposal— albeit not a lot— is quite impressive compared to our rivals.”

“I… see.”

Mori Gladius narrowed his eyes and glanced towards the vault door. King Artik Alyras tilted his head.

“Would you like to take a look at the inside?”

For a moment, the Champion of the Human Lands didn’t respond. The expression on his face didn’t change. Yet, his interest was clearly piqued. He stiffly nodded.

“Perhaps I could take a quick look—”

“There you are!”

I shouted from across the corridor. Artik blinked as my voice reverberated down the hallway. I dashed down the tufted carpet and came to a halt just before Mori. The Champion of the Human Lands turned to me with the same calm expression as before.

“Did you need something, Salvos?”

“Do I need something? What do you mean by, ‘do I need something?’, huh?”

I took a step back, affronted. I pointed at him, tapping a finger on his chest.

“You’re not supposed to be wandering around the palace without supervision!”

Artik stared at me as I lectured Mori Gladius like the second highest-leveled [Warrior] in the Human lands was some kid who’d been caught sneaking out after curfew. The king of Alyras opened his mouth.

“Please, Salvos, Mori was just—”

“Nope! I don’t care!”

I grabbed Mori Gladius by the shoulder and tugged him away. I waved at king Artik as I dragged the Champion of the Human Lands down the corridor.

“Thanks, but we’ll be going now!”

“I… see.”

The king of Alyras just stood there, blinking. Utterly befuddled.

—--

When I was far enough away from Artik, I turned to Mori Gladius and glared at him.

“What are you doing?”

I hissed. He just faced me innocently. That blank look he wore never changed— not once since he arrived in Alyras. He stared at me with eyes that were glazed over like he wasn’t all quite there yet and tilted his head.

“What do you mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean— you’re not supposed to… you can’t just…”

I trailed off. He didn’t say anything. He just looked at me, perplexed. But I knew under that facade, he was fully aware of what he was doing. I gritted my teeth and snapped my fingers.

Mori Gladius blinked. He looked around as the world grew just a shade darker. It was like if we were standing out in an open field during a sunny day and a cloud passed over for just a moment. It was my [Fragmented Pocket Dimension]. Or, rather, it was a partial casting of the spell.

I wasn’t exactly in another space entirely— I simply made it to ensure that our following conversation was going to be muted. At least, from the outside listening in. I pointed accusingly at Mori… or, rather, the fake Mori.

“You can’t just wander around without supervision! Helena Warshade is going to kill me if she finds out about this!”

“Why shouldn’t I explore the premises? Is it wrong to want to familiarize myself with Human culture?”

When Mori Gladius spoke, his voice was deeper now. Contorted. Like a mixture of both Human and Demon. After all, this was just an illusion. Mori Gladius was dead, and it was Belzu wearing his… figurative skin.

I furrowed my brows.

“You don’t even care about Humans! Don’t pretend you’re interested in any of that— you were planning on something, weren’t you?”

“Whatever do you mean?”

He fluttered his eyes at me, and I harrumphed.

“You’re planning on playing a trick! Or sabotaging us! Or… I don’t know, stealing something!”

That elicited a chuckle from the Primeval Demon— well, the apparition he had before me. He shook his head as his laughter died down.

“I will not stoop to as low as petty thievery. Not from Humans, and not for the weak artifacts this city has to offer. No— if I were to take from these fools, it would be off their cold, dead hands.”

“You’re not killing anyone. We made a deal.”

I crossed my arms at him. Honestly, I was starting to regret my decision to let him come with us to Alyras. But he just shrugged.

“If you really must know, I simply wished to learn more of what these Humans had to offer in combat. After all, how could I lead a people I know nothing about? How can I command a battlefield with no understanding of their tactics, their strategy, their strengths, or their weaknesses?”

That made me pause. Belzu was right, here. He was disguising himself as Mori Gladius for a reason. He was more useful the more he knew about the resources we had at our disposal. Still, there was another reason why I was supposed to keep a watchful eye on him.

Caution.

“What if your illusion broke, huh?”

I pressed the Primeval Demon. He answered simply.

“My illusions cannot be broken. Not by someone beneath Level 150.”

“What do you mean? Edithe said she saw through your illusions before! She was, like, barely Level 100 when that happened!”

“That was before my Class advancement, Salvos. It was just after I had reached my Level 150 evolution. Now? Now my illusions are nigh impenetrable.”

“Are you sure?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. He nodded and turned to face the end of the hallway.

“Indeed. In fact, your friend will be arriving shortly. I could prove it to you if you wish.”

“My friend…? Wait, do you mean Edithe?”

I blinked. I quickly scanned the area with my spatial sense, and sure enough, Edithe Dawnrise was about to turn the corner. She wasn’t alone. Hadrian, Willy, and three baby Wyverns were accompanying her.

My jaw dropped as I spun around, immediately dropping the partial pocket space. I heard the footsteps at once, and I saw their figures down the hallway. Edithe waved at me as I stared at her for a moment.

“Salvos—”

“Mama!”

Three smaller figures bounded forward, interrupting the redhead. Novis, Bellum, and Oriur arrived at my side in an instant. They clung onto my feet as I stared at the baby Wyverns.

“Oh, um, hey guys. Haven’t seen you in a while. It’s been… a day?”

I forgot how long it had been. But to the baby Wyverns, it had been forever since they last saw me. They hugged me tightly as I sighed. I slowly peeled them off one by one as Edithe, Hadrian, and Willy came to a halt.

The redhead faced Mori Gladius, bowing her head.

“I apologize for the ruckus, Champion Mori Gladius. My friends and I were looking for Salvos— we didn’t mean to interrupt.”

And I tensed. She’s going to see through his illusions!

“B— Mori!”

I turned to him in a panic. But the apparition of Mori Gladius just smiled politely at the redhead.

“Greetings, Edithe Dawnrise. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“You know me?”

Edithe pointed at herself, taken aback. I watched with wide eyes as Belzu didn’t shy away from the former [Summoner].

“Indeed. Your friend, Salvos, was just telling me about you. She’s said many great things. I’m honored to have you fighting by my side.”

“That’s… uh, thanks.”

The redhead flushed as Mori just smiled. Hadrian began to introduce himself as well as I looked on in disbelief.

“Huh.”

Somehow, Edithe wasn’t able to see through Belzu’s illusions. Not like she did before. It didn’t even look like she noticed something was amiss. I stared as Willy flitted next to me. The [Will O’ Wisp] faced Mori Gladius for a moment.

“Interesting.”

Willy remarked. Edithe and Hadrian didn’t pick up on his tone of voice, but I froze. I turned to the [Will O’ Wisp] with wide eyes. Slowly, I placed a finger over my mouth. He just snorted and swooped down over Novis, Bellum, and Oriur, bathing them in his flames. They floated into the air, confused as Willy ushered them back down the corridor.

“Go.”

“What? But mama—”

The baby Wyverns whined. However, he ignored their protests. Instead, he spoke over Edithe and Hadrian.

“Salvos busy.”

Both Hadrian and Edithe paused. They glanced at each other, then at the [Will O’ Wisp]. I quickly agreed.

“Yep— we were actually about to leave and find Helena Warshade, so…”

I grabbed Belzu by the shoulder and began escorting him down the other side of the hallway. Edithe scratched the back of her head.

“Right, we’re sorry for interrupting, again.”

Edithe turned to me.

“But before you go, Salvos. I just wanted to let you know that the adventurer coalition will be heading out for the Inoria Empire tomorrow.”

“Wait, didn’t you guys leave yesterday?”

“Laux Lionfist led a regiment out of Alyras, yes. But half of our army still remains, waiting for Scarlet Vermillion and Helena Warshade.”

“Right.”

I scratched my cheeks. I turned to Mori Gladius and nodded.

“That’s what we’re about to discuss. We’ll be going now!”

With that, I took my leave. Once we were out of earshot again, I sighed and turned to Belzu.

“You…”

I didn’t say anything else. I let the implication sink in. I wasn’t going to say anything too overt, but Belzu just smirked at me through his apparition of Mori Gladius.

“I told you she wouldn’t see through my illusions.”

“That’s—”

I blinked and looked around with my spatial sense. Fortunately, no one was around and I didn’t sense anything amiss. I glared at Belzu.

“Why are you saying that out loud? Do you want to be found out or something?”

“Please, I don’t need your petty space magic to muffle our conversations. My illusions alone can hide any conversation we hold.”

“And are you disguising our conversation right now?”

I gave him a flat stare. His lips curled up playfully— mischievously.

“No.”

“Ugh…”

I groaned. This really was a bad idea.

“Whatever, let’s find Helena Warshade.”