Chapter 29: The Helios Capital, Celeste i

“So we're leaving now?”

Irelithe had accompanied Xuan for a month now and her opinion of him grew with each passing day. What did he call it again? Aura? Either way, he was strong.

Every time they were stopped by a group of bandits, thieves, or even the local wildlife, Xuan just stood there… menacingly. All he did was make a few hand gestures and the opposition simply fell apart.

It was completely unlike the typical battles that Irelithe had seen over the years. Granted, she didn’t leave her master’s place a whole lot but she spied on plenty of fights during her flights. Rather than a contest of speed, strength, and magic, it was just a complete one sided domination.

Xuan didn’t kill the people that got in his way. No, he did something even worse. He let go the ones that were worthless to him and took the ones with high bounties. By the time we arrived at any of the towns scattered across the region, we stopped by the local Bounty Hunter Association and turned in the men for several silvers a piece. Xuan took the heavy bag filled to the brim with silver pieces and gave some of them to her. He put the bag of silvers into a black metal ring on his left hand where it shrunk into it like a fluid.

He even passed her a small eye patch to wear since he noticed everyone staring at her where ever she went. Her left eye had lost its light but the shimmering emerald iris still remained, simply staring at whatever was in front of her instead of being in sync with her right eye. This caused a rather terrifying effect as one eye gazed into your soul while the other at your body.

Once she donned the eyepatch, she received a few quizzical glances but nothing more than that.

Then the two continued on like this for the rest of the month until they arrived at the foothills surrounding the Helios Capital. The city was gigantic, they couldn’t see much but from what Irelithe saw, she knew it would be a wealthy place.

First off, the majority of the city was hidden behind tall white walls. There were gates every now and then but they were sparse yet not too rare. Unobscured by the tall walls were soaring spires of the cathedrals and a large blue tower surrounded by a spherical shield of mana. It was one of the branches of the Tower, the organization that her master belonged to and the dream of any aspiring mages and wizards.

Even Irelithe wanted to join their ranks but she hadn’t actually ranked up her [Fire Affinity] yet. She can’t even reveal the fact that she has [Mana Comprehension] either since Xuan told her not to and for good reason. It was an epic grade skill that very few actually possess.

She had asked Xuan why she was able to get it so easily but he spoke to her with a grave tone.

‘What I did would be highly lethal for anyone but you. Not just anyone is capable of surviving after having their spirit literally separated from their body for more than an hour.’

His words at that time held a mixed meaning to Irelithe. How was she an exception? And if he knew it was lethal then why didn’t he warn her? She grew slightly irritated at this but there wasn’t much she could do but follow him.

The foothills surrounding the city was relatively safe if you don’t count the occasional horned rabbit. Even at this time, Irelithe could see wagons moving in and out of the city for commerce.

They had arrived at the western city gates only to find an extremely long line. Xuan should be able to pass with his status but contrary to Irelithe’s expectations, they got in the long winding line squashed between wagons and travelers. Most of them were only here for a little bit, the so called Adventurers that Irelithe usually portrayed herself to be. Others were simple villagers hoping for a rich city life and even the occasional refugee from the devastated Viscor. There were no merchants as they went through a separate gate for large scale inspections.

It only took half an hour before Xuan and Irelithe were at the front of the line, coming face to face with a disgruntled looking man clad in white armor.

“Over here.”

A small voice came from his side where they could spot a small Halfling sitting in an equally small table. The Halfling was half of Irelithe’s own height and wore round rimmed glasses. His hands were holding onto a quill and he started scribbling on a sheet of parchment. When he got to one of the empty fields, he looked up at Xuan and asked him some questions.

“Reason for visiting?”

“Passing through.”

“Duration of stay?”

“A week give or take.”

“Identity?”

“Monk of the Qiyan School.”

“Companion?”

“A refugee I picked up from Viscor.”

“Hey…”

Xuan casually shushed Irelithe with a finger before proceeding to speak into her mind.

‘Follow the story. I’d rather not mention that you were chased by an elemental and raise questions about my own strength which would lead to more trouble than its worth.’

And thus, Irelithe decided to keep her mouth shut for the rest of the procedures.

Ten minutes later, the man finished compiling their information all the way back to their grandfathers and their occupations.

“Alright. You can stay for a week, if you wish to stay further please go to the main office and get an extended bill passed. Just take care not to commit any crimes as the death penalty is legal here. Have a good day. Next!”

The man in white armor let them pass through the gate, it was surprisingly easy despite having to stand for several hours. They had arrived during the morning but now it was nearly noon. She glanced back at the people sitting comfortably in their carriages in envy, her green eyes flashing momentarily.

“Come on. We’re heading to the Wizard’s Tower.”

Xuan urged her to stay focused and so she did. She didn’t know his reason for being in a hurry but she had learned not to ask too many questions over the course of the past month.

The streets were crowded with people going about their business. The foot traffic even exceeding the liveliness of Virandi’s city. The looming Wizard’s Tower was just ahead but they were stopped when they heard a loud yell down the street.

“That’s her!”

A man in travel worn clothing was currently running at Irelithe with his right fist clenched behind him ready to strike. The man was chased by what seemed to be his wife and a couple guards but they couldn’t keep up. The man thrusted his fist forwards at Irelithe’s face but Xuan stopped him in his tracks with his own fist.

The insurmountable wall that is Xuan prevented the man from budging even a meter from his current position, his fist tightly held by Xuan’s. If the target of the man’s assault wasn’t Irelithe, then she might have imagined a few hearts and a rosy atmosphere at the moment.

“Why are you raising your hand at my companion?”

Xuan asked the man in front of him. He loosened his grip causing the man to stumble back a few steps at the unexpected release. He rubbed his sore fist as he glared at Irelithe.

“She was the one who murdered my son a month ago. Never thought I’d see those green eyes here again.”

The man raised his voice once more, yelling out to the guards behind him and to the spectators around them.

“Look! What kind of justice is this? You won’t help out a few starved refugees from the war but you harbor a murderer like her!?”

He thrust a finger towards Irelithe who was as astounded as she appeared. Her blank face drew in more attention and murmurs began to spread amongst the crowd. The man continued spouting insults and ramblings until he was taken away by the guards. His wife seemed angry about him causing a scene and scolded him while accompanying the guards to testify in his defense.

One of the guards left the part and approached Irelithe, or rather, Xuan. The guard in question had bronze gilded armor in comparison to the others and had a small golden lion badge on the right side of his breastplate. Apparently this was one of the

“Sorry about that. Some of the refugees tend to be a bit crazy. For now I’d say he would receive a small fine and a short detainment but we could either increase the punishments if you wish to testify. That is, if your concerns are valid. Either way, before we can fully judge the man, we’d have to confirm if your companion has committed any crimes within the past few months.”

“I understand.”

The man brought out a grey sphere the size of a child’s head. He held it on top of his gauntleted hand and brought it forward towards Irelithe.

“Place your hand on this and state what you’ve done during the past month. The orb will detect if you intentionally leave anything out or falsify any information. Begin.”

Irelithe placed her palm onto the orb and began recounting the events starting from her travels towards Viscor but was interrupted by a red light flashing from the orb.

The guard looked intently into Irelithe’s right eye to see if she was hiding anything important but judging from her puzzled expression it wasn’t anything incriminating. Not yet anyways.

“What were you doing before going to Viscor? And how long ago was it?”

“Ehm. I reported a sighting of a Demon in the Balros Forests. A small naked girl with unkempt black hair and glowing red eyes. She was covered in blood and her claws took my left eye before fleeing.”

She lifted the eyepatch to reveal the scarred surface of her skin and the lifeless eyes behind. She placed the eyepatch back into its proper place with a nod from the guard and continued recounting her tale. When she reached the part with the Balros Army’s assault she was halted by the guard.

“I see. Those damned fools. Should have known that Balros have started making their move again. Did you see any flags there?”

“A green one with a tree on it, a red one with a horse, and a yellow one with wheat.”

Xuan replied calmly to the guard who was now fumbling with this sword.

“I see. The man earlier said you had razed their entire village a week after the incident. You have an alibi for that?”

Xuan moved Irelithe’s hand away from the orb and set his own in her place.

“Yes, we were heading to Helios from then on after escaping a bit of trouble. We have been doing so for the entirety of last month.”

Irelithe knew that Xuan was purposefully hiding information but the orb didn’t light up when he mentioned ‘incident.’ The guard took back the orb and called over a scribe to his side.

“This scribe here has recorded the entirety of our friendly interrogation. This document will work just as well as a proper testimony in person. You two will probably be found innocent but do you wish to harshen the perpetrator’s punishment?”

The guard asked Irelithe this time, sure that she was innocent and she actually was. Irelithe didn’t know what lookalike was going around causing issues but it wasn’t her problem. She didn’t want the man to suffer so she asked that they could waver his sentence. The guard looked confused for a moment before laughing and walking away. Saying things such as the naivety of youth being refreshing. The scribe followed suite leaving Xuan and Irelithe alone in the middle of the street.

It almost seemed like nothing had happened since the crowd started flowing once again. Xuan looked up and saw that the sun had nearly reached its apex.

“Damn.”

He picked up Irelithe in a princess carry and started dashing down the streets. The rare screams of an elf could be heard for half an hour that day.