Julia could have wished for anything else right now. "Sure." Watching the boy stand up to leave, she had to stop him. "If you want, you can use my bathroom to wash yourself up." Aron stopped in place, trying to smell if he was stinking once again. His actions made the blonde laugh out.

"No, it's not that bad. But I figured that you won't have access to the washrooms that often." She knew that the slaves shared public washhouses and they usually only got the chance to have a proper bath in over a week. Aron's case must not be that different.

"Haha.. then you have my thanks. These days, I sure have come to appreciate a good bath." Not minding the girl in the room he completely stripped down to his underpants before happily skipping to the designated room. Once the boy left, Julia's head fell on the pillow. She was not convinced that she held any affection for the boy, but then again why does it feel so good when he was around?

***

Away from Greenville Academy and in the middle of a redlight district, a council sat around a table on the underground floor of a whore house. "Why did the old man summoned all of us, once again? We were just here a few weeks back?" "He thinks everyone is unfettered as himself... Huh.."

"Why don't you just keep your mouth close for once? Your voice makes me sick.. pui..!!" The short guy who just spoke had an ugly face as he gritted his teeth. This is when he noticed something interesting. "Ohh my.. what happened to you little Isa? Don't tell me you were abandoned by your mother cow?"

At this point, the elf girl would have been all over the masked woman. Hence it was truly exceptional that she had not even interacted once, since the time they had been here. Not only him, but others also noticed the changes. "What did you say, shorty?" The girl was already on her feet, with her hands on the handle of her sword.

The man didn't take her seriously, laughing uproariously in his seat. Suddenly, the atmosphere turned cold. "Cough.. cough.." His expression changed as he began coughing up, taking the support of the table. "Watch it, Drake! No insult is worth losing your life over."

"Cough.. fuckkk..!!" Everything was returned to normal just as fast. The short man had a raged expression on his face, but he can't do anything. The woman was extremely powerful. "As vicious as ever, my lady.. hehe.." Another man was watching all this with a wine glass in his hand.

This one was extremely handsome, his features surpassing even the elegance of the high-class ladies. As he brought the red wine closer to his lips, a set of sharp canines was visible. "Fuck off.. jerk.. your face makes me wanna puke..! Just go away.."

The man-made nothing of Isabella's insults, his eyes still trained on the woman with the half mask over her face. "I know you are the youngest among us Isabella, but please refrain from antagonizing everyone in the group. All of us are a team." The voice came from outside the room, after which an old man with a long white beard showed up.

The elf girl completely ignored his words with an audible humph. The man marched to the front, taking his seat. "I know most of you are frustrated because I called you out here so soon. But you will understand when I tell you the matter." "Then go on, old freak. What are you delaying it for? Is there another guy who is invited?"

"Haha.. precisely!" The man who asked the question went on to count the members present in the room. "Hmm? Is it Durand?" "Yeah, it must be him. He is the only one missing." "Man, it's been months since I last saw him, is he even alive?"

Everyone except a few people talked amongst themselves. "Hey, big sis? How powerful is this Durand guy?" Being the newest member of the team, Isabella was still not privy to all the information. She was aware that there was a guy with that name in their party but that was pretty much it.

"Haha... Durand is the best bet we got after the boss, little girl." Darlene had treated her words like air, regardless the old man chimed in with an answer. "Huh? Then how come you are sitting there, old bones?" Her words made most of the members chuckle up, including the old man.

"Hahaha.. that's because, in times when brute power fails, an experienced mind might show the way." Another man had entered the room. Everyone can suddenly feel the air around them grow heavier. Isabella turned back to find the guy completely covered under the hood. Only his lips and chin were visible to others. The way he appeared out of nowhere, without even breaking a sweat, told her that this guy was dangerous.

Even Darlene might not be able to pull this off. The newcomer passed by the members and took his seat right next to the old man. This is when Isabella noticed the dark energy spheres circling behind his back, in total there were five of them, each exceptionally dark like it was draining the light from the surroundings.

Everyone except the four bowed their heads, displaying their respect for the man. The four included the old man, the handsome man with the red wine glass, Darlene, and of course Isabella, who still had not figured out everything. "Apologies for being late to the meeting. I see everyone is here."

"Looks like it's truly important, no that even number two had shown up haha.." The man with sharp canines smiled before sipping his wine at ease. "As charming as always, Victor haha.. then.." The man with dark spheres turned his gaze around to look at each face before stalling at one. "Darlene, it's been long since I saw you. You have improved by a lot!"

"Thanks." The redhead didn't bother looking at the guy, simply appreciating his words with a sterile face. "Haha.. cold as ever, I believe." Next, he noticed the elf girl staring right back at him with curious eyes. "I see, a new member joined us when I was away. Welcome to the team, little girl. What's your name?"

"Hmm.. are you really more powerful than everyone else around here?" Her reply was totally random, answering him with a question of her own. Everyone looked around but the man chuckled lightly. "Why? Do you have a doubt?" "Nah... it's just that for a guy that badass, you sure talk a lot."

The room was silent for a few seconds, only to be broken by the loud laughter of the man. "Hahaha.. why can't I talk, little girl? I love talking. Please don't take this place as an evil cult." "Ohh... it's not? Then I might be at the wrong place." Another round of laughter rang up. "Where did you pick this one from, master Zion? She is a perfect fit. We can certainly use so the humor in this full place."

"Welcome onboard, little one. This is for all of you, please know this. Our ways might be unorthodox, and it might even lead to death and carnage at times but... We don't do this because we enjoy that. We do this in hope that tomorrow will be better than today, for a better world, for a better civilization, and a better life."

His speech was passionate and everyone was nodding in sync. Isabella restrained from taking a jibe at the guy this time. The old man took over the conversation from there, first introducing the elf girl to the man and then moving on to the agenda of the topic.

"We have established contact with the boss. I have his words." Only two sentences and everyone's faces had taken on a serious expression, awaiting the next words from the old man. "The time had been decided. Two months from now, the king will hold a ceremony to celebrate the queen's birthday. There will be a massive procession on the streets of the capital. In the chaos, we will execute our plans."

"It will be a two-pronged attack, first one led by Durand and supported by Victor. The next one was led by myself and Darlene. Please note that the second attack takes priority over the first, that's the boss's words. For once, we can fail in rescuing him, but he won't tolerate the failure of the other mission."

"Rest of the teams are already divided. Most of our firepower will be focussed on the palace, while our second attack is supposed to be a covert one. Any questions?" The mission objectives had already been defined many times earlier, it was only a question of who was going to lead which team.

"I got no issues." The fair-faced man placed his now empty wine glass on the table and licked his lips seductively, much to Isabella's disgust. "Same." Darlene also chimed in with her short response. "Good, then what about you Durand?" "I am in. Let's make sure everything goes according to plan. Also, although the mission is important, but your lives are more important, so be mindful to not die."

Everyone chuckled lightly and with a nod from the old man, the people got up to leave in different directions, through the multiple doors. Isabella saw the woman next to her get up, she too followed. "How long are you going to be like this, big sis? Look, didn't I say sorry?"

"I even promised not to find that brat. What else do you want me to do?" The elf girl was already on the verge of tears when the two ladies had reached a dark alleyway. That's when Darlene stopped in her tracks, sighing deeply. "Listen, Isa, my mind is all jumbled up right now. I am not able to think straight, so how about we talk after the mission is completed?"

The girl most probably didn't even listen to her, just the fact that she spoke back was enough to overwhelm her to tears. Lunging on the woman she held onto her arm, crying like a baby. "You are so bad.. *sob* *sob* big sis.. you know, these days... *sniff* I didn't even sleep *sniff* *sniff* wiuu... wuuuu.."

Darlene had a wry face, not knowing how to respond aptly to the situation. The only this she can do was to pat her girl's head while she cried her heart out, drenching her left sleeve in fluids.

Back at the academy, Aron knocked on the door. A minute later a blonde girl stood in front of him, staring at his face without saying a word. "Ahem.. is there something on my face?" Julia didn't respond, satisfied after another minute of appraising the boy, she allowed him entry.

Aron can't tell, but sometimes this girl truly acted strangely around him. 'Hmm.. maybe it's because of that.' As the blonde settled in bed with him, ready to take notes for today's lecture, Aron coughed lightly. "Julia.. about that day in the woods, I never apologized to you. Hope you can forgive me, I had no other choice. I was scared."

For once the girl was stunned that he brought this topic up, after so many days. Yet, looking at his dark earnest eyes, she can tell that he was speaking from the heart. "It's okay, I can understand. Both of us are alive and that's what matters the most."

Aron raised his head, a bit surprised by the maturity shown by the girl. Not to mention she was so young, in addition, she was from a big family. An inflated ego must have been second nature to her, however, he found her returning to flip the pages of her notes with the same cold face.