Edea: Hero Summoning Conspiracy - Chapter 233

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Fortunately for Kazuya, the father and son duo took the main route towards the village of Waise. Gazardiel did not want anything unexpected to hinder his plans and avoided the more direct yet dangerous route through the goblin forest.

“What’s wrong, son?” Gazardiel controlled his horse and slowed down.

“We need to take a break and let the horses rest, father. They are workhorses and we have travelled almost non stop for two days now. They might die even before we get to the village you spoke of.” Jorelle patted his horse and moved towards the side of the road.

The old man frowned. While he cared little for the horses’ well-being, it was indeed true that their mounts were only able to hold on because his son was a cleric.

“I understand. Let’s take a break then.” He could only sigh as his son had already dismounted on the side.

“Father, I know that you’re concerned about the culprits catching wind of our suspicions but if we run into any problems, we would still need our horses to escape. We are already close to the village so it would be better for us to let them rest for a bit.” Jorelle patted his horse and used his recovery spell to ease some of their fatigue.

“I guess you’re right…” the old man decided to let Jorelle do as he wanted and sat on a nearby rock.

“Are you sure that they wouldn’t suspect anything if I showed up there? I am a cleric after all.” Jorelle sat close to his father after leaving the horses to rest.

“There shouldn’t be a problem since you’re not wearing your clerical robes. The villagers already know that I have a son so it wouldn’t be strange if I let you see the farmlands and introduce you to them. I doubt that even the person behind this incident can tell that you are from the church since your holy powers are not strong enough to leak out of your body.” Gazardiel reassured his son.

“sigh… I do still have a long way to go…” Jorelle smiled bitterly.

While his growth has accelerated after following the tips from his exchanges with his new friend, he was still far from being as capable as his seniors in the church. What the two friends did not know, was that this sudden growth was the reason that Gazardiel made such a sudden decision.

“Is being a paladin still your goal?”

“Yes. Meeting Kazu has made me want to chase this dream of mine more than ever. I want to be able to travel around the world and see the sights he has seen. To do that, I have to at least be capable of protecting myself.” Jorelle replied solemnly.

“So, it was indeed that person who made you improve a lot…” Gazardiel looked at his son and nodded silently.

“Yes. Hopefully, he is not upset that I have left the capital without informing him. I do not know when he will leave the capital but I hope to be there when he does.”

They left the capital in a hurry because of Gazardiel’s insistence after claiming that time was of the essence. Jorelle had accepted the task because they would only be confirming the lead to the incident and not engaging the culprits themselves.

“(It was a good decision to bring you here without letting that young man know.)” Gazardiel felt a little thankful towards Kazuya.

–

Meanwhile, with Kazuya’s abrupt departure from Maynira, an entourage that garnered people’s attentions had entered from the southern gates.

“This…” one of the operatives stationed at the gates immediately frowned after noticing the emblem on one of the carriages.

He wasted no time and assigned his subordinates to keep their eyes on the group that had just arrived as he made his way to the Eberbach residence.

“Huh?” Just as he arrived, he noticed someone he knew.

An acquaintance of him that had been assigned to lead another batch of operatives assigned to the western gates had just left the room where Zwei was.

“(Did something happen at the western gates as well?)” he wondered before knocking on the door to Zwei’s office.

“Come in.” Zwei recognized the operative from the southern gates.

“Sir! There is a matter I need to inform you with! A carriage bearing the symbol of the southern kingdom’s royalty had just entered from the southern gates.” He reported.

“Filodoxos…” Zwei frowned.

There hadn’t been any announcements from the royal palace nor did anyone say anything about it so either this had been kept a secret or Filodoxos purposely did not inform the Zweifel kingdom about it. Zwei tried to think about what their purpose could have been for coming here without notice.

Whatever the case may have been, with the report he had received just moments ago, the Eberbach house may soon be experiencing some pressure.

Surely, the arrival of Filodoxos royalty had something to do with the recent success of the hero summoning ritual. One would be a fool to not connect the dots almost immediately as they had deliberately kept their movements hidden from the other kingdoms that have been paying attention to Zweifel after the news of Kazuya’s arrival had spread.

“I have instructed my team to keep an eye on the carriage carefully and will report immediately after we find out who exactly is inside it.” The operative continued.

“From the way you described their entourage, I already have an idea on who it would likely be.” Zwei sighed.

The timing of Kazuya’s abrupt departure could not have come at a more inappropriate timing. Though Zwei thought that something might have happened for the hero to have made such a move so suddenly, the old butler couldn’t help but want to scold Kazuya a little.

“There are a lot of princes from the southern kingdoms…” the operative began to think of the answer as well.

“If I’m not mistaken, they should have sent their most talented candidate, prince Castro.” He stated.

“Castro… the young man who was able to take down one of the southern kingdoms in his first campaign?” the operative was shocked.

“There is no need to think about it much. I will be called to the palace sooner or later and confirm it. The possibility of someone like him arriving in the capital will certainly involve the hero who is currently a guest in this residence.” Zwei dismissed the operative and pondered on how he should handle this matter.

Kazuya had sent him a note telling him that he had something that he needed to do outside of the capital. It did not mention exactly how long he would be gone but, from the direction he was said to have been heading, it was almost certain that he was headed towards the goblin forest once more.

“(Did he want to fight against monsters to temper himself?)” Zwei wondered.

From his observations of Kazuya, he was certain that the young man was definitely serious about improving his own skills. His spars against Sodina would always end up in the hero’s loss but Zwei could not help but think that sense that the hero had more to him that he was showing everyone aside from not using his soul weapon.

“Uncle Zwei, did you call for me?” Sodina entered the room and saw the frown on her usually level-headed uncle wore.

“I need to inform you so that you can prepare yourself. A troublesome person had just arrived in the capital and without your father, you would be representing the Eberbach family in his stead.” Zwei looked at her seriously.

“A troublesome person? I don’t think anyone would mind it if you represented my father like usual, uncle Zwei.” Sodina was a little bit confused.

“No, it is a member of Filodoxos’ royalty so if I attend a formal occasion without you, it would be inappropriate. Also, we might be encountering some problems because their arrival happened to have come after Kazuya-sama’s sudden departure.” Zwei showed her the letter he had gotten from the young man.

“That guy…” Sodina got angry after reading the casual letter Kazuya had sent seemingly without a care.

“We currently have no choice but to say that he is currently under seclusion and has informed us to refuse any invitations like usual. I will send a few people to go after him if we truly cannot resolve this without him so for now, it will be up to you and me to stall for time.”

From Kazuya’s first departure from the capital, Zwei had already assumed that he would be gone for a few days. While they had indeed let him do as he wanted, Zwei had already decided to give him a stern talking to once he had returned.

He felt that if he didn’t, Kazuya’s willful nature would get out of hand and possibly land them in more serious problems. While he admired the young man, in the end, Zwei could not help but find traces of youth that were present in the hero’s character.

“I hope that he won’t be gone for too long or we would be in deep trouble…”

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