Tina sighed softly, and the two familiars sitting on her shoulders bobbed up and down. “We also have nothing. The only thing we found is dust. This place hasn’t been cleaned in months, most likely since that guy’s mom passed away.”

  They glanced at Asterios together and saw him staring at a wall with a somewhat neutral and cold expression.

  “Did you notice something, Master?” Miria stepped closer to him and followed his gaze.

  “No, I haven’t. I even asked Umbra to have a try at verifying if we haven’t missed anything but that brought nothing.” He shook his head. “I just have a really bad feeling about that guy for some reason. No matter how I look at it, he’s extremely suspicious. He suddenly came out as the lord’s son just like that with no regard for anything else, not even caring about what was going to happen to the home he grew up in with his parents.

  Selene crossed her arms under her impressive chest and glanced around. “What if he didn’t find the letter after his mother’s death but… before.”

  Tina put her hands on her hips and frowned as she too ran her gaze over the living room. She then turned to the fox lady, and her eyes went wide.

  “You don’t think that he…”

  “...killed his own mother after reading it?” Miria finished and turned really uncomfortable. “But why would he do that?”

  “Because she lied to him and he got furious? Because she tried to stop him or to convince him against revealing it? Because she was in his way to be adopted by the lord?” Asterios presented a few reasons he could think of right away.

  Everyone fell silent as they contemplated his words until Miria stomped the floor with an angry expression. “But why?! Why would he hurt his own mother?! People said such nice things about her! If she was a bad or evil parent then maybe I could understand, but… but… but…”

  Asterios walked up to Miria as she tightly squeezed her hands into fists. Her lips were firmly pressed together as a few small tears began welling up in the corner of her eyes. He pulled her into a gentle and loving hug and began tenderly patting her head.

  “Nothing is confirmed yet. We don’t have any evidence. I can’t say that it’s an unbelievable scenario considering all that we’ve learned, but let’s wait with assuming things until we question him properly. If he shows any signs of hiding something, we’ll have Umbra dig everything out,” he consoled her in a soothing voice.

  She sniffled quietly into his shoulder while embracing him back. Tina and Selene joined them and also brushed through the panthergirl’s hair. They felt equally sad and angry at the man. As Asterios had said, they could see any of his suggestions happening in the past.

  Then, they all jumped slightly when someone knocked on the front door. Their eyes shot to the entrance in a blink.

  ~It’s Yumi,~ Umbra informed them and everyone exhaled in relief.

  Asterios placed a delicate kiss on Miria’s forehead and she released him with a sweet smile. He walked to the door with the others behind him. They peeked over his shoulder as he pulled the knob.

  As Umbra had noted, Yumi stood on the other side, respectfully holding her palms over her maid skirt.

  “I’m sorry for interrupting, My Lord. There’s some commotion in the main market, and your presence is being requested.”

  Chapter 35

  Neverending Arrivals

  “My presence?” Asterios raised his brows at their personal maid.

  Yumi made a small, polite bow. “Yes, My Lord. Would you mind heading there to appeal the request? If you are busy, I’ll return to the market and let everyone know to seek an audience with you at another time.”

  “That’s alright, thank you. We have just finished our business here. Can you lead the way?” he asked and stepped outside to allow the others to leave the house too.

  “Naturally, My Lord. Please, follow me.” She turned slightly and gestured ahead with her hand.

  Miria trotted closer to her and smiled adorably at the maid. “You don’t have to be so stiff with us, Yumi! We are friends!”

  Yumi answered with a gentle smile and an appreciative nod. “I know but we are in public right now, Mistress Miria. As your personal maid, I have to uphold a certain level of decorum and respect for my masters. I’m very pleased to hear that you think so highly of me, Mistress.”

  Asterios chuckled lightly after seeing the cute pout on Miria’s lips and plopped a hand onto her hair. “Let Yumi do her work in peace. We should appreciate the effort she is putting into this even though we said that she doesn’t have to.”

  Miria wrinkled her nose a few times but beamed at their maid friend right after, making Yumi blush just a little from the friendliness coming off the sweet panthergirl. She bowed once more and began leading the way to the main plaza with everyone behind her.

  After arriving at their destination, they quickly noticed that a small crowd had gathered in front of Venuzathor. It looked like a circle had formed around something or someone, but it was hard to see from their angle. As soon as they moved closer to the people surrounding the spot, they were noticed and everyone respectfully stepped aside to make way for their lord.

  The moment a short, clear corridor formed, Asterios sighed to himself while the girls standing right next to him giggled quietly. He walked ahead with his gaze locked on Kindra, who was running in circles around a pair of tall elves. It didn’t take long for him to also recognize the duo, and his brows rose in surprise.

  “Imadil and Cynthia?” Miria peaked from behind him while tilting her head.

  The man turned his face their way and showed a calm smile. “Miria and Asterios, hello. And hello to all the other ladies too, of course.”

  “Hi.” His daughter waved at them from his side.

  Asterios finally reached their position and shook Imadil’s extended hand. “It’s nice to meet you two again. What are you guys doing here?” He squinted his eyes accusingly at Kindra, who swayed her hips like an innocent little girl while avoiding his gaze.

  Cynthia put her hands on her sides and smiled at him. “A certain quite interesting piece of news reached our long ears some time ago and we just had to check it out.”

  “We’ve heard that there's a small rural town into which two very prominent families were planning to move recently. Supposedly, the newly appointed lord is a wise and resourceful person,” Imadil continued after her with a chuckle. “We traveled here to meet him and to see if this really is a land full of opportunities for smiths just like ourselves.”

  “I see. Your sources must be really well-informed,” Asterios replied with a small smirk, and Kindra couldn’t hold in a barely audible giggle. “That explains why we didn’t find you back in your forge in Tyrienheim when we were visiting. We thought that maybe you took a week or two off.”

  The man frowned at him slightly. “You didn’t see the note?”

  “What note?” Miria asked. “It was just locked, wasn’t it?”

  Imadil slowly turned his face to his daughter and raised a brow at her. Cynthia's eyes turned wider just a little bit, and she dropped her gaze to the ground as a faint tinge of rosiness stained her bright cheeks. Her father sighed heavily while rubbing his forehead.

  “My apologies. It seems that my absent-minded daughter forgot to hang it out on the front entrance before we left.”

  Tina chuckled softly. “Happens to everyone.”

  “That’s true.” Asterios smiled at her. “Now then, how can I help you? It’s certainly a great honor to welcome artisans of your caliber to Glimmervale. I’m afraid our small town won’t be able to compete with Tyrienheim in terms of available work or custom orders.”

  “Maybe, but we’ve started getting a little bit tired of the atmosphere surrounding a grand, well-developed city. There are just so many entitled people living in such places that you would be surprised.” Imadil shook his head, and Cynthia exhaled wistfully. “Certainly, your subjects could use some good quality maintenance on their tools, weapons, and other equipment, perhaps even some useful enchants. I don’t mean to belittle all the other smiths or metalworkers here, of course.”

  “And that’s still pretty much the majority of things we’ve been taking care of in Tyrienheim anyway,” Cynthia chimed in. “Especially the orders from the garrison were the most annoying. They always expect their gear to be returned in a top-notch condition within some unachievable deadline while they deliver half-operable trash.”

  Kindra huffed while crossing her arms under her chest. “Seriously, it feels like half of Tyrienheim’s population consists of rude, rich kids. Our receptionists and all other people being in direct touch with the customers have to deal with so much sass it’s sickening.” She flashed them a sly smirk. “Thankfully, Glimmervale is a completely different case.”

  “It certainly is something else.” The elf smith nodded and took a glance at the giant Dracodon resting peacefully behind him. “I don’t think even the capital has such an entity watching over it. And I can feel the sophisticated arrays surrounding this place too. Ignoring the lack of defensive formations, for now, I think Glimmervale can be considered one of if not the safest settlement in this kingdom.”

  “The walls certainly are a bit of a problem, especially considering our current issues.” Tina giggled softly.

  “Is there some kind of trouble?” Cynthia looked between her and Asterios.

  “A little bit but it’s unnecessary for you to get involved, and it’s not really a good topic to discuss in the very middle of the town.” He gestured around with his gaze. “We are already working on fixing the issue, and it won’t take long before it’s a thing of the past.”

  A few enthusiastic shouts broke out in the small crowd which still surrounded them and people soon began clapping joyfully. Asterios and Tina smiled at everyone and nodded their heads appreciatively as more yells joined the first ones.

  “Alright, alright, thank you.” He had to calm down the gathered residents, or they would never end cheering. “Unless anyone has something else for us to discuss, we’ll now move to the castle so that our new guests are properly tended to.”

  The crowd quietened and a wave of murmurs passed through it. People began to disperse and Asterios glanced at Yumi, who immediately picked up on his intentions. Their personal maid approached the elf duo and invited them to follow her to the castle. He and Tina walked beside Imadil and Cynthia while the other girls fell to the back with Kindra.

  “So, how are our creations faring in your hands?” the man asked after a short moment of silence.

  “They are extremely useful and powerful, even though I haven’t really had many chances to make proper use of them recently. I did fend off a bunch of beasts with a few simple spells the other day but nothing on the level of fighting a Skeletal Dragon like in the past. And I’m focusing quite a bit on developing my own talents now that I have discovered more of them,” Asterios replied.

  “You do feel a little bit different,” Cynthia admitted, examining him with her inquisitive eyes. “I wonder how far you can push your Spellslinger right now.”

  He pondered for a moment then reached for the artifact sword hanging behind his back. Drawing it out of its sheath, he brought the purplish blade ahead of him.

  “Are you able to sense the concentration of spiritual energy?” he asked the duo.

  “Of course,” Imadil replied and Cynthia nodded after him. “I was able to peer into you back when we first met, and my daughter has obviously inherited the same techniques.”

  Their eyes glowed slightly and Asterios focused deeply as they slowed down their walk a bit. He didn’t want to manifest his draconic features by accident and it was a good exercise to see how far he could take it before he was forced to do so. A powerful spiritual aura burst out of him, but he hastily took control of it and fed it into his weapon.

  Imadil and Cynthia watched with wide eyes as he pumped an unbelievable amount of mana into the artifact, causing it to change accordingly. At first, it exploded in crimson flames, but that vicious fire soon merged with the edge of the blade and illuminated only the wavy pattern running alongside it. After a few moments, that intense glow reached blindingly-glowing scarlet radiance and caused the entirety of the weapon to lit up with a purplish hue as the crimson flame marks crept further towards the other dull edge of the blade.

  They began sweating, seeing very clearly how much spiritual energy had already been condensed in the artifact. Imadil worried that it could implode under so much pressure and wanted to say something, but Asterios sensed a weird change in the weapon. He hastily raised it up and pointed it toward the sky.

  The people around them gasped and screamed when violent, dark crimson flames suddenly enveloped the shining blade and exploded with a burst of heat, forming a spiraling pillar of vicious fire as wide as Asterios and extending a good few meters above everyone’s heads, reaching the very roofs of the nearby buildings.

  A moment later, the swirling flames disappeared and revealed an awe-inspiring, enlarged version of the single-edged blade, as wide and tall as the fiery pillar. It had a pure dark crimson shade and small tongues of fire licked the air all around it.

  Asterios was extremely careful not to bring it close to any element of their current surroundings because he could not just feel but also sense the inexplicable heat it emanated. He had no doubt that it could easily slice through stone bricks and other similar materials like through heated butter, melting them into a puddle.

  Before he damaged any part of the beautiful town, he withdrew all the infused energy back from the magical weapon. The huge blade dissipated into nothingness like an extinguished flame and returned to its usual, solid, purplish metal state and size. He held it out to let it cool down a little bit.

  “You… certainly can push your Spellslinger quite far with spiritual energy like that…” Imadil said with a strained chuckle while Cynthia became pale as a sheet of paper, once more considering if she hadn’t doomed the entire realm with her creation.

  Asterios could only smile wryly. If they already considered his energy powerful, he wondered what they would say if he revealed that he might possibly be just half of himself at the current moment. He didn’t know if his strength would double after recovering from that ailment, but Venuzathor had made it sound like it.

  “In any way, I assume you are looking to move into Glimmervale, right?” Tina asked curiously as Asterios carefully sheathed his sword.

  “Yeah,” Cynthia answered her with a somewhat weak voice. “We figured out that if we are going to continue doing the same thing, it would be nicer to do so in a smaller, more welcoming environment. We aren’t exactly troubled by money, plus, we will be much closer to our homeland here. Not like we plan on visiting often but that’s certainly a decent bonus.”

  “As Cynthia said.” Imadil nodded. “We would like to purchase a place for us to turn into a forge. Or, if there is a vacant workshop, we could take it over. There’s not that much we need since we carry most of our tools and materials with us.”

  The man gestured at Asterios with his hand and he nodded in understanding. It wasn’t a surprise that their family would be in possession of storage artifacts. Perhaps they had even been created by the father and daughter duo or someone from their lineage back in the past.

  “I don’t think there will be any issues with that. Yumi, could you go and pass this news on to the Committee?” Asterios glanced at their maid guide.

  “With pleasure, My Lord. Please, excuse me, then.” She made a polite bow and quickly scurried away.

  “Looks like you already got used to your new position.” Imadil chuckled softly.

  “Of course! Master is the best at leading and ordering others!” Miria flashed him a proud grin from the back of the group.

  “In any way, we’ll most likely meet the artisans working here before we set everything up,” the elf man continued. “I would hate to get into anyone’s way and it’s not our aim to compete for the spot of the best smithy, or to overtake the market with our products. Perhaps we will be able to cooperate. I honestly miss working together with a bunch of people under the same goal a little.”

  “And what would that goal be?” Tina asked curiously.

  “Making Glimmervale's metalworking and artifact smithing an object of envy.” Cynthia smiled at her gently. “Just imagine the crowds flocking to this remote town after the rumors about the quality of local creations spread far and wide. This close to the neighboring nation, we have high chances of attracting both elves and humans. Additionally, we are located almost perfectly in the middle of the two capitals.”

  “Do you think of the same thing as I do, my daughter?” Imadil raised a brow at her with his mouth curling up just slightly in the faintest smirk.

  She answered with the same and gave him a tiny nod. “It’s time for Spellsongs to come into the light again. We’ve been laying low since Mother’s passing, but we can’t let our craft and skills deteriorate any further. She would whip our asses if she saw what we’ve been doing in the last decades.”

  The man’s smile grew and Asterios could discern a barely noticeable spark of passion in his emerald eyes which had brightened up ever so faintly. “You are right. We can’t let things stay like this forever. And even though Glimmervale lacks some outer defenses, I think it’s one of the safest places we could have chosen right now. We just have to make sure to do our part properly.”

  “We are already working on the walls,” Tina informed the elf duo. “Our families are going to fund the construction. The base project should be finished very soon.”

  “That’s great to hear. Perhaps we should get in touch with them too and see if we can lend our craft in that,” Imadil replied, taking a glance at Kindra who smirked at him slyly.

  They soon reached the castle grounds and Asterios led everyone with Tina to one of the meeting lounges. The servants hastily brought them some beverages and snacks, leaving the chamber afterward to respect their lord’s and his guests’ privacy. Imadil, Cynthia, and Kindra sat down on one comfy sofa while Asterios plopped down opposite them with all three girls at his sides.