The queen watched the scene through the gap, and did many things during the night, but on the next morning when she met Damian again, she acted as if nothing had happened.
"Good morning. How was your night? Was the bed comfy?" Siora asked.
"A perfect night! Now, if you excuse me, I'll go see my friend," Damian said.
Siora grabbed him by the arm. "Could you please leave through the secret passage on the back? I don't want the guards to speak about this."
Damian could understand why she would do that, so he nodded. "No problem. Show me the exit."
The queen's house had multiple secret exits that only the queen knew about, and now Damian would know one of them.
It was a tunnel that led to a nearby lake, and before Damian knew, he was in the middle of the forest, alone.
'She thinks I did not see her spying yesterday. Siora, your time will come, hehe.'
Damian looked at the clear lake with no elf around. The weather was nice, so why not take a quick bath?
"Where have you been?" Frederic asked the moment he saw Damian entering through the door.
Frederic knew Damian would meet the queen, but he did not think it would take that long — he even thought about going after him, worried that something terrible had happened.
"With the queen. But there are some things I want to share with you," Damian said, signing for Frederic to get closer.
Damian explained about Ailred and how he spoke with mysterious individuals, and suddenly wanting to get the throne.
"This is indeed strange. If we can help the elves with this, then having a powerful ally like them is quite useful. We could even know more about where we are," Frederic said.
That was exactly the plan Damian had in mind, and for the time being, he wanted to remain low profile inside the village, but investigate the people Ailred talked to in the meantime.
So he remained inside his house for the entire day, eating, resting, and chatting with Frederic. He did not practice his abilities for two reasons.
One day of practice wouldn't make a difference, especially if his mind was on something else. And he also did not want to share his abilities with the other elves.
The secret of his prowess in battle would serve him great, just like it did back when those elves tried to kill him inside that cave.
So Damian tried his best to not leave his house, and when he did not act suspicious, and when night came, it was time for him to leave.
"Frederic, you stay here and act like your normal self. I will leave a clone on my bed sleeping, understood?"
"A clone? How and why?"
"There are elves watching us, so I need to ensure they still think I am inside the house."
"Someone is watching us?" Frederic gazed through the windows, looking like a paranoid person.
"I will be back as soon as I can."
Damian went to their bathroom — the only place no guards were watching — and created a clone with his slime ring.
After that, both he and the clone went outside on the balcony, acting as if he was only watching the night and the fireflies.
But the real Damian was invisible, and with his Telekineses, flew away from the village, going toward the place where Ailred supposedly met with others.
"Look, he's on the balcony. Will he finally do something for us to lock him in the cells?" An elf whispered.
They were watching Damian's slime clone on the balcony, hoping for him to leave the house and do something suspicious so that they had a motive to lock him in a cell, yet none of that happened, and Damian's clone return to the house.
"Fuck…"
The guards weren't looking happy after seeing Damian acting like that, with a few punching the trees to reduce their anger.
"Ailred wants that guy locked, so we have to think of a way…"
Damian did not know any of that happened, as he was more concerned with finding the people who had evil plans with Ailred.
He flew through the elven forest, invisible with the help of his cloak.
'I only know the general direction, but what exactly should I be looking for here?'
The amount of information Damian got was small, but enough for him to find something!
A cave, one that looked like an ordinary one, but it was not because there were two people with masks and black-robes on the entrance, looking like cultists or something.
'Who are these people? And how did the elves not find this place?'
Damian did not believe the elves wouldn't find that cave. They explored all parts of the forest, going for hunting and overall protection of their land, so a cave and people looking like cultists would be easy to find, yet no one did.
'Maybe they have a defense mechanism if strangers come close? If that's the case, then these forests are probably filled with those people!'
That was only a guess, but one that made sense. They had to have a warning prior to someone finding the cave to somehow flee or do something else for them to remain hidden.
It was something Damian would do if he was in that situation.
Anyway, finding the cave was only the first step, and the easiest. Damian still did not know who those people were, and what was their level of power.
Bluntly entering the cave without proper planning would be a stupid decision.
'I have to find another one like them!'
Damian wanted to get their uniform, but information, so he had to find a cultist or whatever those people were, but it had to be someone outside the cave, and alone.
So he used his Slime Ring once again, replicating the cultist's uniform and mask! It was not identical — the clothing was made of a living slime, so how could it be? — but the night was Damian's ally, making it hard for them to spot the difference.
Damian went all the way back, taking off his invisibility cloak, and walking like a normal person would.
He was far from the village but still far from the cave, yet someone appeared.
"What are you doing out here? This area is my responsibility! Remember, a 20 km radius for each one of us! Gosh, are you new or something?"
It was a man, and based on what it had said, Damian was in an excellent position to attack him!
'The next person is probably far from here, so he's alone. Or is it a bait?'
"Yes, you're right. The upper chain of command sent me here to learn from you."
"They did? Makes sense, someone else got a trainee recently and now I am gifted. Anyway, come, I will first show you my spot."
Everything worked perfectly, and the man did not suspect a thing that Damian was not who he said he was.
There was a tree not that far from where the man stopped Damian, one with a hidden ladder leading to a cozy house inside the tree.
"Where's your ring? And why does your uniform look different?" the man said once they were inside the house, a place with light,
Damian prepared for a fight, but tried to circle the situation. "A new prototype. I am not only a trainee but a test subject of the new uniform. How does it look?"
"Really? It looks comfier and more badass than the one I have. Please, make this the new uniform for everyone. But what about the ring?"
"Shortage. They said you would have one for me."
"What? They know about my personal storage? Nothing escapes from them…"
The man moved toward a small box, giving Damian a silver ring with a green stone on it.
"Do you know how it works? Probably not. Anyway, this is a ring made using the crystals found deep within the caves beneath this elven forest. The reason we are here. Anyway, wearing it increases all of our senses, and that's the key to notice any outsiders trying to find the entrance to the mines."
Damian was surprised to see that the man shared that much information with him, and after he put the ring on his finger, it was all true!
It was like the surrounding area changed, and Damian could even hear the sounds of the animals walking in the forest.
Not only his hearing, but all of his senses improved!
"Incredible, right? With this, you can see in the dark and hear the footsteps of anyone walking."
Once the man said that, Damian noticed something. He could see in the dark, meaning the man before him could also, so his idea of using the night to make them not realize his outfit was different would not work.
"Finally realizing it, right? A group is coming toward us as we speak!" the man said, laughing.
Everything up to that point was an act, and even the ring Damian received was only to make him lose time talking with the man.
"Everything I told you is true, yes, but it does not matter. You will die today!"
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