The atmosphere had tensed up suddenly and Keith did not know what happened. He watched as Himeko tightened her grip around his clothes. Her actions seemed to be triggering Master Hana and Shimi as well.
Keith sighed and decided to put an end to this conflict before he could be affected by this atmosphere as well.
"Alright, this is enough. Himeko, go with Master Hana for now. Her group is the only one that still has elves in it. They will take care of you. Shimi, we need to head back and call a meeting. A lost Fenrir beast is not something we can allow to roam free."
Keith quickly but effectively dealt with this situation. He did not care that he was dashing a child's hopes and dreams. He wanted to calm the situation down, so that was what he did.
"Y-You are abandoning me? Why did you help me out in the first place if you were going to abandon me in the end?"
Himeko had tears in her beautiful eyes. The child had tears falling down her face and it made Keith feel soft for her.
But then he hardened his heart as he recalled all the trouble he would have to face if he decided to take the kid in. It would just be better to nib this bud before it sprouted.
"I never promised to take care of you kid. But I am trying to help you out by sending you to the place safest for you right now. You can always remain in this village if you do not want to come back with us."
Keith offered this as well, but he knew that the kid would not want to stay back in this village.
As expected, Himeko flinched as soon as she heard Keith's words. Her grip tightened on her dress this time and a depressed look took over her face.
Her expression would have made anyone pity her, if not for her attitude. Her stubbornness was not helping her in any way.
"I-I understand. If this is the only way, then I will go with Master Hana. B-But you need to promise me that my village would be alright. You will not let anything happen to it, right? This is the only thing I have left as a legacy."
Himeko was a smart child and she seemed to be well-educated as well. But she also seemed obsessed with her village and the associated things.
Somehow, Keith could not help but feel sorry for her position.
"We will see the kid. For now, I have no intention of touching this place. So go back home to your new home."
Keith assured Himeko but she still looked doubtful. But she left with Master Hana. Both Keith and Shimi were the ones left behind in the village.
"Grandmaster, should we head back as well? I do not think we need to stay here any longer."
Shimi tried to get out of the village as early as possible.
She had managed to hold back her feelings until now but she was no longer able to hold from asking the grandmaster to abandon this place.
Shimi's feelings regarding her home were complicated. She hated how this place had treated her but she could also not forget it in the long run.
"Do not worry. We shall leave this place tomorrow. I would like to stay here one more day to ensure we have not missed anything important."
Keith decided to look around more. He had a feeling he would be seen be able to find something important.
Any place that had a temple, as well as a god associated with it, had proven to be a treasure mine for him. So, he was also certain that this village hid something like that.
Shimi sighed, not liking the fact that she would have to remain in this village for longer. But she also did not want to leave the Grandmaster alone.
"Alright. If this is what the grandmaster wants, then I shall follow your words. I hope you know what you are doing."
Keith nodded and then it was time to look around. He decided to split up and look around on his own for the time being.
The first stop he decided to check up on was the remains of the temple. But the debris was hard to look around in.
There was nothing Keith could do about the caved-in part so he started to investigate the part that was still intact.
The central room of the temple had a statue of a naked elf woman looking at the world with calm but detached eyes. She had four eyes and well as various split pupils covering her body.
If Keith had to say, he would say that the elf-lady was beautiful but also creepy. She gave off an other-worldly feeling when he looked at her.
This was the first 'real' statue of a god he had seen and it looked nothing like a creature. Keith had a bad feeling every time his eyes landed on that naked chest.
He understood he was alone in that temple right now. But he still had a feeling someone was looking at him.
In the end, Keith found nothing inside the temple. He did find a small box that seemed to have contained something until recently. But its contents had been emptied, unfortunately.
In the end, his trip to the Elf village did not provide him with any advantage.
......….
"Himeko, stop sulking. I know you are angry that you were not able to able to go with the grandmaster, but it was a foolish dream from the beginning. The grandmaster is not someone whom you can be with so easily."
Master Hana had decided to return with Himeko as per the grandmaster's orders. But the child was still sulking in her seat. The child seemed to have taken offense at being pulled apart from the grandmaster.
Truthfully, Hana could see why Himeko was upset. There was a charm around the grandmaster that pulled everyone's attention toward him. And it seemed like children were no exception to that rule as well.
"I know that man is special. He was able to fend off the attack from a Divine beast easily. And I am not sulking at all. I am just reflecting on what happened."
Hana could see the red flush on Himeko's face. The poor child seemed to be struggling with what happened.
But before she could reply to Hana, she felt something brush past her. They both were currently walking through the elf forest.
The Elf Forest had a special property that made people hallucinate when they went through it. But the elves had prepared a special technique to combat this. Master Hana was currently using this technique so she knew that she was not lost.
The feathery touch was felt again by Master Hana. But she was not the only one who shivered this time. It seemed like Himeko had felt this touch as well.
"T-There is something here with us. I can feel the softness and it feels like feathers."
Himeko exclaimed and something snapped into Hana's mind.
As unlikely as it was, she could not help but this that this was the Fenrir beast that had managed to give her the slip before. But surely that was not possible?
*Cwakkkk*
Himeko and Hana looked up into a pair of sharp eyes and they watched as a sharp beak tried to rip them apart.
Thankfully, Master Hana was an experienced fighter so she was able to propel herself away from that attack. She also carried Himeko in her arms.
"That is the divine beast. It managed to find us in this forest as well. But how?"
That was what Master Hana was curious about as well. No one was able to resist the temptation of the elf fog for a long time unless they had this special technique.
But of course, what Hana did not consider was the fact that the Fenrir beast was a divine beast. There were logic and powers of this world that did not work on such a beast.
"Shit, Himeko, are you alright? Can you stand up?"
Himeko looked dazed. Master Hana was worried that this attack would cause Himeko to feel disoriented and she would fall victim to the fog.
Thankfully, they somehow managed to stay on the right path and maintain their resistance to the fog.
"I am alright for now. But I do not know what we are going to do."
Himeko was frightened as she faced off against the Divine Beast. She was terrified just standing in front of such a massive and divine thing. Her legs had even given up on her.
"Kid, pull yourself together. We are going to fight this thing and we are going to survive. We have no other option left to us."
Himeko gulped but she suddenly felt better. She chose to believe in Master Hana and her assurance that things would be alright.
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