Kyran chopped off the last complete being's head before retracing his tracks to where he had left the old man's people.
He canceled his armor, and beast-like disguise, returning to Nar's image before reconnecting to the projection orb in his Void World.
Once he was sure the old man was looking at the projection, Kyran directed its view at a distance, where nine of the old man's people were huddled together.
The old man sighed in relief when he saw them. But his expression turned ghastly when he noticed the blood and corpses of the enemies around them. He was not sensitive to such scenes. However, imagining how those corpses met their death almost made him gag.
'Are these guys among the first ones sent to the border?'
Kyran's question snapped the old man out of his thoughts, and he looked at the familiar faces of the people up front.
Most of them were wounded, and two healers— one female and one male— tended to them. Their healers were also wounded. But compared to the rest, they could still move. This could only mean the others protected them as they fought the enemies.
The old man could not help but smile bitterly. Their Abbey focused on the study of Healing magic. Unfortunately, few were blessed with it. Thus, the rest of their apprentices, who could only perform low recovery spells, did their best to learn the art of fighting to protect those apprentices blessed with Healing magic.
Seeing these apprentices really put their lives on the line to ensure their healers were protected gave the old man mixed emotions. He was proud because they upheld their vow. But at the same time, sad seeing how much they suffered in doing so.
'No,' the old man replied with a slight shake of his head. 'I remembered they are the few scheduled to leave for the border two days after I left.'
He remembered something, and his bitter smile turned sad.
'They had only graduated from the Abbey. But due to lack of manpower in the borders, we have to send them there.'
Kyran did not respond. He could not respond. He was not insensitive to tell him 'such was what war could do' because the old man clearly knew that already.
'The news about your abduction will soon be known,' Kyran replied after a short pause. 'If I showed them the identification you gave me, and that news arrived to them, they might think I am up to no go.'
Though the old man said he would give Kyran an identification, the one he had was only temporary. It had the Abbot's seal, so it would not pose any problems. But the thing was, the temporary identification looked new. If they heard about the Abbot's abduction, they would wonder when Kyran got the identification. It should be noted that the identification was only temporary because the Abbot's seal was timed. After a few weeks, it would disappear. Once the seal on Kyran's identification disappeared, it was easy for them to count the days and realize he got it right after the Abbot's abduction. That would raise far too many questions.
The old man frowned after realizing this.
'Y-You're right,' he agreed. 'But if you don't show any identification, even if you saved them, they would be suspicious of you.'
Sensing the conflicted thoughts from the old man's tone, Kyran smiled and said, 'It's alright. I have a plan.'
The old man was surprised, 'You have?'
'Would I propose your disappearance if I know it will hinder how I can move around this place?'
The old man chuckled, 'I suppose not. What do you have in mind?'
'Tell them the truth.'
'O-Oi,' the old man broke out in cold sweats. Though he believed none of his people would betray him, there was no telling if a spy was already among them. If word came out that the Abbot staged the abduction, what would happen to them?
Kyran guessed the old man's concern and said, 'You don't have to worry. I know what I'm doing.'
The old man could only relent and watch as Kyran approached the group.
A man with blonde hair and blue eyes that seemed to reflect the perfectly blue sky stood up and cautiously looked at the approaching shadow.
"Hilam," the male healer, with similarly blonde hair and blue eyes, grabbed the man's arm in concern.
Hilam looked at the other man and smiled, "Don't worry. Whatever that 'being' was, if it wanted to hurt us, it would have already done so."
"But-."
"Be careful," one of the three women in their group told Hilam.
The woman also had blonde hair and blue eyes. As a matter of fact, all of them had the same features. The only thing that set them apart was the level of 'perfection' their appearance seemed to exude.
The woman who had spoken was one of those with a perfectly sculpted face. She stood out from the rest of the women, even in her battered state.
The same went with Hilam. Apart from his perfect build, his features appeared perfectly balanced, and finding a flaw in him was hard.
"I will."
Kyran heard the short exchange between them and guessed that Hilam was the leader.
Looking at them, watching him from the shadows with fear in their eyes, made him feel a little awkward. Then again, his display a while ago was not something a 'sane' person seemed capable of, so he knew why they feared him.
"I am sent here to assist," Kyran told them as soon as he was out of the shadows.
Almost all of them flinched and retreated a step or two as soon as they saw him.
Kyran's brow twitched. Obviously, a complete being would not be used to his dark hair, brown eyes, and 'average' looks. But did they have to flinch at the sight of him?
As far as he was concerned, he looked human and had not grown extra arms. There was no reason for them to be that scared.
"S-Sent?" Hilam mustered his courage and repeated, looking at the 'being' before them questioningly.
The truth, they flinched at the sight of Kyran not because of his 'average' looks but because of the color of his hair.
Dark hair was only ever present among the beast-likes. Seeing a complete being with dark hair made them recall the legend about Imon and her spawn.
'Oh!' The old man suddenly exclaimed from inside the Void World. 'Perchance, have you removed your beast-like disguise?'
'Why?' Kyran asked, but could more or less guess what he would say.
'Well, I forgot to tell you that dark hair is only found among the beast-likes...'
Kyran sighed. As he thought, these people likely believed he was an Imon-spawn.
Though removing his disguise as a beast-like would not mean they would not suspect him of being an Imon-spawn given his stature, he also could not pass off as a complete being with dark hair.
Kyran nodded at Hilam and said, "Yes. The news may not have reached you yet, but the Great Abbot was abducted yesterday."
'Young man!' The old man exclaimed. He had thought the 'truth' Kyran meant was about him employing his service while going into hiding, not about him being abducted!
Hilam and the other Eidums' complexion paled at the news.
"H-How could that be?"
"N-No! Not the Abbot!"
"Why? Why are they doing this?"
"Is it not obvious? It's because we refused to hand over the Saint! Those despicable Nobles!" One after another, the Eidums exclaimed in anger.
Kyran's eyes narrowed after hearing one of them speak of the Saint. Though the old man never connected the latter to the person he sought, he originally came here because of the Saint.
Cyneah might not be the Saint, but it could also be her. If the latter was true, Kyran could not ignore that the Nobles wanted her.
"I met with the Great Abbot before he was abducted," Kyran continued. "The truth is he seemed to expect someone to be 'after' him."
"He is the Abbot," Hilam said with a frown. "Many people are after him."
"That's not what I meant," Kyran said, his brow twitching slightly.
The word 'after' in their language had similar spelling to 'abduct.' The only difference was its pronunciation.
Kyran mistakenly pronounced the abduct similar to how they would say after.
"In any case, the Great Abbot asked me to come here in fear of the enemies plotting more things against you."
"How do we know you are telling the truth?" Hilam asked, looking at him suspiciously.
"Tha Great Abbot gave me this," Kyran showed them the identification with the Abbot's seal.
"I don't know what it is, but you might recognize it."
"You..." Hilam frowned.
It was not only him. The rest of the Eidums also looked at him dumbfoundedly.
How could he not know what an identification was?
The old man was also confused.
What was Kyran up to?
"That's an identification," Hilam said. "Are you telling us you've never seen one?"
Kryan smiled inwardly, seeing how easy it was to achieve the reaction and even answers he wanted to see and hear from them.
Putting on an exasperated expression, he said, "You think I'd know, given my appearance?"
That was when they realized his point.
Just now, did they not think he was an Imon-spawn? Others would also think he was an Imon-spawn and catch him. Obviously, he had been hiding from the world.
"Let's not waste time here," Kyran said, irritated. Besides, he did not want them to dwell on the subject and asked more questions. "I'll escort you to the Great Divide. After that, I need to speak with your leader."
Hilam scowled, "How do we know that's not your real goal? Talk to our leader and then abduct her, too?"
Kyran gaped at him— not as an act, but as an honest reaction.
"Is your brain made of sh*t?"
"'Sheeh-,' what was that?"
"You've seen what I can do. You think I need you to lead me to your leader if I am truly after her?"
Hilam and the others considered that and agreed he had a point.
"I have the Great Abbot's identification here. If you don't want me to escort you to the Great Divide, suit yourself."
With that, Kyran started to leave.
"P-Please, wait!"
Kyran stopped and looked at the Eidum, who had spoken.
The female healer stood and bowed, "We did not mean to offend you. Please escort us to the Great Divide."
"Lady Yalen," Hilam and the rest tried to stop her from bowing.
To them, healers lowering their heads could be considered showing great favor.
"He saved us," Yalen said while keeping her head low. "Why do we doubt him so?"
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