The search and digging started first thing in the morning.
Because they were racing against time, Eli did not hold back and used the earth fairies to also scout the area while the troops went with Kayden to help with the manual work.
With their pace, they were able to finish searching the top three spots they have decided to investigate, but to no avail.
The only things they were able to get were bits and pieces of rubble which were the only evidence that the asanis had once existed in the place.
The second night of staying in the village was rather gloomy, everyone was tired of having to toil in the village without any fruitful results.
While the village is considered small, it still housed a hundred or so people and a team of fewer than ten people would not be enough to search through the village on the spot.
"Governor Fidel also mentioned that not far from here was the graveyard for the bodies. Somehow, someone is telling me to take a look at the graveyard… it might be probably my lineage wanting to see my kin after so long." Eli approached Kayden who was engrossed in figuring out which sites to dig and told her concern.
Realizing the fact that Eli's body is still of an asani descent, he nodded and replied apologetically, "It's my fault for not remembering it, I was used to forgetting your real lineage to conceal it from outsiders. We should have visited the graveyard the moment we arrived in the area…"
"It's fine brother, I know we are pressed for time. I'll take Baobao and a knight with me. Then we will join you right after, tomorrow." Eli answered.
"No, let's go together. I also wanted to pay respects to them." Kayden patted Eli's head and replied.
Knowing that his parents might have played a big role in preserving the supposed to be lost tribe, he had to face the deceased and carry on the promise to protect the remaining ones, Eli and Little Han.
The next day, they let the troops carry on the digging on the sites he selected while he and Eli along with Baobao followed one of the knights to the Asani graveyard.
After trekking for half an hour, they stumbled upon a serene greenery that was protected by the tall rocky mountain wall.
Eli and Kayden looked at the small clearing and saw the luscious meadows.
"This is the graveyard for the fallen asani tribe… Governor Fidel chose this place because it is the most secluded part of the Portia Valley. As soon as he heard the news of the Spectre holding them hostage, he rushed back to the village to try to save them.
Unfortunately, the Spectre was too wicked.
Saying that they were hostages was a complete farce, they have already killed off the people, men, women, elders, and children… not even the children in the womb were spared.
They even deliberately spread the news of the hostage to give my Master the hope of saving them, only to completely crush his spirit and trap him in the valley to fight for his survival…"
Seeing the grave yet once again, the knight recounted the event that had triggered the war on the blood valley.
The knight was one of the men that went with Governor Fidel. At the time, he was still young like the governor who still carried the title of the second prince.
They were assigned to guard the northern borders as a way to train the second prince Fidel for his future role in the empire to assist his older brother.
Who would have thought that the Spectre would deliberately target him and force him to step into the trap? Not only did he fail to protect the only tribe who lived on the border, but the event had also effectively broken his spirit.
He had failed his first mission. He had failed to protect the people in his jurisdiction.
To make matter worse, the event triggered a war that even involved his father and the grandmasters.
This happened when he came back from settling the dead people from the village. On his way to his base, in his crestfallen state, he failed to detect that they were surrounded by the Spectre's men.
With great struggle, he and the remaining men tried to go back to his base only to find out that they were also being attacked. Seeing that the chances of surviving on their own were slim, he had the young knight find a way to escape and call for reinforcements.
While he and his remaining men were taken as hostage.
And while he was in the enemy's hands, only then did he understand that everything was done to lure his father here and force him to be defeated by assembling large numbers of A-grade mages to attack his S-class father.
No matter how far the gap between an S-Class and A-Class was when the battle is as large as the scale of war, one S-class mage cannot have an easy time facing hundreds of A-class mages.
Eli and Kayden were shocked at the information that they were given. In fact, they could only guess Governor Fidel's involvement in the war but did not really exactly know.
The news released in the history books was only about the late Emperor Idelfonso's fight with the mages of the Spectre, a rebellious terrorist organization. No one knew about Governor Fidel being taken hostage during that war.
"However, do keep the fact that you knew it to my Master. It is a deep old wound that he refuses to let heal over the years." The knight continued his face was full of pain and regrets, probably because of how helpless he was during that time.
He could only nod with trembling as he froze in fear seeing his master getting subdued by the enemy. The only thing he could do was to run and find a way to contact the capital and ask for reinforcements.
Eli and Kayden nodded with understanding, they now understood why Governor Fidel self-induced his exile and has always viewed himself unworthy of even acknowledging his identity as a member of the Imperial family.
If not for the matter of the Spectre and the curse users, who knows when Emperor Valentin will be able to call him back to the palace?
Eli looked at the graveyard once again, it did not look like a graveyard at all, except for the small marking stones that had crude engravings in them. She recognized the names of these people, it was in the Leprechaun's book.
"Governor Fidel carved the memorial stones himself. For he knew their names by heart." The knight explained, as the only tribe he was set to protect, his Master grew naturally close with the Asanis.
Eli bent down to touch one of the tombstones. Their resting place was quite similar to their guardian protector Asa, it was filled with greens and forest.
However, the moment she touched the tombstone, there was a strong sense of aggressiveness and apprehension that washed over her body.
She frowned, something is wrong with the grave!
"Is there any problem, my Lady?" Seeing Eli's change in expression the knight asked worriedly.
There was a nagging feeling in Eli's heart, it was a deep sense of dread that she could not brush away. However, she knew that this did not come from her, or her subconscious, could it be because of her bloodline?
"Something is wrong in this graveyard…" Eli frowned and looked at the men with him.
"Master…" Finally, Baobao who had always stood quite far behind them to give them privacy, went on all four and finally stepped into the graveyard and sniffed on several memorial stones.
After sniffing several times, he looked at Eli and reported, "Master, the graveyard is empty!"
Hearing the report, the knight trembled in shock and exclaimed in disbelief, "How could it be! Master, I and my fallen brothers personally dug this grave and conducted a simple funeral back then!!!"
"Master personally carried their bodies to the ground and carved their tombstones!!!" He could not believe what he heard. The people that were supposed to be lying in this graveyard are the people who hold a great weight to his master's heart.
Although Kayden and Eli were also shocked, they understood the knight's emotion.
"Calm down, Sir Knight. We still need to get to the bottom of this." Eli reminded the knight.
Kayden glanced at her with a knowing look that Eli understood.
She immediately called in her earth fairies and asked them to inspect the tombs. For even if the graveyards were empty, in this world, it was taboo to just dig out someone's grave.
With the knight's words, it is still true that this is the final resting place of the asanis and a funeral ceremony was held in this very place, so they are not to desecrate that because they just want to verify.
But the earth fairies can help them take a look at it.
In a few moments, the fairies came back and whispered something to Eli. In turn, she looked at the men and said, "The earth fairies discovered that the tombs were dug from the ground… a tunnel was even made in here."
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