"Ugh~ my lord, I couldn't even recognise you," Amos couldn't help but be surprised by the disguise Velian used as he looked nothing like his majestic self.
He completely changed his hair colour and face, so normal adventurers who saw his face during the tournament won't recognise him.
"It's good if you can't recognise me, what about her?" Velian pointed at the lady, who stood behind him with an emotionless face and she had really dark hair.
"Mmmh~ I heard you're coming with one of your aides, so-" As soon as Amos said that, Velian couldn't help but chuckle knowing that Daphnia also had a perfect disguise.
"Let's go! No need for a long introduction, since I know all of you, but-" Velian looked at Amos, Kyla then his eyes went to two siblings that were hiding behind Kyla.
"Isn't it safe to leave them here? Besides, now that they have their goal, why should they go adventuring?"
Velian couldn't help but ask because both of them were too weak for the journey they are going to go on.
Amos and Kyla had a difficult face hearing his question, but Ellena suddenly came forward with her eyes looking rather brave.
"We indeed wanted to see our mother's house back, but that doesn't mean we want to leave brother Amos and Kyla,"
Her eyes were brave and she came dangerously close to Velian to show that they are not intimated by him, but her plans backfired as Velian also did the same.
"Hoh~ so does that mean if you encounter death in this journey? You won't blame your 'brother' and Kyla for taking you here? Do you expect them to protect you even in the most dangerous situation?"
Both of them were only a few inches away from locking their lips, and Ellena I had a difficult face. She felt her heart racing looking at Vekian's jewel-like eyes, but more than that, she worried about the question he asked.
'He is not wrong, Kyla and Amos have been protecting us throughout our adventuring journey, Will I really blame them if something happens to me?'
Kyla got ready to intervene if Velian take it too far, but suddenly Amos interfered.
"Your Highness, we will take care of our group, you don't need to-"
He couldn't even finish his words because Velian started caressing Ellena's head like he was ten times old than her. It was more like a senior that wanted to advise his junior.
"Now! Now! Don't misunderstand, I didn't say all that because I don't want her to be in this group, I just wanted to say that she will have to get stronger if she wants to be someone who can protect,"
"I'm weak too, there are instances I couldn't do anything, but we won't lose until we give up, so I wanted this girl to be someone who won't give up just because of some stranger's words,"
Velian said and left the flabbergasted Kyla and Amos. Ellen's stood there with her face not showing anything, but as soon as Velian left, she looked at Kyla and suddenly hid her face without letting anyone see her.
"What's wrong, girl? He didn't mean any harm, don't cry,"
Kyla said, but she didn't feel or hear any signs of her crying instead her whole face from the ear to her nose looked like it was full of red hue.
"I'm not crying, it's nothing," She dismissed it, but Daphnia didn't miss this subtle detail, as she had a grin on her face.
"This little playboy!" She couldn't help but mutter seeing Velian walking in her direction and asking her whether she is ready to depart.
"Veli, don't go seducing girls, you have to be careful otherwise they will develop a crush," Daphnia didn't mind another one or two girls, but she didn't want it to be someone with a naive and shallow crush.
Instead, she wanted someone that would actually love her son, just like her.
"..."
Velian had no idea what she was talking about but he didn't have time to think about it as they were already late.
"Let's go before sunrise, staying here is dangerous, someone might identify us,"
Velian said that and asked Kyla's group to take the lead, while Daphnia and Velian followed them.
Since he had already said farewell to the other girls, he didn't have to worry about anything but he always kept a connection with them in case, Andriya attack the city.
"Let's see what awaits me in the Union, I won't lose to that woman again,"
***
"What's with this abnormal power? We didn't even have to fight with monsters, he keeps overpowering them," Kyla didn't know how to explain.
They entered the forest hoping to challenge and show these royals their power, but their positions quickly reversed as Velian kept protecting them from monsters.
"Leader, what are you going to do? We can't let him do all the work," Ellena's brother questioned, but Amos shook his head like he had nothing to say.
"We are just decoys, he wants us because he wants to look like a legitimate adventurer group, he might not even need our physical powers,"
Amos had to agree that this young man was not something they could go against. He had this much power when he is close to Ellena in age, and he couldn't even imagine what kind of a beast he would become when he grow up.
"Let's rest for today, we don't need to force ourselves," Daphnia suddenly said and pointed at a place without trees, where they could start a fire.
Everyone nodded their head since the sun had already hidden in the mountains, so travelling in the darkness was dangerous for them.
It took them several minutes to get everything ready, but soon everyone gathered around the fire and looked at the grilling meats that looked like they were cooked in a capital restaurant.
"You can cook? Aren't you a king?" Kyla questions with her eyes widened in shame seeing this boy cooking for them.
Daphnia laughed at her words and answered her with a little story from the past about how he used to teach her how to cook and told them how cute he used to be when he was a kid.
"Mother! You're exposing yourself," Velian sighed seeing her stupidity to tell them about his childhood like she was someone close to her when Daphnia was supposed to be a just bodyguard.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om