"Must you always kill them in such a gruesome manner?"
Layla questioned Eren with annoyance lacing her voice.
She couldn't help but think that his unofficial title as the Osan Woods' Butcher was more fitting than his official alias, Grimdawn. However, Grimdawn carried a far more sinister connotation, leading Layla to believe that Eren had attempted to maintain a low profile before resorting to this extreme measure.
The gruesome battlefield before her only solidified Layla's thoughts. As she arrived at the designated site, the sight of the five rankers' mutilated bodies surpassed the horrors she had witnessed during her own experiments with the bandits. In comparison, Layla's treatment of the bandits at this very location seemed almost saintly, granting them a merciful release from this cruel world.
Her gaze shifted from Eren's recent battlefield, where the butchered remains of the rankers lay, and she frowned, her forehead creased with concern.
"Is it too much to ask for you to leave the bodies of your enemies intact? It is easy for me to get rid of the traces if their bodies are intact. A little caution would go a long way, Eren, especially considering how close we are to achieving our objectives in the City of Lancelot.
We cannot afford to give them any reason to suspect us," Layla voiced her frustration, folding her arms beneath her non-existent bosom. Her early-teenager-like appearance and child-like voice made her worries sound like a harmless complaint of a pampered child.
"Hmm. That's why I asked for you to come, you know. For a clean up of this battlefield, besides, it's not my fault, Layla. These madlads started the whole thing," Eren replied, nonchalantly shrugging his shoulders.
He sat at a distance from the carnage he had wrought upon the battlefield, seemingly untouched by the bloodshed and gore. The scent of perspiration clung to him, as he had not bathed for a week, tirelessly toiling away in Baelin's weaponsmith. Eren had effortlessly dispatched the five rankers who had come to bully him. While the battlefield reeked of blood, Eren seemed as if he had just finished a light workout.
Layla scowled at Eren's casual demeanor, and in her frustration, she kicked the severed head of Miss Overthinker lying nearby. The spectacle atop Miss Overthinker's decapitated head flew into the air along with it. In a swift motion, Eren snapped his fingers, causing the airborne spectacle to vanish using the Blitz Shards before it could descend upon him.
"Stop kicking random body parts. Stop sulking. And clear the area, Layla. Time is of the essence," Eren instructed, rising from the massive rock he had been sitting on. Since he had not bathed in a week, he decided to indulge in a refreshing bath in the nameless lake.
Clenching her fists, Layla let out a sigh, accepting her role as the handler of the crime scene for Eren. This was not the first time he had tasked her with tying up loose ends after dealing with his adversaries, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.
Furthermore, Layla understood that she couldn't complain too much about Eren eliminating insignificant individuals. She recognized his unwavering dedication to the success of the Lazarus Project.
So, she set about meticulously cleaning up after Eren's mess, employing her potions and arrays. It was crucial to ensure that Eren's alter ego, Leo Longblade, remained untainted by his actions. This phase of the Lazarus Project was of utmost importance. Even in self-defense, neither Eren nor Layla wished for Leo Longblade to become entangled in a scandal.
"Have you seen Shallot's Mirror and the Soul Seed Insertion Array?" the Little Witch inquired, summoning her colossal cauldron. With a wave of her hand, the dismembered body parts of the five deceased Rankers levitated and floated toward the cauldron. One by one, they descended into the bubbling vessel, and within seconds, the battlefield was devoid of any severed organs. Layla accessed the runic array engraved on the cauldron's base and ignited a green fire, causing the concoction inside to simmer.
Emerging from his dive in the lake, Eren surfaced and heard the Little Witch's question clearly. He rinsed his mouth with the refreshing lake water and ran his fingers through his wet hair, feeling the contours of his original face with both his palms. He also looked at his blurred reflection on the surface of the water and smiled.
Eren continued to relish the soothing embrace of the cool lake, illuminated by the gentle glow of the moon and starry night sky as he replied.
"I did get a glimpse of them," Eren replied. "However, accessing Shallot's Mirror and the Soul Seed Insertion Array is still kinda difficult for me. Baelin believes my Spiritual Force is insufficient, or perhaps he deems me untrustworthy with such powerful artifacts. It's understandable when you consider the circumstances," Eren answered honestly and sighed. He then proceeded to describe her things that he had seen while inside Baelin's forge.
As Layla meticulously refined the body parts of Eren's recent victims in her cauldron, her mind swirled with thoughts of obtaining the two crucial elements needed for the successful completion of the Lazarus Project. She pondered over potential strategies, but eventually, she sighed and decided to cease dwelling on the project.
Excessive overthinking and worrying would only drain her mentally. It was wiser to entrust these matters to Eren, who possessed a peculiar knack for finding solutions even in the most challenging circumstances.
Leisurely swimming in the nameless lake, Eren luxuriated in the starry night sky above as he observed Layla's diligent work. For some reason, he felt compelled to express his appreciation for her contributions thus far.
"Layla, your efforts in controlling the key members of the city administration truly worked in our favor," Eren remarked, gracefully executing backstrokes in the water. "Their involvement ensured my victory in Baelin's test. Despite my expertise, everything would have crumbled if we had relied solely on the natural course of events.
These five fuckers had deep connections. They had even bribed city officials and other influential rankers within the City of Lancelot. If our pawns hadn't intervened, I would not have been chosen as Baelin's apprentice, regardless of my performance in the test.
Plus, Baelin's personal detachment from the evaluation process worked to our advantage. As much as anyone claims otherwise, something like racial bias is a real thing. So Baelin's lack of attention to the test contestants made him select a human as his apprentice instead of the dwarf who competed against me."
Eren concluded, emerging from the lake in his unadorned form. The moonlight gleamed on his skin, while the water cascaded over it, forming a glistening veil.
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