Chapter 586: A Bit Complicated

Digging up information about a small place like Redwood Town had not been easy, especially considering just how many cities, towns and villages had been destroyed or abandoned in the days following the massive explosion in the Great Western Forest.

It really wasn’t until they made it to Iron Rock that the trio managed to pick up some rumours about many people from the Baker County evacuating to the South-East Province, including the survivors from Redwood Town.

Edward, Amalia, and Braden had basically journeyed across the country on those thin rumours and a hunch that having lost their home, their son and his family would seek shelter with their daughter-in-law’s powerful family.

This wasn’t just a blind assumption, mind you. While very few people they talked to had even heard of Baron Charles Newton or Redwood Town, everyone knew that Marquess Celestina Balfour and her elite soldiers had taken charge of the events in the South-West Province.

Even if Sasha didn’t like relying on her family for help, under the circumstances, Edward and Amalia didn’t think their clever daughter-in-law wouldn’t reach out to her grandmother for assistance.

Senior Farah being here was also a good sign, as her presence meant that the rumours about people from Redwood Town evacuating to Misty City were true, but until they heard something concrete about Charles, Sasha, and Eris, Edward and Amalia wouldn’t be able to rest at ease.

This, unfortunately, put Farah in an awkward position.

Telling these two that Sasha and Eris were here was no big deal, that was both the truth and knowledge the public was very well aware of; however, Charles’ situation was different.

According to Lucas, most of the people who had ’disappeared’ the night the Spatial Storm hit Redwood Town were likely still alive, but they were at least 30,000 km away, on the other side of the world.

All knowledge about the Redwood Town incident, whether it was the Spatial Storm or Yuki’s mother, however, was considered top secret and everyone who knew about it had sworn not to talk about it under threat of severe penalty.

There were a few people granted permission to disclose this information on a case-by-case basis, but Farah wasn’t one of them, so even though she very much wanted to tell Edward and Amalia that Charles was probably still alive, she couldn’t.

"W-Why aren’t you saying anything, Aunty... D-Don’t tell me..." Amalia asked, her voice trembling audibly.

Farah snapped out of her contemplation when she heard this and looked up to realize she had hesitated for too long just now, given these worried parents a very wrong impression.

It had only been a few seconds she remained silent, but when it was a simple yes-or-no question related to life-and-death, a couple seconds was an eternity.

Quickly waving her hands, Farah explained, "Wait wait, Sasha and Eris are both fine. They’re here in Misty City, staying in the Balfour Family Manor behind you."

"In fact, they’re both better than fine as Sasha has been recognized for her talents as an administrator and granted quite a bit of authority, while Eris has become a True Disciple of the Marquess."

Both Edward and Amalia breathed a sigh of relief at that moment, but tension quickly returned to their faces when they didn’t hear what had become of their youngest son.

Not planning on making the same mistake as she had less than a minute ago, Farah decided to give her old acquaintances as much information she could, "As for Charles, his situation is... a bit complicated."

It wasn’t much, but it at least hinted to Edward and Amalia that Charles was still alive.

The two parents were naturally unsatisfied with this answer, but seeing the sour look on Farah’s face, they understood that she too had her difficulties, though they had no idea why that was.

Letting out a sigh, Farah shook her head, "I wish I could tell you more, but I can’t. You’ll have to wait for either Lucas or the Marquess to return to ask them."

The whole idea of asking Marquess Balfour in person about their son flew right over the old couple’s head, but the name ’Lucas’ certainly caught their attention.

They had never met the boy, seeing how he was born after they left Redwood Town, but Edward and Amalia were well aware of Drake and Anna’s son, and how close he was to their granddaughter.

Their son’s friends had made quite a positive impression on the old couple when they arrived together with Charles and Sasha back then, and Edward and Amalia had, in a sense, become something akin to family elders to Anna and Drake too.

Learning that Lucas was also here in Misty City, Edward and Amalia assumed that Anna and Drake were also present, which was something they could honestly be happy about.

That, however, didn’t explain why the young boy they had never met, but who based on letters from their children they assumed would one day become their grandson-in-law, could explain Charles’ situation to them but Farah couldn’t.

Seeing the now familiar look of puzzlement that the mere mention of Lucas and all the special circumstances surrounding him tended to cause whenever his name came up, Farah couldn’t stop herself from smirking wryly.

It wasn’t for no reason that many people referred to the First Disciple of Marquess Balfour as an ’anomaly’ or ’chaos-maker’.

Shaking off these amusing thoughts, Farah motioned to the trio, "For now, you should come with me. Everyone else is probably out right now attending to their own work, but since you are family, no one will have an issue with you waiting at Disciples House for them to return."

Thinking about it a bit further, Farah proposed, "Or, if you’d like, I can have runners sent to call Sasha and Eris back."

Edward and Amalia wanted to say yes, but after hearing about their daughter-in-law and granddaughter’s important positions, they hesitated, worried that they might cause Sasha and Eris problems by asking them to rush back home.

Exchanging a glance, the pair silently communicated with each other through their eyes, something most old couples who had been happily married for nearly 50 years could do, and then nodded, with Edward waving his hand, "We’ve been searching for news about Charles, Sasha, and Eris for more than half-a-year; waiting a few more hours won’t make a difference now that we at least know they’re safe."