Chapter 80: The Eagle Has Landed

Rhos covered Morri’s face with one hand as grass, dust and ash flew around them.

The giant bronze eagle’s descent created a powerful gust that swept across the clearing, scattering the last wisps of blue fire and carrying the unpleasant smell of roasted locust through the surrounding trees.

Its talons struck the earth and its wings beat once more before folding against its sides, settling the violent wind.

Up close, the creature was even more imposing. He thanked Morrigan for not being here to attack him, especially after that display.

Rhos pushed himself upright with Morri still tucked against him. She pulled his hand away from her face and gave him an irritated look.

Before he could wonder what that look was for, the eagle’s rider swung one leg over its side and jumped down.

He landed heavily but comfortably to the ground and started toward the two.

The man approaching them had a tall and muscular body refined for combat. His unruly brown hair danced around his forehead with the lingering wind, while a short beard followed his jaw and chin.

He was undeniably handsome in the rugged sort of way that always seemed to attract a particular kind of woman.

His clothing was a black high visibility jacket with neon green sections covering an ordinary dark work shirt and reinforced trousers. He wore thick animal handling gloves and a rifle rested across his back, secured by a worn strap.

His warm golden eyes looked over them before a friendly smile curved on his lips. He stopped beside Morri first and casually placed one gloved hand on her head.

The little girl looked upward just as the man ruffled her white hair.

“Good work, little one. You did better than the grown men I work with, although that’s admittedly a low standard”

Morri’s expression didn’t change apart from curiosity. Beside her, Rhos narrowed his eyes slightly.

‘Why does everyone get immediate privileges?’

Well, he understood the reason, but he still considered it rather unfair.

The man then gave Rhos a firm pat on the shoulder.

“And good work to you too, my friend. Drawing the whole swarm into one place instead of trying to clear them individually was the right decision. Saved us a lot of time, probably saved us some injuries too”

He glanced at the scorched field behind them and added with the same relaxed tone.

“Sorry about nearly burning both of you alive, by the way. I told Bront to wait for you to clear the blast zone properly, but you know how impatient he can get”

Bront made a low sound.

“You know I’m talking about you”

Rhos smiled nervously while waving his hand.

“It’s no issue at all, Mr Arlen. I’m pretty light on my feet, and you gave me enough warning to get clear. Besides, everything worked out, didn’t it?”

The man’s expression flattened suddenly.

“Rhos, we’ve talked about this”

“What?”

Rhos asked, raising an eyebrow.

“When you include an honorific to my name, you’re making me sound like somebody’s father. Just Arlen is fine. We’re brothers in arms now, aren’t we? You don’t need to make things awkward every time you address me”

Brothers in arms was stretching it.

Rhos hadn’t known Arlen long enough to consider the man anything resembling a brother. He had barely gotten accustomed to the uniform they made him wear. Still, he understood the sentiment behind it.

Coming from this particular man, it meant a lot more than the man himself seemed to realize. So, he took it as praise.

“Alright… Arlen”

“See? Much better. Loosen up a bit. You’re still too young to be so stiff”

The man standing before him was known as Arlen of the Adler family.

That name alone carried weight throughout humanity.

The Adler family was one of the most prestigious bloodlines in existence, with its main household established comfortably within Elderwood’s upper ring. Their wealth was considerable, their connections extensive, but neither as the true reason people treated the name with such reverence.

Their prestige began with one person. Their ancestor was Bold Eagle Adler, one of the Thirteen Legendary Figures.

The people whose actions had become inseparable from humanity’s survival and the establishment of the six great Biomes.

Bold Eagle Adler had stood among those figures during the darkest era of the world and led humanity towards a brighter future. Now, generations later his descendants still carried the prestige created by his achievements.

Arlen was a scion of that bloodline. Which made his current occupation rather strange.

Looking at him, Rhos wouldn’t have guessed it.

Nothing about him screamed upper ring nobility. He wore no fancy clothing, had no jewellery, worked a civil service occupation for a living and spoke to an Outborn teenager from the lower ring as though there was no social distance between them whatsoever.

Arlen gave his shoulder another pat before stepping away.

“You’re getting the hang of Exterminator work pretty quickly. Your Ranger experience helps, obviously. Keep up the good work and you’ll fit in fine”

Rhos nodded.

“I’ll try”

“Don’t sound so enthusiastic. You’ll damage our reputation”

“Of course”

Arlen let out a small laugh as he looked toward the smoking remains, then toward the northern trees.

“Unfortunately, we’re nowhere near finished. We cleared a good number here, but this was only one section of the swarm. Reports put several more clusters farther north, and until we’ve swept the entire district, we can’t tell the residents it’s safe to return”

He sighed.

“These things reproduce quickly enough that leaving even a small concentration behind could put us right back where we started”

The district looked abandoned because it was.

Residents had been temporarily removed once the infestation reached the point where walking outside risked becoming insect food. Their job here was to locate and eliminate the invasive Wild Beasts.

That was the simplicity of it, but the district covered enough territory that clearing every locust could take hours.

Arlen glanced down at Morri.

“You should probably dismiss your summon before we move. She did plenty already, and there’s no reason to keep draining your spiritual energy between engagements. We’ll be heading north from here, so there should be enough time for you to recover whatever you spent”

Rhos nodded immediately.

“Yeah. You’re right. I’ll dismiss her before moving”

Arlen seemed satisfied and walked back to Bront.

“I’ll go ahead and scout from above. Don’t do anything reckless while I’m gone, and if you run into a cluster too large to handle, don’t try proving anything. Just shout. Bront’s hearing is excellent, and mine isn’t terrible either”

He reached the eagle, caught hold of its harness and pulled himself onto its back with practiced ease.

Bront spread his wings and Rhos turned his face away as another blast of wind swept through the clearing.

“See you farther north. Try not to get eaten”