Chapter 201: Standoff

Hearing Aureleah’s question, Aelric let out a long, weary groan. He sounded like a man who had just been disturbed from a perfectly comfortable afternoon by a group of troublesome youngsters.

Then he pointed at Regaleon and replied.

"Apparently, Regaleon here seems to have offended someone he really shouldn’t have."

His tone was almost conversational.

He then shifted the same finger toward the Black Stalker, which had returned to standing like an ominous statue a few meters away.

"And because of that, that..." He paused. "...is after you on the orders of the person you offended."

A certain degree of bewilderment appeared on the group’s faces. Even Regaleon himself looked momentarily dumbfounded.

He had already been aware of the arrogance of that particular Sauryean Lord from the holographic communication he had witnessed inside the Breeding Nest.

But he hadn’t exactly expected his brief exchange with the man—or, more accurately, his probing and provocation—to result in someone putting a literal bounty on his head.

Well... Scratch that. Apparently, it wasn’t even a bounty as the Black Stalker had come personally. And judging from the way it had ignored everyone else and singled him out, it seemed particularly interested in making sure that his head was the one returned to this Lord.

Before anyone could begin bombarding Aelric with questions, however, the green-eyed youth turned toward Regaleon.

"Actually..." Aelric tilted his head. "How do you even go about offending someone you shouldn’t?"

Regaleon stared at him but didn’t give a response yet as Aelric continued.

"I mean, based on what I’ve observed about you guys and the places you’ve been through, you shouldn’t have had any opportunity to come into contact with someone as powerful as a Sauryean Lord."

His expression became genuinely curious.

"So please help me understand." He gestured vaguely toward the Black Stalker. "How exactly did you get yourself into this mess?"

This time, even Aelric couldn’t deny that he was genuinely interested.

When he had first encountered the ambush yesterday, he had simply assumed that it was an act of retaliation by the Sauryeans.

After all, the group had destroyed one of their Breeding Nests and retaliation would have been perfectly understandable.

But the Black Stalker’s explanation had changed everything.

Apparently, yesterday’s attack had not been some organized military response to the destruction of a Sauryean asset. Rather, it was a personal hit.

A highborn had apparently taken offense and decided that someone needed to pay for the insult.

Aelric was familiar with Lord Penemue so wasn’t surprised that the Sauryean Lord would go to such lengths to preserve his dignity.

Almost everyone within the Sanctuary who had any knowledge of the Sauryeans knew of Penemue’s arrogance, his contempt, and his disdain toward humanity.

What Aelric found difficult to reconcile was something else. How had a group of exiles managed to encounter and offend someone like him?

As far as Aelric knew, the only occasion on which the group had come into direct contact with the Sauryeans was during the destruction of their Breeding Nest.

That had to be where the connection had occurred. But that raised another problem.

Aelric knew that Penemue was not someone who could simply be encountered by chance.

Certainly not in a place like the Crimson Forest.

A Sauryean Lord appearing personally in such an insignificant region was strange enough and for a group of human exiles to somehow meet him there was stranger still.

However, somehow, Regaleon had managed to do more than simply meet him; he had apparently done enough to earn a death sentence. And Aelric genuinely wanted to know how.

Regaleon rubbed the back of his head. Then he ran a hand through his silver hair, pushing several strands away from his face.

A sigh escaped him. "Well..."

He started as he began to recount everything.

He explained why they had entered the Breeding Nest in the first place, following their pursue of the Wights.

He then described their journey through the cavern and how they had eventually encountered a strange figure dressed in robes and later realized that she was a female Sauryean.

Regaleon explained how she had spoken in the strange guttural language that they now knew belonged to the Sauryeans. More importantly, he described the bizarre influence she seemed to possess over the Wights.

Then Regaleon continued.

He explained how the female Sauryean had attempted to escape, how he had pursued her, and how that pursuit had eventually led him to a strange altar hidden within the cavern.

He admitted that he had activated the structure; although, in his own words, it had been done out of ignorance rather than intention.

The altar had turned out to be some form of communication platform. And through it, Regaleon had unknowingly established contact with Lord Penemue himself.

Everything Regaleon explained was essentially what he had already told the rest of the cohort. But for Aelric, this was the first time he had heard the entire story.

And for perhaps the first time since they had met him, the green-eyed youth was left genuinely speechless.

He simply stared at Regaleon. The longer the explanation continued, however, the more serious his expression became.

When Regaleon reached the part about the mysterious Sauryean woman, Aelric’s brows furrowed deeply. He frowned so intensely that his face looked as though someone had carved a permanent crease between his eyebrows.

Something about the explanation clearly bothered him and this made him angry at the sheer audacity the Sauryeans possessed.

He was annoyed at how utterly unrestrained and unbridled they appeared to be. To think that they could act with such impunity without regard for the authority of the Sanctuary...

When Regaleon finally finished speaking, the atmosphere around Aelric seemed to change.

The air felt colder and the casualness that usually surrounded him had disappeared neither was there any trace of his usual lackadaisy.

The group had always known that Aelric could be serious when necessary but this was different. This was the first time they were seeing the full weight of that seriousness and, strangely enough, it unsettled them more than his usual indifference ever had.

Aelric had said nothing throughout Regaleon’s explanation. He had merely listened; occasionally, he nodded.

When the silver-haired Knight finished, Aelric added a few more clarifications of his own before turning toward Vael’zhur.

He didn’t bother asking Regaleon whether that was the complete story nor did he question whether Regaleon had told the truth because there was no reason to.

Regaleon was deliberate about his words and actions. As a Knight, he is a youth whose identity was built around his word and his integrity. Besides, lying about something like this served him no purpose because the Black Stalker was standing right there.

If Regaleon had deliberately fabricated some crucial detail, Vael’zhur would have been in the perfect position to expose him.

A brief, suffocating silence settled between Aelric and Vael’zhur. Then Aelric finally broke the silence.

His voice carried a peculiar weight. It was the tone of a parent who had just discovered that their child had deceived them and was now patiently demanding an explanation.

"Vael’zhur..." His brows were furrowed while his emerald eyes had sharpened.

"I know you’ve heard at least some of what he had to say. And I’m sure you can draw your own conclusions from it."

He took a slow breath before speaking further.

"But before I address any of that, I’d like to ask you something. And your answer will determine what happens next."

The atmosphere seemed to thicken with tension, anticipation and something colder beneath both. Even Regaleon and the others felt a chill creep along their spines.

Aelric’s voice wasn’t loud; it didn’t need to be as he asked.

"Would you mind telling me one thing? What is a Sauryean Breeding Nest doing in the Crimson Forest?"

Vael’zhur remained silent and this reactionadr Aelric’s expression hardened.

"Your race knows perfectly well that such a structure is an abomination to the Sanctuary. An eyesore. And, more importantly, a direct affront to our sovereignty and a desecration upon our land."

This particular issue was something Aelric had never wanted to discuss; not because he was afraid of the Sauryeans or because he lacked the authority to speak his mind.

Instead, it was because the matter involved political complications that were better handled by the proper administrations within the Sanctuary and he was not the person responsible for making such decisions.

But Regaleon’s explanation had introduced a new variable; a very important one to be precise.

The Sauryeans had violated Sanctuary territory first and that changed the situation considerably.

If Aelric could establish that the Breeding Nest had been an unauthorized installation, then the destruction of that structure and the provocation of Regaleon would no longer be viewed simply as an unprovoked attack against the Sauryeans.

At the very least, it would give the Sanctuary and him a legitimate basis to challenge their actions.

In other words, Aelric was effectively trying to turn the accusation back upon them; not because he was attempting to absolve Regaleon completely but because if the Sauryeans had already violated Sanctuary jurisdiction, then the group possessed a far stronger position than they initially believed.

That didn’t mean Aelric wasn’t angry. He was; very much so. But anger was not going to solve this as the circumstances involved dictated that this was the time to let logic rule his actions rather than emotion...