Chapter 223: Mystery Informant

Hearing the knock on the door, Moon set aside the threads.

Without a doubt, he had an interest in this mystery informant.

He’d been waiting for their arrival. It was finally time to meet this secret informant who was kept hidden; his name and face were kept secret from everyone, working in the dark except for reporting directly to Talia.

Moon was also cautious of many things thanks to the nightmarish scenes he went through on his way there.

He was almost certain about certain things but was not voicing any of them.

Moon stood and opened the door. He was first greeted by Talia’s familiar face, but behind her stood another pair of eyes that stared at him.

"Moon, this is..."

A young man stood at the same height as Moon. His hair was white and wavy, gathered at the back with a few strands running over his forehead and eyes.

His armor was plate, full-body armour, yet it was very small and compact, with only his hands and head exposed.

His skin was almost as white as his hair, his face almost feminine, yet the sharpness of his masculinity was almost entirely concentrated in his heavy ink-like blue eyes.

On his armor, the winged sword like Talia’s was embedded, but on his right shoulder there was another emblem.

A blue sword lying horizontally.

Moon stared at him, matching the stare of his wide eyes involuntarily, while the newcomer, or rather, mystery informant, stared back.

The two stared at one another for a very long moment, longer than they should.

"Moon"

"Moon"

"Are you listening to me?" Talia moved between them; only then did Moon realize she had been talking.

"Hm?" Moon raised his eyebrow and hummed ignorantly. "Did you say something?" he asked.

"You don’t look okay; you need to rest," Talia said with a hint of concern in her eyes.

Moon shook his head. "I’m fine, just doing casual training." He dismissed her concerns firmly.

"Take care of yourself; you’re not alone in this," she said before turning to the one she brought, "This is Emrys; you wanted to meet him," she introduced.

Emrys raised his hand for a handshake; meanwhile, Moon watched his hand rise till it was fully extended. "It’s a pleasure getting to work with you, Sir Moon."

Moon’s eyes rose from the extended hand to the eyes again; he extended his hand to shake Emrys’. "Sure," he answered with a nod.

The two of them firmly held the handshake for a few seconds.

"We’ve decided to have dinner together instead of everyone eating alone." Talia broke off their weird stare again.

Breaking the handshake simultaneously, Moon nodded, "I’ll be there in a minute," he said reassuringly.

Talia walked away with Emrys following. Moon also closed his door and went inside.

"That’s annoying." He said, scratching his head. "I don’t like this guy."

Inside the room, Moon packed his things again... His belongings and his bag, Liquid Mountain, as well.

He left nothing behind.

Even the threads.

He was starting to grow insecure about everyone around him, the ascenders he never met but were on his side today.

They were going into a losing battle from any logical perspective; their presence was first and foremost suspicious.

He didn’t trust anyone around him, not the people of the kingdom nor those who were outside this personal circle.

Even those whom he knew well, he was starting to have doubts about.

Moon carried his pack, shaking his head.

"This won’t bring us anywhere." He tried to remind himself in an attempt to stay calm; he opened the door and stepped out.

Before he knew it, he found himself sitting at the head of an infinitely long table where countless dishes were all over the place.

To his right, Talia sat, followed by Boa, then Emrys and so on.

To his left, it was Raiju... He claimed the seat and started eating without waiting for anyone.

On the plate in front of Moon sat perfectly cooked, well-seasoned strips of steak, cut and arranged, and they smelled almost heavenly, but on his shoulder sat a certain orange cat.

The cat would extend his paw, stab his claw into a piece of meat and start chewing slowly next to Moon’s ear.

Still, it sounded a hundred times better than Raiju’s growl feeding.

Raiju’s deep red eyes nearly glowed every time he dug his teeth into the meat.

Somehow they managed to convince Raiju that Mishu wasn’t a threat and was also overpowered.

Raiju seemed to accept the explanation better than expected, having experienced getting slapped personally, as well as having seen how Mishu didn’t kill everyone in the palace already.

Everyone was somewhat lively; they were either coping or trying to cope and getting to know each other before the battle.

It was a war thing; wherever wars took place, this scene would usually play.

Strangers become best friends overnight, protecting one another with their lives. Some would even swear never to return if they returned alone.

Over the years, Moon had seen this scene play out countless times, and today was no exception.

After a while of staring, Moon found his mind tired, almost going blank.

He looked down at the half-empty plate. "Where am I?" he whispered, "What am I doing here?"

No one heard him, but he was slowly coming to his senses once again with a less tense heart.

He closed his eyes for a second, searching for something just to let go of one of his worries.

Thankfully, "Hooo!" he couldn’t find what he was looking for. Feeling a sense of relief, he finally picked up his fork and dug it into the meat, taking his first bite.

"Man, damn." He found the words escaping his lips, "This is so good," he said in absolute amazement.

"You’re finally here," Talia said, "I didn’t want to interrupt your thoughts," she added.

Moon shook his head. "Please interrupt them whenever you can; I would be thankful," he said jokingly, though it was one thing he would appreciate.

Interrupting these suffocating thoughts is something he would thank everyone for.

"Maybe I was just hungry." He shrugged off his worries for now while he was eating. He didn’t eat anything since his meal with Ed before the broken rift claimed him mid-speech.

Soon, he was done eating, as was everyone else.

Mishu stayed on his shoulder and stayed with him in his room, which gave Moon a higher sense of assurance. Yet, he still couldn’t sleep that night.

It seemed that his worries weren’t entirely baseless.

When the sky radiated gold again, they were met with a new twist that was critically problematic.

It was something that would waste the efforts they had put into this faction for the past few weeks.

Moon stood side by side with Talia, watching with complicated emotions the sudden turn of events.

"Did you see that coming?" Talia asked, "Was that why you were almost frozen the entire time at that time of dinner?"

Moon shook his head. "Not the slightest clue it would turn out like this, even before the fight began." He pursed his lips. "This is gradually getting worse and worse; I’m not sure if we should be doing this."

Moon suddenly, for once, spoke his mind out loud, letting out the negativity he was caught up in.

He turned to Talia, locking his gaze with her. "Why don’t you do the same? Aren’t your clan or realms also some bigshot?"