Chapter 50
“He’s from the Sect of the Void, right?”
Everyone instinctively turned towards the Rennel who suddenly spoke out of the blue and cut-off the prince’s next words. But what truly surprise them though was neither the fact that she spoke nor the fact that she cut-off the prince’s words but the content of her words.
Sect of the Void!
There’s not a single person present who doesn’t know the meaning of the girl’s words. One of the worst sects in the continent, and an organization wanted by every authority – that’s the Sect of the Void.
Also known as “the sect”, many considered the Sect of the Void as a terrorist organization that would stop at nothing to reach their goal. The atrocities they had committed, the number of people that had died in their hands made the Sect of the Void one of the most feared and hated organizations in the continent.
And now members of such atrocious organization were friend with their crown prince? The gnomes were in disbelief. Why would their prince befriend someone like that? Sure the prince was a known trouble-maker but there should be a limit to his troublemaking antics!
“Your Highness, what’s going on here?” Lucata asked with a deep frown on her forehead.
She could forgive the prince being a troublemaker, silly and even being fickle-minded when it comes to women but she will not forgive him if he’s in cahoots with terrorists.
“Sigh. It’s not what you think, okay? We’re just temporarily working together to escape the island,” Russell explained with a helpless smile on his face. He’s actually planning to tell them the identity of Carl’s group a bit later. Unexpectedly, the silver-haired girl, Rennel beat him to it.
That said even he was surprised that Rennel was able to figure out the identity of Carl’s group despite merely meeting them not too long ago. Even he took some time to discover their true identity. With how things turn out, he could no longer threat Rennel as someone with just a pretty face.
“Sorry Carl but you have to do the explaining yourself,” Russell motioned towards the Carl who has a stiff smile on his face after being exposed.
“Seriously… what kind of friend are you? Could you not betray me just like that?” The man named Carl complained.
Russell simply gave Carl a nasty grin. It was obvious that he’s taking pleasure in the man's misfortune. Hard to believe that he even called the man a "friend" earlier. It’s probably just some petty revenge for what Carl did earlier.
“Tsk! What happened to gnomes being straightforward people? Aren’t you being a wretched now?” Carl asked with displeasure.
“Hey, hey, you’re the one who kicked me when I was down earlier, remember?” Russell argued not feeling any guilt at all.
Rennel and the other looked strangely at the two men while they argue. Although they seemed determine to one up each other, they actually look like to be getting along just fine. Truly a strange sight…
“Fine, fine… Whatever… it’s not like I expect anything less considering that our partnership is just temporary,” Carl finally gave up and just shrugged his shoulder. “Well, as the young lady had said, my group and I were indeed from the Sect of the Void,” he admitted.
“Let me introduce myself properly. My name is Carl, an envoy of the void.” The man named Carl gave Rennel and the others a gentleman’s bow. “In the sect, I am more known for my other name; The Gentleman.”
An envoy of the void!
Hearing the man’s introduction greatly alarmed the sorceress and the others. It’s one thing to be an ordinary member of the Sect of the Void but being an envoy was a different matter altogether. The only ones that didn’t show an exaggerated reaction among the newcomers were Rennel and Pina. And it’s not really surprising considering that they grew up in a village in the boondocks.
“Senior sister… What’s going on? Why are you all acting so strangely for?” Pina asked, looking very confuse.
“…It’s difficult to explain. But that man, he’s very dangerous. More dangerous than regular members of their organization,” Miranda warned.
Carl didn’t react much after seeing the surprise in the newcomers’ faces. As a long-time member of the sect, He’s long since gotten use to such reactions. Still, the expressions of the other newcomers were normal but the silver-haired girl that exposed his identity seemed confuse?
“Ahem. That young lady over there… I could not help but notice that your reaction seem to be different than that of your companions after my introduction,” the envoy, Carl turned towards Rennel and decided to ask her the question that’s been bothering him. “How should I say this… You seemed to be confused when I introduced myself as an envoy of the void. Could it be that you don’t know what an envoy of the void was?”
Rennel stared straight into the man’s eyes for several seconds before speaking. “I don’t. Is that a problem?”
Everyone was taken aback with the exception of Pina who also have no idea what the man named Carl was talking about. Although they didn’t mean to, they couldn’t help but give the girl a strange look. They also have similar thoughts in their minds: If the girl didn’t know what an envoy of the void was, how did she know that Carl was from the Sect of the Void?!
****
“That doesn’t make sense. You were able to discover my identity and yet you don’t even know what an envoy of void was?” The envoy of the void, Carl looked at Rennel as if she’s a rare and strange animal. “How did you know that I’m from the sect then?”
“It’s your aura. I’ve meet people who shared similar aura as you and those from your group,” Rennel explained. “The only difference would be was that yours was several levels stronger.”
“You were able to recognize him with just his aura alone!” Russell blurted out in shock. What’s up with this girl? Why was she so strange? Most people would recognize other by their faces but the girl’s method was rather unique.
Rennel gave the gnome prince the side-eye. She could tell that the prince was thinking something rude about her. But since she’s not in the mood to correct him she just let him be.
“My first encounter with the members of your sect wasn’t a pleasant one. So my first impression of them wasn’t good, or rather, it was horrible.” Rennel looked at Carl and the other from the Sect of the Void before continuing,” Four of them, disguised themselves as poachers while a dozen more disguised themselves as crew of the first airship I’ve ever ridden in my entire life.”
A glint appeared on Carl’s eyes when he heard the girl mentioned the word “poachers.” He recognized those people. They were not under him but he has some impression of that group. Among the ordinary acolytes, the “poachers” stood out because of their high success rate. Most of the mission they undertake often succeeds. In other words, they were quite competent.
“What exactly they did to you, young lady? I could feel your displeasure when you mentioned them,” Carl asked, trying to get as much information from the girl.
“They tried to capture a monster king, an aerial beast known as the silver falcon. It’s fine if it was only that but the other people working on them hijacked the airship I was riding.” Rennel noticed that the man was trying to fish out some information from her. But since the incident wasn’t really a secret she didn’t mind filling him up on the details.
“Honestly, riding an airship for the first time should be a very enjoyable experience but you comrades ruined them when they slightly changed the airship’s flight course to ensure that we encounter the aerial beast.” The girl grumbled.
When Rennel interrogated some of the acolytes who hijacked the airship, she found out that the airship slightly veered off course because of their machination. Although it was just a slight deviation, it was enough for them to encounter the sky titan and the aerial beast that lives on the titan’s body.
The people listening were finally enlightened after the girl’s explanation. As expected of an organization of lunatics; they would do almost anything to reach their goals. For them no method was too low, or too petty. Everything was fair game.
“Seriously, your organization is full of crazy people; to think that they would hijack an entire airship just to catch some monster. Granted that the monster they’re after was a monster king,” Russell commented sarcastically while giving the man he called a “friend”, a severe look. “I wonder what they’ll do with the passengers and crew after accomplishing their goal. Would they be merciful and let them go? Or…”
Carl simply shrugged his shoulder. He could tell what the prince of the gnomes was implying. If the poachers succeed in their mission, there’s a very little chance that they would leave potential witness behind. The airship would probably be lost in some ocean somewhere where there’s very little chance of discovery…
Personally, Carl neither agrees nor disagrees with their methods; just like them he too would be willing to do almost anything to accomplish his goal. Of course he would often try not to gather attention unto himself as not to burden with the “clean up” afterwards.
“Do I really need to answer that? Would criminals really leave evidence of their crimes if they could help it?” Carl replied with hands spread apart. “No one here is a fool,” he added.
Everyone present, with the exception of Carl and his group have a grim expression on their faces. The fact that the man named Carl didn’t even tried to hide the atrocities that the members of his organization were willing to commit send chills on everyone’s spine.
Rennel closed her eyes, and let out a long sigh before opening them again. Everyone looking on her black eyes could tell that she had made her decision.
“Let’s fight.”
****
Carl’s lips twitched when he heard the words that came out of the girl’s mouth. To his surprise, Rennel’s reaction after hearing his reply was to challenge him to a fight!
“Crazy… Is that how a normal person should react?” Carl asked himself while trying his best not to face-palm. “That said her reaction was… interesting to say the least.”
In all honesty, Carl tried to anticipate the girl’s reaction. He imagined her being scared of him. Angry, upset, or even feeling betrayed. But the last thing he expects her to do was to challenge him to a fight!
“Can we not fight right now? To be honest we were looking for ways to escape this place,” replied Carl with a helpless smile on his face.
“I’m pretty certain that you’ve already discovered that the “island” is far from normal. The entire island, or the peak, or whatever you want to call it is like a giant magnet that mess with a vessel’s equipment. If we want to escape this place, then we should forget our differences and look for a method together.
“Is that how you convince the prince to cooperate with you?”
The person who replied to Carl’s explanation was not Rennel but Lucata. She had been listening to the girl and the man they called Carl’s conversation patiently and quietly. Unfortunately, Carl’s method of defusing the intense situation didn’t seat well with her.
“Indeed. That’s how I convinced the prince of the gnomes to temporarily join up with us, milady,” Carl admitted in straightforwardly. He then turned towards Russell who simply shrugged his shoulders. “That’s how it is.”
Hmph!
Luicata snorted before turning towards Sorceress Cassandra, “What do you think should we do, sorceress? Should we agree to this man’s proposition,” she asked.
Sorceress Cassandra didn’t answer instantly but instead ruminated carefully. In term of status, the prince, Russell, has the highest status. But since he already agreed to the man named Carl’s proposition before their arrival, he could no longer decide for their group.
If there’s someone among them more worthy of deciding, it would be none other than Rennel’s first teacher, Chaos. In terms of status, no one is more worthy than a god-like existence like Chaos. In terms of power, no one in this world could even come close to him. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how one looks at it; Chaos has no interest in personally interfering in the affairs of this world.
That said it doesn’t apply to his blessed, and student, Rennel.
“Rennel, do you really want to fight that man?” The sorceress suddenly turned towards Rennel and asked her opinion, much to everyone’s surprise.
They can’t help it. None of the people present were unaware of the sorceress’ identity. She might not be an arch-mage but her fame was no lesser than one. And yet the well-known sorceress was now asking the opinion of the girl that was not even half her age?
“Yes. He’s very dangerous. The only way we could ensure everyone’s safety was to subdue him,” Rennel readily admitted.
“Only subdue? You’re not planning on killing him?” The sorceress asked.
“I have killed countless monsters before but never another person. So I’m unsure if I could really kill him if it comes to it.”
“I see…”
What’s with this conversation? Why are they talking about subduing and killing right in front of Carl, the very same person they wanted to kill or subdue? Are they perhaps looking down on the envoy of the void? Miranda, Pina and the gnomes, all have strange expression on their faces while the acolytes of the sect were fuming with anger. And although Carl was being quiet, his face was as black as the bottom of a pot.
“Are you two done with your conversation?” Carl could finally no longer hold back his anger and sarcastically asked the two women if they were done planning what to do with him.
“Yeah we’re done,” Rennel answered while the sorceress simply nodded his head, not bothered by the envoy’s sarcastic tone.
Carl took several deep breaths before successfully calming himself down. Although he’s unsure if the two women wanted to anger him on purpose, he doesn’t plan on letting the two get their way. As someone who has experienced countless battle, Carl knew better than anyone else the effect of fighting while being influenced by intense anger or rage.
The envoy of the void, Carl walked forwards before stopping not too far away from Rennel before politely bowing in towards the girl in a gentlemanly manner.
“Let me introduce myself again. I’m an envoy of the void, Carl of the Sect of the Void, more commonly known as the “Gentleman.” A pleasure to be of acquaintance,” he said.
****
To be continued
Previous Chapters: https://read.cash/@beastion
