Chapter 211: What’s This?

“What are you going to do?” He asked Dustin.

“I’m just going to tell them that the girl we kidnapped had a scary strong friend who wasn’t happy that we took her,” Dustin said with a devious smile.

“That’s it?” He asked.

“They will likely understand. There is always someone who is more powerful, even in a rural town like this. Look at that old man over there,” he said while pointing at the old man who was directing the children toward a small building at the back of the orphanage. “Someone like him could have easily annihilated the entire warehouse without blinking an eye. As long as I don’t outright lie, I should be fine.”

Julius also looked over at the old man, it was surprising how well he was able to deal with the children without resorting to violence like they had. He guessed that was just the experience of running an orphanage.

“You’re sure you still want to go back there?”

“It would be more suspicious if I don’t,” Dustin said with a shrug.

There was a brief pause between them. “Thank you,” he said suddenly.

“For what?”

“For not killing me and for helping me save my friend.”

“You’re just a young boy, I wasn’t ever going to kill you. I only hit you so hard because you kept on regenerating like some monstrous troll. Plus, you helped me more than you know,” Dustin told him while giving him a slap on the back.

“Still, thank you. If you need anything, just let me know.”

“Oh? A Tier 2 is offering a favor to me?” Dustin asked teasingly with an amused smile.

“This Tier 2 almost beat you,” he reminded him in a similar tone.

Dustin shook his head aggressively. “You weren’t even close,” he said with more confidence than Julius thought he was feeling. He still remembered how ragged Dustin looked after their fight. However, he was a generous person and didn’t bring that up, allowing Dustin to keep on believing what he wanted so he could sleep better at night.

After Dustin left to head back to the warehouse, it was just him, the old man, and Reinera left. Elder Han had got the rescued children all situated and already had plans for how he was going to reunite them with their families.

However, now that it was just the three of them, Julius noticed the weird atmosphere between Elder Han and Reinera. They were both staring at each other with expressionless faces, it was to the point that Julius had to say something.

“Do you two know each other?” He asked, already knowing that Elder Han knew Reinera, but he didn’t know if Reinera knew who the old man was. Or if she knew that Elder Han was aware of her true identity.

Reinera nodded her head. “Yeah, I’ve seen him before,” she said vaguely, sounding as if she was afraid of giving up something she wasn’t supposed to say.

He decided that it would probably be better if she knew that her secret was already out. “Elder Han already knows that you’re the princess somehow,” he told her.

Reinera’s eyes widened and he felt her mana react instinctively. “What? How?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. He just told me that he knows who Grace was and that he has some sort of grudge against your family.”

Reinera chewed on her lips and fidgeted with her fingers. “Of course, he does,” she said finally.

Elder Han didn’t seem interested in this conversation any longer, he had a severe frown on his face as he turned to him. “If you don’t need anything else from me, I am going to go get some sleep,” he said.

Julius put up his hand. “Hold on for a moment. How do you two know each other?” He asked the both of them.

When neither seemed willing to respond first, he looked up in the air with an irritated sigh. “You know, I have had quite the long day,” he said to no one in particular. “I had to deal with a crotchety old man who’s pretending to be a normal old man, got my ass handed to me by a Tier 4, save a princess, and deal with a bunch of rescued children. I feel like the least I deserve is some honest answers,” he said more calmly than he was feeling.

However, it seemed that his irritation seeped through more than he wished. Because both of them gave him sympathetic looks. But when they both noticed they had the same expressions, they quickly removed them.

Reinera was the first to speak. “That old man,” she said while pointing violently at Elder Han. “He’s the former Sect Leader of the Fallen Spire Sect. He’s a cruel old bastard who will do anything for the right price,” she said with disdain.

Fallen Spire Sect? He had heard of that name before, though he had no clue about anything other than their name. Furthermore, based on Elder Han’s reaction, he wasn’t denying Reinera’s words so they must have had some truth to them. Although, he wasn’t just going to take those words lying down.

“You speak of me like you and your family is any better,” he croaked out. “Your family is willing to do anything as long as you guys maintain your tyrannical grip over the Empire.”

“I’m not my family,” Reinera spat out angrily.

Elder Han chuckled sardonically. “No, of course not, you just benefit from their prestige.”

“That is not fair and you know it.”

“Life isn’t fair and you of all people shouldn’t be telling other people what is and what isn’t fair, princess,” Elder Han retorted. The benevolent old man was nowhere to be seen, just an old man with built-up resentment.

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I know I wanted them to open up a little bit, but I should probably intervene before it goes any further.

“Okay, that’s quite enough,” he said, infusing a bit of aura into his words to make his point. “I wanted to know answers, not for you two to start bickering like children. We are already surrounded by too many of them, there’s no need for two more to show up,” he then turned to the old man.

“I also don’t appreciate you obviously keeping things from me. If you are going to continue and manipulate me, you are going to find that I won’t be so agreeable,” he said warningly, knowing full well that he was talking to someone who would wipe the floor with Dustin, not to mention someone like Julius.

He felt Elder Han’s aura flare up for a mere moment. It barely showed, but for the first time, Julius was able to see just how oppressive the old man’s aura was. It was soul-crushing, in that brief moment he felt so much power that he almost kneeled to the floor.

However, he didn’t. He wrestled the pressure back and used the full weight of his willpower to remain as unaffected as he could. He calmly stared back at the gaze of the old man as he withstood the small amount of aura.

Eventually, after what seemed to be an eternity, but was probably only a few seconds, the old man’s aura calmed down. He gave an amused chortle before covering his aura once more.

“You are something special, boy. Too bad your stupidity and pride will probably kill you first,” Elder Han said in exasperation.

Julius pretended to ignore him and went over to Reinera who hadn’t held up against the aura as well as he did. She had fallen to her knees and was gasping for air like a fish out of water. He gave her a reassuring pat on the back and channeled a little bit of life mana into her to alleviate the worst of it.

“Are you okay?” He asked her.