Tales Of New World: The Magus 45 Unexpected Encounter

At last, Volya notices Markos is running to them. He stops in front Helena and says,

"I'm sorry, Valeria has a little note for me."

"That's alright, we just arrived at this fountain though," answer Helena

"Still..."

"If Sister Helena said that, it's fine Uncle Markos," said Gracia as she smiles at Markos

"Alright, if you said so..."

Markos then looks at Volya, who is a bit vigilant around them. Markos then smile and says,

"You don't need to worry. The knight that following me is no more,"

"So, we could conclude that he keep his promise," said Volya as he smirks a bit

"Which is good," said Helena

Markos then laughs and then asks them where they want to go today. Helena answered,

"I want to go to Sylvaria District because I want to meet with my old pal. She said that she also has a surprise for me there."

"Sylvaria District of Lerwick... Oh, that one is on the east side of this city," answer Markos

"The east side, huh..."

"If possible, could I know the name of the resident? If she is ex-adventurer, maybe I know the exact home of her," said Markos

Helena looks at Markos and then smiles at him. She then mentions Alexandra Higginbottom, one adventurer that already retired after her marriage. Hearing her name, Markos smile and says,

"I know the way... So, let's go."

"Nothing less to expect from the Best Adventurer of Ostonorid," praised Helena

"Compared to your feats in the adventuring world, I'm nothing to you, Helena," replied Markos as both of them laughs together

Markos then leads the way to their destination. Markos explains a bit about Lerwick as he doesn't have the time to show the city to the four of them. And one thing that he likes to explain is the two towers on the east and west side of the city. The tower at the west main attraction is the clearer view of the mountain area, while the tower at the east could see the river area.

As Markos explains it, Gracia seems to listen keenly to his explanation. Until they arrived at a house made from brick. Helena then says,

"I will enter the house alone. All of you could wait outside as Alexandra asked me to enter the house alone."

"Sure, we will wait outside. But, if there is something suspicious just give us a signal," said Romain

"Oh come on, Romain. No way Helena's friend will do that, right?" said Volya as he chuckles a bit

"Well... It's better to prepare for anything, right?"

Both of them then laughed and let Helena enter the house. As they are waiting outside, Gracia and Romain continue their debate about sweets. Markos asks Volya what happened with them, and he gives him a simple explanation about what happened this morning.

Markos then looks at Volya and asked him,

"Volya, do you remember what he said yesterday?"

"About the clause?" asked Volya

"Yes... Isn't it strange for him to say that?" replied Markos

"Maybe the clause just added after a lot of adventurers didn't come back after taking a mission to protect him?" said Romain that overheard Volya and Markos conversation

"That's one plausible reason, right?" asked Gracia

"You are right, Romain, Gracia... That means there should be a record about the previous adventurer that taken this mission," said Markos

"Could you take some of the data about it, Markos?" asked Volya

"Of course I could, I will give the information to you after I get that,"

"Thank you. After that, I will process the data..."

"And we will have a meeting at late night again to talk about it," said Markos that suddenly notices a surprised face from Gracia

Gracia then walks to Volya a bit with wide-open eyes and asked,

"Volya... Did you do all-nighter again?"

"Err... Only... Once..." answer Volya

"Is it? Because Uncle Markos said as if you already have done it several times,"

"Err..."

"Maybe... I will tell Sister Helena about it... Or maybe Sister Lucia after we arrived home," said Gracia as she smiles at Volya

"Please spare me, Gracia!" said panicked Volya as he pleads to Gracia.

Gracia and Romain look at Volya and they laugh together. Even Markos also laughs at him. He then says,

"You are indeed like a different girl, Gracia..."

"Eh? What do you mean, Uncle Markos?" asked Gracia that is surprised

"You are... The Smiling Angel of Death, right?"

Gracia is taken aback as she meets someone who knows her past. Markos smiles at her, pats her head, and says,

"I indeed fought you once in the past and even you spared me back then..."

"I..."

"Even though your crime indeed intolerable, but I already know that The Smiling Angel of Death already died a long time ago,"

"Eh?"

"And the one in front of me is Gracia Ravelli, a new girl that lives anew."

"..."

"Seeing you as a pure girl reminds me of my daughter. And hopefully, your past will not drag you down and you will continue as a better girl."

"I... will... become better... person..." said Gracia

"Good girl. And I believe Romain and Volya here could help you. I believe you could become a legendary team in the future together."

Romain and Volya remains silent after hearing that from Markos and lets him continues,

"So, if any of you need help at Ostonorid... Just call me, I will try my best to help all of you as I know that all of you are a trustworthy person,"

Volya, Romain, and Gracia looks at each other and then says together,

"We will..."

"Good to hear that hahaha hahaha... Seeing all of you indeed reminds me of my past though ahahahahaha."

Not long after that, they could hear a little scream from Helena. A surprised scream. Markos suddenly on alert and says,

"Did Helena..."

"That scream... That is her scream..." said Volya as he prepares his staff

"Did... Someone attacks Sister Helena?" said Gracia

"Hopefully... Not..." said Romain

All of them then gather and prepare themselves to open the door in front of them. But after several minutes to think about the plan, the door opened.

A woman is smiling at someone inside and she notices Markos at the front. She immediately says,

"Captain Markos? What are you doing here?"

"Ah... Alexandra..."

"Hmm? Perhaps you are Helena's teammate in this mission?" said Alexandra

"Yes. Did... something happen with Helena?"

"Ah... Nothing bad... Just she meets with someone inside."

"Is that so..."

Not long after that, Helena walks to the front with a fl.u.s.tered face and a man with short black hair and green eyes. His skin is a bit pale, yet his face is full of expression. The moment Gracia, Volya, and Romain see the man, their skin becomes a bit pale and they start to look around. They know that he is Paulo Estrudiantes, the king himself.

Markos looks at the man and feels like he has seen him somewhere. Alexandra then says,

"I can't believe someone like you could find a husband, Helena..."

"Come on, Alexandra... Please stop it..." said Helena

"Don't be shy, Helena. To be honest, your story indeed interesting," jokes Paulo

"Oh yeah, isn't all of you need to meet with him? Isn't it bad for all of you to make him wait?" asked Alexandra

"Ah yes, you are right. Pardon our intrusion," answer Paulo

Paulo then looks at the other four and notices the gaze from Volya, Romain, and Gracia. He then winks to tell them that he will explain it later. Meanwhile, Markos then asks Helena that finished chatting with Alexandra,

"So... Your husband will join us?"

"Yes... To our next destination," answer Helena with a red face

"Then, where are we going now?" asked Markos

"To Lord Gill's mansion."

Hearing the name, Markos was quite surprised. He wanted to ask another question, but seeing Paulo asks them to walk now, he chooses to remain silent for this time. He also observes Paulo a bit and tries to remember where he had seen him before.

Markos shakes his head and then leads them to Gill's Mansion. Volya could see Markos' surprised face and asked him,

"Do you know about the owner of the mansion?"

"Ah... Yes. Because the owner is a well-known person in this empire," answer Markos

"Who is it?"

"The owner of the mansion is Thomas Gill, one of the Royal Mage from Ostonorid,"

Markos then explained about the Royal Mage to Gracia, Volya, and Romain that seems intrigued with the history. While Markos explained it to them, Helena walks to Paulo and asks,

"Honey... Why are you here? Did Mikhail know about it?"

"Yes, he knows. Rather, I choose to go here after we got a piece of information from Sir Thomas," answer Paulo

"Eh? A piece of information?"

"Yes, it's also a request from Sir Theofilo itself," continues Paulo

"Huh? But, why must you be the one that comes here?"

"And why do you force yourself to send that letter?" teased Paulo

"About that..."

"Just kidding," said Paulo as he grabs Helena's hand and kisses it

"You are really..."

"And for your question... It's because Sir Theofilo wants to meet with me at Sir Thomas' house,"

"Eh?"

"He predicts something fishy at this city and needs to prepare a retaliation if his prediction is right," explains Paulo

"A prediction?"

"Yes... And if his prediction right, it will cause a problem not only for Ostonorid but also for Haegia,"

"If you said so..."

Paulo smiles at Helena and then looks at the other three members from Haegia. He then says,

"And for the three of them... They are looks lively,"

"Yes, they are. They always like that every day," replied Helena as she smiles

"These young' un will lead our kingdom in the future. And seeing how they are energetic, together with the one at Haegia, I could see our Kingdom could reach another Golden Age ahahahahaha,"

"I agree with you, it will happen,"

"Oh yeah, Mikhail is thinking about something..."

Paulo then whispers something to Helena and that makes her surprised. He then says,

"Don't tell anyone about it, ok?"

"Sure, because I believe it will be an exciting future for Haegia," replied Helena

Both of them laugh together and notice the other four are looking at them. They then explained that they are talking about something from their hometown, and Markos let it slide. Except for Volya and Romain, as they gaze at them.

Thirty minutes later, they arrived at a garden with a white mansion at the end of the garden. The garden is full of white lilies around them. Markos then says,

"This is Sir Thomas Gill's Mansion. As you can see, it looks empty as... Ah... Hey! Where are you going?!"

Paulo and Helena ignore Markos' question and walk together to the middle of the garden. The other four look at each other and follow them. As they walk to Paulo and Helena, Markos asks Romain,

"What with them? And why do I feel like I know Helena's husband? Maybe you know him?"

"My answer is..." said Romain

"You will know it shortly," continues Volya as he smiles

Gracia smiles and nods at Markos. Markos can't believe what he heard, but because everyone already walks, he follows them. And that moment he could hear a voice that will surprise him for the rest of his day.