Dreyke’s eyes flashed coldly as he watched them stagger inside the hall. From his body, a mighty aura diffused and descended on the four of them.

Boran trembled as his eyes widened. He couldn’t help but roar, "Town Lord, what’s the meaning of this!?"

He wasn’t weak; he was a Verth Wielder Stage Two with Titan blood flowing through his veins. He was the least affected by the Town Lord’s aura. But the rest weren’t the same.

Varek and Saeth felt their breath hitch and their hearts skipped a beat when the aura descended upon them.

"What’s the meaning of this? It is I who should ask you...WHAT IS THE MEANING OF YOUR ACTIONS LAST NIGHT!?" Dreyeke roared; his deep voice thundered across the entire hall.

Even the people of Greenvale felt their hearts tremble when they felt the mighty aura of the City Lord.

His eyes then shifted to Liret, who was barely standing. But...standing nonetheless.

"One of you guys entered the old building last night, killed the alchemist, and looted the warehouse that contained one of the most precious treasures!"

"WHAT!!?"

Saeth, the serpent blood, immediately caught on to this; his snakeskin instincts tingled and rang alarms inside his head.

Frame...someone was framing them!

He immediately regained his composure and signaled the three of them.

"Let me handle this."

The other three, although shocked, let Saeth handle the situation, as he was good at talking his way through things.

"My apologies, Town Lord, it seems there is a misunderstanding here."

He bowed to Dreyke as he spoke, hearing his words. Dreyke waved his hand.

"Speak"

"Town Lord, yesterday night and the day before yesterday. We were busy searching for a thief in the entire town and the perimeters of the forest. And just arrived this morning, if you have any doubts about my words. You can ask the guards themselves."

The more he spoke, the more Dreyke felt uneasy. This...this was completely out of his thoughts.

"But...I have evidence that Liret, from your group, was yesterday in the old building."

Saying that, Dreyeke waved his hand, and a small piece of cloth fell in front of Saeth.

He immediately grabbed it and walked back to his team.

"Wait...it is indeed mine, it was from the same robes which I wore that day to fight that damn Ridgeback Boar!"

Liret immediately recognized it, but her voice trembled.

"H-How could it be here?"

"Exactly, Liret didn’t even have a single cut! Let alone pieces of her robes. This...someone had torn them and laced them with your blood."

Hearing Saeth’s words, Liret’s eyes widened in horror.

"It must be the same man! The one who had black hair with silver edges! And eyes as dark as night!"

She clearly remembered it; before fainting, she had used all her Verth in her eyes and saw Emperal’s face crystal clear.

The moment her voice echoed, the Town Lord, who was listening to the conversation, his face changed drastically.

"What did you just say?" he asked, his eyes were those of someone who had suddenly found some hope.

Although confused, she tilted her head and repeated, "Black hair with silver edges, and his eyes were dark as night."

The Town Lord hurriedly got up and stepped towards them, putting his hands behind his back. He took out a small chart, more like a poster.

"Did he look like this!?"

He pointed towards the face in the poster, urging Liret to answer.

Liret looked closely at the poster; the face on it was indeed similar. Same black hair with silver edges, same dark eyes, and the general facial structure.

"But...the man in the poster isn’t drawn as good-looking as the one I saw that day." She had seen his real face that day, and had burned it in her memory with the last bit of her consciousness and Verth before Calder’s gas took everything else.

Hearing her words, the Town Lord’s eyes twitched a bit.

"As long as the description matches, we can manage."

"Mhm, it is indeed similar," Liret admitted, making the Town Lord’s smile widen.

"Good, very good."

But, Saeth wasn’t satisfied with just this, "Town Lord, what is this all about?"

"It’s nothing, a few days ago, from the mainland Draventhar’s black market. A poster of a huge bounty was issued, which took the entire capital by surprise. People began searching crazily everywhere."

"Oh?" Saeth narrowed his eyes when he heard this. He couldn’t help but think inwardly.

"If he had such a huge bounty, he must be someone important or, at the very least, a powerful and dangerous man. Why would he eye a boar—that too, hunted by a group of local hunters?"

These types of questions clouded his mind; he couldn’t help but ask.

"The Town Lord, what was his race again?"

Looking at the poster, he certainly didn’t look like a snake man. Boran, too, looked at Saeth curiously.

"Why do you want to know his race, Saeth?"

"It’s nothing, I just wanted to confirm something."

Hearing Saeth’s question, the Town Lord shook his head and sighed. "I don’t know the details, but that is no longer of any relevance."

Dreyke spoke, his eyes shining. Although his expression didn’t change, Liret, with her sharp eyes, noticed that he had gripped the poster tightly.

"I thank you for your assistance and apologize for the earlier rudeness. As a token of apology, I grant you a weapon of your choice from the inventory."

The four were overjoyed when they heard this; they hurriedly bowed and left. But...one person turned back and watched Dreyeke’s actions with a cold look.

...

The day finally came, the dawn of the sixth day shone upon the beasts and Elves alike. It was the meeting between the Leaders!

On the neutral ground, this day for the first time. Gorven arrived a bit early, eight minutes before the meeting period.

Dresh arrived just minutes later than Gorven. Her green eyes swept over the battlefield and landed on Gorven.

The Verth around her twisted and turned dangerously as she eyed the Dragon-blooded beast in front of her.

Gorven remained silent for a few seconds, "I will be straight, your people have been making contact with the Dragon affiliates outside the territory."

He spoke; there was a silent edge to it that only people like Dresh could notice.

"Heh, I could say the same. Mine have had the same reports about yours."

She said with a light smile on her face.

Silence...