Tale of Discovery

Chapter 196: Talk ; Inquiry

After making sure that there is no one around, I slowly make my way down the stairs and walk over to where Ari's mother is while forming an anti-sound barrier around us.

It takes her a moment, but the desolate finally notices me.

She seems like she's about to scream, so I make use of Paladin's Aura to calm her down while placing my finger against my lips.

A confused look appears on the woman's face as she places her palm against on her chest.

"Who are you?" she asks me a few seconds later.

"Tiffania Westwood's cousin, Wales Tudor."

The proceeds to scrutinize me from head to toe before saying, "Aren't you supposed to be a human?"

Nodding my head, I dispel Rework, which stuns the woman into silence.

"I'm sure that you're already aware why I'm here," I say while glancing at the door through which Ari left.

Seeing my actions, the woman lowers her head and responds in a saddened tone, "Yes."

Letting out a sigh, I create a chair right in front of her and take a seat on it before saying, "You know, I can't simply let someone sacrifice my dear cousin for something as absurd as the Great Purpose, as you guys call it."

"I know that," the woman says breaking out of stupor from seeing a random chair appear out of nowhere, "But, I can't do anything about it."

"I'm sorry, but how should I refer to you?"

"Ah, my name is Alais Themaer."

"Well then, Alais," I say while leaning forward, "Why is Ari acting the way he is?"

"You know my son?" she inquires.

"Yes," I respond, "Tiffania and I are staying at their home. When nighttime came, we were about to sleep, but I noticed him leave. Thus, I ended up following him here and accidentally overhear your conversation with him."

"How do I know you're telling me the truth?"

"You don't," I simply respond, "It's your choice to believe me or not."

Alais takes a moment to deliberate on the matter before closing her eyes and saying, "I choose to believe you."

"Very well," I say, "Now, I need your help regarding the matter with the 'gate' and the 'key'. As I'm not aware of their meaning and what significance they hold, could you tell me about them?"

"Yes," she replies, "I can do that."

Nodding my head once, I get up from the chair and reach my arm out to Alais with a smile on my lips.

As a response to my actions, Alais grabs my hand and gets up from her seat, with a curious glint in her eyes.

Then, I create a gateway that leads to the small boulder in the middle of the oasis where Luctiana and Ari live.

I pull Alais into an embrace as I begin to guide her into the gateway while ignoring her dubious expression.

The next moment, Alais is more than a little surprised by the fact that we abruptly changed locations from her home to a boulder in the middle of an oasis.

"This is where Ari and Luctiana stay at," I say while pointing at the white abode.

"I see," she simply says while looking in the direction I'm pointing at.

Before she can question my actions, I set Alais down on the boulder below us while staying afloat using Flight.

So far, everything is going fine. Revealing my 'true identity' in front of her would make her believe I have no ill intentions.

Then, teleporting her over here would both make her wary of my powers while also somewhat proving my claim of staying with Ari and Luctiana.

She could possibly think of my teleportation ability as secret magic that I was willing to show her, which could also possibly increase her trust of me.

Anyway, I have absolutely no reason to mistreat her, as according to what I know so far, she's against using Tiffa for the gate, but is unable to talk sense into her prideful son.

Looking into Alais' yellow eyes, I say, "Now, could you begin?"

"Which?" Alais asks.

"The matter regarding the gate."

"Yes," she replies before beginning her explanation regarding what the gate and key are.

Basically, the ginormous tree in Iaron is the 'gate' while the 'key' is an irregular factor.

The key is required to activate the gate that's present within the tree, which will supposedly be the closest connection to the Great Purpose.

Regarding the part where the 'key' is sacrificed, Alais explained that it's just an unconfirmed myth.

How typical

"So, that's all?" I say once Alais seems to have said all that needed to be said regarding the gate.

"Yes," she replies.

Nodding my head, I begin thinking of the actual reason I brought the two of us here, which was to see if she knew about the black rock that was present in the boulder.

From the looks of it, she doesn't. Could it be that it's unrelated to the 'gate'? I highly doubt that's the case, as Tiffa led me here, so it should be related in one way or another.

Setting that matter aside, I wonder why Ari is acting the way he does toward his mother.

"Alais, do you mind telling me about the reason Ari is treating you so harshly?"

Right after the words leave my mouth, Alais' expression turns to that of desolation as she lowers her head.

Knowing that the topic is a sensitive one, I patiently wait for her to collect her thoughts while gazing at the gleaming water.

"A few years ago," Alais says after a while in a pensive tone, "My late husband had left Nephthys to search for an artifact along with three others.

"After a month had passed since he left, a letter was delivered to the village by one of the elves who had left with my husband. He was in a battered state as he came over to hand me the bloodied letter."

Alais pauses for a few seconds to take in a deep breath before continuing,

"The letter was supposedly from my husband, claiming that they had found the artifact, but before they could return, they were attacked by humans and heavily wounded."

Huh? Something doesn't add up. Why would humans attack them? Were they also after the artifact, or were they just bandits?

"But, it was false," Alais says all of a sudden, surprising me.

"The letter couldn't have been from my husband, I was sure of it. But, the same couldn't be said for the Council of Elders. They blindly believed the content of the letter."

"And?" I ask, "How does this explain Ari's behavior?"

"Well," Alais says, "Back then, I opposed the decision to launch an assault on the humans which was suggested by the Council of Elders.

"Soon after that, the elves had separated into two separate factions. One that supported me, and one that followed the Council of Elders."

Hearing her explanation, I realize that this matter is much more complicated than what I was expecting. That's especially the case when I consider the fact that I've found several elves who were 'enslaved' by Joseph's power.

"My son," Alais continues, "He was very fond of his father, so he wished to avenge him the most."

"Avenge you say... Did they die?"

Alais shakes her head and states, "I don't know. That was the last time we ever heard anything from my husband and the rest apart from the one that returned."

"I see," I say, "And I assume that your son thought of your actions against assaulting the humans as nothing more than cowardice, right?"

Seeing her lower her head even further, I feel a slightly uncomfortable sensation in my guts as my body subconsciously moves.

Before she can realize what's happening, Alais finds herself within my embrace as I gently rub her back.

Most likely unable to make sense of the absurdity of my actions, Alais remains motionless as I continue hugging her.

Only after a whole minute has passed does she back away from me with a slight blush on her cheeks.

"Can you take me back home?" she says after recollecting herself.

"Of course," I respond before approaching her once more and swiftly wrapping my right arm around her back.

Before she can react, I use Flight to float into the sky while using telekinesis to keep Alais from feeling uncomfortable.

Then, I create a gateway back to Alais' home before passing through it while holding the piteous mother close to myself.

The moment we arrive at her home, we instantly hear a loud commotion outside the house.

I focus my hearing to find out what it's about, only to furrow my brows upon hearing what's being said