The Council

(Elina's Pov)

"Let's go inside!" I said as I turned around with a smile on my face.

We may be strangers who have met only recently but we have travelled all the way till here together, I have gotten to know them a lot more during our journey.

Albert and Aria both showed an expression of relief, their shoulder's relaxing as their mutter entered my ears "A safe place.." a small smile etched on their faces.

I couldn't help but feel happy for them, they have suffered a lot until this point. A safe place like this will surely help them recover both physically and mentally.

"You creepy bastards, stop smiling to yourself and move your asses"

God, I hate this kid so much.

The voice, of course, belonged to none other than Noah, he entered the teleportation gate without any delay.

If this journey taught me something than it was the fact that not all kids are innocent or sweet. Noah is foul mouthed, his words contained no sugar coating, no respect and he is always acting as if he is our boss.. which is actually true and I had already expected him to be like this when I first met him.

I also had to admit that if not for Noah then this journey would have been a lot more longer ..and dangerous.

And the reason for that were these chains, our reduced strength and the stoppage of mana flow it would be hard to deal with beasts ...and if we encountered one who is strong then we would have been long dead.

But that didn't happen, all because of Noah's mapping skill.

Noah always warned us about the directions where beasts are, he told us about safe places where we can rest without any worries, finding the food in the forest to eat.. and Noah's methods were capable of killing beasts which served as a good food.

And he also sometimes hunted strong beasts..

He took their baby beast as a hostage lured the strong beast into a trap and killed it. He ambushed sleeping one's... and sometimes used us as a bait...

I did felt like I need to beat him sometimes, actually, lot of times but I had seen it.. his combat prowess wasn't something to scoff at, his acrobatic movements, his reflexes, battle senses, his footwork... honestly, they were monstrous.

They were basic movements in reality but the precision and effectiveness that Noah performed them with made even those basic moves look deadly.

That wasn't all there was to it, though. Noah's indifferent expression, his unconcerned eyes, his apathetic voice ..never once changed throughout the entire journey.

He didn't talk much with us, he asked some questions from time to time but that was all, he also barely answered our questions.

Aria has only said a single thing about Noah...

A monster who could devour you at a moment's whim

Aria is a beastfolk and beastfolk have incredible senses, their intuition is rarely wrong ..and so we did what adults do, suck it up and follow.

Because with these chains, there was definitely no way we could defend ourselves against him.

Though Noah has done nothing but help us out, so that's a bad line of thought. If you put aside his attitude then ..he is a pretty nice kid.

During the time I sprained my leg a little due to my carelessness he carried me, Albert and Aria tried to help but they were themselves in a weak state.

He also gave me time to rest and wrapped my sprained leg with a wet cloth.

We didn't have any healing potions, so that was all we could do.

All in all, Noah is pretty kind for someone who-

'The way you look at me makes me feel sick'

Those words came back to me, stopping me from thinking any further.

Heaving out a sigh, I looked at Aria and Albert.

"We should get going too" They both gave me a simple nod and we all entered the teleportation gate.

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As I regained my vision again, I looked at the hallway that greeted me.

"Elina? Is that you?"

I looked toward the source of the voice, it was one of the guards. His duty, is, of course, to stand guard the teleportation gate.

"Yeah, long time no see, Jack!" I replied, a smile forming on my face after seeing an acquaintance I know of.

"Seriously, thought you were a goner! Glad to see you back, are these two also with you? Sorry, I know you wouldn't enter a slave pact but I will have to check in case, that alright with you all?" Jack asked and we all gave a nod

"Don't be sorry, that's the rule. You have to be cautious or else there's no knowing what might happen." I said.

Even your ally could turn into a traitor and that could risk everyone's lives here.

"Alright, pass through that door one by one"

And I did exactly what Jack asked us to.

I passed through the door, it scanned our bodies to see the slave pact mark, even if the mark was tried to be disfigured by injuring that part of the body, this tech could easily find it.

clank~

A metallic sound reached my ears and I looked at my hands and feet, the chains were broken. The mana that I wasn't able to feel until now was easily accessible to me.

What?

"Surprised? They added new features to it. It breaks the chains while checking for the slave mark. Saves time."

Dwarfs do come up with good stuff, don't they?

"Also, it's a green light for you. Good to know that you are still the same old Elina we all know."

"Of course, I am!" I huffed.

Feeling the mana and increase in my strength coming back to normal. I immediately looked for Noah but couldn't find him.

"Hey, Jack, where's the black-haired boy? Didn't he come here"

Sure, Noah entered the teleportation gate immediately and we lagged a bit behind but it shouldn't be enough for him to disappear into nowhere.

"Rose took him with her, I don't know the specifics since they talked among themselves, maybe washroom?"

That reminds me I also had to go and visit a washroom myself. I have been holding back for a whole day.

Albert and Aria also passed through the door as it lit the green light proving them to be safe.

"Alright, that takes care of things. I already informed the council about your arrival, they will meet you all in about an hour, till then I will show you all the room to rest."

The council room. Whenever new people arrive and those who brought them in, they need to visit the council room, they are the strongest bunch and the ones who are running the place.

Jack gestured down the hallway as he stood behind our group's back.. he hadn't changed one bit.

Is my butt really that great?

It felt a bit uncomfortable, more so, when I was in these rags.

"Public morals be damned"

I instantly recognized who the owner of this voice was, this tone devoid of any emotion is one I wouldn't mistake any other for, it was Noah's, I turned towards Noah, and standing behind him was Rose.

..

He is wearing a grey colored hoodie and black colored sweat pants, both a bit too big for his size.

Wait, is that why he went with Rose!?

He threw clothes in his hands towards us.

I looked at the knee-length shirt and quickly wore it over my rags.

This certainly feels better.

This is one of the reasons why we all listened to Noah throughout our journey. He is a respectable jerk who knows what he is doing.

"Now that everyone's here, I will show you your room," Jack said as he led the way, his disappointment was visible, the shirt was larger than my size, so it didn't emphasize any part of my body or Aria's for that matter.

Jack isn't a bad guy but ..he sure is one hell of a pervert.

Shaking my head I looked towards Noah.

Hm?

Bending my knees a little I took a closer look at Noah, more accurately, his neck.

"..What are you doing?"

"Are you wearing a necklace? It wasn't there when we traveled together.." I asked.

"..How did you see the necklace I am hiding underneath my hoodie?"

"Yeah, you are hiding it underneath but not properly, I saw the silver bits in ..." I stopped myself before I speaking any further.

Ah, I made a mistake.

"Just how closely are you looking at me? ..A closet pervert?"

"No! That's not it!"

Why did I do it again!?

I was just scrutinizing him, why? I don't know or maybe I know. I wanted to see how he will react towards us now.

He is clearly the weakest, Aria and Albert are B+ And B ranked respectively.

I wanted to see if Noah will keep the same tone and I ended up checking him out from top to bottom...

I sound like a pervert.

Noah ignoring my words, took some distance from me.

Jack stopped in front of a metallic door.

"You guys can all go in and wait, when it's time I will come to get you" Jack spoke as he tried to take one last peek at my boobs before leaving us. I simply shook my head.

We entered the room, a metallic rectangular table surrounded by 4 chairs. We all sat down in our seats.

"Oh, here" Noah poked my cheeks with a vial.

"Hm," I took the vial from his hands and looked at it.

Is it a healing potion?

"Where did you get it from?"

"Rose gave it, it's a low-level healing potion, should heal your sprain."

"Did you ask her for this?"

Noah, maybe my thoughts for you were a tad bit biased, you really are a good guy.

"No, she just gave me potion for all of us saying it was their job to at least mend small injuries of ours that's why I went away with her back then."

Ah, that's right. Now that I think about it, it is their job. Noah must have told them he came with us, so Rose took Noah with her to provide these clothes and potions, basic stuff needed for survivors.

..Does that mean, Noah didn't go to find those clothes for us of his own accord? That's sad to know.

He gave out the potion to both Aria and Albert.

Noah and I were sitting beside each other and Aria and Albert were opposite us.

"What's going to happen to us now?"

Albert voiced out his concern.

"Nothing, those guys will just ask a few questions to determine how to best make use of you."

"Noah! You don't have to make it sound like we are gonna get used!"

"We are though."

Alright, I better teach this kid some manners before we go to the council room.

Before I could begin my sermon, Noah's head fell on my lap.

What? That's not something Noah-like...

"Gotta rest, don't disturb until it's time"

I didn't retort, I knew he had been constantly working himself out without any sleep. The only time Noah hunted beasts was when we took a rest, not only that he also brought us food, and even during the time when we all slept Noah remained wide awake.

...Though I knew he didn't do it out of a simple sense of kindness but caution.

But that still wouldn't change the fact, we adults were nothing but a burden on him. Aria and Alberts's physical condition, my sprained leg...

It was shameful to admit but we got carried by a single kid.

I gently stroked his head.

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After about an hour passed I heard a knock coming from the door as Jack entered the room.

"It's time to visit the council and I will be escorting you all"

I nudged Noah a little to wake him up.

"About time." Noah instantly stood up stretching his hands up in the air.

"Are you a light sleeper or something?"

"I never slept, I said I was gonna rest and I simply did that."

...I thought he was definitely sleeping but Noah really doesn't look like someone who was sleeping moments prior.

"You should have slept a little"

"I will, once I am done with this mess."

I simply gave Noah a nod and afterward, we all followed Jack to the council room.

"I will be waiting for you all outside here, good luck!"

Jack said showing us a thumbs up. Right now, we are standing in front of a door, the door beyond which lays the members of the council.

"Aria, Albert. Wait here" Noah tilted his head as he looked at both of them.

What's this unreasonable demand all of a sudden?

"No, you all have to go inside the room," Jack said scrunching his face but Noah completely ignored him only looking at Aria and Albert.

"...Alright" Aria was the one to agree as she backed off and stood with her back against the wall, Albert followed her suit.

The fact that Aria yielded to Noah even now that the chains were off meant she still thinks of Noah as someone who could overpower her.

...Though, that's not possible since Noah is just a G+ ranker.

"Wait, no. You all need to go in!" Jack said but Aria and Albert stayed the same.

Ah, I am not gonna even bother. I will let those council guys deal with it.

Let's just watch how it will go.

Noah opened the door of the room as he entered and I followed him ..or that is what I was gonna do until Aria grabbed my wrist as she whispered in my ear, her voice containing fear.

"...Be careful, he is about to let loose."