Lyla's Sudden Change!

"Delusional?" Elder Snowfang frowned.

Strange. Barhawk's boy was lazy. He would admit that much from what he had seen of the guy, but he was also very sharp and full of youth.

Though one could argue that he hadn't watched the boy closely for a long time now; that didn't mean he could easily believe Elion was delusional.

Was he bewitched by someone?

That was a possibility. There were enough unorthodox cultivators who did unsavoury things for resources. So it wouldn't come off as a surprise if Elion had fallen prey to one of those old bats.

Sigh. He was not here to investigate the reason behind the altercation that led to Elion's death. His only duty was to verify if Ray was innocent.

Elder Snowfang let out a withered sigh. No matter the reason, a boy he had seen grow up was dead, and there was something hidden, waiting to be unveiled.

'It's the least I can do for you, Elder Barhawk.'

Elder Snowfang set his jaws tight and decided to look through the matter. Keeping his indifference towards Elder Barhawk and his lot aside, as an Elder, it fell on his shoulders to safeguard the lives of his people.

"Arlo, have you heard any news about any evil cultivators nearby?" Elder Snowfang asked. "Since you are a travelling merchant, you must have come across such news, right?"

"Not that I know of," said Arlo after searching through his memories. "I haven't heard about someone like that."

Elder Snowfang nodded. The involvement of a shady cultivator was pretty farfetched, he realised.

The guards kept a close eye on people going in and out of the territory, not to mention there was Elder Ronan, who frequented this outlying village to see his granddaughter from afar.

If there really was someone like that messing with Elion's head, he would've been apprehended by Elder Ronan a long time ago.

Shaking his head at all the whatnots that sprang up in his head, Elder Snowfang decided to visit the former residence of Elion.

It was just yesterday that everything ended and the house must still be occupied by his servants. If he wanted to glean something about Elion's situation, starting with his home and servants was the best course of action.

As for Ray's innocence, he would've to rely on Arlo to provide witnesses. And looking at Arlo, he seemed all too eager to prove Ray was not guilty.

Having made up his mind, Elder Snowfang strode towards the back of the village where Elion's two-story mansion was located.

As soon as he reached the building, he could vaguely pick up the nervous energy that surrounded the wooden construct. Hurried footsteps of the servants and their hushed voices met him before he could enter the house.

All the eyes turned towards him at once, with some of the servants outright jumping through the windows and running into the woods as if their life was on the line.

Unfortunately, not everyone was that lucky to escape.

-King's Domain-

Elder Snowfang growled and unleashed his domain without hesitation.

"Halt!"

He screeched. Making use of the frosty nature of his element, he froze some of the remaining servants in their places.

"How impudent!" Elder Snowfang gnashed his teeth in anger, having caught them red-handed while they were stealing everything from the house and preparing to flee.

"I have never seen such servants in my life. Your master is dead and the first thing you do is loot his house?" He thundered. "Death is the only way for all of you to repent!"

His sword glinted in the candlelight, and a servant's head rolled to the ground. The few, still standing servants were too horrified and spellbound to even scream.

"You!" Elder Snowfang released one of them from his freezing magic and asked: "What happened here yesterday? Be honest and I might let you live!"

"Ha…haa… My Lord, mercy!" The servant immediately fell to his knees and begged.

"Hmph!" His sword moved again and the servant fell to the floor, lifeless.

"I am not here to listen to your plea! Answer my question!" He released another one. This servant understood his assignment and started singing.

"My Lord, a few villagers came to complain about Vivian for entering a village residence and then…"

Elder Snowfang listened intently to the servant's story and had a hunch about what might have happened by the end of it, but he didn't want to believe it.

How can someone raised by one of the Elders fall prey to a mere drug? If the word got out, they wouldn't be able to show their faces in public.

"Where is Elion's bedroom?" He asked tentatively, hoping against hope that he wouldn't find anything incriminating.

Alas, as he entered Elion's bedroom and opened the drawer from his nightstand, Elder Snowfang's face darkened.

There it was. The blasted powder that promised euphoria. Neatly arranged several vials of Rave Spirit metaphorically prickled his eyes.

-Mana Burst-

Elder Snowfang blasted off the whole nightstand unceremoniously. The sooner he got rid of the dastardly drug the better it was for society.

After handing off the remaining servants to the village guards with the promise of appointing a new village protector as soon as possible, Elder Snowfang took Arlo with him and headed for the Inner Sanctum.

***

"Haha, one million!" Raymond laughed until tears pooled in his eyes.

Finally, he had reached a milestone after working hard for several weeks. With the newest addition of the money from Elder Barhawk's spatial ring, Raymond now owned a million gold coins.

"So, what are you going to buy me with that money?" Lyla asked from the side, throwing Raymond into a violent coughing fit.

"Cough! Cough! What? I just bought you that fur coat the other day!" Raymond quickly sent the coins into his pendant.

He did not like the way Lyla was eyeing his hoard of glittering golds.

"Oh, come on, darling! That was a necessity for the cold winter out here!" Lyla pouted.

Raymond blinked and narrowed his eyes on her.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"What are you saying, darling? I am your Lyla!" Lyla hugged his neck and placed a kiss on his cheek.

Raymond was thinking about how to check Barhawk's spatial ring without damaging it when Lyla woke up from her sleep and offered to help him.

At first, Raymond was surprised when Lyla started to chat with him excessively, even making him miss his count of the gold coins several times.

After a while, he started to get happy that Lyla was finally opening up to him completely and shrugged off her chatty behaviour.

But this!

This was not his Lyla! She never asked for anything from him, well, anything that involved money.

That was also the reason he liked her so much.

"No, you're not! You're Heartsbane, aren't you?" Raymond hissed.

"Haha, you're so funny, darling~" Lyla's tinkling laugh reverberated inside the Sacred Chamber. "You know Heartsbane is afraid of you! Why would she do something like this?"

"Stop lying! Have I not warned you before not to do this kind of stunt?" Raymond glared at her and grabbed her hand.

Heartsbane instantly went limp as soon as he touched her.

"Darling~, not now. There is a time and place for romance." She fluttered her eyelashes seductively and simpered.

"Yeah, you're definitely not Lyla!" Raymond bonked her on the head. "Go back to where you came from!"

Lyla's unconscious body collapsed in his embrace when he uttered those words.

Raymond carried her to the bed and placed her between Jasmine and Vivi.

This Innate Spirit was getting out of hand, Raymond mused. Maybe he should subdue her. He licked his lips and glanced at Lyla's sleeping form.

'Bah! I already have enough crazies on my hands! I don't need another one!'

Raymond shuddered at the realisation. None of his women were as mentally stable as him. All of them were crazy.

Either he was into troubled women or fate was playing a game with him. Raymond for the first time in his life decided to blame it on fate for the sake of preserving his sanity.

He was not into crazies!

-Knock! -Knock!

Raymond was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard a knock on the door.

With a smug smiling face, he went to open the door. If it was any of the elves, he wanted to rub it in their faces that he owned the Sacred Chamber for now.

"Good Morning, Raymond!"

It was the High Priestess, dressed in her black robes and exotic jewelleries.

Her luscious black hair cascaded down her back in waves and her golden pupils shone brilliantly attracting his attention.

'Damn!'

Raymond had totally ignored her beauty yesterday because he was too pissed off by her for spying on him.

Now that he had a clear head and was refreshed after counting all his money, he took a good look at her.

'Not bad.'

Raymond nodded. She had an air of authority around her that resembled Sasha in a way.

It had to be. She was in power of position after all. Raymond would've loved to make her acquaintance if she wasn't so hellbent on having her people hot on his imaginary tail.

"Good Morning." Raymond greeted back. At least, he could have a proper conversation with someone who wasn't crazy and spend his morning without boredom.