18 CHAPTER 18 – What to do?
"So, they won't do anything?" Ann asked as she understood everything.
"Well, at least not in public or upfront, they will play dirty, though," Alex said calmly while resting his back on the seat of the car and closing his eyes.
He could feel that they were still being followed as following a car that is driving at the speed of 60km/h is not a big deal for A and B-ranked Raiders.
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When Alex, Alice, and Ann left the Raider Association, they didn't talk till they were some distance away from there and when they found the right spot, they parked the car under the shade and started talking.
It was Alice who asked first, "What should we do?" She knew from what Alex had done, that they were not going to be left alone by the Association and even though the guilds and Association were never on good terms, they still maintained it on the surface.
Neither she nor Ann ever thought of just removing Alex from the guild as even though they had known each other for a while, they grew very close to each other, and abandoning was not something they would do to Alex.
They also knew that what he did was for them and when they remembered what he had said, their heart would beat like a drum while their faces would fire up.
Still, they knew they needed to do something since now, the Association would not even act as if things were fine. but they were surprised when they heard Alex's reply.
"Nothing." This is what he said, and they looked at him in disbelief since to them it meant that they should do nothing and let their guild be destroyed.
Before they could explode, Alex told them to calm down and spoke.
"What do you think the Association would do now?" He asked them curiously.
"They would probably declare war on our guild," Ann replied.
"On what basis?" Alex asked again with a calm smile, though he still looked stunning.
"Huh? x2. Both Alice and Ann had question marks on their heads.
"I mean what would they say? Why do they want to declare war on us?" Alex asked again with the same smile as if he had already thought of how to handle the situation.
"That we attacked them?" Alice asked unsurely.
"Who did we attack?" Alex asked again pressing them towards the answer he wanted to hear.
"Stephan," Ann replied, though, she might have started to understand something as she had that kind of look on her face.
"Who is Stephan?" Alex asked again now focusing on Ann since she started to understand where he was getting at.
Alice also listened to their conversation with full attention as she also seemed to have some clues about what Alex was trying to say.
"The strongest Raider of Orange Country," Ann replied but Alex asked again.
"And?" Alex asked with a proud smile as if his student was getting what he was trying to teach.
"The strongest Raider of the Raider Association," Ann said but she didn't know what to say when Alex asked again.
"And?" Alex looked at her and seeing her not having an answer he turned to Alice, but she also didn't seem to know what else was left.
Alex just sighed while shaking his head and continued, it seemed that they still didn't get it, or they were simply unable to get the point Alex was trying to show.
"He is the backbone of the Association, and he is also the only reason due to which the Association was able to maintain the balance between the Guilds and Association." Both of them nodded in realization but Alex was not done yet.
"Do you think the guilds are so weak that they can't defeat the Association?" Alex asked and both of them looked at him in confusion, causing him to sigh again.
"Every guild is just waiting for someone to start the conflict as the one who starts would take the most damage and the full blow of the Association."
Realization hit the girls when they heard him say that, and they tensed a little as it was them who were going to be at the forefront if that were the case.
"Don't worry, the Association also knows that once they start a war with any one guild then every guild of the country would group up and the Association would lose.
That too when the news of their strongest Raider losing to a new S-rank raider would be revealed along with it." Only when Alex said that did they calm a little.
"So, they won't do anything?" Ann asked as she understood everything, and Alice also looked at Alex.
"Well, at least not in public or upfront, they will play dirty, though. Like sending Assassins that had been following us from the moment we left the Association." He said while resting his back on the seat and sensing the Raiders that had surrounded them.
When the girls heard his words, they quickly became battle-ready since they knew Alex would not say that if he didn't have a way to know that.
"Don't." Alex held Alice's hand, stopping her from opening the gate.
Alice was about to go down to fight the Assassins but got confused as to why Alex stopped her, Ann also looked at him curiously wondering why he stopped Alice.
"They won't attack us, now for now," Alex said while he had closed his eyes.
He was sensing how many people were following him with his perception and also earth sense.
Earth sense was something he created from his control over Earth Element. It allows him to sense the position and movement of anyone who is moving on the Ground or inside of the Ground, even though perception also does the same.
"Why?" Ann asked since she knew there must be a reason why he stopped Alice and Alex didn't disappoint her.
"There are many people from different guilds from our country and different countries observing me." When Alex said this, they were again surprised, but they listened to Alex continue.
"And the Association probably knows that as well, so, if they don't want our fight to turn public, they won't do it right now, and trust me when I say they don't want this matter to get public," Alex said with a confident smile which somehow caused the girls to smile as well while they also calmed down.
They knew now that nothing much had changed in their relationship with the Association as they were never on good terms. They just had to be ready for Assassination.
Even when the Association had not sent Assassins for them, they still had their rival guilds that would send Assassins from time to time, so, they just needed to live as they did till now.
However, if the Association were to know about Stephan not being able to use his skill, then things would change but Stephan would never reveal that.
It was said that Stephan was very poor before he awakened and that was why it was easy for the Association to win him over, and as some great man had said: Once you taste the riches of the world, it is very hard to live without them. (Author note: If no great man has ever said it, then just think of it as one of my proverbs. 😉)
But one thing Alex knew was that Stephan was never going to reveal that he could not use his skill anymore, in fear of losing his authority.
"Do you guys have anything else to ask?" Alex asked the girls, and they shook their heads.
"Then let's not waste our time here." As Alex said that Ann started the car, and they went back while chatting like nothing had happened or nothing had changed.
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