Chapter 146 - Reprimanding with good and bad intentions.

Aile shrugged and told Hazel, "That is great, the people of the academies do not care. The royals and the Tamer Clan will just assume that we belong to the other faction or the academies, acting as a protective umbrella for us. Plus, it is unlikely to reach that state, as first, they would need to find out the uniqueness of the wolf pup. Therefore the risk is low, and you can have the pup. I will also put a special fire gathering rune on it. Anyone that investigates it too much, or if they tried to inspect it, you activate the rune, and they will be swallowed into a fire vortex with the wolf."

Aile expected Hazel to reject. However, she nodded. Aile was surprised, she was usually the first to stop Aile from taking such cold-hearted actions.

Hazel noticed the look on Aile's eyes. Hazel said, "The options are that she will die now or possibly in the future, I will choose the latter. Although it is a bit risky, having the wolf as an extra ace during a fight will make up for it. I will go and form a contract with it in a concealed location, away from the eyes of these people. It will probably take around 2 hours, do you want to come with me or stay?"

Aile said, "Do not go too far away from me? Also activate the alert ruin every half an hour, if possible, that way I know you are fine." He realized that she had not changed too much and was looking at the situation differently. With his current state where he was bleeding, it would only end up attracting some beast to Hazel if he goes with her. She will be safer alone, as long as she is close by, he can extend his senses and keep an eye on her.

She nodded and took the pup along with its mother's body, she left discreetly. Once she was gone Aile called One and Two.

"Who was there when you picked the pup, and who knows about it?"

"Just me... I think that scout also saw me pick it up."

Aile said, "Do not let the word spread about the pup." They nodded and knew that if anyone acted suspiciously about it, they would have to deal with them.

Aile then went towards Xue and called her, she immediately arrived. He said, "Tell everyone we are camping here for two hours, we can start a fire, and everyone can have some roasted wolf meat, as a small celebration of our victory. After which we will travel until nightfall."

Soon the happy murmur of everyone came, some of them started to camp and started small fires. The others began to look and examine the wolf bodies, scavenging for the tastiest parts. No one was unhappy from having a full stomach from delicious meat, particularly when the alternative was the tasteless porridge.

Aile was sure that with this, no one will care about the missing bodies of the wolves and the pup. Everyone will assume that they were eaten. Aile then went back to the wolves' pelt and just kept his senses around the location of Hazel, making sure to prevent people and beasts from disturbing her.

With his eyes closed, he was fully concentrating and meditating as he kept his focus on Hazel's surroundings. It was quiet-peaceful around him, and Aile had pretty much full privacy.

This was because of how he had dealt with the traitors before, most people respected him for his action, but at the same time, they feared him. His heartless behaviour was a deterrence for most people to avoid him. Their fear manifested in the fact that most people camped far away from Aile and faced the opposite direction to avoid even eye contact from afar. It was also so that they could talk louder without being a hindrance to him.

Like this, the scouts and guards were protecting everyone, while the rest of the people started to chat and cook different parts of the wolves uniquely. Soon various aroma wafted in the environment and even reached Aile who was secluded far away.

A few more minutes passed, and then Ellie and Violet arrived. Ellie said, "Hey, are you free for a second?"

"What is it?" said Aile.

Violet, who was next to Ellie, said, "I am sorry, you are hurt because of me."

Aile did not deny it and nodded.

Noticing the distant behaviour of Aile, Violet bit her lips and said, "Can you forgive me? I am really sorry."

Aile looked at her and said, "I was almost dead because of your carelessness. In fact, I bet it is not the first time you used such a strategy of diverting the focus of the enemy on someone else so you can survive. That seemed very practised. If you really think an apology will cut it out and I will just act like a simple person, you are wrong." Aile's tone was still flat, and he continued, "Fighting with someone requires to trust the person beside you, and I have lost that trust in you. If you expect me to jump in front of you in the next instance to protect you, then you really think too highly of yourself." Aile felt sorry for being harsh, he had two plans for his performance. One was to make sure that she remembers to be careful, and he also wanted her to learn that her mistakes will have impacts. Her mistake will not be hidden under the carpet* like when she was with Hunter.

Violet said with her head lowered, "I am sorry, I promise that I did not mean to do that. Please, I am sorry."

"You expect me to believe that? You were guiding your lightning to small threads which require so much more effort before. In that instance, you are saying that you could not even put a little effort to control the lightning. You also want me to believe that you could not divert it away from me or at least make it less effective. Do not expect me to be so stupid."

Violet looked down and said, "I promise that it was just a reflex, I did not want to hurt you."

Aile just shook his head, and Ellie did not interject.

Violet said while lamenting, "I promise... That is how I trained from when I was young, I did not do it on purpose." Aile knew fully well that she had only ever fought together with Ellie. She was not sure of how to fight with another person, so her mistake was expected.

"Do you really want to be forgiven?"

Violet quickly nodded.

"Then stay away, I cannot afford to lose my team members because of how you are trained. I also want to keep Ellie safe, so stay away from her too, and we are then even. In fact, what will make me happy is if you leave Moon Merchant Union and keep quiet about Ellie. All of these people in this team are my responsibility, and I no longer feel safe putting you next to any one of them." Aile finally brought out the consequence of her mistake.

The tears that have built up on Violet's beautiful eyes started to flow after what Aile said.

Ellie finally said, "She is not like that, I have known her for many years. I can vouch for her."

Aile sighed and said, "You have just joined, do you really think you can vouch for someone else."

Ellie gritted her teeth and said, "Please, it was not her fault. I wanted to follow you in crossing the river. She just wanted to protect me, so she came."

Aile wanted to laugh at her effort. Violet did not even know her identity when she was on the other side, so it was a lie.

Aile knew that Violet had no intention of hurting him. But nonetheless, he could not reinforce her carefree attitude, and he did not want to let her go scot-free. He also wanted to use this opportunity to make her owe him some so that he could get some classified information out of her if possible.

Aile looked at Violet and said, "I will give you this extra chance, and I will trust you this once, but you have to be honest with me from now on. This is because I believe you and also because of Ellie's plea. I do not want you to act overbearing, and you need to be more careful when you fight. We will try to build a trusting relationship. So do you think you can be honest with me from now on?"

Violet nodded.

Aile was content he will get some information about the White Clan's plan. Yet, he was not content about his approach to collect information by using her. But currently, the climate of Port Kiar was not great, and he did not want to face a situation of a hidden enemy from the White Clan. The Royal side was already opposing him more or less openly. He also gave some credit to Ellie, so that in case Violet finds any information about an attack against his house, she would definitely notify her now. This would improve the safety of the mansion and prevents a rift from forming in their long-lasting friendship.

-*hiding things under the carpet - It is a saying, referring to hide the concrete floor (ugliness) under a carpet (beautiful). It also means to create a facade for something or someone while hiding their problems.

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