Chapter 26—A Short Halt

Soon the fire trucks flocked the rims of the hole; their wails of sirens echoed through the area as they surveyed the incident. Rushed with duty, they ran to the burnt edges and settled the hoses to start subduing the fire below.

As shouts of commands from the officials resounded, chatters echoed within the accumulated crowd, gossiping with conspiracies while feeling sorry for the Lustraves—they can't imagine how would it affect them while working for the town's safety.

"It was worth a billion!"

"This will have a great impact on our beloved general, hope he can take the news."

"Poor them, so busy protecting the town that they couldn't manage their own house."

"I saw Angela and Marcus entering the manor this noon while Valor opened the gates for them. I hope they're okay, such promising kids; their talents are up the sky! Sadly, there's a high possibility that their ashes are also now above the sky. They Probably flew high from that explosion!"

"You seriously making a joke right now? You old cunt, can't you sympathized with them first?"

"I am feeling sorry for them."

One of the old folks then minded the comment before, the fact that the kids could have been blasted by the pillar of fire, "Really? We got to search the rubles then, maybe they're still breathing."

"How do you think thirteen years old kids survive that kind of explosion? They're probably off to heaven right now."

"We can't be sure, twenty years ago we thought you died at the top of that desolate mountain when you suddenly vanished—that scared the shit out of us, heck you were just fucking the receptionist's daughter while we flocked the untamed forest to find you."

"Go on and swim through the lava then, you old fuck can't even swim on water."

"Why you..."

"Take your quarrel elsewhere geezers, there's a high probability three youths died here. This will affect the parents more than they lose their house."

As many conversations were created, two middle-aged women squished through the crowd at a hurried pace and stopped in front of the hot crater. Petrified, the two looked at the people near them and started inquiring, "where are they?" Looking at their eyes, the crowd couldn't help but feel pity towards them. They are Charlotte and Elizabeth, laughing a minute ago, they now despair with the crowd's inability to answer.

The sirens of the fire trucks howled and water started to pour from their hoses; steam was made from the bottom and rushed out the enormous hole, along with this are the start of tear formations at the corner of their eyes. Not accepting the fact that their precious children may have ceased to exist, kneeling with pained expression—they couldn't help but hug each other tightly. "This can't be real." Charlotte muttered.

"Ahhhh!" However, as they cry on each other's embrace, the old folks exclaimed beside them, pointing at a certain distance—they wore a shocked expression before one said, "they survived! HAHAHA, These youngsters are tough!" Confused by their reaction, the two quickly gazed at the endpoint of their fingers. On the concrete street, is an opened man-hole which the four are currently receding. Pained with real bruises they got before, they acted tired and scared— which they really are, but with drama so they can look extremely devastated.

Rein taking the acting to a different level, ran to her mom's wide-opened arms and embraced her with tears in her eyes, "I was so scared mom, we barely managed to survive—hick— adventures like this are scary." The three looking at her couldn't differentiate whether she's acting, or she's letting out what she truly feels. If it's the former, she can be a world-renowned actor.

"Ohh my poor baby, you're now fine okay, mommy's here... But why can't I see your brother?" Elizabeth asked worried, Valor hearing that couldn't help but feel guilt, he said sorry to harden in his mind as rein explained he went away and left them there.

Besides the crying mother and daughter, Charlotte looked at Valor with teary eyes, before she started to walk to him with widespread arms. So he neared and took the tight hug, feeling guilt, he said, "sorry I couldn't save the house." Hearing this, she tightened her embrace and replied, "who cares about the house, you are more precious than that." She let go of her son after that and smiled with a sniff, "I'm glad you're alive."

"But I saved this." He murmured and passed the orb secretly, Charlotte of course took it instantly and hid it under her dress. "Did you risk your life to get this?" She asked and he shook his head, "events transpired and I was given the chance to at least salvage it with me." He replied but her mom didn't buy it, "You're just like your father, aren't you? Not willing to come out from something with nothing, or your just afraid that we can't handle losing a manor and a private rift?" Her mother asked and he nodded with embarrassment, she couldn't help but smile at her son's ignorance so she explained, "listen to this Valor, High-ranking pathholders can have private rifts with missions and other duties—it comes naturally, but a precious life like you is very rare to get by..." It turned into a sermon

"So don't ever prioritize an asset with your life, okay?" Valor smiled with that regard, he can only nod with his mother's words.

From the crowd also appeared Angela's mother and Marcus's father, they grasped

their child's shoulders and hands while the four nodded to each other as they cleared the first phase of their plan.

As their parents' emotions lose their ruckus, Marcus's father— the sheriff, and three other officers neared the four. He asked the guardians for permission after they stopped in front of them, "We know they just got out of a hellish event, but may they accompany us to the station for a quick hearing about what happened?" In order to journal what happened, They need the four's testimony so that they can pass a proper report.

The sheriff has the usual look of a pugilist, bulging with muscles, he has brown hair with brown eyes. Standing with his brown uniform and a golden star hanging on his chest.

"Why can't you just ask them here?" Charlotte asked and the officials replied, "We're suspecting goblins isn't the only ones that are infecting our town, there might be eyes and ears here in the open so we need to interview them in private."

"Understandable, sure you may... Just say what you saw darling... you won't have a problem interviewing these four, they're exceptionally bright so you'll get what you need." The parents affirmed before the four went with the officials.

Behind them is Valor looking around in a low-key manner—with a quick roll of his black eyes around the crowd, he saw every familiar face that he shall get rid of. Angela noticed his behavior and made an expression that he quickly noticed, he just smiled and squinted his eyes—she shrugged her shoulders and continued to board the official's vehicle before they drove away from the scene of the explosion.

Back to the guardians, Elizabeth commented with the visible scene, "Your town is sure is rowdy, and I did pick a bad time to visit." Looking through the steaming hole, she felt pity towards her friend. "Don't look at me like that, the manor will be unnecessary anyway," Charlotte commented as she stared at the hole. "What do you mean?" Elizabeth asked, so she continued. "You know what I mean, the tension between nations can be already felt, Secret feud between the big families, hidden discoveries, and the sudden increase of rifts and their fatality grade. The peace we have is already drifting apart, And when chaos strikes, border towns like this will be the war zones. It's just a matter of time before everyone moves to the capital, leaving a ghost town behind and become a settlement for another fortress."

"It's just an advance demolition, my husband and I had been talking about this for a while. For our safety and future, we'll move to the capital and settle a business there."

Elizabeth hearing that commented, "I'm glad you didn't say you'll go back to your families." This made Charlotte smile, with disgust she said, "Returning to those swine means shame, I better just kill myself. They think wealth and influence is the only thing that matters to this world; I thank the heavens I didn't inherit their prejudice." Elizabeth smiled, "strong-willed, beautiful, smart, and a worldly renowned alchemist, I wonder how the general seduced you." The duo just smiled and went to their usual spirit, chattering with giggles and laughter. "You won't even guess." Charlotte replied as she was neared by an officer, "Mam, we're the insurance company."

---

"I know you kids are probably traumatized, but in order to avoid more trauma—can you please attest what happened? Was it an accident—probably not, or it was intentional?" A female officer sat in front of the metal desk, her body already blossomed to womanhood; explaining the short pause of the two as they saw her seat in what they can explain in a sexy manner.

"We were playing alone when we were suddenly attacked by a wave of puppets. They were many, so We couldn't hold on fighting..." The four began their testimonies while the officer wrote their word on her journal.

---

One can see the effect of the explosion by just looking at the streets, with the still undefined circumstances happening within the town, everyone is in their house; forbidding every member to go out.

Against the window, Reid flushed the curtains and leaned his back. With an angry stare, he said to the scared woman in front of him, "You messed up, even if you say you didn't cause it, this will lead to our presence in this town. We've been preparing for next week in these past months, and now it's ruined by whatever butterfly effect you made." Sobered by the news, he looked at the woman dead-eyed.

"Look what you did Alice, by your failure—we have displeased him. His blood is boiling, I can feel it in my heart! An Excruciating pain! He is punishing us for what you did!" A gritty voice echoed from the corner before a hideous face appeared on the wall. Made with the wall itself.

"You failed and made direct contact to the target—you let your psychotic self control you, due to your negligence—we're faced with this, In order to set things straight and buy us time until the fated day comes. What will you do?" Reid asked her in the eyes, she looked back in a hued glare and replied, "eliminate the trail but leave no blood behind—I'll eat their memories as they sleep."

"No, you won't move—it's too late by now. We'll remain idle and quiet, that's the best thing to do while we wait for the marked date... he's glaring at us from his majestic throne. We shall execute what is relayed from the palace, as a devoted member of the paradise, we must reach perfection." The wall talked again with a shivering giggle, before it backed down and vanished from the wall.

"We'll continue as our personas before the marked date comes, don't cause a ruckus and make things worse. The others aren't pleased, the plan of getting our hands on the rift may have vanished, but the goal stays the same—." Reid said as he walked out of the room, leaving Alice behind the now quiet room.