Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 961: A Curious Tour

While the rest of the crowd decided it was best to lay down their heads and relax for another day in the consulate building, Raven and his companions got themselves ready to go out and greet the day. Although not entirely as themselves, Brian suggested disguises to avoid attracting unnecessary attention everywhere.

Dressing down as a commoner, the elf held his dejected expression as he watched the hero and his group make their way into the back of the consulate building. The people who walked into his view were Liliyana and Amedith. Both were dressed as women in long summer dresses with heels. Contrasting her skin, the magus was dressed in black while the shapeshifting devil was wearing white as her lover’s twin.

’He does look like a girl, or is it magic?’ Brien pondered, but there was little room for questioning.

After all, right after them came the rest. Mel, Aria, Raven, and Erika–all wearing regular clothes with a touch of glamour masking their true appearance. Following right behind them was Helga and her daughter, as well as Aradin’s group and Regalia.

"I’m glad you’re all here," Brien said, taking a step forward. He waved his hand to a hooded woman in white standing beside him. "Ellia will accompany us on this tour. I’m under the impression that you haven’t had a chance to mingle with her enough, so this will provide a good opportunity to get to know each other."

Looking right at Raven, he added.

"She’s amongst the wives you’re meant to take, but please refrain from pressing her–my sister has a...well, let’s say a habit of biting back with words." Moving a hand behind his sister, Brien tried to move her up front. Feeling some resistance in her shoulder, his smile flattened a touch. "Ellia...please stand by your fiancé; he might have some questions about our town during this tour. You’ll have to help him acclimate to our culture."

"Why do I have to..." Whispering complaints, she quickly wiped her expression with a smile. Walking over next to Raven, she stared at his face for a moment before glancing away with the lightest of blushes.

’I thought he would be an ugly monster from those rumors; why is he good-looking?’ For a man who had defeated so many foes, Ellia expected some deformed beast, but ever since she’d laid eyes on Raven, she couldn’t help but feel a flutter in her stomach–especially since her previous potential partner could’ve been the same as the chancellors. ’Just don’t think about it. Treat it like some official tour with the nobilities.’

"What’s the holdup now? Let’s go," she complained, speaking to nobody in particular.

A moment passed as everyone was loaded onto passenger wagons. All unassuming as they could be without compromising visibility or safety of the passengers. Sitting beside Raven and surrounded by his closest companions, Ellia couldn’t help but feel her chest tighten–both from frustration and the proximity to her future husband.

Trying to soothe her nerves, the golden-eyed elf drew a deep breath and moved the wagon’s curtain a bit. As soon as the vehicle was set on its path, she looked out the window and tried to bring attention to Aurum’s splendour with her words. Detailing the mapping of the city, the architecture, and even how much expenditure was required to replace even a single rock in the stone paths. She knew everything; her very job was to go over every document that made its way to the consulate office.

"And that lesser colosseum up ahead is where our soldiers train; we call it the ’Test of Will’." Turning her head to Raven, she narrowed her eyes as if in challenge. "A relic our god gave us. It matches your strength and helps transcend your limits. Plenty of high elves in Aurum have gone through the trial and come out on the other end as high elves. Though the number of failures is far greater than the successes."

"I would imagine so," Amedith whispered from the background, his head hung low as he tried to look out through the windows past the elves. "It was quite a big deal when Mel transcended too, right? Kara was shocked too, if I’m not wrong."

"Transcended?! Already?!" The utter disbelief Ellia felt at Amedith’s words made her lose all sense and spurt out what she was thinking. "H-how?! Nobody has ascended without the trail, then how–"

"Hmm? I don’t exactly remember how; it happened so long ago," Mel replied with a casual shrug of the shoulders.

’What kind of monste–’ Yet again, before she could finish, another voice cut through her.

"We can visit that later," placing a hand on her shoulder, Raven drew Ellia’s attention to him again. "What do you guys do for fun? We’re here on a vacation, not to battle our shadow."

"A–ahhh," for a moment, Ellia was at a loss for words, but then with a shake of her head she angrily moved Raven’s hand off her shoulder and spoke again. "F-fine, but don’t touch me. I’m only marrying you because it’s the deal; it’s not like I like you or anything!"

Puffing her cheeks ever so slightly, she quickly looked off into the distance through the open window.

’W-what’s his deal?! Does he wanna fuck me already or something?’ Overthinking and being flustered was a first for her, and thus while the others simply enjoyed the view of a magnificent city, Ellia struggled with a maelstrom that both tugged at her heart and tried to bitterly stab her. ’I’m not a loose woman like the dark elf! As if I’ll just let him touch me in whatever way he likes!’

She spoke what she felt to be the truth, when in reality her mind was already being swayed. Accepting Raven as their people’s savior was difficult for someone like her, but if the rumors were true already, the chancellors had accepted him in their own ways. Oh, the rumors-not just Joselia but even the sisters have moaned the hero’s name.

Swallowing hard at that thought, she tried not to think of it; instead, her gaze turned to the bustling streets of her kingdom.

’Fun?’ She repeated Raven’s words to herself.

But before she could come to a conclusion, the wagons stopped, and to her surprise, her brother had brought the heroes out of everyone to the secluded market of the slave trade. Why? What was he thinking? She had no clue, but there had to be a reason, or so she thought. In truth, Brien had seen through the illusion of a general that Raven tried to portray. Instead, he saw him for what he truly was, a person while worthy of being the hero, yet still interested in the foul and the profane.

"Let’s start with the darker side of our city." Opening the wagon door, the elf bowed to the hero. "We’ve shown you enough splendour, and I’m sure you’ve shown us enough as well. So how about now we be true to each other, champion of heroes?"

Lifting his head, he added.

"For us to be allies, we need to see the truth behind our masks. And what better place than this, where mortality is unmasked, and the cold touch of pragmatism is on display?"

While Ellia has no clue what her brother meant, Raven picked up on what Brien was trying to say. And thus, with a faint smile, he descended the wagon.

"I was wondering when the pretense would fall."

"It has now, so let’s form an alliance on truth rather than masked lies and double faces?"

With a simple nod from the two, it was finally settled. Enough pretense of perfection on both sides; it was time to be truthful and act on the alliance as one. And to kick things off, what better way to know each other than to know the worst before being shown the best–which would be the rest of the tour. Either way, it was time to walk into the market and see what flesh was being auctioned in this deceptive city of splendours.