Chapter 61: Ch 61: An unpleasant request

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"I was looking for you, because I've been looking for a few days for someone who can cover large amounts of ground in a short amount of time. And even better if that ground is traversed by air," she explains in a calm voice "As you can imagine, there aren't many who meet those requirements. But, when I heard of the description of the dragon rider that had terrified many in the capital on the news, I knew it was you that had frightened the citizens, and that you could do what needed to be done. But you're pretty hard to find!"

"Ahh, yes?" I ask curiously as, since arriving in the capital, I have not been hiding in the slightest.

"Yes," she says and frowns. "I went to Julia's, but she didn't know where you were staying over either. So, I went to Sofia's, but she didn't know either. That's why we assumed that during the day you were probably here, because we haven't seen you anywhere. And then, Sebastian and I split up to look for you..."

"And what exactly do you want from me?" I ask, interrupting her, and I can't help that my voice has a certain cutting tinge to it. I don't think it's funny that I was being raked.

"Come. Let's go somewhere more private. These are topics that shouldn't be talked about in public," she says, looking to the side and adding, "besides, it's a long story"

This makes me curious.

"Hmm, ok..." I say somewhat hesitantly... but she is helping Julia. The least I can do is listen to her.

And, taking me by the arm, she leads me back inside the guild.

Where we ask one of the receptionists for the keys to a private room.

Once inside the room, seated in comfortable armchairs, Lilian gets ready to talk.

"It all started that day when I heard Julia's story..."

And so, she begins to tell me the story of how she went to tell her mother about what had happened with Julia.

But, since her mother is not interested in things that are not related to magic, she dismissed what Lilian was telling her. And so Lilian went to her grandmother to complain.

Lilian's grandmother, upon hearing what was going on, instructed Lilian to find out if the story was true.

Lilian did, and that triggered her grandmother's decision to come back from retirement, to take over the chores that Lilian's mother was evidently not performing properly.

Lilian's grandmother took her on as her assistant, and together they have been taking care organizing all the things that her family is responsible for in their sector of the kingdom, that were unsupervised because of her mother.

Hence, the other noble families have listened to Lilian's proposal, and thus, it is being carried out.

For, if it were not for her position as her grandmother's assistant, no one would give her much consideration because of her age.

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The reason she was looking for me is that, one of the actions she took as her grandmother's assistant, was to send Vector to the Hill Forest to clean up the monster nests that were found there.

Since some of the monsters that have come out of the labyrinth of the Crossroads Town have taken refuge in the forest, which is disturbing the native species of the place.

When I hear this, I am reminded of the words of the adventurers we helped with Octavo to defeat the griffin, who mentioned how strange it was that the creature was attacking people.

Lilian's idea was to get Vector away from the capital, so that Julia and Mia could have some peace of mind.

And, while Vector was in the forest, she would arrange a transfer of the evil soldier to some distant town.

The problem is that Vector disappeared in the forest and, although he should have been sending regular reports on the progress of his mission, he hasn't been heard from for months.

That's why Lilian, as her grandmother's assistant, has been looking for someone who can scour wide areas of the forest for any sign of the cursed wretch.

"And so, now I have this," she says, touching the bow behind her back "I'm not going to say that your words didn't help me strengthen my resolve, but having my grandmother's support has been far more valuable in opposing my mother's decision for me to devote myself exclusively to my magic."

"And isn't it exhausting to have so much responsibility on your shoulders?" I ask dumbfounded that she is happy to be free of her mother's yoke, when she now has to take care of things that should be taken care of by other people.

In my opinion, it's like being happy to get out of the frying pan, only to end up in the fire…

"Nah, I really like what I do. If I didn't, I wouldn't do it. But this is something I've always dreamed of. I mean, contributing to the betterment of the kingdom," she says with a smile.

"Ahh, if that's so… What has happened has benefited you too and… I guess that cat with you is like my Azur, right?" I ask, a bit uncomfortable and distracted by the look of Lilian's cat, who hasn't taken her eyes off me at any time since we entered the room.

"Yes, this is Yuumi, my companion," she says, petting the cat's head, whereupon the animal looks away from me and looks at her companion. Which allows me to relax a little. Though, at the same time I have to endure the teasing feeling that comes, through the bond from Azur "When I went to the labyrinth with you, I didn't have her summoned for fear of the advice that she would be beaten. Since, unlike your Azur, my Yuumi had no fighting ability."

"Had? Past tense?" I ask, catching with special interest the meaning of the last sentence.

"Well... let's say that I have used well the information you gave me that day, and that now my Yuumi can fight enemies from the 30th floor of the labyrinth without any problem," she says without stopping petting her cat "Like your Azur, she can also change size. Though she prefers to stay at this size, even for fighting."

"I'm glad you were able to take advantage of the information. Well..." I say remembering why we are here "Getting back to the subject of your request, I guess you realize who you are asking me to rescue, don't you?"

"I'm not asking you to rescue him. I just want you to go complete the order I had placed to Vector and, if you find signs of him or his group, let me know. I will take care of the problem once we have more information, but for the moment we don't know anything. And I can't spare soldiers to scout the forest because, as I suppose you've noticed if you've been out on the roads lately, we need to reinforce security in many areas," she says, grimacing at the mention of the subject "if only my mother hadn't been so negligent all these years maybe we'd be better prepared...". Anyway, I plan to pay you a good sum of money for this mission. Will you turn down the opportunity just because Vector is related to it?"

"No. I won't turn it down, but only because I'm very grateful for what you've done for Julia and Mia. Because, frankly, I don't give a damn about the money right now" I say, because I don't think the pay she's going to give me can beat the money I'd get at the labyrinth in the time I'm going to have to spend to do her application.

"Great!" she says, clapping with her hands in joy. "But, you'll still get a reward when you get back. Well, changing the subject... I remember you were doing a group with a boy who uses a bow. Could you put me in touch with him? I'd like to ask him for some advice."

"That's going to be complicated… " I say and I can't help the somber tone in my voice as I remember Joseph.

Lilian stares at my face but doesn't say anything, even though I've suddenly gone quiet.

After being silent for a few moments, I am able to put my thoughts in order.

Now it is my turn to tell her, in summary, what has happened to me during this time.

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