REAL REASON

Leonel didn't react immediately. Technically speaking, this wasn't his home, and he also wasn't 100% certain of the ongoing situation. Plus, he and Aina had come here wearing masks, so their intentions to stay out of the spotlight were both clear and obvious.

He didn't want to get into any trouble if he didn't have to.

Although he hadn't checked the rules of the city, this was the greater world where the power of an average person could probably level a home without too much effort. In this sort of situation, one couldn't expect the rules to be the same as Earth.

That was to say that Leonel didn't believe that they had come here because of the fighting, especially since everything had taken place on private property. It was likely that they had already planned on coming to this home from the very beginning for whatever reason, and just so happened to run into this situation.

'Warriors like them shouldn't blink an eye to such a childish thing, but why are they frowning so hard?'

For a moment, Leonel thought that it was because of Zephyr, but Yuri was a Half Spiritual as well, and when she wasn't scowling, she had the same beautiful countenance that most of Spiritual descent had. Raj seemed a bit out of place, but it wasn't to the point they should be this shocked.

'Am I overthinking things? Or is there something I missed?'

The herald of the group, one that Leonel had picked out from afar long before they even stepped into the city, unfurled his scroll as though double-checking something.

'What the hell are their methods so primitive...' Leonel shook his head. He found himself getting annoyed, not because of the situation per se, but because of an odd, foulness hanging in the air that he didn't like one bit. He was fairly certain that this was related to Dream Force, but this was the world of Spirituals. Getting a reading on people was much more difficult here.

The Spirituals had a grasp on the soul and Soul Force, and sometimes by extension Dream Force, that could rival Demi-Gods. They were, without a doubt, the Race closest to Demi-God status and they had produced several God figures in their history.

Even the common of them had great protections against others prying into their minds, let alone seasoned warriors like this group. Even for Leonel, it was difficult to get a read on them and he could only mostly follow his instinct.

"Yes, yes," the herald nodded to himself. "This home should be under the dual ownership of a Human and a Half-Spiritual, yes? Then you should also be among the census. Can the Human please step forward?"

Savahn blinked, wondering what this was all about.

Joel subconsciously stepped in front of her when he saw that she was about to go. He didn't really think about it, he just acted on impulse. However, Savahn smiled and patted his arm in reassurance.

"Hello, I'm the human that owns half of this property," Savahn spoke up.

The herald swept a gaze over Joel then went back to Savahn.

"Good. By decree of the current Lord of our Realm, the Emberheart Lord, all humans must gather in the capital within the fortnight. As for any further details, they will be explained once you are there."

The herald snapped the scroll close and then, with guards in tow, moved on to what Leonel assumed would be the next home.

'... Odd...' Leonel thought.

After some hesitation, he waved a hand.

Before the herald could react, the scroll in his hands shot out of his hands and soared through the air, slapping against Leonel's palm with a satisfying PA!

Leonel unfurled the scroll and took a look. It had a weird protection on it that made it difficult for him to use his Internal Sight to pry into its pages earlier, but he couldn't help himself now.

He had just gotten out of one set of trouble and didn't want to thrust himself into another right after he got the first monkey off his back. At the same time, he couldn't ignore whatever plight Savahn was in either.

He had a fondness for Savahn that went back a long way.

When they first met, she was the more aggressive party, taking on Yuri's current role. It was funny now that he thought about it because considering how calm and gentle she was now, it was all the more obvious how calculating her previous actions had been.

While Yuri's antagonism was almost entirely based on emotional outbursts, Savahn was smart and protective. She had acted like an overprotective best friend because she felt like she needed to, not because it was just in her nature to do so. And that gave her personality interesting wrinkles that fascinated Leonel.

Of course... this was only a very small part of the reason Leonel took action. The truth was that these were his wife's friends, and she treated them like sisters. Much like he had known his brothers for life, she had grown up with Yuri and Savahn, the former of which was her literal adoptive sister. © 2024.

As far as he was concerned, their problems were his problems.

With the scroll in hand, Leonel saw through the restrictions with ease and a light of curiosity lit deep within his irises.

Indeed, it was just a list of humans and their living accommodations. It was basically just a summary census of just a singular group of people. But there was no other explanation as to why.

By the time Leonel finished reading and memorizing everything, the sound of a sword unsheathing echoed in his ears. But he didn't seem to react to it much at all.

He cast a gaze over and tossed the scroll back. However, this didn't make the leading guard who had barged in and frowned in the first place lower his guard.

But that was fine too... because Leonel didn't want him to.

"You're not explaining, but you all probably know the real reason, right?"