“ You said something about the tombs of Gurath ,” Jack brought the conversation back on track.

Allan took a moment staring at Aiko , bitter that she had not apologised to his subordinate. He however chose not to engage with her. For one , she could just as easily do to him what she had done to Nathaniel. Second , she had a powerful enforcer protecting her so nothing could be done about her either way.

Aiko knew of this as well and gave him a smirk that said , ‘ come on , I dare you ,’

“ You’re an enforcer yet you do not know the story ?” Allan settled on taking his anger out on Jack , who he guessed was far more subtle than his butler counterpart.

Before Jack could reply to this , Aiko drew near him and whispered something into his ear. She then walked back and resumed her former smirk.

Alan focused his attention on Jack , wondering what the girl had just told him.

“ I serve a Titan that never steps foot out of Titania ,” he repeated the exact words that Aiko had told him to say.

“ Aahh , I must have misunderstood you. If you’re looking to engage the services of a Beast Lord , then my master has the finest Forgery in all of the Southern Continent ,” Allan flipped his attitude on a dime.

“ I am still focused on this tomb , why does it hold so much value to you ,” Jack didn’t know half of what was going on around but decided to try his luck. He had however taken note that the Beast Folk served a Beast Lord. It may not have been the one he was after , but it was at least a start.

“ Yes of course , enforcer. This is one of the countless tombs of Gurhath spread across the dark lands of Praiyas. He was a great and powerful warrior of the past who took on Titans and Celestials alike. It is said that his remains will be found in his original tomb , but no one knows exactly where to find it ,”

“ You are looking for his remains ?” Jack continued. Something inside him just wanted to learn everything he could about this ancient person.

“ We were on the hunt for a Nameless Death , a fitting addition to the lord’s collection. Finding one of the tombs was pure coincidence ,” Allan answered , his tone getting better the more he conversed with Jack.

“ Aiko thinks Bossman should consider working with their Beast Lord. They have shown Aiko that it was only a small misunderstanding, on their part of course,”

Nathaniel wanted to jump back in but Allan stopped him. To him , getting his Beast Lord a contract with a Titan was far more important than his subordinate’s pride and squabbles

“ I agree with your servant , enforcer. If you would be so kind as to accompany us , we should be able to work out something agreeable ,” Allan concurred .

Jack took a moment to weigh in on what was happening. Of late , things had been coming at him so fast he wasn’t able to digest half of them.

At the moment , Allan’s interests aligned with his priorities . There was also the issue of the letter that he’d been given by the man he’d heard being called Elisha just before he passed away. The man had asked Jack to take it to his wife , but then again how on earth was he supposed to know who that was.

“ I think meeting your Beast Lord is a fine decision. And while we were still on the topic , one of your men gave me this letter just before he died. He wanted me to take it to his wife ,” Jack produced the letter from within the Bag of Domicile and it appeared in his hand.

“This is Elisha’s . He was so excited to be meeting his people that he probably decided to write in detail to his wife of all the adventures he had experienced serving the Beast Lord ,” Nathaniel replied this time , taking the envelope from Jack and giving it to Allan.

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“ You make serving the Beast Lord sound like a pleasant thing ,” Jack recalled how Aiko had mentioned slavery and bondage .

“I guess you’ve heard the tales then. Our Beast Lord is different from others of his kind however. He is an understanding person who appreciates and rewards people on their merits. Everyone under his wing loves and is loyal to him ,” Allan tried to change Jack’s view of his lord.

“ Aiko knows a lie when she hears one ,”

“ What is your problem? You will respect your seniors!” Nathaniel came at her again.

“ Aiko don’t ,” Jack raised his hand to block the corrosive just dying to fly out of her mouth , “ Elisha was human right? So you were taking him to meet other humans?”

“ I almost forgot that you’re human as well , enforcer. We were going to collect the due taxes from the human oasis and Elisha was to be our proxy. Now that he’s dead , we may have to turn back home because only humans can enter in and out of the oasis. However ,if you're not too busy to help us , you can be the stand in proxy ,” Allan offered.

Jack didn’t understand what that meant either but as long as he could meet other people that knew who Elisha was , he was okay with the plan. Elisha had the same weird tattoo that Aiko had on her forearm and Jack guessed that the clue could help him piece together her origin. He would also earn good standing with the Beast Lord if he helped collect his taxes.

When they eventually walked out of the mines ,following a shortcut that Alan and Nathaniel had used to get inside , they found themselves at the shores of a coast ridden with a violent perpetual storm .

Far into the raging sea ahead of them was a large wall of storm clouds , flashing deadly arcs of lighting every few seconds. Most of the vegetation around here had a distinct purple hue , blending ominously with the low light environment.

“ Is this what Praiyas is like?” Jack asked Aiko as Alan and Nathaniel went ahead to ready their ship.

“ Bossman , we are out in the wilderness. This is actually one of the good places ,” she said , half shouting to compensate for the powerful winds blowing her voice back at her.

The low light caused by the endless spread of nimbus clouds across the entire sky sort of amplified the relative visibility of Aiko’s blue aura , making her seem like more of a holographic projection than an actual person. Being translucent didn’t help.

“ I thought you said you lived in a peaceful valley when you were still in Praiyas ,”

“Yes Bossman. That was inside the protection of an oasis ,”

“ What is that ?”

“ Well Bossman , because humans are so fragile against the natural elements of Praiyas , there are small safe zones with protective domes around them meant for human settlement. Any creature can exist within the protection of the domes, but only humans can move freely in and out of these domes ,”

“ So that’s what the BeastFolk meant by oases ,”

“ Yes , and Aiko believes that the man the beasts called Elisha was the one meant to go inside the dome and collect taxes while the rest of them waited outside,” she confirmed , apparently having come up with a new offensive term to call Beast Folk in general.

“ That reminds me , Aiko , could you show me your right forearm ?” Elisha brought back the tattoos to Jack’s mind.

“ Yes Bossman ,” she said, pulling back her sleeve.

“ Do you know how you got this tattoo ?”

“ It’s the mark of the family that Aiko lived with in Praiyas ,”

“ Elisha had it too if you noticed. Remember what he said about it being a mark of his people? I think there is a connection here and we might get more answers if we go to the human oasis he came from ,”

“ Aiko thought of suggesting the same to Bossman. But you already figured it out before she told you , you’re really smart Bossman .”

“ I will need to get back that letter he wrote for his wife. If I can find her and deliver it personally , then I will gain his people’s trust faster and we can soon get back to the matter of the Beast Lord,” Jack continued

“ That won’t be a problem, Bossman. Remember that only the two of us can go through the dome of the oasis. The beasts will have to give us anything they want to relay to the people,”

“ Oh yeah , you’re right. Let’s just follow along and let things play out. And Aiko , stop calling Alan and his friend beasts , it's not nice ,” Jack was surprised at how clever she was.

“ Yes sir , Aiko will obey anything Bossman commands her to do ,” she jumped with happiness for no apparent reason. Jack assumed that she got a kick out of receiving orders from him.