The Divine Order Tournament was always held at the same time every year. Emery has tried to count the date; he predicted it would be held in the same week this month. With this most likely correct guess, he had two weeks until the fateful day.
Thinking about this disturbed Emery far more than it should.
"What is it? Tell me." The girl who was sitting next to him asked.
Morgana was actually close enough to read the letter with her peripheral vision, but on the other hand, it appeared she still had difficulties comprehending the common tongue much less reading it.
Emery's first thought was to tell her directly about the contents of the letter. But then he remembered how angry she got about Gwen before, so he hesitated. He merely decided to talk about the upcoming dangers that would sweep the seven kingdoms and left aside the part about Gwen altogether.
She was silent for a moment. Deep in his heart, Emery felt guilt for not telling the whole truth.
He decided to steer the conversation back to what Morgana was about to say.
"I am tired, I will head back to sleep." Morgana shook her head, sighed and went back.
Emery watched her leave, the pain already festering in his heart worsened with the realization he had messed up again.
Once more, he gave the letter a quick read, his memories drifting through his uneasy thoughts as he did so. The memories of his time with Gwen hit like a tidal wave.
He had thought his childhood friend was already out of his mind. But this moment dispelled that notion in one fell swoop. He couldn't help but question: what would happen after she married Arthur? What would happen if she dont?
Considering his current circumstances, he tried to distract himself by thinking about how long it took to head back to Logress. If he decided to ask Kanut to take him to the Briton shores, he felt the Danes warrior would agree without question, despite the danger such a long journey would present.
The journey across the sea, according to his calculations, should only take a week. After reaching the Britannia eastern shore, it would take a few days at most to reach Logress. He would actually make it if he left soon, but then what would he do next after he managed to reach the place in time? What end would it serve to him?
He then thought about the threat of war mentioned in the letter, which he knew to be real. His mind conflicted between the teaching of his father about being the knight who protected the kingdom and the teaching of the academy of a Magus' duty.
In the end, he came to the same conclusion he had made earlier, he was just making excuses for himself so he could go back and visit Gwen. He would have a better way to handle the all-out war situation if his problems with Gwen were out of the picture.
With this, Emery decided to return back to the cave and enter the hot springs once more. He dove in and sat in the bottom of the pond, concentrating on his cultivation and trying to calm his beating heart.
The waters of the spring cooled down his heart and absorbed out the worries battling for his attention within his mind.
No matter what he decided to do, he would eventually be involved in the Brittania war. The fall of Logress would only create a worse chaos within the seven kingdoms; eventually, it would only endanger the Feys and Gaia. He also knew Gaia had a plan for Arthur and she would not let Arthur fall in battle.
In other words, he would have to return sooner or later. As for the problem with Gwen, he could deal with her later when, or if, he saw her.
With that in mind, Emery decided to retire for the day.
The next day, Emery immediately told Kanut to prepare for a trip to Briton. As he previously thought, the Danes agreed without question, but before leaving, he needed to do something else first with the hot springs. Before he could do anything, however, Morgana stopped him.
She appeared to be disturbed and asked "Are you leaving?"
"Yes, but don't worry. We can always go back here and, if my plan succeeded, we can-"
Before Emery could finish his sentence, Morgana cut in and said. "No, I will not be coming with you."
The scathing tone made Emery pause for a moment, but he pleaded. "Morgana, listen to me, I believe if we-"
Emery's words died in his throat halfway through his explanation. Her expression was a mix of anger and disappointment, but at most, fury burned through her gaze. Before he could ask about the reason, she turned around and left.
Instinctively, Emery tried to grab her hand, but the stare full of rage she gave him made him freeze in confusion. "Don't follow me!"
Once again, Emery was placed in a dilemma. She couldn't just leave the girl here on this island.
With it he thought about postponing the trip for a few days until she cooled down. He decided to return to the cave and, this time, he didn't just dive. He also took vials of it and experimented by seeing its reactions to different chemicals in order to find out the secret of the corrupted water. He was so drawn to this experiment and thinking about the results, he once again returned to dive. When he came to his senses he realized several hours had passed.
He noticed Morgana hadn't joined him in the hot spring today. Feeling a little worried, he quickly walked out from the pond to find her.
As he walked out, he smelled the nasty odor of blood. He rushed towards the smell, only to find the wolf beast had already died with gaping, bloody wounds. He wanted to check and see what was the cause, but he realized the five pups were also missing.
He suddenly thought of something that made him feel like thunder had jolted his body and kick started his brain. He ran in rushing out of the cave. He used his spirit reading, and found a disturbing fact.
With dread growing in his gut, he cast [Spatial Gate] towards the port only to find the boat already gone, along with the rest of the Danes
"Where were they going? What was going on?"
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Written by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v..e.l,