Leon rubbed his chin as he stared at Lance, but did not say anything. Instead, he was discussing with Nedra.
‘I can try to use my skills to peer into his mind. But I don’t have a proper Mind magic skill, so it will not go unnoticed.’ Nedra said.
‘Don’t worry, I think I have a plan.’ Leon replied and reached out to Rakon. Soon, the White Millipede Royal was outside the meeting room, but he did not enter. Instead, he used his illusion magic to discreetly bypass Lance’s defenses and wrap his mind up in an illusion.
Normally, this would not have been easy, or even possible, as Nasir was meant to be by Lance’s side, but the loyal aide was nowhere nearby, and Lance was out of his range, so he could not protect Lance’s mind from this probe.
Slowly, Lance was pulled into an illusion, and his eyes went hazy. To him, he was still speaking with Leon, although he could not even remember the words that were spoken, but to Leon, he had simply gone slack in his seat, and his eyes were hazy and unfocused.
With a gentle breeze, Nedra appeared beside Leon, her white hair tied up into two pigtails. She walked over to Lance and placed her hands on the sides of his head, and his eyes rolled back in their sockets, showing white. Nedra closed her eyes, and with her Hive Mind skill, which she currently used as a sort of mind reading skill, she sifted through Lance’s memories.
This was her first time doing something like this, so it was quite difficult and painful for Lance, but his comfort was not her priority at the moment. Instead, she wanted to find out the most relevant information to their situation as quickly as she could.
After a minute of trying to get used to the new sensation, Nedra finally found something that was on the front of Leon’s mind. Memories about his father. She watched as Ashtar spoke down on Leon, and watched as Lance brooded about his father. She could easily tell of their bad blood.
Those memories of Ashtar led to the more recent memories, which also brought up what Lance knew of the invasion of the Central Continent, which was rather little. All he knew was that Ashtar was one of the Demon Generals that would play a major part in the attack. And he also knew of a few of the hidden channels that would be used to send troops to the Central Continent.
When she had gotten a hold of that, she backed away, but not without messing a bit with Lance’s memories. She implanted scenes of his leaving the meeting room with Leon and being led to another room in the main house before falling asleep, then finally knocking him out.
“I got some information.” Nedra pulled out from Lance’s mind and spun around with a grin.
“What did you get?” Leon walked over and nudged Lance’s head a bit, causing the boy to fall to the side, unconscious.
“He doesn’t know too much about the invasion, but his father is a major player. He also knows a couple of channels that will be used to send troops to the Central Continent.” Nedra said. “I messed with his mind a bit. When he wakes up, he will think that you gave him a room to sleep in, so it will be best if we give him a nice room to wake up in.”
“Alright.” Leon nodded. He waved his hand and summoned an Armored Warrior to carry Lance to one of the rooms in the house. Then he turned back to Nedra to ask for more information. “Tell me what you found out.”
.
p .
A few hours later, when the sun was beginning to go down in the horizon, Lance woke up from his slumber.
“Ow… My head.” He held onto the side of his head as he sat up in a large, soft bed. “What happened?” He wondered, and the events after his talk with Leon came rolling in.
Just then, the door to the room cracked open and the head of one of Leon’s summons popped in. Then the door opened properly, revealing three figures. The twin Demon brothers and Nasir, who blinked and appeared beside Lance at once.
“Lance, are you okay?!” The man asked with worried eyes.
“I’m find, Nasir.” Lance nodded his head and let out a sigh. “Just a slight headache.” He replied and Nasir’s eyes immediately narrowed. He suspected that Lance’s memories might have been read, but then he sighed.
If Lance’s memories had been read, then that would mean that the location of the hidden port they had arrived at was already exposed. But then again, he was not entirely against that, if he was being completely honest to himself. Deep down, he still resented Ashtar and the Demons. Although he did not push that hatred onto Lance, he still did not support the invasion of the Central Continent. If Leon could do something to foil or stall their plans, then that would be great. But he could not say anything out loud because of the oath he had sworn to Ashtar.
The twin Demons made their way over to Lance with scowls on their faces.
“So, while we were held in an underground cellar, you were here, sleeping your ass off?” Balak asked with a frown.
“I was told you would be let out, idiots. Leon promised that he wouldn’t hurt you!” Lance rebutted with what he knew. All this had been implanted in his head by Nedra.
“By the way, do you have any idea why he let out out?” Barak suddenly asked and silence descended upon the room.
“I think it has to do with Elena.” Lance eventually said. She was the only reason he could think of. As she was a mutual friend that they shared, perhaps Leon did not want to kill him, as it would upset her, but Lance was not sure.
“He knows Elena?” Balak reacted with surprise.
“Yes, he does.”