The next day, Rodius set out with Elena to the deeper regions of the Desolate Lands. Leon’s territory was located deeper, that was what they knew for sure. After all, Elena had gone there once, and Rodius knew the area he had grown up in very well.
The two travelled for the entire day, and then at night, they took a break. There was no need for a fire to avoid drawing unnecessary attention of the wild life to them. And none of them needed the fire to see. Their eyesight was especially good, and the bright light provided by the moon was enough to illuminate their surroundings.
“So, Elena. What do you think about Leon? I know I have asked you this question before, but I want to go over this topic again before we reach his home.” Rodius asked Elena with a serious tone. He usually called her his little kitten, and only called her name properly when he was serious.
“Leon… is a good person.” Elena replied in a similarly serious tone. “He can be kind and compassionate when he wants to be, but he can also be ruthless when he needs to be. I did not spend too much time with him. The most time I had spent with him was on the journey back home, and he was always nice to the people following him.” She explained.
“Don’t you think that he might have been trying to paint a favorable image of himself in their eyes. And maybe even yours?” Rodius raised an eyebrow. This was a valid concern.
“I don’t believe so. If he wanted, he could have been much more proactive in befriending me. In fact, he ignored me most of the time and only initiated conversation at random times. He spent much more time on dealing with his subordinates.” Elena shook her head. She was sure that Leon was a good person at heart. Wait… He didn’t have a heart…
“Hmm, if you say so, then.” Rodius rubbed his chin and nodded. “Go to sleep. I will watch through the night.” He said and stood up. Elena did not argue with him because she knew that it would be better if he stayed up. His senses were sharper, and he would be able to defend against any sudden attacks better.
The night passed without incident, and the next morning, after a short breakfast, they continued with their journey. The trip to the place Elena remembered from her memories only took a few days at the pace they were moving at.
On the third day of their journey, they finally came across a surprising sight.
“Is that one of his summons?” Rodius asked with surprise as the duo stared at the small group of summons approaching them.
“You two, state your business!” A burly human summon that had a large greatsword strapped to his back spoke up. This summon was actually Marcus, one of the humans that Leon had fought against when he had just reached B rank in the Dark Abyss Spider dungeon.
Marcus had come a long way since then, and was now a Mid B rank summon. His strength was considerable, and with the nearly indestructible body he had as Leon’s summon, he could easily fight against Rodius if need be.
,m “We want to see your master, Leon.” Rodius stepped in front of Elena and expressed their intention.
“Not just anyone can see my master.” Marcus’ eyes narrowed and he turned to look at Elena. The moment he came across them, he had already informed Leon, and now, Leon was watching through his eyes. He quickly received orders to bring them back to Fort White.
“His Excellency wishes to see you. Follow me.” Marcus turned around and passed instructions to the other summons with him before taking Rodius and Elena to Fort White. The journey took less than a day, but they reached the white haven in the Desolate Lands late at night.
“You shall rest here for the night. Tomorrow, you can meet with the master.” Marcus told them and bowed his head slightly before turning around to leave.
The father and daughter just remained standing in the house they had been given in silence. Shocked silence. They could not comprehend what they were seeing.
“Is this truly the same rundown place I had come to back then?” Elena asked herself. She was even struggling to believe that they were still in the Desolate Lands. There had been many people, much more than what was normal in the Desolate Lands.
While there were a few settlements here and there in the Desolate Lands, none of them were that big, and they were mostly located on the outskirts of the Desolate Lands. The few that were located deeper usually had something to do with Unholy energy or Dark magic.
This white walled town that they were standing in was the opposite of what they knew the Desolate Lands to be. The warm, cleansing energy that they breathed in with each inhale was enough to tell them that.
“Just how is an Undead able to live in the midst of such concentrated Holy energy?!” Rodius contemplated. Leon’s image in his heart was risen up a few more notches as he realized that he knew so little about this powerful being whose bad side he had gotten on.
For now, though, they just decided to rest for the night. It was late, and they would not get to see Leon until the next day.
Rodius was just concerned. Although he had heard good things about Leon so far, and the people living in the town looked to be happy enough, he just could not shake the feeling that something might go wrong.
Undeads were beings known to be malevolent and cruel. Just how different was Leon from them? He would just have to keep his guard up and hope for the best. He needed to make sure that he fixed the burned bridge between him and Leon, or else there might be no place for his people in the Desolate Lands in the coming times.