It was past midday when they had finished questioning most of the Mercenaries, and her grandfather ordered her to find the location of this group.

Rufus had instructed her just to locate the group and come back to report him. However, she still remembered the disrespect these lowly Mercenaries had shown towards her grandfather and the one she idolized the most.

Irene looked up to Rufus since he was not only her role model but also her grandfather. She saw everything she wanted to be in Rufus.

Hence, when she graduated from the academy, she applied to be directly placed in the Silver Knights squad. She did all that so she could learn directly from her idol.

Hence, she could not contain herself and came directly to order these 'lowlifes' or so she liked to call them to come back with her for questioning.

It did not even take here an hour before she had located them since everyone feared the Silver Knights in the Silverbird Kingdom. No one dared to defy them because everyone knew that they only operated under the command of the Emperor himself.

Not complying with their request meant that they were going against Emperor Luthien! Hence, just showing their Insignia, which had the silver wing etched on it, they obtained all the information from pa.s.sersby.

Finding them was a piece of cake, so here Irene stood before the door after knocking, trying to contain her anger. As explained by her grandfather, she was rather hot-headed.

Inside the room, the trio stared at the door. It wasn't hard for Raven or Blaze to sense the Mages on the other side of the door. However, they, unlike Ozul, did not know who stood behind it.

Blaze was about to walk forward to open the door, but Ozul motioned him to stop. He was puzzled as to why he shouldn't open the door since the best individual he sensed was only a Rank-5 Mage, whom they could deal with effortlessly.

Unlike what Blaze thought, Ozul did not have a serious reason behind it. He just wanted to anger the girl outside a bit. He had observed her and knew that she was quick-tempered and would easily make mistakes when angered.

And just as he had expected, with each pa.s.sing second that they did not open the door, Irene's face turned redder with anger.

Though just as she was about to destroy the door, Blaze opened the door matching the angry face with his cold and impa.s.sive one.

Both kept staring at each other, and time started to pa.s.s. Only the guards behind Irene had started to get nervous from the tension growing in the air.

What felt like a few minutes pa.s.sed, Irene was the first one to move her gaze away from the staring compet.i.tion. Even she, the Ice Queen as they called her in the academy, could not keep her eye contact for so long!

"How could someone be so unfazed...", muttered Irene while walking inside the room.

She didn't even know that if they were comparing the cold faces, Ozul would also beat the Ice sculptures. The sculptures would melt, but his face would remain apathetic!

Irene did not care about the formality and barged into the room with a long stride. It was against the rules of the inn, but what could the inn owner do when the offender was the Silver Knights?

"For what reason, may I ask, have you come here for, Miss...?"

"My name is Irene Staroak. And I'm not here to introduce myself. I'm here to bring you guys back with me. Now pack up and..."

Her explanation was cut off by Ozul, who had raised his hand. Irene was irritated that she was interrupted by the not-even-Mage-kid! Just like many before her, she also thought that Ozul was simply an average human.

"What makes you think that we would follow you?" asked Ozul with his usual impa.s.sive expression, ignoring the angry face that looked as red as an apple.

"Huh!?"

"I'm not addressing this to you!"- Irene thought that this pretty face boy did not understand the gravity of the situation and had responded without asking permission from his 'superiors'.

She looked around, thinking that the other two would either correct this kid or be angry at him. But all Irene saw was the cold glares of Raven and Blaze intensified when she yelled at Ozul.

"If you don't have any solid reason for us to follow you, you can leave. Please."- Blaze said the last part while pressing his voice. Some small ice crystals were already forming near him as he 'requested' Irene to leave.

"You!!..."- Irene wanted to retort, but she suddenly felt the temperature dropping by the second. When she looked at his eyes, Irene saw them glowing with a blue light, which made her take a step back.

Only when her feet collided with the side of a table did she come back to reality. It also made her realize her mistake of coming here alone with only a few weak city guards.

She gritted her teeth and walked out of the room with heavy steps. Irene had just a.s.sumed that no one would dare to resist Silver Knights since they operated directly under Emperor Luthien.

Irene felt that she was humiliated because she could not even retort!

Since she had been aware of her surroundings, Irene was pampered and fed with a golden spoon. She achieved her strength through her own hard work, but real hards.h.i.+p was something that she had never faced—rejection was also a part of the difficulties that she had never encountered before.

She swore to get back at these savages as she walked away from the inn, followed by the guards who were still shaking with fear.

The scene of her backing away with panic when she had gazed into those wild glowing eyes still played in her mind, making her feel sour.

————————

Back in the room, Ozul sat quietly on the bed while playing with small drops of Ball of Purity on his fingers.

"What now?" asked Raven when the room had regained its usual serene atmosphere.

"Wait... Wait till she gets some permit or something to force us."

Ozul replied without looking up from her fingers. When Raven saw that it was the right moment, she came near him.

"Congratulations!"

Though just as she had said this, another voice soon followed after with the same tone.

"Congratulations!"

Blaze did not want to lose out to Raven as he mustered up his sweetest tone to say the same words.

"Mhm... Thanks."- To the surprise of both of them, Ozul acknowledged it and even said thanks. It seemed that he was in a happy mood since he had obtained his leg back.

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