(A few days after Noah destroyed the weapon and the prototype)


    As evening cast her dusky gown, when the air became fresh and restful, the time of joyful reflection arrived. The brightly lit city of Ice Fair met the peach sky. The evening arrived in stately fashion, with all the grace of a breeze in repose. Ne was on her way to meet her friend and fellow teammate, Alvaro Torres. He lived alone in Icefair and worked hard to get to Noah''s team. The cobblestone pavement was littered with people of all manners. It wouldn''t be an understatement to say the Ice Fair was the hub of Kingdom Kethern. People came from everywhere to Icefair to enjoy their time and buy rare things. One could argue that ICe Fair was the second safest ce after Pen Town, where the Supreme Guardian resided.


    Ne wore white robes and put on her hood to cover her face. Some unruly hooligans were fighting and rolling on the ground. Ne walked around a cart that barely avoided the two hooligans. She was on her way to Alvaro Torres to talk about collecting information on potential targets who might be helping the Dark Lord. Everyone in Noah''s team was ordered to pursue information about the Dark Lord''s subordinates in their free time. However, they were strictly ordered against going after them without Noah''s permission.


    Considering Ne was an ambitious girl, she chose the Dark Lord''s head of information gathering as her target. Noah and Alicia believed the Dark Lord had someone powerful, connected, and influential working under him who was responsible for recruiting people into their course as well as gathering information. Ne had a few strong suspects, including Sadie Kan, the Silvermoon prodigy.


    Unfortunately, everyone on Ne''s list had higher positions in prominent ns or organizations. Interrogating them without any evidence was equal to killing her own career. That was where Alvaro Torres came into the picture. Alvaro Torres''s aunt was an elder in Silvermoon, and Ne hoped to use his aunt to get a meeting with Sadie Kan, the most suspicious one on her list. Among the suspects, Sadie Kan had the closest rtionship with Ghost and was the most likely candidate who would have been brainwashed by him.


    After navigating her way through the crowd, she finally arrived at the edge of the city where the nobles tended to live. Bright crystal orbs lit the square with its radiant blue light as Ne turned left and strolled straight into the path that had the sign Torres manor. Since it was evening and most of the patrons were either drinking in taverns or immersing themselves in pleasuring activities, the path to Torres manor was void of people. Peach trees apanied Ne on either side of the path as she enjoyed the calm and peaceful stroll.


    Soon, she noticed an elegant manor at the end of the road. From the outside, the Torres manor looked cozy. It was built with walnut wood and has granite decorations. Small, octagon windows added to the overall look of the house and have been added to the house in a fairly asymmetrical pattern. The manor was shaped like an L. The extension extended into overhanging wooden panels reaching the end of that side of the house. The second floor was bigger than the first, which created a stylish overhang on two sides of the house. This floor had a slightly different style than the floor below. The manor itself surrounded a gorgeous garden with many hidden lights that made the gardene to life at night.


    As she reached closer to the manor, she noticed tworge chimneys sitting at the side of the manor. They fumed gray smoke, which indicated to Ne that Alvaro was home. Ne knocked on the door.


    "Alvaro," Ne gently tapped the wooden door. She heard a rustling noiseing from within as though Alvaro was rummaging through some parchments.


    "Did I hear a girl''s voice?" Ne questioned herself. She could swear she heard a girl''s voiceing from inside, but it couldn''t be since Alvaro was single.


    "Alvaro," Ne knocked again. This time, she added a bit of force. For a few moments, Ne heard nothing. She slowly reached for the dagger dangling underneath her cloak. Even a few moments of silence were enough for fear to creep down their spines. As Supreme Guardian''s elites, they didn''t have the luxury of taking things simply. The Dark Lord was known to strike when least expecting. So, Ne''s heart and mind feared the worst. Luckily, Alvaro put her mind and heart to rest as he opened the door with his usual grin. Alvaro was a brown-haired youngster with a stubble beard. He was neither too tall nor too short, with a medium-built body. While he was not in the silver armor, he used to wear rather ordinary clothes, like ck trousers and a loose-fit cotton shirt that revealed his chiseled chest and muscles.


    "What were you doing in there?" Ne didn''t wait for Alvaro to invite her in. Instead, she pushed him aside and let herself in. Once she entered the room, she was greeted with a cozy firece, afy sofa set, and a puffy carpet that nketed the wooden floor.


    "Please doe in," Alvaro rolled his eyes as he shut the door behind them. Ne plunged herself into the sofa and removed the cloak.


    "I swear I heard a girl''s voice in there. Are you hiding one, Alvaro?" Ne teased Alvaro.


    "Look under the sofa," said Alvaro with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Ne leaned forward and pretended to look under the sofa.


    "I bought a crate of ale from Embercrest. You want a mug?" asked Alvaro as he went to the kitchen on the corner.


    "Where in the hell did you get the time to buy ale from the dwarves?" Ne turned around to see vro taking out a jade bottle from a wooden crate and pouring its content into tworge mugs. The sweet aroma from the ale made her mouth water.


    Alvaro brought the two mugs to the sofa and sat beside her after handing over one mug to Ne.


    "Cheers. We deserve it," Alvaro nked his mug against Ne''s.


    "Yes, we do indeed. We made quite a mess in Dalgarum. Good thing the dwarves have no idea it was us. They are gonna hate the elves even more now even though I don''t know how they can hate them more," said Ne, taking a long sip from the mug, enjoying every bit of the dwarven brewed ale. Her taste buds danced in her tongue and thanked her wholeheartedly.


    "I gotta give credit to the dwarves. They do know how to brew good ale. I just wish Greyson was here with us," Ne signed. Grayson was one of the two guardians who lost their lives when the orcs self-exploded. If it weren''t for the silver armor, more guardians would have lost their lives that day. They felt truly lucky for the armor and the runes engraved in it.


    "To Grayson and Kian," Alvaro raised his mug, toasting for their deadrades.


    "And about that favor…" Ne''s voice trailed off,


    "It''s on. You have been invited to the Silvermoon beverage party thanks to aunt Tegan. You owe me one, and if you mess this up somehow, you don''t know me," Alvaro chuckled.


    "I want to hug you,"


    "Please don''t," Alvaro raised both his hands to defend himself from Ne''s hug.


    "Please remember everyone is innocent until proven guilty. You don''t know if Sadie is in bed with him or not,"


    "I will, when I look her in the eyes," said Ne.


    After some chit-chatting and discussion about their lives, Ne left the manor and headed for her home to get some good night sleep. It was Noah''s new policy to get enough rest and sleep instead of over-exerting themselves cultivating.


    "She is gone," Alvaro said, though his house looked empty. The smile on Alvaro''s ce disappeared, and instead, a darkened expression upied his face. A breeze of wind blew past Alvaro as it almost snuffed out the fire and light in the room. Then, a shadow figure dressed in all ck emerged from the darkest corner in the house.


    "Is she going to be a problem?" the dark figure asked Alvaro in a thick otherworldly voice. Alvaro had a difficult time hiding the fear creeping down his spine. He swallowed mouth full of saliva and managed to turn his gaze toward the dark figure.


    "No. She is just chasing some leads,"


    "Good. Because if she is a problem, at best, you will hear from Noah Winston," the dark figure paused for a moment, letting the silence sink into Alvaro''s mind.


    "At worst, you will receive a visit from the Dark Queen," said the dark figure. Because of the dark hood covering his head, Alvaro couldn''t make out the figure''s features.


    "Serving the Dark Lord could be a fruitful endeavor. He will only ask you for your loyalty; in return, you can get anything in this world," said the dark figure as Alvaro rolled his eyes.


    "Spare me the sales pitch. What you''re doing here is ckmailing. The only reason you are here and I am not at Noah''s home is I don''t have a choice," Alvaro growled.


    To Alvaro''s surprise, the dark figure chuckled.


    "Of course, you have a choice. You can tell the Supreme Guardian that you feasted on a helpless woman when you weren''t supposed to. You can tell him that your lust overshadowed your judgment. I heard your Supreme Guardian is a merciful person. What''s the punishment for rape? Castration and lifetime prison? You can ask for forgiveness. You always have a choice," The dark figure amused as Alvaro burned with rage inside.


    "We will be in touch," The dark figure said, giving no damn about Alvaro''s fury. The figure turned around to leave when he looked over his shoulder at Alvaro.


    "We have eyes everywhere, Alvaro. Engrave that in your mind. I think we both agree you do not want to meet the Dark Queen. You will hear from me soon," as he said, the dark figure disappeared from the room.


    varo felt sweat beads trickling down his face after the dark figure left. A sin hemitted in the shadows came back to haunt him. He thought he escaped the sin but now, he was forced to be the Dark Lord''s inside man in the Guardian Guild.