Clyde returns to Sivagadh Fortress with Samuel and his friends. As soon as they returned, they immediately started to reveal how tired they were.
Leyan, Kiara, Kei, and Haru wanted to go to the hotel where they were staying immediately. Meanwhile Samuel - being a good leader - went to hand over the box containing the artifact.
"I'll come with you," said Clyde.
"It's alright. You can go take a rest right away if you want," replied Samuel.
"No. I've had trouble getting that box. So, I also want to know what's inside the box that I have to go through such trouble to get it."
Samuel stared at Clyde for a few moments. Then he nodded briefly.
"Let's go, then."
Samuel walked ahead of him. Clyde took a step forward until they were both walking side by side.
"You have some idea," said Clyde. "What's in the box?"
"I don't know. But this is obviously something important because the Senior Council asked us to take it," Samuel replied. "And you also know how strong the people who were sent to retrieve this artifact are. So, you can estimate how important this artifact actually is."
Clyde looked contemplating for a few moments. Then he asked. "What reward will we get for this?"
Upon hearing that, Samuel turned to him. A sigh left his mouth and his expression told him that he was going to say something Clyde wouldn't like.
"You might be disappointed to hear this. But, we won't be getting any rewards."
Clyde immediately glanced at Samuel. He frowned deeply as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard.
"What? You gotta be kidding." Clyde looked stunned.
"No, Clyde." Samuel shook his head. "We're doing this for the sake of weakening the Celestials. We don't need any higher reward if it can cause them the slightest loss."
"After everything we've been through?" Clyde said.
"I know how difficult the battle was. But we have one clear goal here and we don't need any other rewards. Successfully stealing this artifact is already a great achievement for us," Samuel said.
Hearing that, Clyde snorted with a crooked smile. He couldn't believe what he heard just now.
And after all, Samuel and his friends only took care of something he had finished. He almost got angry hearing that and almost said something that would make matters worse.
"Alright. Well, whatever," Clyde said in a very clearly irritated voice.
Samuel who saw that decided not to continue the conversation about the reward that they would not receive.
They walked in silence for a few minutes until he finally stopped. Clyde looked up and saw a building shaped like a white dome.
"This is where the Senior Council lives," said Samuel. "Listen, I understand how you feel. But it would be better if you didn't mention anything about any reward when you met them."
Clyde only gave a brief nod in response. He will meet Maethion later so he can ask him directly. No need to cause a fuss now.
"Let's talk about all this later, yeah?" Samuel looked at him. In his eyes, Clyde seemed to see that Samuel have something he wanted to say to him.
If he wanted to say it directly in a private conversation, it could be something important to him.
Clyde could already predict what he would say. In his mind, Samuel definitely wanted to talk about the lack of meaningful rewards for completing missions. And maybe Samuel also wanted to continue the question about how he got his powers.
Clyde didn't say anything in return. He didn't even nod his head this time.
After that, Samuel walked towards the dome while carrying the black box. Clyde followed closely behind as he surveyed the building from the outside.
There are no interesting features of this building. It wasn't even that tall so Clyde felt it was natural that he hadn't noticed this building sooner.
They walked closer to the entrance. Suddenly, a man wearing a black hood stepped out. His face was covered by his hood so Clyde couldn't see him clearly.
"Only Samuel is allowed in," the man said. From his voice, it seemed he was a teenager.
"What?" Clyde was dumbfounded.
Samuel beside him sighed. He turned to Clyde with a regretful face. "Sorry, Clyde. You can't enter."
Clyde gritted his teeth. "Why?" His voice sounded cold filled with disappointment.
This is utter nonsense. He was an official member of this mission.
Based on what Samuel said, the Senior Council themselves chose him. But now they treat him like an insignificant person.
"Senior Council still hasn't let you in."
Those words were meant for him. So Clyde turned his face towards the hooded teenage boy. "They who asked me to join in on this mission."
"Yes. But you can't enter."
Hearing his tone of voice, Clyde knew the man wouldn't change his mind. So he just sighed because he didn't want to create a scene here.
Without saying anything, Clyde turned around and walked away.
Samuel said nothing. Nothing he said would change the Senior Council's decision and the annoyance Clyde felt.
"Come inside," the hooded man said flatly.
So Clyde complied and walked into the dome building.
Meanwhile, Clyde can't help but grumble and cursed in his heart. His view of the Senior Council deteriorated within seconds.
He had never thought that they were a good side. With all kinds of decisions and threats that they gave to the residents of this fortress.
But now he saw how they treated someone who had just done their errand at the risk of their life.
Clyde thought that it could not be worse, but the Senior Council proved otherwise.
To relieve his anger a little, Clyde went to the Dwarf's Smithy Hammer. As soon as he got there, the sight of Hammer's men was the first to greet him.
Clyde only gave them a curt nod and asked if Hammer was in his room. When he got the answer that Hammer was indeed in his room, Clyde walked over to it.
Some whispers about Clyde's state came starting as soon as he was away.
"You see his state? What exactly did he fight to make the armor made by master become like that?"
"I don't know, man. We'd better not know about that."
"Hmm... yeah. I don't want to get involved in anything in Ruin anymore."
After that, they resumed their work. The materials that Clyde brought at that time had not been used up so the blacksmiths could continue to be creative and channel their passion.
Clyde enters Hammer's room. He seemed to be polishing a half-finished spear.
"Ah! My favorite customer!" Hammer shouted in a cheery voice. "I had expected that you would come here as soon as you returned from the expedition. So, do you mind if you tell me wha-"
Hammer's words, which sounded enthusiastic, stopped abruptly when he saw Clyde's somber face. From one glance Hammer already knew that Clyde looked upset and angry about something.
Clyde sat down on the chair before saying anything. He only took the sword wrapped in black cloth that was originally at his waist. Then handed it over to Hammer.
"What is this? You got a new sword?" Hammer's mind, which was all shocked by the look on Clyde's face, was easily distracted when he saw the sword.
"Yeah. Take a look at that," said Clyde.
Hammer took the sword and opened the dirty black cloth that covered it. As soon as he saw it, Hammer's eyes lit up and his jaw seemed to have almost dropped to the ground.
"T-This is..."
"It's a sword that I took from someone sent by Archangel Uriel," Clyde provided an answer for the stuttering Hammer.
Hammer's eye then shifted from the blade to Clyde. Still with the same dazed expression.
"You killed one of Archangel Uriel's warriors?!"
"Yes," Clyde answered simply. "That's a pretty good sword. I know. But there might be some damage to the sword after our fight."
Hammer returned his gaze to the sword. There was indeed some crack in the blade. But the damage was not severe enough.
Hammer said that to Clyde. And Clyde nodded in satisfaction after hearing that.
"I'll repair it. A sword of this quality doesn't require too much effort to repair when it only suffers from damage like this."
Hammer put the sword down on the table. "Anything else you'd like to say?"
"Actually, yes," said Clyde. He fished the necklace that Asqa gave him from his pocket. "I wanted to ask for your help. But this is something very confidential."
Hearing that, Hammer's ears perked up. His eyes widened enthusiastically for a few seconds before turning into one of suspicion.
"W-What do you mean?" Hammer asked.
Clyde's eyes lead to a special portal that he uses to be able to go directly to a Ruin without using the main portal in the city.
"How do you make the portal that can connect directly to a Ruin?" Clyde replied to Hammer's question with his own question.
~~~
