A hot sensation seared his insides the moment he drank that tea that was handed to him. His hand trembled and he thought he could bear it but the pain became intense.
The cup of tea in his hand fell and hit the side of the table causing it to break. His upper body bent forward with both his hands gripping the armrests of the chair tightly. He anchored himself in order not to fall and to show weakness.
No scream. He held himself from shouting and silently endured the crawling pain inside him. The armrests suddenly broke at how tightly he was gripping them. Then, the pain slowly faded and so was his consciousness.
"I'll see you again later, Major Ginehart." These were the words he heard before he passed out.
The next time he woke up, Major Ginehart was back in his room at the military outpost where they were stationed. He blinked his eyes a couple of times before he suddenly sat up and looked around when he realized where he was. He changed into his uniform and went out to look for his lieutenant.
Lisbon was surprised to see that the major was already up. "Sir, you should rest for a while," he exclaimed. He went to the major and looked at him from head to toe.
The major furrowed his brow as he looked at his lieutenant, "What are you talking about? What happened at the meeting? Sir Revus?"
Questions came pouring out from the major's mouth but Lisbon only looked at him stunned. He was also looking confused which stopped Ginehart from asking anymore questions.
"What happened lieutenant?" He asked once again and this time he was calmer as he assessed his situation.
He recounted what happened during the meeting in his mind while he listened to Lisbon's report. His mind suddenly went blank when he heard what the lieutenant said.
"You suddenly became sick and had a high fever for three days now and regarding Sir Revus..." He trailed off and sighed before he continued, "he became crazy after they were attacked on their way here."
Ginehart was baffled at Lisbon's words, "What about the meeting yesterday?"
"What meeting?" Lisbon looked at him with rounded eyes. "You were sick yesterday so you didn't have any meeting and there's no scheduled meeting for the next few days."
Major Ginehart stayed silent. He was looking at the other with a blank face while his mind was on full speed with a hundred thoughts running around his head. Seeing that the lieutenant seemed to be telling the truth stopped his brain from thinking for a while.
And when he came back to his senses, he realized that the meeting he remembered was not present in these people's memories. He abruptly turned around and left the lieutenant in a daze. He marched through the busy streets of Alfonso towards the destination he had in mind.
It was not yet the busy time of the day so he reached the inn in the shortest possible time he could. His mind was only focused on one thing, that was to talk and ask Rigel, what was happening.
He pushed open the door to the inn and entered. There were people in the dining area and resting area of the inn since it was already near lunchtime but he did not find the people he was looking for.
He did not hesitate to walk up the stairs into the second floor where some of the private dining rooms were located together with some of the private sleeping quarters where Cygnus and his group were staying.
His feet had barely touched the wooden floor of the second level of the inn, he already heard his name being called. The voice came from his right side and sure it was, Cygnus and the others were there. They were about to enter a private dining room.
Since the major was there to talk to Cygnus there was nothing wrong with going in with them, so he followed the group. The butler left to order food for them while they waited. Ginehart took this chance to ask the man.
"What did you do?" Was the first question he asked after they were settled down. The dining room was wide enough for the six people, it was neither small nor wide, so Ginehart's voice could be heard clearly.
"What do you mean major?" Cygnus gave the man a small smile. He had already anticipated this conversation from him so he was also prepared to talk about whatever he asks.
Ginehart's eyes narrowed into slits and clenched his jaws at how the man was treating him. "Don't treat me like someone dumb. Yes, you were able to deceive me but that will not happen again this time."
Cygnus laughed, "Major, I did not deceive you. I just showed you what you want to see. I only played along with you."
The major looked to the side and gave the grand mage a look, "You've known this all along, so why didn't you tell me?"
Astrophos, who was intentionally hiding his presence, was suddenly dragged to the conversation. "Major Ginehart, I've been with them since they were still in Moonvale and do you really think I can go against them and try to expose them to you?" The grand mage raised an eyebrow at the major who was looking at him in disgust.
"So, in the end you only did this because you were afraid of them," the major accused. This statement ticked something inside the Astrophos but as a mage trained for self-control, he held himself from exploding.
"Yes, and so was what you did yesterday. If you were ready to die that time you should have stuck to your principles and punished the evil in front of you. In the end you are also like me." The grand mage countered as he did not let himself be demeaned by the major just because of his cowardice.
"Enough of this talk about cowardice since we are all cowards, just in different ways," his words suddenly felt like an advice that a good person would say but what followed next shattered that beautiful picture, "but do you know what's more dangerous? It is bravery. So, I actually admire cowardice."
Those statements made the room feel awkward and made the two silent. Nina, who has been watching from the side, looked so bored. "But I don't like cowardly people," she suddenly interjected while looking at Astrophos who flinched and avoided her gaze.
"That's good for you then Nina," Cygnus rested his head on the palm of his hands as he softly laughed. "By the way, where are we now in our conversation?"
Ginehart gritted his teeth as he was made like a fool as they ignored him and his question for a couple of seconds. "I was asking you what did you do? Why don't my lieutenant remember anything that happened yesterday? And what was that regarding Sir Revus, where is he?"
"Why do you have so many questions? I'm too lazy to answer all of them, but this is what I can tell you. What you are experiencing right now is one of the ways I can get away with any crime you can think of because I just need a snap and everything will be arranged according to my taste."
