Ezio gave Isaiah a look before he leaned back and did not call the man once again. He could only lean on the carriage division with his eyes closed while they waited for Isaiah to finish talking with the leader of the town. He already had an idea what they were going to talk about but he was still in a bad mood because of what happened last night.
Although he seemed fine, the wounds on his body haven't healed yet. He could still feel them throbbing pain every now and then. He frowned because he did not want to stay any longer in that town after his experience with that serpent-woman, all he wanted to do was leave and return to the manor.
He thought to himself that they could just report what happened and let the duke handle it but by the looks of it, Isaiah intends to help them. Ezio sighed and shook his head as he looked up at the ceiling of the carriage. One of the sentinels then came and softly knocked on the carriage door.
"What is it?" Ezio asked after he pushed open the carriage door.
"Are we leaving now, young sir?" The sentinel asked. He and the others were also anxious to leave.
When they woke up last night, the two young masters explained to them what happened. The sentinels felt shame because they did not even notice that the leader of that town had ill intentions towards them. They felt even more ashamed because instead of them protecting their charge, they were the ones who got protected.
"Let's wait for Isaiah first, he is currently having a talk with the leader of the town. I'm sure that he'll brief us after their conversation," Ezio answered. His eyes went back to the inn where they came from.
The sentinel nodded and excused himself. He returned to where the others were and stood in attention as they waited for Isaiah to finish. Inside the inn, the leader couldn't look Isaiah in the eye because of his guilt.
At first, he was angry because the Mighty One was not satisfied but by the end of it, he was now feeling guilty because of what he did and also extremely worried because his town would be put in a dangerous situation. The Mighty One would surely vent her anger on them because she wasn't able to absorb any power last night. He slightly lifted his head to look at the man but he immediately bowed because he couldn't do it.
"What do you want to talk about sir? My companions are waiting and we are expected to return to the manor today…" Isaiah trailed off while giving the man a smile.
"I'm sorry for taking so much of your time, the thing is, I just wanted to know if the talismans would work against all malevolent spirits?" He wanted to make sure because the Mighty One was no ordinary malevolent spirit.
"For most, yes, the talisman will work but there might be some exceptions. According to the books that I've read and from the information we received, there are some malevolent spirits that are much more dangerous and powerful. Currently, Archmage Sigma is trying his best to come up with a talisman powerful enough to ward off those kinds of malevolent spirits." Isaiah answered with a smile on his face.
The man gulped and looked away. "Is that so, then would the archmage be able to come up with that talisman in the shortest time possible?"
"Hmm, I am not sure. Is there a spirit like that in this area?" Isaiah suddenly asked as he showed him a genuine curiosity.
"Of course, none, I-I was just asking to make sure. If there's something like that that would suddenly appear here, at least we know what to do." The man answered with a slightly trembling voice. The man suddenly stood up and laughed nervously.
"Are you sure sir?" Isaiah's voice went down and became colder. He wouldn't let the man get away with what he has done.
"Yes, of course," the man answered with confidence. He was now regretting what he did. He should not have stopped them and let them leave.
"Are you really going to stay silent and would rather risk the lives of your people and your own just to cover up the fact that you have been feeding a dangerous spirit?" Isaiah couldn't take it any longer.
He was waiting for the man to speak but based on his observation, the leader of the town was not willing to tell him anything. Isaiah could only talk to him frankly and see his reaction. He couldn't just leave the town alone knowing that lives were at stake.
"What-what are you talking about?" The man looked back and was startled because of Isaiah's serious face and his dark eyes that were looking at him.
"Don't deny it, sir. We already know what you are up to and if you don't tell us what really happened, then I don't have any choice but to report to the duke what you have been doing here." Isaiah said in a flat and cold manner.
He did not want the man to think that he was easy and that he would be swayed by his lies. If he would leave them be and won't take action, more people would surely lose their lives. Isaiah steeled his resolve as he looked at the leader with the most intimidating look he could have.
Isaiah's features were already matured, his jaws were refined with his pale complexion and his completely black irises. His brows were drawn together in a subtle frown that changed the air around him. He might be young but he needed to uphold the duke's principles.
The man shivered as he started to back away but a table stopped him from doing so, "I-I…" he trembled before he finally broke down. He kneeled on the floor and started to apologize to Isaiah. He even kowtowed a few times to show how pitiful he was.
"I don't need your apology. You are the leader of this town and I know that you must have a reason for your actions, all I wanted to know is your account on how it came to be," Isaiah was firm while speaking.
"It's because of the Mighty One. I am sure that you encountered her last night," the man sighed and finally gave in. "It's been a month I think since we first encountered her. We were terrified because of her appearance and her power. In order to save our lives, we decided to make a deal with it."
Isaiah then guessed that it was a deal to deliver food for the woman so that she won't attack the town. He sighed and rubbed his forehead. He had been wondering how something like that could appear under the nose of one of the council members.
"Why do you call it a Mighty One when it is just a monster that eats people?" Isaiah glared at the man. Calling a monster like that was insulting on his part. 'How could they call it like that, like they were instead revering it instead of fearing it?' He thought to himself.
"Because we do not know what to call it. We did not want to call it just a serpent because the town's people might get scared so we chose a random name to call it," the man reasoned.
Isaiah rubbed his face and sighed. "We tried to defeat it last night but we were not successful. We managed to injure it so that must be the reason why it has not attacked the town yet. I will see what I can do so please if you know any more details about it then please tell me."
With that, the man told Isaiah everything and even the probable location of the serpent-woman. He also told them that they never saw it coming out during the day. It would only come out when the sun had already set. Isaiah took note of all of this before he returned to where the carriages were.
