113 You know...little Morph? 2 (1/2)
”Little Morph?” Jodye found it a bit funny. He was now able to confirm it with absolute certainty. This was the sibling of Aiken Moon, who had apparently come here to rescue him. Jodye was initially worried that they were targeting the boy instead. However, he could now put that fear to rest. ”Well, I have indeed met the Aiken Moon you speak of, he's a pal of mine. Were the three misses searching for him?”
Bilan frowned, as she had a premonition that it was more than just having 'met' little Morph. This Jodye Trill was obviously withholding information. Wasn't Aiken tricked by her older sister and sold into slavery? For Jodye to recognize herself as Aiken's sister from Rodinia and thus question the association, he had to have had some form of prolonged association with her brother. However, how close could it be if he approached her so quickly? How would Jodye know if she was the one who betrayed Aiken? In fact, maybe it was these people who were responsible for his current circumstances!
Bilan was, of course, correct in this thought. Merely, from a certain point of view, Aiken's current circumstances were even more promising than her own. Only, Bilan Moon and company had no way of imagining such a thing. Bilan was a heaven-favored disciple of the Seven Spirits Sect, a mighty fifth rank sect in Rodinia. She had her master investigate her brother's circumstances. Not only was her request completed, her master even bade her martial-aunt to accompany Bilan on the journey to recovering her brother, so it could be seen how favored the child was. The intelligence Bilan's master received so far suggested that the boy was sold away into slavery, purchased by an elder of the Chimes Estate, and should currently be suffering there in the South Ward of Pangaea.
Bilan looked to her martial aunt, Master Grey Willow.
Master Grey Willow turned not to Jodye but to Joovee Nile, as a cold light flashed in her eyes, ”Master Neofrost, with all the looming trouble ahead of you, you had better hope that no harm has come to that child under your care.”
Master Grey Willow had long heard of the evil exploits of this young Neofrost Master. Joovee Nile had poisoned an entire city to death one year back, and he did so just because the castellan's son had insulted him. Taking it a step further back, Joovee Nile was said to have been totally average four years ago, having only reached the sophomore rank of the sage path's Scholar Realm at 11-years-old.
This was quite late in royal clans. Later, Joovee lost his mind to a reincarnated devil soul during an expedition in an ancient pyramid. Following that, he disappeared for a long time. It was news all throughout the south because Joovee Nile was royalty. However, he remained missing, and no one could find him. Only for Joovee to reappear two years later, once he had already become a Gear Refining Master with a growing reputation, in spite of his young age.
No one believed that this child was still the Joovee Nile from before. Everyone assumed he had become possessed by a Mummy, a human whose soul was devoured by evil and evolved into a high-level fiend. Due to Joovee's eccentric battle and refining style, he became simply known as the Neofrost Master.
Seeing this, Jodye leaned close to Bilan Moon and secretly whispered something in her ear, which caused her eyes to flash, as she nodded fiercely. Aunt Miran noticed this, but she thought it was merely children being children. Who else could find time to gossip during such a scene? Miran grabbed Bilan's arm and pulled her further away from this unknown brat, Jodye.
Meanwhile, Joovee Nile was nonplused by this woman's words, but he remained aloof in his response, ”Are you threatening me, Grey Willow? Do you believe that just because the Leaf clan is based in Rodinia that you are safe from my retaliation? Is Marshall Featherwork still sick? Hehe...”
Master Grey Willow's expression drastically changed once she heard these words. Marshall Featherwork was the Grand Elder of her Leaf Clan! That was her father's brother, her biological uncle. He had been sick for around a year at this point, and although the family knew it was poison, they didn't know how to resolve it. Joovee snickered and seemed to sneer, however only his eyes were visible through his neofrost mask. Jodye was visibly caught off guard by this sudden outburst, which didn't go unnoticed by Bilan Moon.
At this moment, Sigma Octanis removed his mask and interjected, ”It would seem you have made a mistake. Young Aiken Moon is this seat's third direct disciple. He is in no way under any threat of harm, nor is my associate here responsible for this arrangement. Please control yourselves, and limit your assumptions. By having a mature conversation, everything can be properly illustrated.”
Jodye was shocked that Sigma was indeed wearing a mask, one that he simply was unable to see. What sort of technology was this?
Master Grey Willow was taken aback, and she stared at this handsome middle-aged man once more. Sigma Octanis was rather tall and majestic in bearing, causing her old maiden heart to flutter slightly. Of course, Grey Willow wouldn't allow this to affect her state of mind, ”The Master of our young master Moon? You? Are you even worthy?”
”Whether I am worthy or not is something you are free to test for yourself,” Sigma Octanis was simply unable to place this woman in his eyes at all. She may be a Gold Mage rank Sage at the Void Door Sage Realm, but Sigma had never been afraid to overpower the curse's restriction if he needed too. How could he cower before a weak old lady from a lower star realm? He would slaughter this woman instantly before the curse could eject him from the realm.
Plus, this little madman Neofrost was still next to Sigma. Such a genius made it so he wouldn't even need to break the curse to deal with this woman, he and Neofrost could definitely eliminate her together.
When Grey Willow saw the lofty look in these Northern Motherland men's eyes, she grew more incensed.
However, a cute little giggle suddenly cut through the tension, catching these almost warring parties off guard. They were shocked to find Jodye whispering in Bilan's ear again, which was causing her to laugh. Aunt Miran was flabbergasted, as she realized the Bilan whose arm she was holding was fake, a wooden doll replica. The wooden toy then vanished with a poof sound, transforming into a white talisman that disappeared into Bilan's glabella.
[Source Artifact detected]
Jodye started when he heard his Grimoire's voice of fate echo in his heart. However, he recovered swiftly and rubbed his chin as he admired the white light that was apparently Bilan's source artifact. It seemed to have quite a unique function.
”Ahem. So anyway, Bilan,” Jodye Trill suddenly cleared his throat, and his youthful and vibrant voice filled the room, ”After Dessa and I recovered little Aiken from that bandit brigade we ran into Uncle Sigma, and boy did he help us out! Really, it's been awesome since then. Now we're here. I was planning on taking little Aiken back to Rodinia myself once we got a bit stronger, but ah, who knew I'd meet his good-looking sister…”
”Oh stop,” Bilan Moon's face was beet red as she had been giggling and blushing a lot during the time her martial-aunt was talking to the others. She turned to her martial-aunt, oblivious to the previous tension, and exclaimed softly, ”Auntie, Jodye says he will take me to meet little Morphy after the auction! He said he had already destroyed the leader of the Chimes Estate to save and recruit his Hand, so we don't need to visit there at all! We found him, we finally found him!”
After speaking with Jodye, Bilan was incomparably excited. This left Master Grey Willow stunned, and temporarily at a loss for words. She had almost fallen out with these fellows just now, but now her martial-niece and these men's junior had reached their own conclusion peacefully. However, how could a brat be able to call the shots here?
Merely, Grey Willow noticed that no one had admonished this boy from the very beginning.
After a moment of consideration, she frowned at the Neofrost Master, before turning to look at Jodye. By now, she would have to be stupid to have not noticed that this boy seemed to have some level of persuasive power over these men, much like herself and Bilan. Although Jodye couldn't be said to be the shot caller, neither of them seemed to oppose his arrangements at all. They were clearly following his lead in this situation. It was like they were three partners here only for the brat's fancy.