A boat stood in the calm water, waiting for its owners to return.
Soon, a man returned to the boat, carrying a bag in his hands.
Hastily getting on the boat, the man ran to the silver-haired young man who was lying on the bed, covered in a blanket.
"You're back. What took you so long? Shouldn't it be easy to find clothes for him? Anyway, did you get clothes his size in the end?"
"You idiot, of course, it's easy to find clothes for him. But we couldn't let him wear any random clothes. I went a bit further to buy better clothes for him. He is a very special person, after all."
"You bought special clothes? Let me see."
The first man opened the bag, revealing the luxurious clothes.
"These… These look too expensive. Where did you even find the money?"
"I spent from our emergency funds. In any case, we aren't going to need any funds after helping him. Isn't that right? He'll be our ATM! He is going to lead us to a bright future. Now stop sitting on your ass and help me get some clothes on him!"
The men removed the blanket from the young man, revealing him bare. One of them raised the young man while the other made him wear the clothes.
"Now he looks like a Prince! We can take him back now!"
"Ah, I have a few questions. I think we shouldn't hurry in taking him back. Things might turn out bad for us."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, look at it from a different angle. This guy rules over multiple nations. He is the leader of the Uprising. He is very strong, but someone almost killed him and brought him in this condition."
"Just how strong must that person be? Now that he defeated Lucifer, what if he decides to attack the Uprising? We'll be going straight into a Warzone."
" Moreover, if he finds out that we saved this guy, won't he be really pissed! Instead of becoming kings, we might end up dying!"
The first man frowned deeply, hearing the concerns of his friend because these concerns were valid. Moreover, these concerns even scared him a bit.
"What was your second concern?"
"My second concern is about the Uprising. We've all heard about the way they work. Even though they are busy conquering other states, they are still the most ruthless organization."
"Do you think they'll just believe us when we bring Lucifer back in this condition? What if they think we were the ones responsible for his current conditions? We'll end up dead as well, but this time at the hands of Uprising."
"In other words, instead of being a boon to us, finding this guy might've been a bane. Now we're stuck between a rock and a hard place."
The more the first man heard, the worse his expressions became. By the end of it, his face was completely twisted.
He was dreaming about living a life of luxury to save Lucifer. He even spent all his savings on buying clothes for this guy, only to then find out this. Instead of a life of luxury, they were walking towards their death.
"Why didn't you tell me before, idiot! I would've tossed him back in the sea right there!"
"Then we would've been in bigger trouble if Uprising knew we tossed Lucifer in the sea instead of attempting to save him. I just thought of it after you left."
"Sigh, this is truly a problem. Let me think!"
The man started walking back and forth in stress.
Silence soon followed as only the footsteps could be heard. No one spoke anything.
Tian kept walking back and forth in stress after hearing the possibilities while Amin stood near Lucifer, gazing at his face, who looked like a sleeping prince.
Tian suddenly stopped, turning back. "I think I see one option."
"What option?" Amin inquired.
"He is sleeping. He can't testify who hurt him and who saved him. That's the problem. But what if we help him? If he wakes up, he'll know we helped him."
" And he'll also know who hurt him, so he can't blame us. That's perfect! Then we can go to Uprising without worrying! What do you think?"
"How do we help him?" Amin asked. "He isn't a human. He is a Variant. We don't even know what's wrong with him. His heart is beating, but his face is pale. There are no wounds on his body. How do we help him?"
"A doctor? We can take him to a good doctor. He might be able to tell us what's wrong with him?"
"What's wrong with him? You think an ordinary doctor would be able to do something? And even if one could, can we afford him?" Amin asked.
Tian scratched the back of his head in frustration. "We need to try at least. As long as we tell the doctor who this guy is, he'll treat him for free."
"Do you think any Doctor in Elisium would have the courage to ask for money from the Lord of Elisium Lucifer Azarel?"
"But what if that doctor informs Uprising about us bringing Lucifer to him?" Amin looked at Tian suspiciously.
"Leave that to me," Tian smirked. "Just do as I say."
"Sigh, fine."
Both the men placed a mask on Lucifer's face and covered his lush silver hair with a cloth before carrying him out of the boat.
They ordered a cab after reaching the road.
"What happened to this guy? Is he dead or something?" The driver asked, looking suspicious at the unmoving young man before allowing them inside.
"He just drank a bit too much. He's not dead. You can check his heartbeat if you're suspicious," Tian responded.
The driver looked at them momentarily before he shrugged his shoulders. "I don't understand why people drink so much when they can't handle it. Anyway, get inside."
….
The Warlock Council headquarters was still under the control of the Uprising, but there was a serious atmosphere inside the headquarters as they had just taken a headcount.
It was just now that they found out that most of them who were in the city were missing.
"If they aren't responding, they are probably already dead," Arthur said, shaking his head in disappointment.
Amongst the people who had died, quite a few of them were Nobles from his side.
Tristan nodded in agreement.
"That's true. But it's still surprising. They were able to kill so many people without being discovered.. If Uzuki hadn't discovered them, we don't even know how many more would've died."
