The next day, the flying carriage that Princes Aila, Shannon, Conan, Elliot, and Chloee were riding in arrived at the Fortaare Desert.
After much debate, they decided to visit Kira’s Grandpa. This idea came from Shannon who used her ability to check on William from time to time.
Through the scenes that played in her mind’s eye, she discovered that Zeph was quite a capable individual. Because of this, she convinced everyone that they should head to the Fortaare Desert and ask the old coot to let them talk to William using his communication artifact.
“Are you sure this old man will be able to help us?” Chloee asked as she looked at the gates of the city that towered above her.
Shannon nodded. “Of course. However, if he refuses to cooperate, we can always use violence to make him listen to our demands.”
“Oh! I approve of this plan. I like beating up old people!”
“… You shouldn’t beat up old people, Chloee,” Princess Aila commented from the side because she remembered her Master, Owen, who sometimes complained that his hips were aching due to old age.
Conan and Elliot glanced at each other and smirked.
They didn’t have the heart to tell the angelic beauty that the reason why Owen’s hips ached was because of his nightly activities with his beautiful wife.
As they neared the gates of the city, the Guard Captain shouted and asked them to state their name and business in their city.
“I am William’s Master!” Chloee shouted. “If you don’t let me in, I will break this gate with my bare hands!”
“William?” the guard captain frowned. “Who is William? I don’t know anyone that goes by that name. Do you guys know?”
The guards standing beside him shook their heads. This was the first time that they had heard the name William, and none of them knew who the little fairy was talking about.
“We are friends of Raymond Parker!” Shannon shouted. “We need to talk with your Patriarch. Let us in!”
She had completely forgotten to tell everyone that William was going by the name Raymond Parker at the moment, to prevent his identity from being known by everyone.
Just as she expected, the Guard Captain’s expression changed after hearing Shannon’s words. He immediately asked one of the guards to inform their Patriarch about what was happening at the gate because he didn’t know if he should believe these people or not.
“I just sent word to our Patriarch,” the Guard Captain replied. “Please wait until he arrives.”
“Hmph! I should just smash this gate and get it over with,” Chloee muttered.
“My Goodness!” Elliot exclaimed. “Let’s just talk things out first like civilized people. If they don’t let us in, we’ll break ourselves in!”
“Okay. Talk first, bash later.”
Conan, who was seated on Princess Aila’s shoulder chuckled as he gazed at his two comrades. They had been traveling for quite some time, and they badly needed a place to stay, especially the two ladies, who had decided to look for William without much preparation at hand.
After fifteen minutes of waiting, the gates of the city opened.
An old man, along with his subordinates, walked out of the city and gazed at the unusual group that had come knocking on their door. All of them were armed and ready to fight against possible impostors who claimed to be William’s friends, just to enter their city and spy on their activities.
“You said that you are Raymond Parker’s friends?” Zeph asked. “Do you have any proof?”
Elliot flew towards Zeph and hovered a meter away from him.
“Old man, let’s talk over there,” Elliot said as he flew towards the side of the gate.
Zeph frowned, but he still followed the little creature that he was seeing for the first time in his life. After making sure that they were out of earshot from the others, Elliot whispered something in the old man’s ears, which made the latter’s eyes wide in shock.
Shannon had briefed them that Zeph knew about William’s true identity, so Elliot merely told him things about the Half-Elf in order to convince the old man that they were really William’s friends.
“If you still don’t believe us, you can contact him right now,” Elliot stated. “You have the means, right? Just tell him that Elliot is here. That is more than enough to confirm our identity.”
“No need,” Zeph replied. “I will believe you for now. Enter the city with me.”
Zeph waved to his subordinates to make way for Elliot and his friends, and allow them to enter the city with him.
The old Patriarch of the Sand Clan took them to his office, and closed the door behind them. He then took out a round mirror from his storage ring and activated it. Immediately, the image of a black-haired teenager appeared on its surface.
“Is something wrong, Zeph?” William asked. “I’m kinda busy right now.”
The sound of screams, and explosions could be heard in the background. Clearly, William was in the middle of attacking one of the Major Clans that supported the Gremory Clan to make the other Clans change their decision to form an alliance with them.
According to their agreement, Zeph would only contact him if it was something important. This was why the Half-Elf answered his call, even though he was in the middle of a one-sided massacre.
“Sorry to interrupt you at this crucial moment, but there are some people who have arrived here in Sand City and they are claiming to be your friends,” Zeph replied.
“My friends?”
“Take a look.”
Zeph turned the mirror and let it face the grumpy Chloee who had her arms crossed over her chest. Although he was skeptical that they were indeed William’s friends, letting them see each other would put his worries to rest.
“Stupid Disciple! This old man is making things difficult for us!” Chloee shouted. “Chop his head off for me!”
“Um? Fifth Master? What are you doing there?”
“We came to look for you!”
“Eh? Why?” William scratched his head because he could tell that Chloee was feeling irritated at the moment.
“Let’s talk after you come here to pick us up!”
“Okay, but it might take me four days to return to the Sand Clan, is that fine with you?”
Chloee’s grumpy expression became grumpier, which made William unconsciously shudder. He knew for a fact that the little fairy didn’t like to talk, and preferred to use her fists to make her point.
He was afraid that if he didn’t try to pacify her, she would start destroying the Sand Clan’s residence, which would cause complications at a later date.
“Fifth Master, I am completing a very important mission at the moment,” William explained. “As much as I want to meet you. Time is not on my side. I have to deal with some important matters before I return to the Fortaare Desert.”
Before Chloee could reply, Elliot dragged her away and let Conan talk to William for the time being. When William saw Conan, his confusion grew because he didn’t expect that his familiars to also be in the Demon Continent.
“Conan? What happened? Why are you in the Demon Continent?” William asked.
“It’s a long story, Will,” Conan replied. “It is not only Chloee, Elliot and I that are here. Princess Aila, and Shannon are also here.”
“W-Wait a minute! D-Did you just say Shannon?! Are you there to annihilate the entire Sand Clan? Did the Headmaster order you to do this? Don’t do it! We are on the same side!”
“Yes. She is here with us, but don’t worry. She’s wearing protective artifacts to prevent others from killing themselves. We’re not here to kill people. Everything is going to be fine… maybe.”
Zeph, who was holding the round mirror in his hands, almost dropped it after hearing something ominous. He never thought that even the son of the Dungeon Conqueror would feel anxious after hearing the name of the girl who was currently sitting on the couch of his office and wearing a fox mask to cover her face.
“I understand,” William said with a serious expression on her face. “Please, make sure that she doesn’t start killing people. I will be there in three days!”
“Okay.” Conan gave William the thumbs up. “Come here as soon as you can.”
William then told Zeph a few things before the connection was cut. As soon as the image of the black-haired teenager disappeared on the surface of the mirror, the old man wiped away the beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead.
There was some news that he had received a while ago that the Patriarch of the Greenskin Clan, as well as his elite warriors, had died after they confronted a lady wearing a fox mask.
When he saw Shannon, he didn’t think much of it because masks were quite common in the Demon Continent. However, when William told him that the fox lady who was casually sitting inside his office had the ability to wipe out his entire clan, he almost cursed out loud.
Fortunately, he managed to hold it back and just gave William the middle finger in his heart.
‘F*ck, what did I do to deserve this?’ Zeph thought. ‘Is this bastard trying to use this as a threat to ensure that I won’t stab him in the back? I’d better handle this properly or else.’
On that day, a feast was held inside the ancestral hall of the Sand Clan. This was the only way that Zeph could think of, in order to pacify his VIP guests, and ensure that his entire clan would continue to exist for many more years to come.
