In a situation like this Alfen could not really give Arnett any false hope. It was better to be as straightforward and blunt about it as possible so Arnett could come to terms with it sooner rather than later.
He gently patted Arnett on the back, "I'm sorry kid, I really am. If there was anything to be done I would have already but…short of some miraculous life-saving magic nothing can help her now. If only she was still here maybe there would be a chance."
Arnett's ears instantly perked up. He raised his head with bloodshot eyes and snot smeared all over, "What do-do you mean?" he asked through hiccups.
Alfen immediately realized he might have said too much in the heat of the moment.
'My damn mouth!'
"Oh it was nothing, forget I said anything."
Arnett jumped to his feet while making direct eye contact with Alfen, "Mister please, I need to know, please!"
Against the doe-eyed child Alfen couldn't even last a full 10 seconds. All he could think about was his son and what he would do if this was him asking.
Alfen crumbled without putting up a fight.
With a deep sigh he explained a bit more in detail.
"There was a girl that came with the foreigners, I think her name was Ma Jiang or something. She could use healing magic with ease and even did something quite miraculous just a short while ago where hundreds of people were all healed at once."
"Really? Where is she?!"
"I don't know. Another one of them came and she went somewhere with him just before the beasts attacked. Maybe they were trying to stop it from happening somehow but I'm really not sure. If she was here maybe she could have done something."
Arnett's eyes began to glow while his mind raced with a myriad of thoughts as he mumbled, "She can help Eva, there is a chance! I have to find her-" but paused mid-sentence.
He suddenly remembered about Eurig and the other demonlings and what they were trying to do.
'If they break the barrier it will be chaos. That lady might not even come back at all. I have to stop them before it's too late!'
Arnett turned around to leave but his feet wouldn't move. He clearly remembered the kind of monsters they had turned into and knew ver well he would stand no chance whatsoever, at least not alone.
"Mister, can you help me?"
Alfen shook his head despondently, "I would love to but there is no telling where she has gone. I can try asking around but all of them are fighting at the city gates right now and no one else is allowed to go near."
"No no not with that," Arnett paused and thought about what he was going to say.
"I-I hear-no I overheard something while we were coming to the city. There is a group of people that is trying to do something bad. They said they were going to destroy something called a 'magic circle' that is making the barrier."
Alfen's gaze turned serious, "What?! What do you mean?"
Rather than create a new lie it was always easier to speak half-truths.
"I-It was one of the people I came up with. He told me what he was going to do and that if I told anyone he would hurt Eva. He did this to me too," Arnett pointed at his bruised legs and feet.
He wasn't lying obviously but…it was better this way. If he knew the person he was talking about was Eurig the Viper then he might not believe him at all because what were the chances.
Not to mention it was not easy to explain how Eurig who was an old man had a body of a teenager now.
Unlike what he expected Alfen did not reply immediately. He went silent for a moment while staring at the many wounds on Arnett's body.
And understandably Arnett began to get nervous. What if instead of believing him he locked him up instead for lying? His immature brain could not think further than that in this moment of desperation.
"I swear, I am not lying. I know exactly where they are going to go. I can show you on a map if yo-"
"I'm sorry," Alfen cut him off. He stood up and hugged Arnett, "I'm sorry you had to go through all of that. I'm sorry no one tried to help you, someone should have at some point. I am truly…sorry child."
The tears that had just barely stopped began pouring down Arnett's face once again. This was the first time in a long time he felt even remotely safe. But even now he couldn't let his guard down completely.
"I-We have to stop them quickly," he said gently pushing Alfen away and wiping his face.
Alfen sighed inwardly before nodding in agreement, "And we will."
"You…believe me?"
"Of course I do. Why would a child younger than my own son lie about something like that? Wait here."
He went into the headquarters and came out a moment later with four other guards in tow. Each one of them was much bigger than any of the others.
They were all holding iron spears engraved with 1-2 symbols each. Their well-defined muscles threatened to pop out of the sides of the armor as they walked over to him with large strides.
They were unlike any of the other guards Arnett had seen since entering the city.
"Is this him, captain?" one of them motioned towards Arnett.
Alfen nodded, "Yes, he is the brave youngster who gave me the information."
Arnett could only see the guard's eyes through the mask but it was easy to tell he was grinning behind it.
"Gahaha, good good! I knew you humans hadn't fallen that far yet. Come, follow us!"
And they sprinted off without waiting for him or Alfen.
Arnett hesitated but in the end decided to relay the final tidbit of information.
"I-I think you should bring more people. Those people have strange powers and some of them can even turn into monsters-"
