Black String of Fate

It didn't take long for the Pyriel girl to approach Xavier. In fact, she approached him in the evening of the same day, making her urgency extremely obvious. She stood outside Xavier's door hesitating for a second whether to knock suddenly or not. Before she could decide though, she heard a voice come from inside.

"Come inside, Pyriel girl. I was waiting for you."

After hearing this, she was surprised, because, for her, Xavier should have no reason to wait. This aroused her suspicion as she backed away, but Xavier continued, expecting such hesitation.

"I have a friend that's coming who is much more involved in your matter. He will clear things up better, but know for now, we are not your enemies. In fact, we have traveled a long distance to meet your tribe. Our meeting here of all places is just a convenient coincidence.

So, come in."

This much was not enough to completely resolve her doubts, but she still took a leap of faith and entered the room. Inside, she saw Xavier sitting on a tea table with two cups of tea already prepared. He was sipping on one as he indicated with his hands to her to take the other one.

She slowly approached and grabbed the teacup, but she dared not drink it. Who knows, it might be laced.

"A cautious one, aren't you? Well, that is understandable. A wounded wolf even bites the hands that feed him."

The girl stayed silent, making the atmosphere awkward. Xavier coughed as he asked,

"What is your name? I'd imagine me calling you Pyriel girl wouldn't sit right with you."

"...Cassandra. Cassandra Pyriel."

"Ooh, a fancy name. It's too long, so I'll call you Cass. Similarly, call me Xavier."

"How do you know I was coming?"

Xavier, while he seemed extremely nonchalant on the surface, was struggling on the inside. He had to create a good impression on the Pyriel tribe, but with the princess of the tribe herself being so wary, this task now looked a lot more difficult than he expected.

'Where is that guy? How am I supposed to carry this conversation with her dry replies? I'm not good at these things in the first place…

Ah, fuck it. She'd be grateful enough once we help her. Let's just answer this question and stay silent. Awkwardness? Fuck that.'

Xaver decided in his mind as he replied back,

"My friend will be coming here soon. He'll explain everything much better."

After saying that, he went back to sipping his tea and waiting silently. Just as he predicted, the atmosphere got a bit too thick, making the princess nervous. He noticed it, but didn't bother to do anything about it since he was not in the mood to play host.

Fortunately, this tension did not last as Arkham burst through the door. When he looked inside, he saw a clearly uncomfortable girl and a relaxed-looking kid holding a teacup. Xavier glanced towards Arkham as he said,

"This is my friend. He'll explain everything, so ask away."

"Okay."

The girl replied in a subdued voice as she looked at Arkham and asked,

"Who are you?"

Arkham looked back at the girl and looked deeply in her orange eyes as he replied with a tone full of nostalgia,

"You have the eyes of your father. How is he, that crooked old man?"

Cassandra's eyes widened as she stood up and asked in a rather loud tone,

"Who are you? How do you know my father?"

Arkham lightheartedly laughed as he said,

"Calm down, little girl. I'm Arkham, the vice-sect leader of the Titan Sword sect. I came here because of this."

Arkham took out the amulet with the orange gemstone and showed it to Cassandra, who was shocked to see this here.

"This… is the symbol of the royal guest, we only award it to outsiders whom we hold in the highest regard…"

"Correct. I am your guest of honor, but I'm not here to receive warm hospitality. You see this gemstone all dimmed out? It is because of this that I dragged that kid from the adventurer's guild and made my way over here." Explore more at m,v l'e-NovelBin.net

"Oh, so it's like this…"

Cassandra had a thoughtful expression as she turned towards Xavier and bowed her head respectfully.

"I was not aware that you have traveled this long to assist our tribe, forgive me for my initial doubts and disrespect."

"Bah, it's fine. I don't mind such mistakes."

Xavier waved his hand dismissively as he turned toward Arkham.

"Now, what should we do? From the way this girl behaves, I suspect she's being chased by pretty powerful people, at least masters."

Cassandra looked at Xavier with surprise, the question 'how did he know?' being too apparent in her eyes. Xavier saw that look and explained further.

"The overly cautious attitude, in which one seemingly appearing harmless can turn out to be an enemy, as well as the fact that you're an Advanced Expert yourself, gave me a feeling that you might be chased by a Master.

Am I right, Cass?"

"...You're on point. Those bastards have been chasing me for weeks now. I can't kill them, so all I can do is hide. I can't even leave right now because I suspect that they are on constant watch of all exit points. I can't even afford to stay in this hotel, but I have to since all the cheaper ones will be watched by their men.

Since you say you have come to help me, please, I request you to relieve me from their constant harassment."

Xavier was silent before he looked Arkham in the eyes.

"I won't assist with this. These are Masters, not Experts. I will be completely helpless against them."

Arkham solemnly nodded, turning around and addressing Xavier while leaving,

"I won't force you to participate in this quest now. I'll deal with them, and after that, it's up to you whether you want to continue being here or not."

Xavier smiled as he gave an insane, but expected reply…