Alyon would harshly shake the small man, who was exhibiting frenzied movements in addition to losing his ability to think; Leonardo, feeling savagery this close for the first time in his life, needed this badly.
"Alyon, take the Master with you; let's go to the druid village and see what kind of circus show they have prepared for us!"
After looking with sorrow at the final state of the hall—decorated with works that would have been priceless in her previous life—Nafız began to advance on the path adorned with small stones, together with the thirteen people trailing behind her.
Although the distance between the two places was short, the road was shaped to create ideal opportunities for carrying out all kinds of secret attacks. For this reason, the female orc had taken on the task of ensuring security by moving to the front of the group, as her friend was busy carrying Leonardo, who was experiencing a minor trauma.
The two orcs might have seemed very busy, but the greatest responsibility in the group walking knowingly into a trap fell on Ainle; it was his duty to soothe the ten druids they had persuaded to take with them the last night.
"I wonder what state our friends are in!"
"Father, is my little brother alive?"
The ten people who responded to the scrawny druid when he explained his ambitions were random individuals from within the crowded village. Some had come with their entire families, some had set out alone to seek adventure, and one father had left his wife and daughter at home and taken his eldest son with him.
"Calm down, my friends; I don't think they will do anything to anyone until they talk to the Master!"
While managing the other druids during the short journey, Ainle was also dealing with a thought gnawing at his mind.
What Nafız told him the morning he persuaded ten people wouldn't leave his mind: "Today, for the first time, you have saved some people of your nation!"
Judging by the recent events, these were not just simply spoken words of praise; they were a proven foresight. However, with this perspective, the saved druids might be limited only to the ten people trailing him.
"Mistress, will you save the druids when we arrive at the village?"
Running rapidly to the front, the scrawny druid had leaned into Nafız's ear to ask his question to get rid of the thoughts enslaving him; right now, his heart was beating as if it would pop out of his chest while waiting for the answer he would receive.
"I don't know; you just take the ten people coming with us and don't leave my side, as I warned you!"
The female orc's voice was cold as ice; seeing the end of the road slowly appearing before them, Ainle wouldn't dare continue his questions and returned to his place.
When the small group arrived at their desired location, they encountered a scene they wouldn't wish to see; the attackers, who evidently came by knocking down many trees within the grove consisting of dense trees, had shattered all the houses.
The druids, gathered in the village square regardless of whether they were old, women, or children, were kneeling; without exception, a person holding a knife stood behind each of them.
In front of this tragic scene was a crowded group of soldiers who had supported their large shields with offensive mechanical weapons; by the look of it, Heinrich was a person who left nothing to chance.
"Where is Mark?"
While all eyes were turned to the road coming from the Master's house to the village, how could the emergence of a group consisting of fourteen people not be noticed? Only the scream of one person from within the crowd raiding the village was striking; he was questioning the absence of the person who tasted death from Alyon's foot a short while ago.
"May he sleep in lights; Mark is dead!" (Lit: Mark is life to you / Mark has kicked the bucket)
Unlike the eleven druids and Leonardo, who hadn't yet emerged from the shock he entered, the heads of the two orcs who had been through the mill were quite clear; in fact, Nafız was answering the question directed at them by raising the palms of both hands to the sky.
"Dishonorable bastards, I will kill you all!"
Judging by the reaction he showed, this person evidently had a close bond with Mark; right now, he was running to kill one of the druids on the ground with the knife he grabbed.
"Stay where you are, Hans!"
Just as the druids in the small team closed their eyes not to watch the scene that would happen a moment later, a voice rose from the enemy ranks; Heinrich, not wanting the impulsive behavior of the soldier under his command to ruin the whole plan, had finally shown his face.
Hans didn't make him say it twice; although the rage overflowing from his heart passed through his body and reached even Nafız, he wouldn't budge from his spot.
"Leonardo, I always knew you as someone against violence, but I see that you seem to have changed your mind!"
Every time Heinrich, who had an angular face structure, opened his mouth, his thin lips created an unpleasant feeling like two pieces of metal rubbing against each other. Since his cold appearance was combined with arrogance that had penetrated to his bones, he was ignoring Nafız standing in front of him and addressing his archenemy from his own people.
"Master, come on, pull yourself together; look, your colleague wants to talk to you!"
Leonardo, who came the whole way in Alyon's arms like a child who fell asleep during a visit, seemed to be in a nightmare he couldn't wake up from no matter how much he wanted. The ousted leader, coming to the front with Alyon after Nafız pulled back, was watching the destroyed druid village, at a loss for what to say.
"I won't drag it out; hand over the weapon drawings you made for the bastard managing Karsak City now, and I will let you take the druids and leave the city!"
Heinrich, spilling the beans (revealing what was on his mind), was relieved as if a great load had been lifted from his shoulders; judging by his sly grin, he was catching the Master at a very sensitive point with this request.
"How do you know about those drafts? Impossible!"
The request of the man leading those revolting against his administration would create a cold shower effect on Leonardo; although the reaction he gave might seem very exaggerated to others, the Master's actions were quite natural for those who knew the truth of the matter.
After receiving the ice and fire beads he obtained thanks to his secret student Abgesandte, he had continued his work without showing it to anyone; he had been so careful about this business that he would perform even the construction of the weapons in his private workshop under his house.
Leonardo was thinking madly about how Heinrich could know about this subject; he had eliminated almost all possibilities in a time short enough to be counted in seconds. Only a single possibility remained, but the messy-haired man knew this couldn't be real—or, to put it correctly, he hoped it wasn't real.
"Oh, poor Leonardo; as long as there are mutual interests, there is no such thing as impossible. Now you will obsess over this and make me wait to give an answer; I know your habit!"
Although the angular-faced man's words implied that he was helping the person opposite him, his tone of voice and the expression on his face said the exact opposite.
"Bring the woman I specifically said to separate from the others; bring her so our Grand Master can see the true face of the druids he loves more than anything!"
Hearing their leader's order, the soldiers began to move rapidly as if doing the most important thing in their lives; before long, a battered druid woman stood in front of the man with golden blonde hair.
"Since the work you did was very secret, you couldn't use any tool belonging to the system, so you used this druid you took as an assistant for this reason. Please don't make that surprised face, Leo; what did you think, that I wasn't keeping you under observation twenty-four seven?"
Seeing that the last possibility in his mind was real, the Master looked at the young woman, feeling a sense of pity dipped in sauce of astonishment right in the middle of his heart.
Although Heinrich had followed the man he saw as his greatest rival like a shadow all this time, he still hadn't fully recognized Leonardo; even though he thought he could achieve his goal of seizing the plans by angering him with the druid's betrayal, he was completely mistaken.
He was right about only one thing: Leonardo was very angry, but these emotions were directed at no one but himself.
He thought he had pushed the woman, who was living her life calmly, into a situation she never wanted; although the weapons he made throughout his life took thousands of lives, the Master's true nature was exactly this naive.