The Book Of Flowers

Astaroth's Child

'Vescal, wake...'

The voice was clearly ringing in his ears...

The familiar voice he had heard before...

'wake. Move the...'

That voice sounds very... Close-up

But also very far inexplicably...

'I'll wait here. But, you still have a lot to do'

...

Yep. He still has a lot of things he has to do. There are a lot of debts to be paid

But, he had only been curious about one thing all along

That familiar voice...

Whose...?

*bruk!*

"AMG!!"

And so, it's done

"Here, food" I gave some food I wrapped in leaves to Veskal who had just fallen upside down from where I hung him

Without a doubt the child immediately snatched away the food I gave while snorting. He took a cross-legged position that did not look polite enough and started to reach into the food I gave him

A bunch of bread, goat cheese, vegetables and some sweets

All of a sudden Veskal was acting sweet-ass to me looking at all the food. Verdea and I certainly saw it with a judgmental face

"I thought you'd leave me here until noon until I starve to death. But apparently you prepared a lot for me too, ehe~"

"What does it mean to try?"

Besides, I have a request for him

"Save the food first and let's go to the regal tree area. I want you and Verdea to hear Fyon's words as soon as possible"

Veskal frowned in surprise at my words. But knowing that I was being serious, he slowly nodded and began to wake up to follow us

"This has something to do with the day we went with Ivor" I explained without him needing to ask

Hearing that, Veskal immediately gasped and understood. No second explanation is needed between us

"Then how is Remina training?" Veskal asked

"I drove him home because he was trying so hard. But alas, he was defeated after a fierce fight earlier"

No more questions, right?

From the nod, I was sure the four of us were ready to move on. So no need to talk anymore

It's time we figure out what we can get from our captives in Hortensia

It reminds me that we need to move Luca Erzebil as quickly as possible to Miralius. If not, the Hortensia party may make a noise and ask for a long explanation

......................

--- In the area of the great tree ---

"Greetings, Father"

The father, who was heard just waking up, immediately gave me a greeting, "Good morning, my son.", before starting to try to make sure he was fresher before going back to talk.

"What's up...?" My father asked

"A problem we have to discuss in a place like this. At least in an area where there aren't too many people"

The father sounded fresh. And immediately, the roots that spread here and there began to neaten back while providing us a place to sit

I allowed the three people who came along to advance first. And since I was the one who invited them here, I was the first to sit down

"So, what do you want to say to us, Fyon?" I opened the question

Fyon was silent for a moment, before he took a deep breath to start talking

"... As your request, Oberon. I have gone to Hortensia personally to interrogate Luca Erzebil based on the direction of Gwen's higher-ups"

Hm? He went there personally?

It would be easier if he sent one of the Dark Elves to do this job, but I will discuss it later

"Immediately report what you heard from Luca Erzebil"

Fyon nodded heeding my orders

"As per your orders again, I have forced him to speak using black magic. And based on the information I got, you could say Gwen as well as myself felt surprised by the recognition from her"

Fyon pulled out a book from under his cloak, and handed it to my hand. I studied the thick book so well that I found a page he marked by folding the paper

I opened the page and found a page that talked about a demon...

The title of the book I tried to re-read, and I finally understood what this book was all about

"Ars Goetia: Analysis of the Devil-worshipping Sect"

The author is 'Solomon Azrael'. This is the name of a famous magician from the past, derived from the first human native tribe that occupied the continent of Goeitias even before the world was broken apart by a thousand-year war

And the one who revised this book was Anthony Lantana, in the name of 'helping humans in dealing with demons'

Lantana...?

You mean, Duke William Lantana's family? I'm sure Fyon got this book from that guy, through Frank or not

Also, even demon worshippers have existed since that time?

But, their historical records should no longer exist if that was the case. And they should be completely wiped out from this world, just a fairy tale to frighten the children

To think that demon worshippers have existed since the first tribe of humans was formed is not surprising and surprising at the same time

I started flipping the pages of the book back to where Fyon had marked. A page clearly depicts a monstrous creature that looks like an angel of death, yet evil

And next to that small picture, I saw a name 'Astaroth' written

"The Duke... Astaroth...?"

Wait for...

I stared at Fyon to allay the worries I was feeling. But he did not help at all by confirming my fear

Fyon unfortunately had to nod, so the three of us had to be slapped with a mixture of fear and uneasiness

That is, whatever it is that is leading the devil worshipers now...

That person was as strong as Yael...

"The son of Astaroth seemed to be obsessed with dragging Jael before him, dead or alive. Luca Erzebil confirmed that he did so to 'punish a traitor' or something" Fyon added

"It's only natural why Jael and 2nd brother want to get rid of them..." Verdea muttered

No. gabe. More than that

They also want to get rid of us if it is possible. Whichever side is eliminated between our clashes, Rosalia and Yael will still benefit

And even if we were defeated by the devil worshipers, I doubt Rosalia will be defeated by them. The woman always had the cards she had hidden, and they were the best cards

What do we have to do? We are really playing on his hands right now, that cunning woman...!

"... Did that guy named Luca confirm the whereabouts and possible reinforcements?" Verdea asked Fyon

It was a very specific question, making Fyon quite happy he asked

"There" he then replied with a smile

Me and Veskal were surprised to hear that, in contrast to Verdea who immediately smiled widely

"Dismantle everything now! If we can take advantage of the flaws we find, I'm sure they won't have a chance of winning!" I gave the order to him, where Fyon nodded without hesitation

"They have 72 black witches and the Son of Astaroth itself. We have captured 2 of them, of which Natasha Epsilon turns out to be their strongest black magician, and Luca Erzebil is one of the members of the elite forces formed by her to carry out the great mission"

Natasha's?

Uh! That's why they were in Hortensia at that time!

So it's not just a coincidence that they're there. They certainly wanted to target Jael, whether through violence or not

But unfortunately we were present and had to mess up all their plans to the ground. Two people who run away will soon get a new mission more... It's draining, if I speculate

They will definitely make a mess somewhere, because of the panic we caused, which is to make their 2 best witches as captives

"It's more than perfect. I didn't expect us to get the biggest reward right away for solving all these problems"

Luck is the main factor this can happen. If I hadn't met Natasha that day, or we hadn't gone with her to handle the Chimera yesterday, I'd be sure getting information from these people would have been harder

"Your help is a lot, Fyon! Ask for your gift right now!" I'm calling

His smile suddenly turned into a form that gave off a terrifying aura for some reason

"Just kill them all for me and the others" Fyon said

But take it easy, Fyon...

I have the same sentiment about people like them...

Verdea smiled awkwardly as she scratched the side of her head as Fyon and I exchanged snide looks with every brutal plan we had in our heads

And on the other side...

Veskal was visibly riled up while devouring the food I gave him. It was obvious from his body language that he was trying to distract him from all this for a while

Verdea who saw it also caught that Veskal felt riled up since the name Natasha was mentioned earlier. He understood why Veskal was, but he understood that he did not have the power to convince his friend that everything was fine

Veskal has to meet Natasha in person to solve all of this. It's the safest way for both parties

"Ah, and I hope we can hide all things related to the Verdea seal from those demon worshippers" I said, drawing the attention of my two friends

"Because I have something to do with Marcellus, right?" Verdea asked

I confirmed it with a nod

"Anything related to Marcellus or Lazarus will make the half-demons feel furious"

And I don't want them to go up and attack blindly. It would be good if they ignored Verdea in that fight

Then the question is why should he come? Answer is simple

"You'll have to join the battle later to make sure everyone who's in it is alive" too"

I am more than confident that his ability is able to give us such great help that the scales will fall heavier to our side

"I'm more than ready"

And that's what I want to hear from him

So, that's the only plan we need hm?

I might have to discuss again every ability that every 72 members of the demon worshipers have. Setting up an umbrella before it rains is the best course of action when looking at the black clouds that blanket the sky

"Fyon. Bring Luca here and-"

"Oberonian! Oberon!"

!!!

The person calling out my name sounded very hasty for some reason. And how surprised I am

Amongst all these people in Miralius, Margaret Silver was the one who seemed to be in such a hurry. He ran towards me as if he was carrying some crucial news that I should hear right away. A Dark Elf came running behind him to make sure the woman was okay

And out of pity, I ran to him to hear the news immediately

"What's Margaret? Something happened to Natasha?"

Breathing gasps. However, feeling she had to answer, Margaret gave a statement

"Natasha Epsilon...! Wake up from the coma...!!"

My eyeballs squinted like a lion looking at its prey. A smile I could not hold on to every fortune that came our way

And Veskal who was also surprised immediately stood beside me with wide eyes

Verdea just kept silent, unlike Fyon who also grinned with me

Then there's only one thing to do, right...?

"Fyon's here" I'll give my hand to call him

"We're going to go see Natasha Epsilon"

Veskal bowed to hear that. But he knows one thing

One thing he knows he must do to ascertain what happens between himself and his future childhood friend

"I... Want to come too?"