Legacy of the Dark Sage

Aillos looked at Neven in silence. He did not ask which channel the latter wanted to investigate because he already had an idea. For example, production, trading, or immigration reports within Solis plane might show some suspicious activities from the past few days after the Tower of the Ancients closed.

If Aillos were the one investigating the rumor, he would look into the Solis Clan's trading channels and see if they had recently made contact with the underground auction house that dealt with auctioning or selling rare magic items or relics.

Most clans entered the Tower of the Ancients to hunt treasures, and receiving enlightenment was only secondary. It did not matter if the treasures they found were something their clan needed because if they were not, they always had the option of selling them off or trading them with other clans.

Of course, most clans would not sell or trade their treasures openly for confidentiality purposes. Thus, the underground auction house, was the best place to make those transactions.

Transactions in the underground auction house were safe because the person managing it did not belong to any big faction. She was not considered neutral because she was allied with quite a number of clans that belonged to both the neutral and non-neutral factions.

The large clans under the Emperor's faction would never threaten her either because most of their clans were either allied or had a very good relationship with her.

Besides, having an underground auction house helped a lot in finding items that a clan needed but could only get from an enemy clan.

In a sense, the underground auction house was the only place that The Emperor would not brazenly exert his authority. There were even rumors that said he was quite fond of the owner.

In any case, if a new item was commissioned recently in the auction house, the chances of that item being a treasure discovered in the Tower of the Ancients were high. One only had to find where the route the item went through before arriving in the auction house to confirm which clan it belonged to.

Of course, finding that route would be difficult. But not impossible.

If the Solis Clan recently commissioned a treasure, then the news that all of their representatives did not return from the Tower of the Ancients might be wrong— 'might,' because there was still the possibility that their representatives did not find any treasures or that the treasures they found were something their clan needed.

That did not matter, though. What was important was to confirm first if the Solis Clan made a commission. They could also try looking at a different angle, and rather than checking if the Solis Clan made a commission, they might be looking for a rare item.

It could be anything, but if it were Aillos, he would first look into a rare item with healing or status removal effects. After all, such items in the Higher Realm were considered rare, given how mages with high proficiency in Alchemy were rare. In fact, the owner of the auction house was one, and it was one of the reasons many clans would not dare cross her.

The Solis Clan's reason for needing items like those was, of course, to give them to their representatives who might have suffered greatly after returning from the Tower of the Ancients.

There were other channels they could investigate to confirm if the Solis Clan's claims that none of their representatives returned were true. But at the moment, that place was the most likely channel to provide them with information.

"Investigating that place will be dangerous," Aillos told Neven with narrowed eyes. Discover exclusive tales at m,v--NovelBin.net

Though he did not say which place it was, Neven did not react. This was because the channel he wished to look into was the same that Aillos had in mind.

"News of Ladon, Thorn, Ias, and Lady Sisi returning from the Tower of the Ancients are already known outside," Neven started to explain his plan. "If I acted as if our clan wants to commission an item, I can enter that place with no problem."

"Hm," Aillos agreed. But if Neven went there alone, he might appear suspicious. "Take two others with you. You can also have a few of the Quilins to assist your cover. They are good in Transformation magic."

"Thank you, milord."

"Move with caution."

"I will not fail you," Neven bowed his head in respect and left without further ado.

At the bottom of the steps where the throne sat, eight aides, four each standing on both sides, were standing guard.

Three of them had long silver hair, two with short light gold hair, one with ash-gold shoulder-length hair, and two with medium silver-blue hair. Three horns, two on the sides with one on the forehead, protruded from their heads. They were all clad in silver-scaled armor that exposed their arms, which were painted with gold and silver Draconic runes.

One of the aides, Nothum, with medium silver-blue hair, turned to look at Aillos and said, "Milord, since it is a known fact that all our representatives returned safely, won't it be more dangerous for our people to go to that place? All other clans will definitely be on the lookout for our people, especially with the rumor that Ladon and Thorn killed the other representatives."

Aillos leaned back on his chair and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He knew Nothum's concern, but they could not simply stay and do nothing. The more they stayed silent, the more suspicious they would appear.

"I know. However... technically, the rumors are not wrong."

"Milord?"

All the aides looked at him in confusion.

Ladon and Thorn only reported what happened in the Tower of the Ancients to Aillos, so their confusion was understandable.

"Our clan is indeed involved in the deaths of most clan representatives, especially those with the Solis."

"T-That's...!"

"Milord," Essein, one of the aides with ash-gold shoulder-length hair and gold and silver eyes, looked at Aillos in shock. He seemed to have thought of something and said, "I understand that Thorn is hotheaded at times, but I don't believe he would go on a killing spree in that place."

In fact, Essein is related to Thorn. He was his nephew. But since they rarely spoke, and when Thorn returned he and Ladon only spoke with Aillos, Essein did not get the chance to speak with him and learned of what happened.

In the end, Essein assumed that it was Thorn who killed off the clan representatives allied with the Solis Clan.

"Of course not," Aillos replied, sighing heavily. "I am not talking about Thorn."

Celestine, one of the aides with short light gold hair and silver eyes, frowned slightly as he thought of something, "Is it Ias?"

Aillos sighed once more. He knew his aides were smart. Unfortunately, there were times like this when limited information was available to them, and their thinking was also restricted. Thus resulting in them coming up with ideas or suggestions that were way off the mark.

"No," Aillos replied after a moment's pause. "Let us stop here today. Assist Neven with the preparation and provide all necessary items they would need."

"Yes, milord."

None of the aides insisted on pursuing the matter since Aillos had already declared a stop to their discussion. Nonetheless, that did not mean the discussion was finished. Instances where Aillos put a stop to their discussion always meant he already had the information, but he had not decided which to disclose.

It was not because he did not trust them but because the information was probably excessive or still needed some confirmation.

In a sense, they were not wrong.

The reason Aillos did not want to talk about it yet was because Kyran was still unconscious. He did not doubt what Ladon and Thorn reported to him, but he found the idea of one person having done all the things they told him alone impossible.

Aillos could be considered the only one among the Dragon Clan who was aware of the truth of The Fall. It was not because he outlived all the dragons there but because the dragons refused to meddle in the Higher Being's schemes and did not bother following what was happening to the Ancients.

Not Aillos, though. Because he was always in contact with the King of the Ancients, he knew more than he should about everything. He was also aware of why they were adamant about producing a human capable of possessing Ancient Magic Cores.

Still, there were things he did not know that would only make sense if he heard Kyran's side of the story.

Ultimately, Aillos did not believe that Kyran had the power to do all those things, even if he possessed two Ancient Magic Cores.

Meanwhile, in a place close to the boundary of the Higher Realm, space distorted, and the air crackled. Magic energy fluctuated as the space distortion slowly changed, and a silhouette in human form appeared.

"Returning without accomplishing anything leaves a bitter taste in my mouth."

The silhouette was none other than The Emperor.