The Moonlight Swordsman

Everyone turned to face Alisha. She walked calmly towards them with David and Harry.

"Why did you kill him when we could have used him for information?" Aizel was annoyed. He never expected this from Alisha. His hopes of extortion were gone.

"Do you believe he would have said anything? He would have squandered our time, and if you think we could have demanded compensation or a reward by bringing him to the Rosewall family, let me tell you, they would have killed him instead." Alisha said calmly. "If you don't believe it, you can ask Mr. David here."

Aizel looked at David, who just nodded.

"Well, guys, now we are safe, right?" The spear guy said as everyone turned to look at Aizel.

"I don't know, I just predicted that we might get attacked because of this guy," Aizel said pointing his finger at David, who felt a little guilty about the situation.

"We'll talk about it when we get to town, but for now, let's grab whatever we can and get out of here as soon as possible to avoid any ambush or danger." Thomas quickly changed the topic while reminding everyone about their situation.

Everyone nodded and dispersed to grab whatever they could lay their hands on. There were still mages' corpses, goblin generals' corpses, and regular goblins' corpses scattered around. Thomas instructed everyone to be careful while collecting the items and to keep an eye out for any signs of danger. He also reminded them to leave no trace behind so they couldn't be tracked.

Aizel and Thomas kept the mage corpses and their storage rings for themselves, while David stored the body of Tintin.

After that, Aizel went alone in the direction of the goblin corpses. He wanted to try something, so he raised both hands in the direction of the corpses when he arrived and began imagining what he had in mind.

Even after five minutes of standing like a statue with his hands raised, nothing happened.

"This guy is really weird, Alisme; you should stay away from him," Nathan said while noticing Aizel. Alisme giggled in response.

After five more minutes, suddenly, Aizel collapsed on his knees while holding his head in pain.

"Fuck, this fucking pain, I just wasted my whole mental energy for nothing; damn this Grade I condition; I can't even try any cool stuff," Aizel thought massaging his head.

"What happened, brother? Is everything alright?" The spear guy asked as he approached Aizel. He was nearby when he saw Aizel on his knees, holding his head.

"Yaa, don't worry; I am just a little tired and have a headache, that's all. By the way, what's your name?"

"Mathew."

"What was that thing you used on your spear when you killed that mage?" Aizel asked. He was very interested in learning new things.

"Oh, that was nothing; instead of enhancing my whole spear with mana, I just concentrated the amount toward the spearhead."

"Ah, thank you, buddy," Aizel said with a smile and shook hands with him. He was getting better at having conversations with strangers and getting used to touching.

So it is like Sword Aura or something, that I have seen and read about in anime and novels. I should try that in my free time.

But these guys were really weak, even that Grade II mage. He just had the advantage because of his sound core. Did these guys really plan it well, or perhaps they didn't know enough about me and Thomas?

"I think if I were not present today in this raid, they might have succeeded. These noble families and their politics are so scary and troublesome." Aizel sighed after thinking about the whole situation. It was better to focus on the current task.

"We are done with everything." Alisha broke the chain of thought for Aizel.

He became aware of his surroundings when the corpses of goblins, hunters, and mages vanished.

"We will bring them back to the hunter guilds. They can inform their family members and get them a proper burial," Alisha said and Aizel nodded.

"We should head back before more trouble comes for us," Thomas said.

They soon left the half-destroyed town.

They made their way to their carriages on the outskirts. They had brought many hunters and mages, but now, only a few remained.

"This raid was a disaster; I don't know how I can even face my mom now. Fuck this." David cursed loudly.

"There was nothing you could have done to avoid this," Thomas said.

They entered the carriage; there were so many of them that everyone decided to choose one for themselves.

Aizel immediately fell asleep. He had to replenish his mental energy.

They slowly made their way back to Chester Town and arrived the next morning without incident.

Aizel bid his goodbyes to everyone and headed straight toward Daisy's house. David tried to lure him to his house, clearly in an attempt to deepen their relationship, which Aizel politely denied. They were promised rewards the next day by David.

When Aizel arrived at Daisy's house, he noticed that all of the kids were reading books inside the fruit shop, while Daisy and Leah were chatting.

They all noticed Aizel's presence when Emma leaped up and went straight to hug him.

"Aiizzz.."

"Yes, Emma, I am back," he said, patting her head. For some reason, his bond with Emma had grown to be the strongest of anyone in Xelgar. Not like he didn't like the other kids.

"Why does Emma always get to hug Aizel first?" Lily said pouting. Ruth and the others giggled.

"What book you were guys reading?" Aizel asked. He was curious about it.

"It's about the fundamentals of mana and magic," Oliver spoke with sparkling eyes. They were all very excited about learning magic.

"Where did you get that?"

"That would be me. The kids said you'd teach them magic when you returned, so I figured I'd give them something as your best friend, right kids?" Leah smiled and all the kids nodded in unison.

"Best friend? When did that happen?"