Chapter 126 - I Like You
Elliot awoke to the sound of murmurs. He felt that the room was filled with his friends, forming a crowd that seemed to be arguing.
He sat up and saw his friends. They were in a room that was covered with a heating spell from Connor. The room was filled with a red light, providing them the warmth they need as they waited for the storm to pass.
"What happened?" Elliot asked, cupping his head. He touched his right after, relaxing his shoulders as he felt that it was there. "The last thing I remembered was the storm. I tried finding Connor, but it was too late. I was already covered with the cold."
"Elliot…" Connor trailed off and walked over to him. "Geneva already told me everything. I'm sorry if I didn't hear you out. You hanging out with her doesn't really felt well."
"That's because you're jealous," Ed snorted. "Jealousy is a serious problem. A lot of people had died just because of jealousy."
Elliot tilted his head, "What makes you say that?"
Ed sat on the edge of the bed and had gotten serious. "I met this woman and she said she was single. We only hung out as friends and then, wham. She has a husband."
His friends looked at each other with disapproving looks on their faces.
"W-What happened?" Elliot forced himself to ask.
"Oh, it was chaotic," Ed said, waving his hands in the air to exaggerate his tales. "This happened before I met you guys. I felt lonely so I often drink at pubs–"
"And brothels," the other four chorused, cutting Ed off.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. So, I come to this bar once a week…"
It wasn't long before the storm stopped. Connor put down the spell he put inside the room and they all tried opening the door of the house but to no avail.
"It's shut frozen," Lance said, forcing the knob as much as he could. "Wait, let me just."
"Black and White Lunar Slicer." With a quick flash from his swords, Lance took down the door, shattering it like it was made of glass.
"That's new," Elliot commented. "When did you get it?"
"I have tons of other skills in my arsenal, Elliot," Lance smirked. "I'm not a famous Adventurer for nothing."
The group rode Hope in his dragon form back at the hall. Connor covered them with his spell again. When they got there, they could only gasp in amazement as the building was covered with a red glowing aura, meaning it was heated inside.
"I thought the Casters from Colleau were weaklings?" Elliot thought. "This is some high class magic spell right here."
"They have enhanced flame Casters," Connor said from the back. "This city is often visited by snowstorms, so they had to practice and up their spellcasts like this."
Landing on the ground, Lance was the first one to hop off and knock on the door of the hall. His knock was loud so that the people inside could hear him.
Not long after, the heating spell was deactivated, Ripple opening the door and welcomed them inside.
"Lovely, take care of the elders, you're the Elderly Committee," Frost instructed, pointing at the girl who nodded and walked away. "Len, you're the Food Committee, use your food magic to cook enough for everyone."
"Wow," Hope breathed out after hearing Frost command. "M-Miss Frost, you're good at handling things."
"Oh, yeah," Frost chuckled. "Although Ripple and I are co-leaders of the city's council, I usually do the work. You see, there are only a few, err, capable people here in Colleau. They need a firm sense of leadership. But then I can't do everything alone, so I formed this council."
Elliot and Geneva looked at each other, snapping their fingers and grinned.
"What's wrong with you two?" Connor said shyly. "I-Is there something wrong?"
Geneva held Connor's hands. "You know you said you didn't want to rule over Inferno, right?"
"Yeah." Connor nodded, gulping as he felt the priestess's warm and soft hands. "What's up with that?"
"Instead of finding one leader, why not elect a council instead?" Geneva suggested. "There are eight Generals in Inferno. Each of them are capable with high feats, powerful enough to rule over a kingdom. Why don't we let them form a council that would dictate the laws and order of the Realm?"
"I concur." Therese said, coming out of Gelrick's portal with Levitican behind her. "There's no such problems making the other Generals agree to it too. But they did say they want to meet you as their condition, Heir."
Therese quirked her brow and smirked after seeing Geneva and Connor's hands. The two retracted hands right after, looking down to hide the obvious pink tint on their cheeks.
"I bet you 100 gold that Connor's gonna be the first one to have a relationship," Ed teased.
This made Elliot scoff, crossing his arms and disagreed. "I bet it's gonna be Hope."
He pursed his lips and pointed it at their other friend who was talking to Frost, face flushed.
"I bet it's gonna be neither," Lance whispered creepily, making the two jump in surprise while he got in between them. "They're going to choose us over their relationships, trust me."
"What makes you so sure?" Elliot challenged. "They're boys and it's part of their nature. Who knows, it could even be me."
"It's definitely not going to be you," Ed deadpanned while Lance nodded in agreement.
"W-What? Why?" Elliot gasped.
Lance grinned awkwardly, seething as he placed his hands on Elliot's shoulders.
"No offense, Elliot, but you're gonna make the girl mad every day," Lance said, shaking his head slowly. "And girls like taller dudes. It's gonna be a miracle if you could find someone shorter than you."
Elliot punched Lance in the gut, narrowing his eyes as he breathed loudly. "I am an attractive man."
"Believe on what you want to believe, Elliot," Lance sighed. Grinning and ruffling the shorter boy's hair. "You're never gonna get a girlfriend though."
"Why you–"
Elliot was about to lunge for Lance when Valerie walked over. There were two Succubus pushing Valerie closer to Elliot.
"Go, talk to him."
"You can do it."
Her two friends kept pushing her towards Elliot. Her face was flushed while she tried to stop, looking around aimlessly.
"Hello Elliot," one of her friends said. "Val has something to say to you."
Ed and Lance looked at each other with wide eyes and jaws wide open.
"E-Elliot, I like you," Valerie confessed.