Elizabeth considered Asmadeas' words carefully, but in the end, she trusted her seer blessing and its authenticity.
She nodded to Ferris. "Alright, you have my full cooperation."
That easily? Ferris was surprised.
Does she trust Asmadeas' blessing that much? He recalled something about a 'better vision' that's connected to his arrival.
At the surface, it was obvious that it meant that his presence alone would lead to a good outcome for the heroes.
But when Asmadeas said that the vision 'hasn't changed,' it meant that the vision can actually change.
"So, I'll assume your plan is to disguise yourself as a villain?" she questioned Ferris.
"That's correct," he replied immediately, sure of his answer.
. . .
Elizabeth stared somewhere random in thought before locking eyes with him again.
"Are you really sure that holding their emblem is enough? What if they have other ways of confirming identities?"
Without hesitation, Ferris replied to her doubts and began explaining his reasons.
"To put it in simpler words, they're villains." He paused for a second to see what Elizabeth would say, but there was no reaction.
"People like them don't care about sides, about names, or about honor. They aren't bound by any sense of morality. If it benefits them, they'll do it. I wouldn't even be surprised if they welcomed hero examinees to abandon everything and turned traitor." he reasoned.
"And if you did manage infiltrate them, what would you do next?"
Ferris already knew what he was supposed to do. "I'm planning on scouting them from the inside and finding a way to destroy the crimson clouds that's trapping us."
"...Alone?" Elizabeth was a little worried about his statement.
She had a clear sense of essence levels, and she definitely knew she was much stronger than him.
"Yes, alone." Ferris was steadfast.
"Isn't that a little stupid?" she did not bother to cover her opinions of him.
"...That's your opinion," he pointed out her biased view.
This wouldn't be my first infiltration mission anyways...
Elizabeth tilted her head a little and pursed her lips before staring at Asmadeas in disbelief.
To her horror, Asmadeas simply nodded at her.
"I'd like to move out tomorrow in the morning. It's the safest time." Ferris said to her.
Although it sounded contradictory, moving out at night was actually more dangerous since it was the perfect time to lay ambushes and sneak attacks. And besides, daylight was much easier to navigate in.
"Alright, but come back here before you head out, As early as possible" Elizabeth informed.
Then, Ferris nodded and placed his fist near his heart before bowing one last time, which Elizabeth started finding it a little disturbing.
"I'll take my leave then." Ferris turned on his heel and started going for the exit without another word.
"Wait." Elizabeth's voice stopped him mid-step. "I haven't gotten your name."
Ferris was a little embarrassed of his forgetfulness. Not introducing yourself to a lady was considered rather disrespectful for women in his old world.
"It's Ferris," he apologized quickly before continuing his exit.
But before he could leave, Elizabeth stopped him again. "Wait... Before you leave."
Ferris stopped just in time and turned around to wait for her reasons. He was quite the patient knight.
"If you were a fan of Firefly, how would you rate yourself as a fan of her on a scale of 1 to 10?"
"Ten," Ferris instantly answered with a straight face, and after that, he saw Elizabeth nodding with an insightful gaze.
To which he also returned that insightful gaze and nod before finally leaving the tent.
. . .
Asmadeas remained silent, but she couldn't endure it any longer. "Sister, what was that about?"
Elizabeth turned to Asmadeas. "I just needed to make sure he had a good sense of justice. Firefly is the only one and true hero I respect. Every hero should aspire to be just like her, unlike a certain woman who calls herself a 'hero.'"
"I sense hate in your soul again. I told you to let go of that hate until a later time, else you'll experience sleep deprivation, which isn't good for your beauty."
Elizabeth furrowed her brows and said something that's unbecoming of her looks. "That's something I'll never let go.
When I'm ready...
I'll kill that bitch, Lady Victoria."
Asmadeas looked a little fearful in her eyes, "It's not good to curse someone, it'll leave you with bad karma."
"...You're right, Firefly would agree to that," Elizabeth lamented.
"There's also something bothering me, Sister."
"What is it?" Elizabeth asked with her full attention. Since Asmadeas was practically a seer, if something 'bothered' her then it would've been important.
"As you know, my blessing lets me see things that aren't normally visible. For example, I can see the aura of a soul." Asmadeas pointed at Elizabeth. "Yours shines brighter than most, Miss Elizabeth. Because of that, even if a bomb went off right where you're sitting—
"I would instantly die, but you'll somehow survive it. With a soul like yours, it would take something more than a mere bomb to kill you."
Elizabeth sighed, "Haven't you already told me that? ...You even said something about how people who meet me have a strong desire to start kneeling." She was suddenly reminded of Ferris's multiple bowings before her.
Could it have been that? Or perhaps Ferris was extremely respectful. Maybe even a bit of both.
"I did say that, Sister. It's only because you're special~" She smiled, clearly intending to tease Elizabeth.
"Certain people have special souls that allow them to bend destiny itself. You could think of it as plot armor like in literature."
"Even your death alone would probably shake the world and leave eternal ripples."
Elizabeth blushed. "You're speaking nonsense again. Are you sure your blessing is seer and not divining charlatan?" She rested her chin on the back of her palm. "So... how does this relate to your worries?"
Asmadeas suddenly turned serious as she faced the exit door.
"That man has many strings attached to him. Just this incident alone is merely one of the minor ones. What troubles me is that his soul is practically blank." Asmadeas was clearly disturbed. For someone to see behind the curtains of anyone and see their true selves—
It would be uncanny to unfurl someone's soul and see nothing.
"I believe something is blocking me from looking into him."
"Well, maybe you're not looking hard enough?" Elizabeth said with a tired expression.
Asmadeas's face darkened more than her gothic dress. "Perhaps so, but the visions are telling me. That if I look at something I shouldn't...
I would dream of something that will burn me."
. . .
"Quit freaking me out," Elizabeth said bluntly.
Asmadeas chuckled, "Hehe, sorry about that."
***
Finally outside, Ferris's straight back suddenly crumbled as the lack of food and sleep had consumed him.
I forgot to ask for food... it would be embarrassing to turn around now—
Bump.
Without noticing, Ferris accidentally bumped into Lionheart, who was standing menacingly in front of him.
Lionheart spoke no words as he only used his index and middle finger to point at his own eyes before pointing them at Ferris.
I'm.
Watching.
You.
Ok buddy... Ferris remained silent as he looked at Lionheart with skepticism.
He then walked past him.
As Lionheart carefully observed Ferris, one of the bodyguards came to him and asked,
"Who is that guy? Does our miss know him?"
Lionheart shrugged, clearly annoyed.
"No, but I sure as hell don't like him. I think he's the type to show off and act almighty," he said to vent his frustrations.
"Or maybe you're just mad that the only way you could've won was because of your blessing," the bodyguard laughed.
"Hmph, don't test me. I would've won in the end, even if he used his sword," he excused his reason for losing. "Who uses a sword when you have guns and blessings?"
"One of the S-classes uses a sword, no?"
"Except that one. The S-classes are simply on another level," he excused again.
Lionheart stared at Ferris, who was walking towards the sword he dropped before their duel.
And as soon as Ferris picked it up, something unexpected happened.
Lionheart became rigid, his muscles suddenly stopped obeying him as they froze in shock.
All he could see was Ferris staring back at him with a slight smile.
Then, as suddenly as he froze, Lionheart was able to move again.
With that, we're even, Ferris was glad.
I don't need a blessing to make someone freeze in fear.