Rise My Elementals!

Proofreader: M_W Miss Fierce

The reason why Leo said that those two soldiers he had just killed weren't members of the Naughty Elves Organization was because of the fact that there weren't any black-colored String of Fate connected to them. Contrary, there was a green-colored String of Fate instead, implying that they could have become a potential ally to him and the Mischievous Lion Guild.

Honestly, he felt regret when he killed the two soldiers. However, since they attacked him first, he had no other choice but to fight back. Otherwise, he would die. In addition to that, unlike how the people with green-colored String of Fate attached to them would usually interact with him, those two soldiers had a clear intent of killing him. Because of that, he decided not to let them go and kill them. 

Supposed those two soldiers' intentions were to only escape from this place. In that case, he would no doubt let them go since it would be such a huge waste to kill people with green-colored String of Fate attached to them.

He is telling Elvis about this because he is very curious as to why people like them were present in this place and were even suspected to be members of the Naughty Elves Organization. 

"Are you sure about that?" Elvis asked, a bit doubtful of Leo's assumption. Although he already knew that Leo possessed some kind of unique capability that allows him to tell whether a person is a member of the Naughty Elves Organization or not, he's still having a bit of trouble believing the latter's words. After all, who else would do something like this to them aside from the Naughty Elves Organization, right? Moreover, those two soldiers quickly tried to escape from this place after they discovered their identities. Such an action only means that they were trying to report to the Naughty Elves Organization about what they have found here.

Leo can't be bothered by explaining to Elvis why he said that those two soldiers weren't members of the Naughty Elves Organization since he had his own way of knowing the truth. He asked, "What exactly were those two soldiers doing here? Is there something that they were trying to achieve? For example, were they actively looking for the Emerald Tree?"

Hearing Leo's question, Elvis put aside his question as he started thinking about the meaning behind the actions of the two soldiers.

"Rather than saying they were looking for the Emerald Tree, it was more like they were trying to prevent us from finding its location," Elvis said.

"What do you mean?" Leo asked in curiosity. 

"The reason why we were looking for those two soldiers and why we had suspected that they were members of the Naughty Elves Organization was because they had eliminated four whole groups in our exploration team. Just who else would do that aside from them, right?" Elvis explained.

"Was that the only thing they were doing?" Leo asked again. The information that Elvis had given him was still not enough for him to determine the agenda of those two soldiers.

"I don't know," Elvis couldn't give Leo any more answers.

"No!" Leo exclaimed as he pulled Elvis' collar to him. But he let go of the latter's collar and apologized in the next moment. He then added, "How about that person you were with just now…."

"You mean Captain Enzo?" Elvis pointed out.

"Yes, him!" Leo nodded his head as a bit of hope of finding the answer to his question was rekindled in his heart. 

Realizing that there was someone who could tell him more information, Leo turned around and started walking outside the tent. But before he could get out, Elvis blocked his way to stop him.

"I don't have any time to waste, Elvis! I need to find Captain Enzo so I can know more about those two soldiers!" Leo said with a solemn tone in his voice. He seriously wants to know why two people who could have become his allies were here in the secret pathway. He strongly doubts that they were in this place to do something that could potentially threaten the Emerald Tree Kingdom since it won't explain why there was a green-colored String of Fate attached to them. If that were indeed the case, it would have been a black-colored String of Fate.

"It's useless," Elvis shook his head. He explained, "Captain Enzo and I both knew the same thing. The only people who knew of exactly what those two soldiers were doing here are already dead,"

"This…" Leo hesitated before eventually choosing to sit down on the floor. Since there is no way for him to know more information about the two soldiers, he could only express his helplessness. He muttered, "If only there were another clue,"

As Leo stared into the distance, he noticed the darkness covering the path in front of him. He suddenly thought of something and asked, "You said that there were ten floors in this place, right?"

"Yes! Why? Did you perhaps think of something?" Elvis moved beside Leo and stared in the direction where the latter was looking at.

"How many floors have you finished exploring?" Leo turned to look at Elvis.

"We have finished exploring two floors," Elvis replied.

"And which floor were those two soldiers exploring?" Leo followed up with another question.

"They were exploring the seventh floor," Elvis answered.

"And how far have they explored?" Leo stood up from the ground.

"According to Captain Enzo, they have explored ninety percent of the seventh floor…." Elvis muttered before quickly realizing something. His eyes widened in shock as he tilted his head to look at Leo, waiting for the latter to tell him what he was thinking. In his mind, he could somewhat expect already what Leo was about to say.

"You mentioned earlier that rather than actively searching for the Emerald Tree, it was more like they were trying to prevent you from finding it. But based on what you have just said, they have explored ninety percent of the seventh floor. Isn't that akin to actively searching for it?" Leo walked out of the tent and immediately saw Captain Enzo waiting for them outside. He quickly asked the latter, "Have you sent anyone to continue exploring the seventh floor?"

"Yes, since we can't afford to waste any time in the exploration of this place," Captain Enzo nodded his head. He can't help but ask, "Is there some problem with it?"

"I am thinking of something," Leo walked in front of Captain Enzo as he continued, "Let me ask you a question,"

"Okay…" Captain Enzo agreed. His eyes turned to look at Elvis, asking the latter what was going on.

Elvis used his lips to form the words, "I don't know,"

"What do you think it means when someone is actively searching for something but at the same time also trying to prevent others from finding what they were looking for?" Leo asked.

"They are actively searching but also trying to prevent others from finding, hmmm…." Captain Enzo was instantly intrigued by Guild Leader Loki's question. 

Elvis, who was behind Leo, also started thinking of the possible answer to the latter's question.

After a few minutes of thinking, both Elvis and Captain Enzo could not answer.

"Here's a tiny clue," Leo said as his lips slowly formed into a mischievous smile. He slowly raised his hand and pointed towards the carcasses of the two soldiers that were lying on top of a table behind Captain Enzo.

"The corpses?" Elvis and Captain Enzo asked at the same time.

"Say, what is the color of a person's skin when only a few minutes had passed when they had died?" Leo stepped closer to the two corpses. Upon arriving in front, he grabbed the arm of one of the corpses. But his hand briefly paused as he noticed a white string made out of Mana that was slowly disappearing. Seeing this sight, a thought suddenly came to his mind. Though he temporarily put such thought aside and raised the arm of the corpse before asking Elvis and Captain Enzo, "Would their bodies be this pale?"

"That…" 

It was only at this moment that Elvis and Captain Enzo noticed something strange with the two corpses. Typically, a person's corpse would start to discolor after fifteen to twenty minutes had passed. However, it hasn't been that long yet, but their bodies were already as pale as a person that had died for five hours or so. 

"These two people were long already dead even before I had killed them," Leo's expression turned solemn. He looked at Elvis and Captain Enzo and said, "I have my own guess, but I can't confirm it yet unless I see for myself what's waiting at the end of the seventh floor,"

"Wait!" Elvis felt alarmed. He asked, "Don't tell me that you plan on exploring the seventh floor?"

"Can you give me the answer to my question?" Leo sneered at Elvis.