"I apologize. I can’t say that..." Edgar Alstreim responded as he lowered his head, "But, I have to hear your answer no matter what..."
Daniuis Alstreim stared at his younger brother’s hidden expression, and musing that it should be sullen with worry, he sighed.
"It was your father-in-law who told you, right?"
Edgar Alstreim paused before he imperceptibly nodded his head, "Don’t reveal this to others. I perceive that you already know that this matter is something only the Grand Elders are allowed to hear-in because the Patriarch interrogated you at that time inside the sound barrier, designating your information as top secret."
"My father-in-law vaguely told me that you knew something about the aboriginals who arrived from the Forsaken Phoenix Realm... And there at least seemed to be two women among them."
"Elder brother, I truly want to know." Edgar Alstreim’s expression became solemn.
"Was my Claire among them?"
Daniuis Alstreim blanked. He sighed a moment later before moving his pursed lips.
"Edgar... I truly can’t say anything about the aboriginals as I’m bound by oaths but don’t lose hope. Your prideful daughter wouldn’t die that easily..."
Edgar Alstreim knew that his elder brother was hiding something about Claire. He knew that it had to be and vehemently believed so!
"Do you have the evidence that your first daughter is still alive? Say something..." Davis prompted the strangely silent Edgar Alstreim.
"That... I ca- don’t know..." Edgar Alstreim blurted out.
’Ca? Can’t tell?’ Davis inwardly mused about his grandfather’s slip of the tongue.
Edgar Alstreim almost slipped up and said, ’I can’t say’. From what his elder brother indirectly said, he felt that there might be a possibility that one of those two women who used fire and ice, respectively, must be Claire. He believed that it should be that woman who used fire should be Claire, but he didn’t know where that woman who used fire disappeared to in this Fifty-Two Territories.
Even if she was not Claire, he remained adamant that he must confirm it with his very own eyes!
At first, he was already rearing to go to the Forsaken Phoenix Realm’s normal entrance to search for a way to enter so that he could confirm his daughter’s life and death, but after making a new family and regaining his motivation to live back for this family, he became hesitant.
He was afraid to disappoint his new family.
However, now that he got a chance and a reasonable hint to confirm Claire’s life and death, there was no way he was going to let go of that opportunity. He was going to search, search until he finds that woman’s identity! He hoped that she would be his Claire!
Davis narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
Why does Edgar Alstreim want to search for his supposed dead daughter without a shred of evidence? Obviously, looking at Edgar Alstreim’s slightly hesitant expression, he did not buy his answer.
"Aboriginals..."
Davis suddenly uttered a word that caused Edgar Alstreim to raise his head in shock.
"Y-You... How...?" Edgar Alstreim’s purple eyes dilated as his eyelids trembled.
This person in front of him seemed to know about almost everything that he knew. He almost felt as if his thoughts were being read but knew that it couldn’t be the case.
’I thought so...’ Davis’s lips curved.
Insider information? Leaked from Elder Havle Alstreim? Daniuis Alstreim? Which one? Perhaps, both?
Daniuis Alstreim knew almost everything about them that they were the aboriginals, but he gave his word that he would not reveal without anything untoward happening. Elder Havle Alstreim only knew about what all others knew about the aboriginals. If it was the latter, then Edgar Alstreim should not know much.
Then what made Edgar Alstreim want to search for Claire suddenly?
"Why do you know about the aboriginals!?" Edgar Alstreim panicked.
Elder Havle Alstreim warned him that this secret could be a cause for disaster if known to outsiders.
"Did you forget that I can also be considered an Alstreim?" Davis raised his arm and ran his hand through his blonde hair, "I have my own sources too, but I guess that you were informed by Elder Havle Alstreim..."
Edgar Alstreim calmed down a bit, but he suddenly remembered, "Conferred Queen! What about the Conferred Queen!? Does she know?"
"No need to worry as she doesn’t know..." Davis lied through his teeth before he smirked.
"More than that, if the Grand Elders and the Ancestor were to know that your father-in-law leaked this kind of top-secret information to you, I wonder what would happen?" Davis looked elsewhere as he teased.
Edgar Alstreim panicked, his lips trembling, "W-What are you talking about!? I don’t know about any aboriginals or about those two women who used ice and-"
He snapped his tongue to a stop, but he knew that he was too late. His tongue slipped.
"Two women?" Davis smiled as his eyes flashed.
If this information was from Elder Havle Alstreim, then these so-called two women should be Ellia and Shirley.
Then that means Edgar Alstreim has a misunderstanding that Shirley is Claire and wants to search for her since they both use fire type attacks?
’So that’s why! Edgar Alstreim leaves to search for Claire, but he doesn’t die. But on the other hand, Tia Alstreim and Lia Alstreim end up dead in a decade. This all makes a bit of sense, but how can it be that Edgar Alstreim ends up searching Shirley for a decade?’
’Could it be that after finding Shirley and confirming that she was not Claire, he ends up diving into the Forsaken Phoenix Realm by someway and gets stuck there for fifteen years until the next opening? After all, Shirley should not be aware that Claire and his family were all in the First Layer.’
Davis contemplated many theories like these in a few short seconds, but he failed to reach an answer.
’In any case, this still doesn’t explain how Tia Alstreim and Lia Alstreim ends up dying...’ He mused before he opened his lips.
Edgar Alstreim looked utterly shaken. He was hopeless to do anything against this person, and on top of that, even his weakness was gotten hold off, making him not even capable of daring to raise his voice anymore. He had never met a terrifying person below a hundred years of age. This was the first time he knew complete defeat.
Davis raised his hand and patted Edgar Alstreim’s shoulder, "Don’t worry. I won’t harm you. If I did, perhaps who knows how long I’m going to be berated?"
"You... Who are you?"
Edgar Alstreim’s lips trembled as he finally saw the resemblance of his daughter in Alchemist Davis. However, he knew that such a matter was completely impossible! He felt that it was absurd, but his instincts were saying otherwise, causing him to fall into a stupor.
"Well, you would know soon enough, so there’s no haste. On the other hand, I have a proposition for you, are you interested?" Davis tightened his grasp on Edgar Alstreim’s shoulders as if he was forcing him.
Edgar Alstreim’s cheeks twitched as he felt a bit of pain that forced him back to reality. He was astonished! Despite him being at the Peak-Level Martial Ascendance Stage, Alchemist Davis was still able to make him feel pain by physical might!
Feeling that he was already on the back of a tiger, unable to get down, he asked as he took a deep breath, "What kind of proposition?"