"In the past...?" Dalila Leehan curiously wondered, "That means that she is no longer fit to be your rival anymore? Why? She took the alchemist path to reach the peak?"
Nora Alstreim shook her head, "She’s dead."
"Oh~" Dalila Leehan had her mouth agape before she shut it tight. She wasn’t insensitive enough to continue asking questions.
"Looking back... I, at least, wanted to call her a friend once..."
"Friend? You once wanted to call her a friend? It’s rich coming from the person who was responsible for the so-called friend’s death!" A man’s voice suddenly interrupted them.
"What do you mean?" Nora Alstreim actually stood up as she stared at Davis in all seriousness. It looked as if she was offended by his sudden yet strange statement.
"Heh!" Davis sneered, "Keep acting, and I’ll see how you’ll plead your innocence in the future!"
Dalila Leehan looked back and forth, wondering why they suddenly became tense.
Davis couldn’t keep his silence, and he wasn’t worried if things went south at this point after hearing all this bullshit from the perpetrator’s mouth. It was one thing for her to be proud of her schemes but to lament and act sorrowful as if she was pitying his mother when she was the one who backstabbed her had rubbed him off in the wrong way!
Nora Alstreim’s brows were furrowed as she clenched her fists.
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’What’s with all these people who seem to insist I did something wrong...? Wasn’t Ancestor the same...? Even Grandpa quickly avoided by changing the topic...’
Her eyes almost turned moist at these accusations. Nevertheless, she could understand that an outsider like Alchemist Davis didn’t know anything about her, so she relaxed her fists as she promptly calmed down and opened her mouth.
"Your statement... I want you to retract it."
Davis snorted, "Why should I retract my statement?"
"You may not know, but I can guess because it seems that there are people who might be spreading ill rumors about me. This Aqua Flood Dragon incident, which is ultimately brought my Grandmother Grand Elder Elise, has created the opportunity for some people to push me down."
"You’re downplaying a calamity to an incident. Your words have no weight and truth in it."
"You!" Nora Alstreim subconsciously walked forwards as her expression turned into a scowl but was held back by Dalila Leehan!
"Alchemist Davis! You have gone too far!"
"If you can slander with that kind of confidence, where’s your evidence?" Dalila Leehan stood up for Nora Alstreim.
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"Who knows?" Davis remained non-committal as he looked towards the stage where the second round seems to be almost over, "Perhaps the evidence would show up one day, and that day might be the day of her reckoning."
Nora Alstreim trembled from anger. Her anger was even visible in her expression as veins appeared over her fair neck. She tried to keep herself from going berserk on this public platform.
The other day, she heard someone, a woman slandering her of adultery with her grandfather. Of course, she killed her in secrecy and retaliation. Before that, there were all sorts of rumors about her, making her seem like that she was involved in various dark incidents of the Grand Alstreim City.
These incidents happened right after the Aqua Flood Dragon’s incident, and it was clear to her that someone was intentionally targeting her!
In all this, doesn’t this man understand when she meant that it was only ill and unproven rumors!?
"Nora, you mustn’t heed the words of a madman. Let him say whatever he wants. He’s simply provoking you." Dalila Leehan warned as she made her friend sit back on the seat.
Her expression became one of indifference before she walked towards Davis and stood in front of him as he looked down on him.
"To receive gratitude and return it with baseless slander. I am really disappointed by your actions."
She coldly looked at him before she returned to her seat without doing anything else. From a short distance away, that burly person, the protector, seemed ready to spring up into action to protect Dalila Leehan from whatever harm that may befall her.
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Davis could feel that Dalila Leehan was disappointed in him from her expression alone without her statement, but he could also feel her emotions deeply since she entered his two-meter radius, the range of his Heart Intent. Her disappointment couldn’t be any more true, but he did not care for a stranger’s opinion of him anyway.
Instead, he was more interested to know what Nora Alstreim felt.
Unfortunately, Nora Alstreim did not enter within his two-meter radius, so he was not able to make sense of her emotions, but he mused that it must be fear, nervousness, and anxiety trying to overwhelm as he could see her still trembling in her seat. After all, from his words, she might be afraid that he might have something on her!
Nora Alstreim lowered her head. It was unknown what she was thinking, but she suddenly raised her head and looked at Dalila Leehan, "You too... think the same?"
"Of course not..." Dalila Leehan shook her head, "Suspicion is one thing, but it could not be true without being proven. In theory, Pills Recipes that only exist in name cannot be considered authentic Pill Recipes unless it is proven that a valid and genuine pill can be made out of it. This is a saying in the alchemist world, and it basically means that we should not believe in baseless rumors."
"Besides, I’ve known you for more than twenty years. I have faith in my two eyes for perceiving one’s character, and I believe that you are not such a person from all our interactions before."
"Dalila..." Nora Alstreim became moved, not knowing what to say.
At times like these, where almost everyone seemed to look at like she was a monstrosity of a woman, Dalila’s words became a kind of support that she welcomed with all her heart. Her impression of Dalila Leehan in her heart also increased and made her lean towards her plan for their future.
’Perhaps Alstreim Family isn’t my place after all...’
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Nora Alstreim sadly thought before she shook her head that this might be unintentional sweet talk instead. She took a deep breath and calmed herself down, reminding herself that she is not allowed to become disheartened!
However, it looked as if she came to possess renewed vigor and confidence from the outside.
’Trying to garner sympathy?’ Davis increasingly became disgusted by her actions.
He no longer bothered and looked at the stage where Belias Alstreim floated and announced, "The second round has ended with fourteen participants passing! I must say, this has been quite a haul when compared to the previous Alchemy Exchange, where only seven of them passed the second round despite it being easier than this Alchemy Exchange!"
The spectators cheered for the alchemists who passed, but unlike the cheering in the first round, which was dull, it was pretty over receptive.
"This is perhaps due to an external influence, no?" Elder Belias Alstreim glanced at Princess Isabella for a brief moment, garnering a spontaneous burst of laughter from the spectators.
Even Davis’s expression couldn’t help but turn into a smile while his mood became better.