"I don't think we can do this one more time; fortunately, the blood of one of you is sufficient to exit the room!"
Nafız spoke in an exhausted state, but Lareina did not seem to have recovered from the impact of what she had experienced. The Blood God left her to her own devices and turned to Jashua on her right.
"So, little one, now you know who the thing shoved into your mouth in that damp cave came from!"
The Young Count had a thoughtful demeanor with his head down; he had finally found the answer to the question that had been nagging at his mind for a long time.
"Yes, that remnant belongs to the genius of the Holy Blood Sect of a time and the person whose name is forbidden today. I found the answer I was looking for, but this changes nothing! The person who gave me the remnant, extended a helping hand to my family while we were starving, and liberated the entire continent stands right in front of me!"
The talking phase ended here; no one opened their mouths for a while, I guess everyone was busy digesting what they had experienced.
"What is inside this box?"
The person breaking the silence was Lareina; the girl covering her face with her hair spoke without being able to hide her tearful voice.
"It contains the notes of Isabel's studies, who is the mother of you and Mora, and clues on how to use them!"
"Okay, but I can't read?"
"I understand; Jashua can help you with this, right?"
When Nafız finished her words, she turned her head towards the Young Count; Jashua had received the signal.
"Yes, I can help with pleasure!"
"Alright then, since we handled this business, let's take what we can and leave. I don't have enough blood essence belonging to Mora in my body to enter here one more time; there is a much more important place where we need to use the small amount remaining!"
"Then I want to take the painting, but I don't have interspatial storage; can you take it for me, Jashua?"
After Lareina's request, Nafız's single eyebrow raised; this request was being made to the Young Count, not to her. Since the room didn't have much besides the beautiful view, the time came for the trio to leave after Jashua took the large painting.
"Lareina, your blood is needed again; you must write your name on the wall where the door opened!"
Although difficult, the girl with strange hair did as she was told; she moved to write her name on the wall with the blood flowing from her arm cut by Nafız, but she seemed to have forgotten something.
"I don't know how my name is written?"
Nafız tilted her head to the side and gave a command to Jashua; the Young Count stepped forward, held Lareina's blood-covered hand, and started writing her name on the wall together with her.
On one side, Jashua, who looked majestic enough to squeeze water out of a stone and was the lord of a fiefdom at an age still considered a child; right next to him, a girl with hunched shoulders hiding her face with her hair. While watching this scene, Nafız couldn't help but mutter to herself.
"One's inside is the other's outside, the other's outside is the other's inside!"
Meanwhile, the name was completed and the portal, a copy of the previous one, opened; Nafız and Lareina looked at the room for the last time and returned inside the Temple again.
"Orc warrior, I want you to tell me everything. How did you meet my twin, what happened to her, and why are you here?"
As soon as the portal closed, Lareina stood before Nafız. The fuse was lit; the truths were waiting like a bomb ready to explode.
"What will you give me in return, little lady; will you paint my portrait?"
The warm winds on the other side of the portal were not blowing here; Nafız couldn't help but assume her usual arrogant attitude.
"Could me telling that you are an orc be a return?"
"Wow, are you blackmailing me? Let it be so, but if it comes out that you are the twin sister of someone hated enough that her name cannot even be spoken, it wouldn't be very pleasant for you, right?"
These waters were at a depth Nafız was accustomed to swimming in; the strange-looking girl met with a response of the same harshness in her first attack.
"What do you want from me?"
"That is the right question?"
When the girl sitting helplessly on her bed lowered her sails, she encountered a response she never expected.
"A few months later, when the Blood Valley trial is completed, I want you to come somewhere with me; until then, you must also study your mother's notes!"
"Are you sure? Do you want to enter there?"
"Yes, why are you surprised?"
"I must warn you; maybe you don't know, but that is a very dangerous place. Especially for talented people; they say the difficulty level increases the stronger you are!"
Lareina panicked; although she didn't know if she was thinking about her sister's blood essence or her, Nafız didn't seem like she would step back.
"From what I heard, that was a place previous sheikhs entered to die, and their best men followed them. There are rumors that if luck is on your side, you can inherit the technique of one of them; would you want to miss this chance, Jashua?"
Nafız, who started her speech looking at the girl, finished it by turning to the Young Count; although she knew the answer to the question she asked, it was as if she wanted to hear it from his mouth once too.
"How can I pass up such an opportunity; every time I think about it, the power within my blood answers almost like a heartbeat!"
The Young Count was eager since yesterday, but Lareina started speaking as if she was worried.
"I thought you were going to help me?"
Nafız started laughing out loud; although she couldn't see Lareina's face, Jashua's was slightly reddening.
"Open your ears and listen to me well, little lady; I will tell you these once!"
Then Nafız fulfilled the strange-haired girl's request; she summarized what happened from her meeting with Mora until today without going into details, but even this caused the hour to pass midnight.
"Thus, I have fulfilled my part of the deal; now it's your turn!"
"Jashua, you can stay here and help Lareina study. I'm out; I feel very suffocated. Our place is airier; take it easy!"
Nafız opened the door and took her first step outside when Jashua rushed out after her.
"Sir, can we talk for two minutes?"
The duo closed the door and were left alone in the corridor; Nafız was scanning Jashua with curious eyes.
"Why did you tell Lareina some things incorrectly or not at all? Obviously, someone has confused the information in her mind; doesn't she deserve to hear the truth?"
"Who said she doesn't deserve it, but now is not the time. Believe me, this is for her own good; don't you see her state? Do you think she is emotionally ready to know everything?"
Nafız had either not told details about her mother Isabel and her father Abarran or told them as she assumed. Mora had lost her mother during birth, but Lareina thought that portrait was really drawn while Isabel was alive.
"Give the girl some time; I promise you, in the end, she will learn everything she needs to know. You are not aware, but she carries great importance for what we want to do; I think I found the person I was looking for!"
Nafız finished the conversation and started walking, leaving a thoughtful young man behind. Jashua also returned to the room without waiting much because there was someone waiting for him now too.
Leaving the Temple, Nafız headed towards the Garbage House, her permanent residence, without slowing down. Tonight the weather was foggy; it was impossible to see a few steps ahead, but a suddenly blowing wind changed the environment around the young girl.
"I was wondering where you were; I guess you were waiting for me too, weren't you?"
In the direction Nafız looked, there was a figure coming slowly towards her through the fog; as he approached a bit more, his faint features became thoroughly distinct. With his hunched body, white hair, and wrinkled skin, he was an old man with one foot in the grave.
"Let me guess, you came to kill me because I harmed Lareina!"