I Can Read People's Comments

Chapter 91 Next Course

[Chapter 90 Comments]

[Vanadhi_Lucia: Oh, Ansthor can turns into Shadow? Is he a Ghost/Dark type, then? Then just Blast him with a Fairy Type Moves. Here, I will give…read more.]

[Danx_72: I think some comment who can be "inappropriate" can't reach Mr. Theo...?]

…

Helvenia Kingdom.

"What did you say? Aurora was kidnapped?!" A roar resounded across the castle, carrying anger and disappointment.

Ansthor was kneeling in front of two elves. The angry one was a male elf, looking like a man in his late twenties. He had a thin frame, but his shout earlier carried a tremendous amount of essence that shook the entire castle.

Beside him was a female elf, looking similar to his age. She had a gentle but sad expression as though she had been hit hard by the news.

They were none other than Aurora's parents, the current king and queen of the Helvenia Kingdom.

"I have made the biggest mistake, Your Majesty. Please punish me." Ansthor closed his eyes as if he had accepted his fate.

"Kh…" The king gritted his teeth. He wanted to kill Ansthor right away, but he had to get the information about the kidnapper first. There was a chance that the enemy this time wasn't one affected by madness.

"We were ambushed from the inside. Her teacher, Theodore Griffith, took that chance to destroy the ship's interior and escape. I tried to help them, but the enemies were too fast."

"So, they haven't been captured yet?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. Her Highness's teacher is still holding on, but we are not aware of their location."

The king bit his lips while contemplating their next move. After a few seconds, he shouted, "Guards! Drag this man to jail!"

"Ha!" The guards acknowledged the orders and immediately handcuffed Ansthor with a special cuff to seal his power before dragging him away.

When they left, the queen couldn't help but ask weakly, "Are they going to be fine?"

"Probably. I've heard a lot of things about her teacher, and he is rather competent. The problem is that…" The king looked hesitant before saying, "That guy didn't tell us everything. No, there could be lies mixed in it."

"Lies?" The queen was astounded. Ansthor was a high-level official, and he had been selected after a long background check. So, the possibility of him betraying or hiding anything was simply too low. There was only one reason for Ansthor to lie to them. "Madness?"

"No. His eyes are still clear. I don't know the motives, but I do know that they are still somewhere in this kingdom. My queen, restrain your grief and help me assemble a search and rescue group, scattering them in the last area they were spotted."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The queen nodded deeply. "How about you?"

"I will be gathering information from the ship's staff and that treacherous son of a guy." The king thought for a moment. "Aurora is a smart kid. If her teacher is protecting her, she should be able to come up with a path that will lead to safety. We can focus on those areas."

"Understood." The queen rushed outside, assembling the group.

Meanwhile, the king turned solemn as he looked up, "The bandit subjugation, huh? Does someone leak the information?"

…

As the king and queen were doing their best to rescue their daughter, Theo was waiting for his students to wake up before heading to the duchess's territory.

Finally, after a long four hours, Jayden and the others woke up from their slumbers.

"Mhmm?!" Jayden gradually opened his eyes, feeling that his body continuously shook. He had a hard time gathering information, but when he realized that they were not inside the ship, he woke up completely. "Where—"

He stopped after seeing Theo and the others.

"Sorry, Jayden. It seems that I've put you in danger. Luckily, it's only a sleeping gas." Aurora apologized for her blunder.

"What is going on?" Jayden asked.

"Since everyone has woken up, I'm going to explain everything." Aurora volunteered to explain the situation while Theo was standing not far from them, looking at the chapter's comments.

'Hmm? I don't know what you're talking about. I don't mind you talking about this world like a game, but don't consider me or any other living beings here as game characters. It's rather sickening since all of us have our own consciousness, and everything we experience is real.' Theo furrowed his eyebrows.

He had encountered a few weird comments, but he usually just ignored them or played dumb. But he still didn't like that he was considered something else instead of a proper human being.

'I know that in your perspective, I'm just like a one or two-dimensional character, but you and all the readers are also human beings like me. The only difference is that I'm within a story that you read, and if I ever escape from this story and enter your dimension…' Theo didn't continue and just sighed, letting everything go.

He didn't want to get angry with the readers to avoid turning them off, but he still had limitations as well.

Instead of continuing, he decided to move on to the second comment. 'I don't know what you mean by not reaching me since I don't know how many comments there are. Ultimately, the author is the one going to decide which comments will be put into the story.

'And I'm fine with you all chatting, joking, helping, or even trolling me, but I hope that you can consider me as a proper human being.'

Theo took a deep breath to calm himself down before turning to his students. It seemed that Aurora had briefed them about the situation and their current plan. Jayden had risen from the ground while the twins were checking their equipment.

"It seems that we're ready for an additional trip." Theo nodded, satisfied.

"Will there be an enemy on the road?" Jayden asked. "I don't mean people from your races, but rather monsters and the like."

"Monsters, huh?" Aurora looked down as if imagining the map in her head. "There are probably wild beasts that have low intelligence coming to attack us, but it shouldn't be that much of a problem. The duchy has been cleaning up the area, so there should only be low-level beasts around."

"Then, I'll take the front." Jayden nodded, assuring everyone that he would protect them.

"We'll handle the sides." The twins raised their hands while Aurora chose the most obvious position for herself. "I'll take care of the rear."

"Good. Let's go then." Theo agreed with their arrangement and let the kids move first. He was just sticking to them from behind, not going to help them unless it was necessary.

Unknown to them, Theo took this time to consider his current options as well as their situation. Theo couldn't help but ask, "Aurora. Where is the bandit hideout that we're supposed to go to?"

"Hmm…" Aurora pointed in the direction they were running and said, "It should be in the same direction. It's on the outskirts of the duchess's territory. We've got to reach her place first."

"Is it a coincidence? Absolutely not." Theo muttered in a low voice.

Aurora couldn't help but hear Theo's words since her ears were sharper than humans. Those words made her doubt her decision.

Since that place was their original destination, shouldn't they go there sooner or later? There was a chance the enemy had predicted it and set up an ambush on the way.

"Teacher. Should we change our destination?"

"Hoh? Why?" Theo smirked. He intentionally leaked out his thoughts earlier to test her sharpness, and she moved just as he expected.

"The enemies might have set up an ambush since they should know about our original purpose. We should go the opposite way and head to the capital city first to get reinforcement."

Explore more stories with empire

"What if the enemies know that you will realize their intention and choose to block that route instead?"

Aurora fell silent, not being able to answer that question. "Or should we stick with our current path? The most dangerous place could be the safest spot for us. Since Ansthor continued to the capital city, he should have other accomplices there. Instead of going there, we should go to the duchy, which I believe to be our ally."

"So, we're going to break through the enemy's ranks?"

"I'm afraid so. What do you think, Teacher? Why are you confusing me with all those possibilities…" Aurora looked a bit stressed. She already felt guilty, and now she had to deal with Theo's riddles.

"Alright, alright. No matter where we go, they will ambush us. That's all I can say to you." Theo calmly dropped the bomb.

"Huh?!" Aurora widened her eyes, while the others couldn't help but glance at him in disbelief. "How? Why?"

Aurora couldn't find any way for them to be tracked.

"Think about it, they put Jayden and the twins to sleep once you left your room. The enemies should have expected us in the area and encircled us. No matter where we go, they will be there." Theo explained his thoughts while adding inwardly, 'I can't really say that the author will most likely bring them to us in one way or another just to make a fighting scene, can I?'

Aurora and the others couldn't help but agree with Theo's explanation. It seemed that they had no choice but to go. And it was better to reach a safe territory, which was the duchy. Theo could also get his spirit there.

Ultimately, Aurora decided, "We will stick with our original destination. We'll ask the duchy for help later. Is there any objection?"

"None." Jayden confirmed while the twins nodded their heads.

As soon as they agreed, Theo said, "Alright. Let's speed up a bit."