"Brother-in-Law! Your timing was impeccable!" Shuwrak Zahara exclaimed joyously in the palace upon spotting Brangara.
"I told you it would work, stupid uncle." Barla nudged him from the side, "You were the one doubting my plan until the end."
"Well…I haven't done anything that brave all my life. So it required more guts than what I had," Shuwrak Zahara smiled wryly. He then approached Brangara and expressed his curiosity, "Say, is it true that the strongest of my attacks wouldn't be able to harm even a strand of hair of yours?"
"Well, you could try and see it for yourself," Brangara said.
In response to his words, Shuwrak made an exaggerated action of annoyance, "If I had the courage to do that, why would I bother to ask you?"
"Is this guy always like this?" Brangara stared at Yarsha Zahara exasperatedly, "I've never seen a guy arrogant at his lack of strength."
"Uncle, come with me. I'll teach you a new technique." Barla said and dragged Shuwrak away.
"He…" Yarsha Zahara hesitated a bit before saying, "All his life, he behaved as my stand-in."
"What do you mean?" Brangara was confused.
"When I was born, news of my talent was leaked throughout the Kingdom. Many powerful families secretly harbouring bad intentions against the Royal Family wanted to kidnap me for their agendas. They wanted to steal my talents." Yarsha Zahara said, "Brother was born with a frail body and was similar in height to me, despite being five years older. So, he disguised himself as me and had been kidnapped countless times."
Shuwrak managed to survive through all that, but as a defensive mechanism, he developed to become flashy of his weaknesses. It was thanks to this that he managed to live through various compromising situations.
"I respect the sacrifice that he has made. If not for him, I wouldn't have been alive as myself until now." Yarsha Zahara sighed, "So, I want him to change. But he doesn't desire a change."
"Are those families alive?" Brangara smiled faintly. "If there are any survivors, I'll erase them. Give me a few minutes."
"Do you have a list?" Brangara stared at the Zahara King.
"Yes," The Zahara King bowed respectfully before giving a scroll to Brangara. He then prostrated on the ground, "But I hope you spare them for the time being."
"Why?" Brangara asked, "They dared target my wife. So what reason do I have to spare them?"
"The Kingdom would collapse when you eliminate everyone responsible." The Zahara King said in apology, "They all hold important positions in the Kingdom. And other than the kidnapping incident, they've done a great job for the Kingdom."
"I only request you to spare them until their positions are inherited by their successors. That way, eliminating them won't cause the Kingdom to come to a standstill."
"What are your thoughts on this?" Brangara asked Yarsha Zahara.
"Brother is the one most likely to become King. I want to honour his thoughts." Yarsha Zahara sighed, "He hasn't expressed any desire to eliminate those families."
"Well, it's your Kingdom's affairs. I won't interfere if you don't want me to." Brangara didn't dwell on the matter for too long. "But, strike them all from the list of possible suitors. I don't want any of those bastards marrying my kids."
"Yes," The Zahara King bowed and took action, summoning the ministers to the courtroom for a discussion. The evening that day, the Zahara King released the news that his grandchildren were looking for suitors.
This was the chance to become the son-in-law/daughter-in-law of the Celestial Boar, so the majority of the Kingdom went crazy. It was their greatest shot to the social pinnacle.
Anyone who succeeds would obtain the confidence to act superior to practically every single existence on Sumatra. After all, they'll now become a relation to the Celestial Boar. Their names would go down in history as significant individuals, even if they themselves haven't accomplished anything in their lives.
Celestial Boar—Brangara!
The name alone had power. And becoming associated with the first generation of the Wean Clan allowed them to wield a portion of that power. The news spread like wildfire as the entire Kingdom prepared for the day when all prospective suitors would showcase themselves to the four Wean Clansmen and hopefully gain the favour of one of them.
At a somewhat rundown tea house situated towards the outskirts of the Kingdom, a middle-aged man wearing tattered clothes held a parchment which contained the Zahara King's declaration, 'Suitors for the Wean Clan? This is huge! I must inform Boss immediately!'
He exited the teahouse, rushed into a small forest within the Kingdom's confines and activated his Human Avatar to transform into an existence resembling a pile of flesh. Fat globules gushed out of his body and condensed around the scroll to form a large sack.
As his Prana continued to gush into it, the meat sack shrunk in size but increased in density. Though it hardly emitted any scent to the human nose, the case was different for Pranic Beasts. The meat sack allured them to the extent they would experience immense starvation, even if their bellies were full.
The man used the meat sack as a Spirit Container, approached the wall, and hurled it over the Kingdom's walls. He pressed his ears on the walls and listened, smiling upon hearing the growls of a Pranic Beast, 'There lives a decently mobile Pranic Beast in this place.'
Outside the wall, a canine Pranic Beast lunged upon the meat sack, kicking away its competitors and swallowing it whole. Right after it had done so, a strange effect clouded its senses, causing it to smell a powerful scent.
It was the same scent as the delicious sack of meat it had just swallowed. And judging by the intensity of the scent, the quantity seemed enough to satiate it for a year. As its hunger was stirred up by the scent, the canine Pranic Beast sprinted in the direction of the scent, unaware of the fact that it had been caught up in the effect of a Nature.
The man who had created the sack of meat was a spy from another Kingdom. Any Pranic Beast that had consumed it would be lured in by a scent and proceed in that direction. This scent didn't exist but was something generated by confusing their senses.
To them, it would be like an instinct of sorts, similar to how pigeons return home from anywhere across the world. So, guided by this scent, the Pranic Beast would return 'home' which was the Kingdom to which the man belonged.
The Pranic Beast's actions would immediately alert the soldiers there of it being sent by a spy. They would hunt it and then extract the scroll from its stomach. In this way, they would receive the information.
Of course, there was no guarantee of the Pranic Beast making its way to its destination without being killed by some creature along the route. Hence, the man intended to send more along the way.
After gathering a bunch of scrolls from the nearby city, he continued to send out messages, hoping his Kingdom would react fast enough and dispatch a team of talented people capable enough to gain the fancy of the Wean Clan and become engaged with them.
'Now, I need to wait patiently.' The spy wiped his sweat, returned to the rundown tea house and slumped on the seat, "A jug of water, please."
"Here," The server presented the water alongside a cup of tea, "Do you need anything else?"
"A plate of my usual order." The spy ordered.
"Coming up!" Followed by a short announcement to the kitchen, the server returned to take care of the needs of the other customers.
Soon, it was late into the night as the rundown tea house called it a day and closed shop. Cleaning the floors calmly while whistling a tune was the server, her actions coming to a halt suddenly.
Upon surveying her surroundings to double-check the level of safety, she spat a tiny sphere of bone that expanded to a radius of two metres and cracked, revealing the figure of Orakha inside. "What's the matter?"
"Yennda is nowhere to be found." Orakha gritted his teeth, "We've been keeping a watch all along, but the moment Brangara left for the Zahara Kingdom, Yennda vanished. Now that they all are here, Virala and I scouted the entire Varahan Enclave. There are no traces of Yennda there."
"What about Grehha?" The server asked, "Is Yarsha Zahara displaying any intentions of reviving him?"
"She has stopped the revival process at the final step." Orakha said, "She probably only needs to seep in ten or so units of Prana to revive Grehha. So, she's storing his revival fruit in her Minor Treasure of Lunchbox."
"Have you managed to figure out which of her four Lunchboxes has Grehha?" The served frowned.
"Not yet," Orakha shook his head, "Brangara is always at her side. He's also keeping his keys in his vicinity. So, it's impossible for me to get anywhere close to him without being dealt with instantly."
"It's troublesome." The server nodded and stared at Orakha, "Well, is that all?"
"Yeah," Orakha nodded before expressing nervousness, "But Gannala, isn't this dangerous? You've infiltrated Zahara Kingdom on your own. If you were to get captured, then our situation would become hopeless."
"That can't happen. No need to worry." Gannala said, "I'm just occupying the Nature Slot of a citizen here. Even Brangara cannot detect me. Besides, the best place to hide is in the shadow at the feet of the lamppost."
"From this proximity, I can focus on the Wean Clan's actions the best." Gannala then shrugged and took a seat, "Let's talk about you now."
Her eyes curled up faintly as she asked, "Is Maroppa pregnant yet?"
"No…" Orakha shook his head, flinching instinctively as the Mystic Eaters hidden in his clothes trembled all of a sudden. 'She has changed a lot as compared to before. I'm feeling fear to think about her.'
'No, is this her actual personality?' Orakha shuddered upon seeing Gannala's smile. Her subsequent words almost made him commit suicide to flee the place.
"It's a pity, and here I thought you would have acted upon your ambition already. Both the Chief and Yahard Tusk are safe."