Chapter 250: But don’t expect wood and stone to go on a normal date

Helos and Julius left the Academy just like that.

Even though they said they were going out for some so-called “training,” the truth was that neither of them had a clear destination.

The streets of the Imperial Capital, Asgard, were still bustling and noisy.

To avoid unnecessary trouble and to keep Helos’s easily conspicuous “anti-magic constitution” from causing trouble for passersby, they deliberately avoided the crowded main roads and instead chose relatively quiet alleys or sparsely populated park paths.

If anything, it was more like wandering aimlessly than going out to have fun.

The winter sun was bright, but it didn’t provide much warmth.

Helos stuffed her hands deep into her thick pockets and idly kicked a small pebble on the roadside.

She watched the pebble roll back and forth, producing a series of crisp sounds.

“What’s wrong?”

Julius, walking beside her, noticed she was distracted and asked in a low voice, “Are you cold? Or tired?”

“No.”

Helos shook her head and tucked half her face into the fur lining of her coat, her voice sounding a bit muffled.

“It’s just… it feels a little too calm.”

“Isn’t calm a good thing?”

Julius raised an eyebrow.

“It is good.”

Helos sighed.

“But when I think about those guys hiding in the shadows watching us, it feels like this calm is just the calm before a storm. It gives me the creeps.”

Julius was silent for a moment.

He reached out, habitually wanting to ruffle the girl’s hair, but halfway through, he remembered they were out on the street, so he changed course and patted her on the shoulder instead.

“Don’t overthink it.”

His voice was steady and firm.

“I’m here.”

Helos rolled her eyes at him, but the anxiety in her gaze had visibly faded.

The two of them wandered aimlessly around the Imperial Capital for who knows how long.

Until the sun had started to tilt westward.

“Move aside! Quickly! Follow me!”

The sound of urgent, orderly footsteps suddenly came from a side street ahead.

Helos and Julius instinctively stopped and retreated into the shadows at the roadside.

Soon, a squad of soldiers wearing the Empire’s standard armor hurried past the street in front of them.

There were about a dozen of them, and every single face was etched with seriousness, their expressions tense.

The weapons in their hands reflected the cold light of the sun, and their armor clanked dully with each step.

They seemed to be on some kind of urgent mission.

The two of them didn’t pay much attention at first.

After all, this was the Imperial Capital. Patrols by the Royal Guard and the City Guard were completely normal.

Plus, with the increased search for the missing Professor Graham recently, the streets had been under stricter surveillance than usual.

Helos glanced at the retreating figures and was about to turn back to their earlier topic.

But just as the last soldier’s silhouette disappeared around the corner, Julius, who had been standing silently beside her, suddenly changed expression.

“What’s wrong?”

Helos noticed the shift in her companion immediately.

Julius didn’t answer right away.

He stood still, not moving.

But his dark eyes were fixed on the direction where the squad had vanished, and his nostrils flared slightly, as if he were sniffing something in the air.

He sensed an unusual aura.

It wasn’t the smell of sweat or rust from the soldiers.

It was something… more obscure, more nauseating.

It smelled like rotten sludge from a sewer, or the stench emanating from the remains of some long-dead creature.

Even though it was well-concealed, even extremely faint—so faint that without Julius’s “chosen one constitution,” it would have been impossible to detect—it was there.

That aura…

Came from Chaos.

Julius stopped in his tracks, and his relaxed brow unconsciously tightened.

He was absolutely certain his perception was correct.

The chaotic aura didn’t come from the soldiers themselves, but they had definitely been tainted by it.

And this aura was still fresh.

“Julius?”

Seeing him unresponsive for a long time, Helos couldn’t help waving a hand in front of his face.

“What are you spacing out for? See someone you know?”

Julius snapped back to reality.

He looked down at her, a flicker of hesitation in his eyes.

He’d wanted to make up some excuse to brush it off.

After all, he brought Helos out to help her relax, not to drag her into danger again.

But then he reconsidered.

Since that chaotic aura had appeared here, it meant those guys were nearby.

If he kept it a secret, what if that aura, or its owner, had its sights set on Helos?

Letting her know the truth would at least keep her alert.

So Julius took a deep breath and decided to tell the truth.

“Not someone I know.”

He lowered his voice, his tone more serious than ever before.

“Helos, don’t turn around, and don’t act strange.”

“Just now… I sensed a chaotic aura on that squad of soldiers.”

“It’s very faint, but I’m absolutely sure. It’s very likely those Chaos Believers are up to something.”

Julius had expected that upon hearing the words “chaotic aura,” Helos would be scared or nervous.

After all, she had just woken up from that horrible nightmare a few days ago.

But what he never expected was…

The moment the girl heard it, her originally listless pale purple eyes suddenly lit up!

That light wasn’t fear.

It was…

Excitement?

“Really?”

Helos jumped up so excitedly she almost bounced.

She grabbed Julius’s arm, her voice filled with barely contained delight.

“You mean… those guys who’ve been messing with us are nearby?”

“Uh… probably.”

Julius was thrown off by her unusual reaction.

“Great!”

Helos punched the air with her fist, a huge smile spreading across her face.

“What perfect timing—just when we were looking for them, they show up!”

She started dragging Julius in that direction.

“Come on, Julius! This saves us the trouble of searching, right? Hurry, hurry! Don’t let them get away!”

“Huh?”

Julius clearly hadn’t expected Helos to react like this.

He was stunned for a moment, even stumbling forward two steps as she pulled him before he snapped out of it.

“Wait! Stop right there!”

He grabbed her wrist and forcibly halted her near-suicidal behavior.

“What are you thinking?!”

Julius scolded her seriously.

“Have you forgotten your current situation? You’re the Chaos Believers’ target! The vessel they’ve been dreaming of! How can you willingly run toward those dangerous people?”

“Our priority is to avoid them, not charge headfirst into the line of fire like some naive rookie!”

“Oh, don’t be so rigid.”

Helos, unable to move because he had her wrist, stopped and turned to face him.

She wasn’t angry at his scolding.

Instead, her smile grew even brighter.

She held up one finger and wagged it lightly in front of Julius, putting on a mysteriously knowing expression.

“Mr. Julius, I think you’re way too conservative in terms of tactics.”

She answered confidently:

“As they say, the best defense is a good offense. Since they’ve already set their sights on us, hiding won’t do any good. If we annihilate them all, we won’t have to worry anymore, right?”

“Annihilate?”

Julius let out a scornful laugh.

“With just the two of us? Do you want me to just slash my way through with a sword, or do you want to use your barely mastered ‘Curse of Silence’ to fight them to the death?”

“Who said anything about fighting to the death?”

Helos rolled her eyes.

“We’re going to investigate! Investigate, understand?”

She pointed in the direction the soldiers had disappeared.

“Besides, we don’t need to start anything. We just need to quietly follow those soldiers, see where they’re going, who they meet, or what they’re doing.”

“If we really find the lair of the Chaos Believers, or catch a trace of that old bastard Graham, we don’t have to alert them. We can just come back and call for backup!”

Helos grew more convinced that her plan was flawless.

“Think about it, Christ and the Royal Guard have been searching for days with no leads. Now the clue is right in front of us. Are we really going to let it slip away?”

She leaned in close to Julius, her pale purple eyes flashing with a cunning yet determined light.

Her voice dropped, turning cold.

“More importantly…”

“We desperately need the trail of those Chaos Believers right now, right?”

“If we don’t root them out… I won’t be able to swallow this anger.”

Julius looked at the girl before him.

He saw the unguarded flame in her eyes and the courage that hadn’t been crushed by fear.

He fell silent.

He knew Helos was right.

Passive defense was always the worst option.

If the source wasn’t dealt with, the danger would never go away.

And…

He had to admit, Helos’s proposal actually tempted him.

As a chosen one, as a saint knight sworn to cut down all evil, letting a clue slip through his fingers was torture in itself.

“Fine.”

After a brief, intense internal struggle, Julius finally let out a helpless sigh.

He let go of Helos’s wrist.

“But.”

He looked at her, his expression more serious than ever before.

“We set three rules.”

“First, follow my lead in everything. If I say retreat, you turn and run immediately, without hesitation.”

“Second, never leave my side—stay within three meters.”

“Third—”

Julius paused, then placed his hand on the sword hilt at his waist.

“If a fight breaks out, you only need to protect yourself. Leave the fighting to me.”

Helos listened to these somewhat domineering conditions. Instead of getting angry, she grinned even wider.

She snapped to attention like an obedient soldier, giving a half-hearted salute.

“Yes, sir!”

“What are we waiting for?”

She pointed ahead.

“If we wait any longer, that stench is going to fade!”