Jareth felt the pressing urge to escape but decided against it.
Despite his gaze fixed on Liana's departing back, he was calculating furiously.
'I shouldn't have searched those things on the nexus. But where would I have gotten the information? Although going to him will place me in a passive situation, I should be able to talk my way out of it. I'll just push everything to memory loss. Besides, from the behavior of Esta, I think she will protect me. All I have to do is act. I've been an actor, so I should smoothly sail through with it.'
Taking a deep breath, he relaxed his strained expression and went downstairs to meet the commander.
Halfway down the stairs, he saw the commander.
Just as Jareth stared at him, he raised his head to meet his gaze.
The man, with long silver hair, and a pale face and lips like he was out in the cold snow, was dressed in a black suit that complemented his white shirt and black tie, and a dark shade that hid his eyes.
A moment later, the man smiled at him.
Jareth kept a plain and natural expression as he went down and sat on the couch adjacent to the man.
The man suddenly turned to the dining room and smiled, before speaking slowly, "I'm sorry for the inconvenience I've caused, but I'll be done and gone in a few minutes."
Jareth followed his gaze and saw Esta eating elegantly. She merely nodded and continued eating.
The man's gaze returned to Jareth. Standing up, he walked up to Jareth.
Then he stretched his hand for a handshake. "Hello Jareth, I'm Elias Vance, a commander of Terminis Dominion."
Jareth accepted the handshake.
"You already know my name, but I'll still say it. I'm Jareth Idren," Jareth introduced with a friendly smile on his lips.
The man released his hand and went back and settled in his seat.
"As you know, the Arcanist Court always checks on problematic arcanists," he said calmly and slowly.
Jareth's heart hitched and his brows furrowed.
"Me? Problematic?" Jareth pointed at himself with wide eyes.
Elias nodded.
Jareth was quiet for a second and lowered his head as his forehead scrunched up while muttering something incoherent beneath his breath.
Finally, he raised his head.
"I don't remember doing anything problematic, Sir Elias."
Elias nodded with a friendly smile on his pale lips. "I know that. I just want to ask a few questions."
'Was he waiting for me to show an opening?' he mused inwardly but kept an attentive expression.
"Where have you been when you went missing? And what have you been doing?" he leaned forward with a stern expression.
Jareth paused for a second with furrowed brows. Then he shook his head.
"I can't remember. I woke up in the Dreadwoods Forest with a memory loss. I've been trying to recall anything, but all I see are blurry scenes and muffled voices…" his voice trailed off as he shut his eyes and massaged his forehead, feigning like he was recalling something.
"I'm so sorry about that. Looks like there's nothing I can discover here, but you can find Audrey Wymond to recover your memories. She's a healer too. Her house is just three buildings from here." He stood up and straightened his suit. "If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."
Turning to Esta, he said, "Thank you for your hospitality."
"You're welcome," Esta replied.
Elias turned and walked towards the door.
Jareth stared at his receding back, bottling up his surprise at how Elias didn't press for more answers or anything.
Even after he had left, Jareth continued staring at the door. After about a minute, he mumbled absentmindedly, "Just like that?"
"What were you expecting? He had seen what he wanted and has left," Esta's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
Jareth spun to face her.
"What did he come to see?" He asked, clearly confused.
But Esta ignored him.
'Why can't you communicate normally?'
Jareth could only take it as though he passed a test and headed upstairs to his room.
Esta's voice called out when he was halfway up.
"If I were you, I would spend time with the test robot to train your reflexes. It has been updated for better movement," Esta advised.
"Thank you for the advice, Miss Esta," he bowed slightly.
Jareth went to his room.
Upon entering and locking his room, he dropped lazily onto the bed on his back before taking off the shock bracelet. Jareth extracted his comm band and activated the holographic mode.
The translucent blue screen hovered above his chest.
Jareth navigated through the nexus, browsing through information about the Ruin Estate, and the more he read, the tighter his chest became.
The Ruin Estate is a destroyed estate that is a site where a high-rank mage of the previous era lived. He had a magus tower in the center, where he conducted his experiments, which happened to be beast enslavement.
But after the Oblivium invaded and the previous era's mages were wiped off, the estate became a land of monsters. What was very scary was the monsters' population. He even saw a clip of it, and he felt goosebumps prickle his skin.
Because of their dense population, every loud and prolonged battle attracts beasts, which will lead to eventual death. Someone also advised against using loud spells.
There was even a warning from the Arcanist Court against awakened arcanists and inexperienced arcanists hunting in the Ruin Estate.
'What is wrong with Liana?'
That was his first thought when he finished reading everything.
He had an inner struggle about whether to join them or not, but couldn't come up with a decision and ended up falling asleep.
When Jareth woke up, it was midnight.
He washed his face and went down to take a bottle of water.
He walked to the couch and sat down, thinking of his situation again.
'I've thought about it. I won't be joining them. Tomorrow will be my second time hunting, and I've only fought one battle, so joining them will be stupid and complacent of me. I'm inexperienced… Speaking of experience, what did Esta say about that robot? It can train reflexes?'
He didn't bother questioning her motive for generously helping him again after deciding on going with the flow.
'I better practice and make my spells instinctual. Even my battle instinct.'
Jareth stood up and headed for the training basement.