Clouds of Suspicion and Surprise

"Brother Igneel, did you suspect me just now?"

Looking at the aunt-like smile on Sordil's face, Igneel felt a waterfall of embarrassment slide down the back of his head, but the clever Fire Dragon King cleverly used the anger on his face to cover up his guilty conscience.

"Brother Sordil, how could you possibly think I would doubt you? That idea is utterly absurd!"

Facing the grief-stricken Igneel, Sordil forced back his trembling body and gave him a brotherly hug, then said with emotion, "I'm sorry, Brother Igneel! I shouldn't have doubted you. To express my apology, please accept these barrels of wine!"

Upon seeing the fine wine, the Fire Dragon King's IQ instantly dropped to zero. He completely forgot about the minor altercation that had just occurred. He picked up the wine barrel that Sordil handed him and poured it into his mouth. Then... the Fire Dragon King breathed fire!

"So spicy! Ah... Ah, so spicy!"

"It's so spicy it'll kill you! It's so spicy it'll kill you!"

Seeing Igneel sweating profusely from the spiciness, Sordil belatedly said, "Oh! I'm so sorry, Brother Igneel, I just handed you the chili sauce thinking it was red wine. Are you alright?"

"I was rolling on the floor, tears and snot streaming down my face from all the spiciness, do you think I'll be alright?"

"I'm sorry, Brother Igneel, I'll try my best to help you stop the burning sensation."

After being force-fed seven or eight buckets of water by Sordil, Igneel was finally relieved of the spiciness. However, as the price for drinking a whole bucket of hot sauce, two red, fat sausages hung from his mouth. Upon seeing Igneel's new appearance, Metalicana and the others laughed so hard Yesveta even fainted from laughing twice.

Seeing everyone staring at him and laughing, Igneel asked, bewildered, "What are you all laughing at?"

He should have kept quiet, because his words only made Metalicana and the others laugh even harder. Even the ladies like Grandiere and Yelibell couldn't bear the comical scene and burst into laughter, clutching their stomachs and showing their teeth. Meanwhile, the Prince who started it all fled the scene the moment he discovered the 'red sausage'.

Puzzled, Igneel relentlessly pursued the group, asking them questions to find out why they were laughing. However, none of them could utter a complete sentence; they all managed to get to the beginning before bursting into laughter again. Finally, Diphiya, in a fit of kindness, crafted an ice mirror for Igneel so he could see the answer for himself.

"So... D... Er!"

Igneel roared angrily and chased after the escape rope. Seeing that he had been exposed, Sordil sped up his escape, maintaining a safe distance from the victim thanks to his advance notice.

"Brother Igneel, don't be angry! I can use Healing Magic to restore your lips!"

"Not angry? They've already made fun of me, and you're telling me not to be angry!"

"Didn't you just laugh at me? Did I get angry?"

"You've turned my mouth into this mess, and you're still saying you're not angry?"

After exchanging shouts, the two hovered high in the air, staring at each other from afar, neither daring to make a move. A quarter of an hour later, a loud roar came from below, breaking the stalemate.

"Hey! Igneel, Sordil, come down quickly! King of Babaronza has finished explaining to the survivors, and we can question them now!"

"Brother Igneel, how about we take care of those guys from the Western Continent first, and then have this friendly match?"

"Can!"

Faced with the bigger picture, the two made the same choice, thus saving their friendly sparring match and beginning their main storyline reload. When they landed, Grandiere and the others had already gathered around the survivors. Upon seeing Sordil, Katro struggled to straighten up, then bent over at a ninety-degree angle to apologize to Sordil.

"Prince Sordil, I apologize for my rude behavior just now, and I hope you can forgive me!"

Sordil hurriedly stepped forward to help Katro up, then said apologetically, "I'm sorry, brother, I only managed to save your life, but I couldn't restore your lost limbs!"

"Prince Sordil, please don't say that! Although I have lost my hands and feet, compared to my dead brothers, this is already much better!"

After calming Katro down, Sordil shifted the topic to the invasion of the dragons from the Western Continent.

"Brother, can you tell me about the situation when the dragons from the Western Continent invaded the town?"

Having already learned of Sordil's group's purpose from King of Babaronza, Katro, upon hearing Sordil's inquiry about the Western Continent's dragon invasion of the town, said with a face full of grief and indignation, "Of course! I'll tell you what happened right now. That morning I was on guard duty on the watchtower, and then I saw..."

Half an hour later, Sordil and his companions learned the details of the attack on the town from Katro. At this moment, Sordil suddenly realized that the truth differed from his and Irene's predictions. Losing control of the situation, Sordil felt a sense of panic, which fueled his desire to capture these people from the Western Continent Western Continent alive and extract information about their movements there. However, before that, he needed to unravel another mystery that had been puzzling him.

"Brother Katro, you just said that before the dragons invaded the town, a large, bluish-white ball drifted rapidly from the sea and then crashed into the harbor?"

"That's right!"

"Are you sure that bluish-white sphere isn't Evil Dragon from the Western Continent?"

"Absolutely certain!"

"Why?"

"Because the Evil Dragon of the Western Continent are constantly attacking that big ball, and no dragons have come out of the big ball after it entered the harbor."

Hearing Katro's words, Sordil's doubts deepened. Just as he was about to continue asking about the bluish-white sphere, Igneel impatiently interrupted, "Brother Sordil, our target is those bastards from the Western Continent. Why do you keep asking about this sphere?"

When their beloved/husband was questioned, Yelibell and Grandiere protested loudly in unison, "Igneel, don't interrupt Sordil's train of thought!"

Seeing the two so perfectly in sync, everyone, including Sordil, was startled. However, their reasons for being startled were different. Sordil, the emotionally oblivious man, was startled because he sensed Yelibell's affection for him, while Metalicana and the others were startled because Yelibell abandoned her subtle hints and instead used a direct approach to express her love.

The air fell eerily still as everyone watched Sordil and Yelibell in silence, anticipating the start of the next performance.

"Could it be that Sister Yelibell has feelings for me?"

The moment this wicked thought surfaced in his mind, Sordil felt an instant urge to strangle himself. To protect his family, to defend Ishgar, and to maintain the United Front Alliance, he had already shamelessly married the goddesses Grandiere and Irene. How could he possibly harbor improper thoughts about other women?

But Sister Yelibell has made so many sacrifices for me. If I were to refute her in front of everyone like this, how would she ever face anyone again? How would I ever have the face to see her again?

At that moment, Sordil felt a pang of longing for Anna, the sweet little helper who had countless times rescued him from the clutches of tigers. Sordil firmly believed that if Anna were here, she would have already prepared a small stool for him to descend the steps. Just as he was agonizing over his miscalculation, an unexpected person caught him on the steps.