475
"Does General Reyna no longer care either? Has he abandoned Aldra too?"
The instant he heard those words, a roar went through Javiel's head, as though all the blood in his body had rushed upward. He rose straight from the bench, his expression so grim that he startled the middle-aged man sitting there.
But for a demigod of the Storm Pathway, notorious for their tempers, he was already remarkably calm and rational. Attaining the rank of general as a man of mixed blood was proof enough of his ability and self-control.
Javiel took a deep breath, silvery-white lightning flashing in his eyes. He struggled to suppress the emotions threatening to explode within him and forced his voice down as he asked:
"Where... did you hear that?"
He meant the false information that General Reyna had stepped down and returned to Loen.
At such a critical moment, false information like that circulating among ordinary citizens posed a deadly danger!
The middle-aged man fearfully adjusted his glasses and said quietly, "I heard people discussing it while I was buying food. They said the former governor and the general had both left. Is that not true? That news has been circulating in many mutual aid societies..."
"If General Reyna hasn't gone home, why hasn't he appeared again?"
Javiel knitted his brows. "Perhaps he's simply tied up with affairs and has no choice but to stay out of sight for now."
The middle-aged man gazed at Javiel, his fearful manner vanishing. With a smile, he asked pointedly, "What difficulties could a general encounter? Could it be that he doesn't have enough troops to drive those terrifying cultists out?"
Javiel gave a mocking laugh. He felt he should stop talking, but he had had enough of discrimination, cold looks, and repression. Following the anger