Chapter 4004: Ernas Parade (Part 1) "My only fault is to have bet on the wrong horse." Drenya said. "If you want to blame someone, blame the Royals for being ruthless. There was no need to exterminate our Solivar family. "None of those idiots knew the first thing about making money, only how to spend it. Without their riches and connections, they would have starved to death in a matter of weeks. "The Royals went beyond my expectations, no, everyone’s expectations, and killed all the nobles involved in the conspiracy to send those still sitting on the fence a message and cover their politically exposed backs. "Also, it’s not my fault if your siblings and our relatives were so utterly incompetent. The only reason they died is that they had no skill or talent to offer to the Crown. Otherwise, they would still be alive, just like you. "I’ve always known that with your looks and magic, you would have found a way to weather the stor,m and I was right. You being here today in front of me is proof of it!" Friya went pale and then became red in anger as she listened to Drenya not only refusing to acknowledge any of her wrongdoings, but also shifting the blame to those she had betrayed. "No, you were wrong." Friya sighed, her rage subsiding into silent resignation. "You are wrong about everything. I didn’t weather the storm. I was a 15 years old girl who suddenly had no family, no noble title, and the brand of traitor. "I had no idea of what to do and no way to survive the disaster you left in your wake. The Royals didn’t persecute a talented mage like me, but Linjos considered my expulsion. The mark of infamy you inflicted on me made me unworthy of a great academy. "Even if he decided to keep me, my classmates wouldn’t have allowed me to forget what you did. I would have been bullied and mocked every day, and only the gods know if I had the fortitude to stand up alone against an entire academy right after losing everything. "I’m here today only because I have friends who treated me like a sister and gave me the family that I never had in the Solivar Household. Because a nasty, scheming woman took me in as her daughter and treated me better than you ever did. "I’m not Friya Solivar anymore, Drenya. The Solivar bloodline is dead and buried. You’ve seen to it, and its destruction was thorough, like all your schemes. I’m Friya Ernas now, daughter of Orion and Jirni. "I don’t bear their blood, and my household might be a cadet branch of the Ernas for generations to come, but I carry their name and their magical legacy, and so will my children." Friya’s hand went to her stomach, and her eyes misted. "The Ernas Household." A cold, calculative smile appeared on Drenya’s face. "You far exceeded all my expectations. Joining a flourishing, powerful family is much better than reviving a fallen one. You saved yourself a lot of pointless struggles. "Yet what impresses me the most is your will to take that thing as your companion." She pointed at Nalrond, who had shapeshifted into his hybrid form and was holding Friya’s shoulder in support. "I didn’t think you had such hunger for power in you." Friya’s eyes flared with mana in anger, and she needed sheer willpower not to hurl all the Hydra venom stored in her glands at her birth mother. "I see." She sighed. "I didn’t expect you to fall on your knees and beg for forgiveness, but I hoped that years of hardships had taught you something. I saved your life, yet all you can do is deflect blame and take credit for everything I achieved." "If it’s of any consolation, I experienced a similar disappointment when you abandoned me." Drenya shrugged. "It’s your fault if I spent the past nine years as a commoner, and a bunch of thugs kidnapped me. I say we are even." "No, we are not." Friya threw a set of handcuffs at her birth mother’s feet. "Drenya Solivar, you are under arrest for treason against the Griffon Kingdom." "If this is a joke, it’s not funny." Drenya looked at the shackles like a coiled snake ready to bite. "Bring me to the merfolk village and let’s get this over with." "This is no joke." A wave of Friya’s hand put Drenya on her knees, and with her hands behind her back. "Then it’s madness!" Drenya said when the handcuffs floated to her wrists and snapped close with a metal click. "What point is there in taking so much trouble saving my life just to have me executed by the Kingdom? "Besides, you have no authority here. I’m a citizen of the Blood Desert now, and I have my rights!" "No, you are an outlaw. Right, Lith?" Friya asked. "Grandma?" He said out loud. "Outlaw. Don’t care." The voice of the Overlord sounded loud and clear, bleaching Drenya’s face back to her old pallor. "Grandma? Lith?" She stuttered. "That little runt you met at the academy was that Lith? The Supreme Magus?" "In the flesh." Friya nodded. "He’s the best diagnostician in the Griffon Kingdom and can vouch for my mental health. Believe me, Drenya, I have excellent reasons for my actions." *** It took the group almost half an hour to go back to the Starry Lagoon village, but only because Lith demanded a thorough search and pillage of the Yellow Wind tribe. "No one touch Grandma’s mines!" He said. "Everything else is up for grabs." "Do we really have to do this?" Solus stored everything in their pocket dimension after a cursory examination. "Anything we leave behind will be taken away by the next outlaw tribe that arrives here." Lith shrugged. "Also, the Yellow Wind’s cloaking arrays even impressed Ripha. Didn’t this experience teach you anything about filial piety, Solus?" "Lith is right, baby girl." Menadion grinned from ear to ear, briefly storing the magical books in Soluspedia to separate the teaching materials from the true magical legacies. "You should be more thoughtful towards me. We are the last two Menadion left on Mogar." "Ripha Menadion?" Not all rumors reached the outlaw tribes of the Desert, and Drenya experienced many shocking surprises during her final moments in the Yellow Wind village. "Can we keep this stuff?" Nalrond lifted a treasure box above his head. "I could use a bit of assets. I’m still paying my debt with Lith." "That’s a gray area." Lith sighed so hard that Drenya suspected he was poorer than the Emperor Beast. "Sure, the Yellow Wind stole from other outlaw tribes, but they all stole from Grandma. "We’ll return the magical metals and crystals to her and take what she gives us in reward. As I said, filial piety." "Can I at least take the tents? They are enchanted and should sell well." Nalrond asked. "Good thinking. Grandma won’t care about those. We split the profits in half, though." Lith replied. "Lith!" Friya and Solus yelled in unison, blushing in embarrassment. "You are taking everything that’s not bolted to the ground." "That’s not true." He replied in outrage. "I’m not touching those weird horses. Do you want them, Grandma?" "Yes, please." And with that, nothing remained of the Yellow Wind village.