☀️ Arselia and Akonia

For some strange reason, Alaria didn't think the king would go to the Temple with his retinue. Did she really think that a proud man with such a powerful physique would do it himself? Perhaps it was just due to lack of sleep, while waiting for news from Her Majesty. But the more she thought about the wizard's "request," the more she wondered... did he specifically need Akkad's blood? Wouldn't the blood of Naria do? However, the Tanarian wasn't so foolish or reckless as to ask her patron to part with a gallon of blood that would be used by a suspicious sorcerer for his equally suspicious purposes. She simply couldn't do it – the curse would simply not allow her to explain to Her Highness why her servants liked this blood. So, Akkad remained their only option, in case another member of noble blood didn't show up in Calcite, or the group didn't happen to encounter one of the great king's many offspring. In that case, all that remained was to send Kenshiro to follow Akkad like a shadow during each pilgrimage, hoping that the ruler of Calcite would encounter bloodthirsty monsters or exceptionally brave bandits. Then the ghost might have a chance to restrain the king during a fight, extract the blood, and... no, even then he might reveal himself. He could be spotted by the guards. But sending the samurai alone, hoping that he could single-handedly eliminate the camp and drain Akkad's blood... the girl didn't see any easy solutions yet, and she didn't want to rely on luck.
If anything, I'm waiting for Heroist to post and offer the necklace in exchange for the eight paths. If he hasn't changed his mind, of course. I definitely need to level up before the tournament, and I would start with that.