The moment the armoured figures landed, the red-haired woman ordered in a tone full of authority, "Disperse and secure the town."
"Yes, General!"
Pounding their right fists across their chests, directly over their hearts, in a formal salute, the 11 armoured men and woman acknowledged the order in unison and kicked off the ground, scattering away in all directions at an astonishing speed.
When Lucas heard how this woman's subordinates addressed her, everything finally clicked in his head.
The distinctive fiery-red hair, a face that was at least 70% similar to Eris and Sasha's, an incredibly powerful aura, holding the title of 'General'. If Lucas still couldn't figure out who it was that stood before him with all these clues, he might as well have had a brick for a brain.
Knowing who he was dealing with, Lucas didn't hesitate for an instant to kneel down and lower his head to the dirt, "General Balfour, please save Eris! She's your…"
"I know who she is," before Lucas could finish his words, the woman cut him off.
Glancing up, Lucas met eyes with Celestina Balfour, who was looking down at him with a mixture of approval, interest, and appreciation. Lucas wasn't sure why Eris' great-grandmother seemed to hold him in high regard, but he wasn't of the mind to inquire about it right now.
He had other proprieties at the moment.
After recovering his wits, Lucas' first thought was to continue pleading for help. He knew that just because the woman before him was technically Eris' relative, it didn't mean Celestina was obligated to help her.
As cruel as it might sound, despite sharing the same blood, the two of them were still strangers who had never met before today.
However, Lucas' worries were proven unnecessary as Celestina declared, "Even if she wasn't my great-granddaughter, I would still have helped such a brave young girl."
Having said so, Celestina walked over, knelt down in front of Eris, fetched a round pill from the large pouch on her belt, and stuffed it into the young girl's mouth, "This pill will counteract the Vile Coyote's toxins. Swallow it quickly."
Eris was already in something of a daze, so she only lightly nodded and swallowed before muttering, "Thanks, Mom..."
Obviously, in her delirium, Eris had confused Celestina with Sasha, but the former didn't pay this any mind, simply smiling at this descendant of hers she was meeting for the first time.
Shortly after Eris swallowed the pill, she began sweating even more heavily. A few seconds later, she coughed up a mouthful of black blood and passed out, with Celestina gently catching her before she fell.
She then retrieved a small, exquisite looking bottle from the same pouch, broke the glowing seal around its lid, uncapped it, and poured its contents onto Eris' injured arm.
Almost immediately, steam began to rise from the grievous wound. The flow of blood slowed noticeably and soon a scab formed, only to fall off just 30 seconds later, revealing new skin.
Witnessing this miraculous sight, Lucas couldn't help feeling shocked.
Though the new skin looked raw, and blood was still dripping from here and there, the wound on Eris' arm had basically been sealed.
If this had been the other world, inside a state-of-the-art medical facility equipped with a high-tech tissue regeneration chamber, Lucas could have understood what just happened, but to see such a serious wound be almost perfectly healed with just a single bottle of medicine was nothing short of magical in his mind.
Had it been any other time, Lucas would have desperately wanted to inquire about what that elixir was and how it worked, but given the circumstances, he forced down his curiosity and instead focused on his big sister's condition.
Seeing Eris' breathing becoming steadier and her furrowed brow relax, Lucas breathed a sigh of relief and bowed his head once more, "Thank you!"
Shaking her head, Celestina replied, "This is what I should do."
Glancing over at the pair of children weeping over their mother's corpse, Celestina added with a sigh, "If I had arrived just a bit sooner, perhaps this tragedy could have been avoided."
Seeing such a powerful and influential noble show genuine care and sympathy for a mere peasant woman greatly elevated Lucas' opinion of Eris' great-grandmother.
Obviously, Celestina Balfour had not allowed the immense strength and power she possessed to dull her sense of humanity and compassion.
Getting to his feet, Lucas unconsciously spoke, "It's not your fault, Lady Balfour. The world is filled with tragedy, no one can prevent it all."
Turning her head to the child beside her again, Celestina's brow rose slightly as she asked, "Are you trying to comfort me, little boy?"
"Ah…" Lucas realized he had spoken without thinking, a bad habit he had developed after his accident, and lowered his head, "Forgive me. I meant no disrespect."
"It seems there's more than just one thing that's out of the ordinary about you," Celestina mused with a grin before composing herself and scooping Eris up into her arms.
Standing back up, Celestina took a hard look at the young boy before her, who could not have been older than 10, and asked in a serious tone of voice, "What's your name?"
"Lucas, my Lady. Just Lucas."
At that moment, Helen broke through the surrounding crowd and called out in panic, "Young Lady Eris!"
When the shouting had started earlier, Helen had wanted to rush out along with Lucas to see what was going on as well, but as the one left in charge of the Manor by Sasha, she first had to take control of the situation to avoid spreading panic, so it had taken her a while to arrive.
Naturally, once she made it outside, Helen had been stunned by the floating ship which had suddenly appeared over the yard, but her attention was quickly drawn to the armour-clad woman who was now carrying Eris towards the Manor.
Before Helen could ask any questions, the red-haired woman took the initiative to formally introduce herself.
Channeling Soul Qi into her voice, she announced in a voice loud enough to be heard across the entire Town Lord's Manor, "I am Marquess Celestina Balfour, General of the Raging River Legion and Lord of the South-East Province. I have come to take charge of this crisis and render aid!"
Upon hearing just who this woman was, all the surrounding townsfolk were dumbfounded. Most of them had never been in the presence of a noble greater than Baron Charles, much less one of the most powerful nobles in the entire kingdom, so it was understandable that they were a little overwhelmed at first.
However, it wasn't long before someone knelt down and shouted, "Greetings, Lady Balfour!"
As soon as the first such person appeared, everyone else seemed to wake from their trance and followed suit, none of them daring to show the slightest disrespect.
Celestina seemed unbothered by all this, obviously used to such displays, and simply waved her free arm, declaring firmly, "Rise. I'm not one for tedious formalities."
After seeing the townsfolk nervously get up, Celestina addressed Helen once more, "Where is the local Lord?"
"Charles… B-Baron Newton is currently fighting at the barricade on the main western road, and Lady… Lady Sasha is leading the hunting teams to contain the beasts which have slipped into town," Helen replied hesitantly, fumbling her words slightly as she kept changing how she introduced the Lord and Lady of Redwood Town.
Normally, Helen would simply call Charles and Sasha by name, as the two of them preferred it that way. Proper etiquette might be necessary in the homes of higher nobles, but in a small place like Redwood Town, it was more an inconvenience than anything else
On the very rare occasion that Helen did need to refer to the Lord and Lady by their titles, she would always introduce them as Baron Newton and Lady Balfour; however, calling Sasha 'Lady Balfour' in front of the Matriarch of the Balfour Family felt wrong, so she changed it to Lady Sasha instead.
None of this was missed by Celestina, who by now had figured out that one of her grandchildren had somehow ended up in this remote town and gotten married to the local Lord, but it also didn't bother her much.
Over her long life, Celestina had given birth to 8 children with her deceased husband. Her children had in turn given her 46 grandchildren, and over 100 great-grandchildren.
And that was just her own direct descendants. Celestina also had brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, and other relatives of her own. Some of these relatives had passed away, but even those who had left behind families as well.
If she tried to keep track of each and every one of her relatives, she wouldn't have had time for anything else at all.
Celestina had always held the belief that if one of her descendants was outstanding, they would sooner or later come to her attention, and if they weren't, as long as they weren't causing serious trouble, it was fine for them to live as they pleased.
Smiling at the nervous Helen, Celestina said casually, "There's no need to be so tense. I'm simply here to investigate the situation and provide what help I can."
"Y-Yes, my Lady," Helen stuttered nervously. Despite being told to relax, she naturally wasn't able to do so when literally facing the most powerful women in the entire Rockwell Kingdom.
Seemingly understanding this, Celestina didn't bother to make a fuss and just continued, "My subordinates will soon have the local situation under control, so I will speak to the Town Lord and Lady once they return. For now, who can best explain the current situation to me?"
Unconsciously, Helen glanced to Celestina's side, where a familiar young boy was standing quietly.
Lucas probably understood more about what was happening than anyone else; however, while Helen and the residents of Redwood Town wouldn't find this odd given all the things the young boy had accomplished over the past year or so, an outsider would undoubtedly think it was a bad joke.
As such, Helen quickly snapped her gaze back and tried to volunteer herself. She might not have understood as much about what was happening as Lucas did, but she could at least give a decent summary to Celestina.
Before Helen could say anything, though, Lucas spoke up in a decisive manner, "If Lady Balfour wishes to know what happened here, I can explain it to you."
Lucas then turned to Helen and asked seriously, "Aunt Helen, can you please head to Uncle Charles' office and pull out the best locals maps we have?"
Both Helen and Celestina were slightly taken aback by the way in which Lucas had inserted himself into their conversation.
Helen wanted to refuse, but something about Lucas' tone made it hard for her to say no.
On the other hand, with her incredibly sharp senses, Celestina had not missed when Helen had snuck a glance at Lucas just now, which only made her more curious about the strange little boy.
Originally, Celestina had wanted to wait until she at least settled-in before investigating Lucas' unusual situation, but since he was volunteering himself, she decided to take him up on the offer.
Curling her lips slightly, Celestina nodded, "Very well then, Lucas. Lead me to the infirmary so I can drop off my little descendant, then we can talk."