Chapter 32 The Chaotic Duo Part 6
*Rumble*
The ground shook violently as the mansion broke apart and giant tree trunks grew rampantly, claiming the building and its well-kept garden back.
“Aaaaah!”
Servants screamed in terror as they fled the crumbling mansion, trying their best not to get hit by rubble and the sprouting trees.
“What is happening!?” A guard stationed at the gate screamed, overwhelmed by the situation, while more and more people fled from nature’s wrath.
“Get it together! We have to rescue the lord!” Another guard screamed, giving out orders.
“How are we supposed to get in there? It’s still growing!” A man said in fear.
More and more people left their houses checking on what was happening as slowly the trees growth slowed down.
The individual trees that spouted out of the mansion formed over it a big crown out of lush green canopy. Their big roots protruded the garden, and from them, smaller trees grew.
“Please stay away; it’s too dangerous!” The city guards arrived, hindering the onlookers from coming closer.
As soon as the trees completely stopped their growth spurt, the guards of the noble started searching the mansion or what was left of it.
To their horror, they found the old noble, branches and vines pierced his dead body as it slowly assimilated with the tree.
And as they continued their search for survivors, the sun slowly rose, casting its first rays of light into a hole under the mansion and tree.
“Do you see this?” A guard alerted the others, and shortly after began their descent, finding themselves in an abandoned underground dungeon.
***
“Mmm~” I excitedly dug into my food.
“Did you hear what happened?”
“How could I not? The news is all over the city. How could a giant tree like that grow over night?”
Two people whispered sitting at another table.
The elf quietly ate as Fay rolled around on top his head snoring, “z..Z..Z…”
“I heard they found this damned old noble dead.”
“Shh! What if someone hears you!”
As I ate peacefully, the elf’s judging gaze penetrated me, but I pretended not to notice.
After we dumped the stolen goods in front of a guard station, we went back to the inn, and he was still sound asleep, so he shouldn’t know that we went out…
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Some servants also got injured, and others are still missing…”
“How awful, how could something like this happen?”
“…” I continued munching on my food.
“Nox…” The elf stared.
“What is it?” I looked at him with my most innocent expression as I gulped down the food.
“You were outside while I slept, right?” He asked calmly.
“What makes you think that?” I played dump.
He grabbed the sleeping Fay from his head, laid her on the table, and pointed at the ring around her neck.
“Oh, this? We went shopping.”
“You didn’t do anything else?” he continued to observe me.
“zZZ…”
“What else? After we were done, we went back to the inn.” I lied nonchalantly.
“You heard the news about the giant tree growing over night from a noble’s house. You didn’t have anything to do with this?”
“Of course not! Why would Fay or I bother doing something like that?” Carefree, I continued to eat.
He skeptically looked at me for a while before letting out a long sigh and finished his meal.
***
“Oh, are you leaving already?” The old woman asked as the elf returned the room keys.
“Yes, thanks for having us.” He answered politely.
“What a pity. You and your adorable cat are always welcome!” She patted my head, and I purred in response.
“I give you 5 out of 5 stars for the food!” I said, but just the elf could hear my voice; all the old woman heard was a satisfied meow.
“If I’m not too rude, can I ask where you are traveling?” She asked, hesitating a bit.
The elf paused before answering her, “We are heading towards Wald.”
“You mean the big forest; are you planning on gathering herbs?” She looked worried.
“Yes, something like that...” The elf lied.
“Then you should be careful; there are rumors that these long-eared forest dwellers set free some terrifying monsters! We have supposed peace with all races, but who knows what they are up to.” She said genuinely concerned.
I looked up at the elf, who still hid his ears, but he didn’t show any reaction and responded calmly. “Thanks for the waning; I will be careful.”
***
On the way out of the city, I jumped on his shoulder while Fay still slept in his bag, “Are you ok?”
“…I’m fine, it’s just… that the humans assume that the beasts are our doing, while we struggle to fend them off… is…” He mumbled discontented.
“…”
“I wonder if it’s simply prejudice that makes the humans think that or if there is more to it...” I kept this thought to myself as we walked out of the city in silence.
***
~Somewhere in a dark room~
*tap*
“So you found Eitler Nichtsnutz?” A person sitting on an armchair tapped with their finger on the table while listening to the report.
“Yes, we found him dead in Heinz Dietrich von Schnabelwutz mansion; he was in the underground dungeon from where the tree grew.” The hooded figure stopped for a moment and then continued, “The tree seemed to have grown from him; he was hard to identify, but we managed to recover his body and silence the guards that saw him.”
The only candle on the table flickered, the person’s finger coming to a rest, and silence permeated the room before they began to speak, “Did you find the crystals that that bastard stole?”
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t find them as well as any of his research results, though we found evidence in the nobles accounting book that he financed Eitler’s research.” The hooded figure gulped as the one in the chair continued to tap with his finger in displeasure.
“Did you hear that?” They looked at a dark corner of the room where another mysterious figure leaned against the wall.
“This was the work of someone who had the help of a spirit.”
“Yes, it has to be!” Their tapping intensified as did their angry voice, “First, someone destroyed the crystal in the port town of Hafen and even informed the dammed guild master of it, and now the stolen crystals from this good-for-nothing! Did someone figure out our plans?!”
*tap, tap, tap*
“If someone did, we simply have to silence them. And concerning the guild master, no matter how much she digs, we already covered our tracks; she will find nothing.” With a confident voice, the person resting against the wall reassured them.
“Good, good. You!” They looked at the hooded person, “Make sure you inform everyone to keep their eyes open; we can’t let someone thwart our plans in Wald!”
“Yes, certainly.” They lightly bowed before the two and then left the room.
***
“Finally!” Fay exclaimed energetically as she twirled through the air.
We stood at the edge of the forest that consisted out of giant trees, growing over 100 meters tall and their trunks as wide as multiple houses.
I took in the familiar sight.
“It’s been a while…”