“Classified?” I asked. “Are you talking about the incident surrounding the wolf?”

Valtheril nodded.

Everyone took a seat, and Valtheril’s expression changed from serious to friendly. It appears that whatever was going on in the forest seemed to be solved. I couldn’t imagine another reason behind his slight smile. He seemed serious about things like this.

“I also heard you guys got a decent stash of coffee again.”

Or there was that.

“But first, please introduce me to these two lovely young ladies. I assume they are part of your party, yes?”

“Father, this is Seralyn. She’s an archer who was previously in Allina’s squad.” Velariah pointed toward the other elf. “Seralyn, this is my father, or General or Sir Valtheril.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Seralyn said.

“Same to you,” Valtheril replied politely.

“And this is Nira. We, uh, ran into her during an earlier mission. She’s a harpy with a nature school healing inherity,” Velariah continued. “Nira, this is… Sir Valtheril to you, I guess.”

“Nice to meet you,” Nira said softly.

“Once again, the pleasure is mine. Also, I’d hate for my daughter’s companions to call me ‘Sir’, you can drop that, if you’d like.”

It would seem Valtheril was slowly opening up as well.

“So, uhm, about the necromantic magic…” Velariah continued the conversation from earlier.

“As I said, I’m afraid it’s classified,” He tapped the document with the palm of his hand. “I need to finish writing this report and have it reviewed by the king before I can share any information about it. The forest is safe, though. I can tell you that much, at least. Well, safe, besides the goblins.”

“About the goblins…” I started. “It appears to me you have some kind of plan. What is this plan? And why is it so sudden, if I may ask?”

“I’ve grown tired of their transgressions against our people. I’ve heard reports of increased goblin presence throughout the forest. More and more seem to be banding together. I’d like to deal with them before things get out of hand, plain and simple. I’ve brought an elite squad with me from the capital to help us deal with them. Recent reports from the guild have confirmed that the quests that were issued have been mostly successful in crippling their supplies. I believe more adventurers have gathered here over the past few days, am I correct?”

I nodded. “There’s been an increase in activity in the village for sure.”

“Good,” Valtheril commented. “I’m going to ask the guild to inform me about the latest reports. You may see more quests appearing soon. If you guys are able to help out, I’d appreciate your help greatly.”

“It’s excellent,” Velariah said. “We were planning to travel to Zerdania at some point, but not before dealing with the goblin problem.”

“How big is that elite squad anyway?” I asked. I wanted to get an idea of the force we’d be using to clear out the forest.

“A hundred and fifty men,” He replied.

“Didn’t that cost quite a lot?”

“I brought a bit of coffee with me to Goldleaf. I used it as leverage when negotiating. Goldleaf is paying for their wages in return for some trade privileges once the entire process is set up and running.”

I chuckled in my mind. I knew he’d pull something like this, eventually. It wasn’t a bad idea, all in all.

“Speaking of coffee,” Draco said, as Elly entered the room with a can of coffee and glasses on a platter.

“It turns out this invention is an excellent tool when it comes to making deals. The adventurer that first showed me how to make it recently passed away. I wished I could have been there to say goodbye…” His expression changed to one of sadness.

Velariah giggled.

Valtheril looked at her, obviously confused.

“They know, father. Elania has recently come clean with our party members and Elly on her past.”

“Oh,” He let out.

Seralyn laughed, and I too, had to suppress my laughter.

“So they know…?”

Velariah nodded.

“Fair enough.”

Valtheril sighed and leaned back in his chair.

Elly re-entered the room with a tray that held sugar and milk. Soon, I was jealous at the sight of people drinking my favorite liquid.

“Anyway,” Valtheril said between two sips of coffee. “I’ve made great progress at mapping out the goblins’ strongholds and locations. I believe we will be ready to start an extensive search-and-destroy operation quite soon.”

He took another sip. “What business do you have in Zerdania, if I may ask?”

Velariah grinned. “Elania’s at it again. We scoured a bunch of books and found a specific plant Elania was interested in. Apparently, you can use it to make, according to her, the most delicious candy.”

“Yeah, you’ve done quite a number on this place while I was gone. I had Elly move those old dumbbells to the bathroom.” He glanced over to the crate that held Minia.

“What’s up with the spider, by the way?”

“She has a name,” Seralyn giggled. “It’s Elania.”

She was far too comfortable around the general already. She had guts, I had to give her that.

Valtheril smiled.

“That spider jumped on Elania when we were gathering coffee cherries. I decided to keep it as a means to help Elania understand how spiders… operated, so to say,” Velariah explained.

“I see,” The general said as he finished his coffee.

Gray decided to make his presence known as well. He’d been sleeping in front of the hearth. He walked up to Valtheril and seemed intrigued by the general and walked around his legs, sniffing carefully.

“Did you have any plans for today?” He asked.

“Yeah, we picked up a quest to deal with Giant Borers at the guild earlier. Did you cause them to move here?”

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“I might have, I can’t quite say.” He looked at his document again. “If you guys don’t mind, there’s something I’d like to talk about with Velariah and Elania, in private.”

Draco nodded and stood up. Seralyn and Nira joined him. “Thank you for the information, Sir Valtheril.” He then turned to me and Velariah next to me. “We will see the two of you outside.”

“We’ll be with you in a bit,” I said.

I wondered what Valtheril would want to talk about?

This would be a great time to ask my more personal questions too.

Our party members were led outside by Elly. The maid then walked upstairs, leaving the three of us, and Gray, alone.

Gray walked over to and jumped on Velariah’s lap.

“Elania,” Valtheril started. “I have some things to admit.”

I listened in silence.

“I haven’t been exactly honest with you. Remember when I told you about the surveillance I’d place you under while in the village?”

I nodded.

“I did that for a day, then called the guards off.”

It’s true that I hadn’t noticed anyone stalking me, but I had assumed that was because they were professionals.

“But why?” I asked. “Why would you trust me so easily? It’s a question I’ve wanted to ask for a while.”

“You see…” Valtheril started in an utmost serious tone.

He leaned forward in his chair, his elbows on the table, and his chin on his interlocked fingers.

He then pulled up his tag from under his shirt. “My adventurer’s tag has a special enchantment.”

He paused for a moment.

“There are only three people in the elven kingdom with this enchantment. The King, the Admiral of the Fleet, and the General of the Royal Army; me. This enchant allows me to detect most, if not all lies. In addition, it allows me to sense some of the emotions that the person I’m talking to experiences. From the moment I met you, I knew you had the best of intentions. I daresay I haven’t met anyone new like this in quite some time.”

I was speechless. I didn’t know what to say to that. From the very moment we met, he knew. If I had lied to him, I could have killed myself…

My face froze in shock…

“You never told me…” Velariah said, her face filled with disbelief as well.

“If I’d told you about this, Vel, what do you think would have happened? I’m telling this now because Elania told me she has secrets that could shake this world. She has proven to be a reliable ally and good friend. I didn’t feel like withholding this information from her. I do trust this information stays between us. We’ll call it even.”

It was still such an odd thing to tell. If nobody knew about this, wouldn’t that keep people far more honest? It was as he said, if Velariah knew about this when she met me, she would have told me to be honest to Valtheril. That would not have been true honesty, however. Knowing not to lie was something different entirely from speaking truthfully on your own.

“I’m confused…” Velariah spoke my mind, in addition to hers.

“You’re both of noble hearts. Your recent hardships made it all the more clear. Elly informed me of some things that happened while I was away. I trust you use this information wisely.”

I nodded. There was no way I could tell anyone about this, either way. I guessed that made it somewhat easier for him to tell us about it. If I told anyone about it and he then asked me the simple question of whether I’d told anyone, I would be dead.

Noble heart? I didn’t think of myself as noble at all. How did that work?

“Another reason I’m telling you is that I can feel you two are close,” Valtheril said.

I looked at Velariah, who was seated next to me.

So he did know…

“Don’t take that the wrong way. You two are free to do as you please. I trust my daughter to be smart enough to make her own decisions regarding this subject. Some other decisions are… questionable.”

I was certain that was a throwback to how she’d gotten caught in the woods. Harsh, but it did seem to be the way to teach about the dangers in this world. Arch had used the same harsh methods and I had to admit he’d been successful.

“So you’re fine with us being together?” Velariah asked softly.

Valtheril nodded.

Velariah sighed, probably out of relief.

I still didn’t know what to say. I was terrible with these kinds of things. The information that Valtheril had just spilled was nothing short of shocking. He’d known so much more than I thought.

Gray jumped up against one of my legs, but I ignored him.

My emotions truly were a mess once more…

“That’s enough serious talk,” Valtheril mentioned.

I was still quietly thinking about all the things that were said.

“On to the more cheerful news,” He continued. “I was unable to track down the square black coin that I took from you early on, so I’ll return it to you. I had it exchanged for fifty normal gold coins that I have locked away in a safe upstairs.”

“That’s great news,” Velariah said cheerfully.

I was still thinking, but this bit of news reached even me. That was great news, indeed. It would allow us to get Velariah’s new armor paid off sooner than expected.

“Thank you,” I said politely.

“Also, I like your weapons. They are quite… interesting.”

“I hope you weren’t thinking of imitating those,” I said.

Valtheril shook his head. “They are unwieldy for people with only two arms. I can see them being used by specialized soldiers, but I don’t think having them in the army is an option.”

“That’s what I thought, too,” I spoke.

“I have one more piece of good news for you. It appears Grandmaster Ineus will be arriving in the village this afternoon. You will probably find him in the Treemender’s Oak once he has arrived.”

“Thank you,” I said again.

I got slightly nervous at the thought of the ritual. I’d finally get to know some answers about how this body operated. At least, that’s what I assumed.

“Anyway, I won’t delay you two any further. You guys still have a quest to take care of. I’ll finish this report and gather some info from the guild and guards. Will I see you for dinner?”

I looked at Velariah.

“Fine by me,” She said. “We will see you later then. Thank you for the info, father. By the way, a bit of extra clarification, our party doesn’t know about El’s ability to make anti-venom, yet. Elania should decide for herself if she wants to tell them at some point, so please don’t bring that up.”

“Not a problem.”

I bowed slightly and thanked him once more, before we made our way to the hallway where I equipped my gauntlets.

“What a mess,” I spoke softly. “I don’t know what to make of anything he said about him detecting lies.”

“I’m not quite sure why he would tell us about that, either. Does he trust us that much, or…?” Velariah replied.

I shook my head. “I have no idea.” I then shrugged. “At least he made the existence of coffee known in Goldleaf. It’s good to see that he managed to use it as trade means.”

“It is an amazing drink, though. Speaking of, hold on a sec. I need a bathroom break.”

I grinned as she walked back through the doors to the dining room.

A minute or two later she joined up with me and we stepped outside.

Seralyn, Draco, and Nira were still waiting.

I was surprised that nobody asked questions about what we talked about, not even Seralyn. Then again, Valtheril seemed to have quite the reputation. If he said he wanted to talk in private, I could imagine people not wanting to pry into what was said.

We walked to the eastern village gate in silence. It was when we reached the outskirts that I decided to talk.

“If I am correct, we are talking about monsters that burrow in the ground, right?”

“Yes,” Draco mentioned. “Normally, they are found much deeper in the ground, and they don’t bother us, but when summer starts, they start making their way to the surface in order to be ready to undergo metamorphosis when they’ve eaten enough.”

“That sounds freaky. What do they even turn into?”

“Giant wasps.”

I sighed.

I hated wasps. I don’t think there was anyone that liked them. I’d be surprised if there was.

“Their lifespan as wasps is short, they only live for about a month or two. This is their season. After this, they completely disappear again until next year.”

That was somewhat of a relief. It did mean, however, that we could run into giant wasps for a while.

“Are those wasps dangerous?” I asked.

“Depends on how you look at it. Their sting and venom are potent enough to kill infants, but adults will almost always survive. Besides, any quality anti-venom is enough to deal with it.”

“That’s still dangerous in my book,” I said.

“Having them driven out of the forest is something of a good thing,” Draco spoke. “With some luck, we can cull their numbers, causing less of a hassle for people out in the forest during the period in which they are most prominent.”

“Pest control it is,” I smiled.

If I could help out getting rid of wasps, I’d be happy to do it. Besides, I’d be saving the precious coffee plants.

I was too kind.

We reached the grassy fields near the forest and I could see that tunnels had been dug below the surface. What looked like giant mole heaps were scattered around the edge of the field. I even saw one of the creatures dead near one.

“These things sense vibrations right?” I asked. “What’s the usual way to kill them?”

“Someone with proper armor usually plays bait,” Draco explained. “They stamp the ground to lure the creatures. As soon as one surfaces, they are brought down quickly.”

“Interesting fighting method. I’m curious to see if I can feel them approaching. I seem to possess the same kind of ability.”

“Should be easy enough to deal with them,” Seralyn commented. “Especially if you know where they are coming from. What usually gets people killed when dealing with these is not having armor around their legs, at all.”

“In that case, shouldn’t you and Nira be on my back or something?” I asked.

I looked at Draco’s armor and then at Velariah’s.

“Or even you two. Velariah, your armor is still damaged, and Draco, you don’t have anything at the backside of your legs…”

Draco smiled. “They don’t penetrate my scales.”

“And I don’t intend to lure them,” Velariah added.

Sounded a bit careless to me, but okay.

“And you are certain about this?” I asked out of worry.

“As long as we stand still, they won’t detect us,” Seralyn said. “I don’t have to move at all.”

That was true. Seralyn could attack from range. Nira wouldn’t have to attack, so I guessed she would be fine too.

“Well, okay then.” I sighed.

I was going to trust Draco’s expertise. From what he was telling me, I got the impression he fought these things before. Maybe I was overthinking this whole thing.

I wanted to see for myself what these things would be like. The corpse that was in my sight would be an excellent starting point. I walked over to it with the others. They made slow, steady steps, it was almost similar to tiptoeing. My steps were surprisingly light if I wanted them to be.

If armor prevented most, if not all of the damage these things could do, I imagined my chitin would provide similar protection.

I crouched before the corpse and found it to look exactly like an oversized maggot. It was about a meter long and had a large cut in its side where it seemed to have leaked a yellowish liquid.

The only thing that set it apart from normal maggots was the small teeth.

A ring of teeth filled what looked like its mouth, it had a certain similarity to leech teeth. They weren’t large, but there were many of them. I could see these doing quite a bit of damage to unarmored legs.

All in all, the sight was disgusting.

Time to find out how tough my chitin was.

I raised a leg and forced it into its mouth. The sounds its corpse made when I forced my leg into its mouth would probably haunt me for quite some time.

I moved my leg around, scraping the teeth. I could feel the teeth against my leg, but it didn’t hurt.

When I pulled my leg back out, there was no visible damage to the chitin.

“Well, that’s just freaky,” Velariah commented.

“You sleep in my bed. You don’t get to comment on what’s freaky.”

Seralyn grinned.

“Seems I’ll be safe from these things. It doesn’t appear they can get through my exoskeleton,” I said.

“You want to try luring them?” Draco asked.

“Sure,” I replied. “Let’s get to work.”