-----E-----

„So you are telling me that when you hack a vehicle it breaks down just like artifact weapons?!“

„Well. . . I kinda didn‘t know what would happen to vehicles, it was my first time. So, um, heh heh?“ Nia chuckled nervously.

Vincent, Nia, and I were heading back to Dunwich with nothing. The tank broke down because of Nia‘s hack thing. And the Artifacts in the tents were all blown to bits because of, again, of Nia. And also the artifact weapons that the lizards dropped when they fell, they were gone. Either it was Nia, or when the lizards escaped, they might have taken some with them.

Ivona was heading towards the nearest human town, Holbeck, to get her people to safety. She said that she might join us after a few days, she will find us by asking around in Dunwich.

„I can‘t believe that just happened! It was all going so well then, of course, we had to bring her along!“ Vincent was really mad. It was actually scaring Nia a bit.

„Don‘t worry Vincent, we have enough to go to Tyrida. Besides, we still might get something for completely obliterating the tank, if the Dynami Empire would have gotten it, then the human kingdom, I think it was called Stratos? Then they would have been in trouble,“ I said, trying to reassure him.

„You might be right about that, but still why didn‘t you think that the tank would break apart when you hack it to control it? You should have assumed that it would also break apart like other artifact weapons!“ He was still blaming it all on Nia. It was kinda true, but it was just an honest mistake.

He shouldn‘t really be that mad, we don‘t even need the money here when we fly off world. It would likely be useless. Does he maybe have something else on his mind?

„Look I am sorry! I really thought this was going to work!“ She kinda had a guilty look on her face, but I saw a glimpse of her smile with a bit of laughter. She likely thought it was funny, but didn‘t want to show it.

„When we get back to Dunwich, we are leaving you there.“

„Huh?!“ Nia had a look of confusion now.

„Vincent, it was just unfortunate, she will learn from her mistake!“

„Why are you protecting her?!“

Eh, I don‘t want her to leave us, because she has the location of the vault. I still think it‘s a bad idea to tell Vincent that.

„Look, she is really useful with her gauntlets. We might need her at some point! And also, if we need to go back into these woods, she is the one to lead us around, she knows these parts.“

The arguing went on for a long time. Vincent said that he had enough talk for now, and didn‘t say a word the rest of the way to Dunwich.

-----V-----

We went through the gates of Dunwich, the brat was going to sneak in again. I feel like I should tell the guards about her. No, that would not satisfy me enough for what she did. I honestly felt like shooting her, even though she was a kid. But if that would spread around the city, then I would just end in a bad spot.

Ethan and I were in front of the guild, and he insisted on waiting for Nia.

„I don‘t want to wait for her all day.“

„Just a bit longer, she should arrive soon.“

And there she is, running towards us. She was running straight to me and then she clutched around me.

„What are you doing?“

Nia looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

„Please! I want to. . . I want to stay with you guys! I can be useful!“ She cried out.

I facepalmed with my left hand and looked up towards the sky and groaned in irritation.

I heard a strangely familiar sound, but didn‘t think of it because I was thinking too much about how annoying this kid is. I looked back down, she still had tears. If it was Ethan in this situation, then he couldn‘t resist the power of kids crying. He can‘t never say no to a child, but I was different.

„No, we are not going to have you around anymore, even though your gauntlets would be useful. Just leave!“ I pulled her off me.

She stared at me in disbelief, then more tears came and she started running off.

„Oh, good job Vincent.“

I glanced back at Ethan. This could be a good opportunity.

„If you want to help her stop her crying, then why don‘t you go after her?“

„Yeah, I think I will, I still want her around. If you don‘t, then you have to deal with it,“ Ethan said and turned to leave.

I sighed, then grinned.

----------

I was about to knock on Wilmer‘s office door when I heard yelling coming from the inside. I moved my ear closer to the door, then I heard Wilmer shouting to someone to get out.

I quickly moved away from the door which flung open and a man was hurled out of the room.

„And don‘t ever come back here again with some fake artifacts!“ He yelled out and was about to close the door when he noticed me.

„Aaah! Vincent! Welcome back, come on in!“ His anger quickly faded away.

I need to be careful about what I say, or I will end up like that other guy. I sat down on the same chair like last time. It was a really comfy chair and my favorite around here. But the chair on my spaceship was better.

„Could I ask what that guy did?“

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„Oh, that guy? Well, I gave him a quest to bring me. . . well. . . artifacts, of course, but he failed and tried to give me a fake. And you know the rest.“

„Yeaaah, okay.“

„Now, are you finished with your quest?“ Wilmer leaned forward and clasped his hands.

„About that,“ I prepared myself to fly off the ground. „We did find an artifact there which was a vehicle, a tank.“

Wilmer had no reaction of shock or surprise. Then he must have known about this.

„And? Where is it?“

„It has been turned into many small pieces,“ I said with a composed face. I have dealt with people like him before, this was nothing new to me.

„What?“ Wilmer was confused.

„There was quite a lot of dynami around, so we had a colleague take control of the tank to defeat them, but after our win, it cracked and broke.“

Wilmer sighed and thought for a moment while he fiddled with a knife.

„I like your honesty, Vincent.“

„Heh? Well, of course, I wouldn‘t lie about that.“

„I might as well let you know, I had someone spy on you.“

Heh? What the hell?

„Why? So you did know about the tank?“ He likely didn‘t trust me.

„I thought you would have tried to take some of the artifacts for yourself, but you proved me wrong. Can you tell me how exactly the tank broke?“

„That doesn‘t really matter right now, I want to know if I could get my information about the girl or not,“ I really just wanted the info, even though I might not get it.

„I am going to give you the info.“

„What? Really?“ I was shocked.

„I am only going to give you some of it, not all, because the tank was destroyed and was not taken by the dynami. If you would have somehow gotten it here intact, then I would have given you all you needed.“

Somehow? He really did think we couldn‘t bring it here. He might actually be right, there was no way we could have done that.

„Only parts is fine by me,“ I laid back and listened.

„I am not going to give you her name or what she looks like, but I will tell you that she is somewhere around the western side of the capital of Tyrida.“

I waited for him to continue. It was silent for some time.

„Is that all? Nothing more?“

„Of course! Only if you would have brought the tank or any other artifact would I have told you more!“

If that is all, then this might have been for nothing. This is the only lead I got. I better use it somehow.

„Alright then, but how exactly do you know that she is on the western side?“

„Because she has a house there.“

„Oh. Well then,“ I stood up from my chair and stretched my arms.

„Vincent, did your glove always have two types of energy color?“

„Huh?“ I stared back towards my glove, it was blue and also there was a faded red. It was just like the last time when I was here. And then it disappeared.

„Vincent, who was this colleague of yours? The one who took over the tank.“

„Her name was Nia.“

Wilmer‘s face changed dramatically from composed to immediate anger.

„Nia!? That brat!“ He stood up so quickly that his chair fell.

Huh, so he also has something against her.

„Yes, Nia, she has gauntlets that let her hack artifacts.“

„Vincent, your glove had a faded red, which only meant that she was spying on us. So she heard everything.“

„What?! Shit!“ Did she hear everything? And the last time I was here also? That god damn brat!

„She can‘t hear us now, I want to give you a really personal quest. If you would complete this quest, then you my friend could live in a mansion!“

Why do I get a feeling that he wants some serious revenge? What did Nia do to him?

„Alright then, this shouldn‘t be hard for me, because I also hate her. Now, tell me.“

-----E-----

I was behind a restaurant with Nia. And we were listening to Vincent and Wilmer, then the connection was cut off when Vincent noticed his glove.

„Huh, so he was hiding something. I knew it. But who is the person they were talking about?“

„I have no idea, I just thought you wanted to know because he wasn‘t telling you about it.“

„Thank you. But does Vincent know it was you?“

„Probably not, but because Wilmer noticed then I might be in danger.“

„What do you mean?“

Well, of course, she might be in danger because she was snooping around. But didn‘t she know Wilmer?

„Well, heh. I might have stolen something from him.“

„. . . ?“

The last time we were here she disappeared and went to the blacksmith instead of going to Wilmer. Was it because she didn‘t want to get caught by him?

„What did you steal?“

„I . . . heh . . . I kinda stole one of his greatest artifact weapons that he owned,“ she muttered.

„And where is it? Is it the gauntlets?“

„No, it was not the gauntlets, it was an artifact longsword. It was really beautiful, and he was going to put it up on his collection. But I kinda took it.“

„How exactly do you just take something? And aren‘t longswords to heavy for you?“

„I somehow managed to steal it though it was really heavy.“

She really is a daredevil, she would risk her life just to steal a longsword from the leader of the guild.

„So? What did you do to it?“

„Well, funny story. It kinda cracked and broke when I tried hacking a weapon for the first time.“

„Wha. . .“ Well, I am speechless. Was it her first time hacking an artifact to use it? She must be crazy to try it on something important to Wilmer.

„I don‘t really care about why you did such a dumb thing. What do you think if Wilmer knew it was you spying?“

„He might tell Vincent to do something to me. But you are my beloved shield who would protect me! My own guardian!“ She said with a hint of a sarcastic tone.

Yeah, sure. I guess I am some sort of guardian.

„I would guess either assassinate or kidnap you, Vincent would do something like that for a reward.“

Yes, Vincent would do anything for money, even if he has to kill. But is it really worth it? Won‘t he only get money that might be useless when we depart from this world? Then there was this girl he was talking about. Who was she? She is somewhere in Tyrida, so I might run into her.

„Nia, do you know anything more about the girl?“

„No, I don‘t.“

Damn.

„Well, what now?“

„You should go to Vincent and say you didn‘t find me. If he knows that you know about the woman, then you might be in trouble. Also, he is likely going to Tyrida with you. So I will meet you there when he would go alone to find the woman.“

„So you are still going to stick around?“

„Of course! We made a promise that I would get half of the vault‘s treasure!“

I don‘t remember promising her, but whatever.

„Alright then, I am going back to the guild, see you somewhere in Tyrida!“

„Wait! I am going to give you this.“

Nia handed me a gadget, it was just a small white square with no features.

„What‘s this?“

„I can track you anywhere with my map if you have that on you.“

„Oh, that‘s good.“

I didn‘t want to question where she got that.

„And remember this, if you betray me, then you would kill me just by breaking my heart,“ Nia said dramatically.

„Um. . . okay? I am not going to betray you.“

„Good!“ She smiled happily. „Now get going! Vincent might start suspecting something.“

I nodded and took off.

I really need to act like I know nothing about the girl Vincent mentioned. Something is going to happen at Tyrida. I just know it.