Author’s corner: HELLO HELLO! An extra large chapter today because I can! (And because I wasn’t satisfied with where it ended…)
ANYWAY, finally, after such a long time, here we have the set up for Gon’s next great hunt! A new monster, new weapon and new something new! HOORAY! Thought before then, we should get to see someone else. Still, I plan on having the fight begin within 5 chapters.
ALSO, Since yesterday I skillfully stole*cough*kindly asked for some cookies from my junior at the den during his Author’s corner, today there are cookies for everyone! So take them all! *Throws GrandFinale’s cookies for everyone*
Have a good read!
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Invading author's corner:
Grandfinale: COUNTER INVASION! *catches his cookies and Zoidbergs back to his own story, complete with the sound effect*
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I looked in awe at the scene before us as the crewmembers ran around finishing the docking procedures. I didn’t even need to look in a mirror to know that I was no different from a kid staring at a new toy with a idiotically cheerful smile in my face.
Turning back to the captain besides me who had been shouting orders all this time I hesitatingly asked.
“How… How deep did you say it was again?” I asked just to be sure that my ears weren’t lying to me.
“I’d guess around twenty centimeters?” Skarr said while taking a peek over the guard rail, however he soon shook his head in denial. “Oh yeah, this is a valley, so there should be even more. So… Half a meter of snow?” He said in a dubious tone while looking to the base of the docking tower. “Yeah, should be about right. Half a meter of snow!”
I turned back to looking towards to the ground with a wide smile I my face. Half a meter of snow! For someone who never saw snow before, something like that was downright miraculous. Barely able to contain my excitement, I kept leaning on the guard-rail of the blimp besides the place where Lieutenant kept making his stretches.
The little fuzzball had the same idea as me, it seems.
While thinking so, I couldn’t help but smile idiotically, and the others didn’t lose sight of this, because soon enough Yami approached me with a serious gaze and put her hand on my shoulders.
“Do it.” She said with a thumbs up, only to receive a glare from Hanbei.
“Do what?” Skarr asked curious.
“Just do it.” Yami insisted, receiving raised eyebrows from the other present. Even Ashley looked at us from afar with a confused look.
But I understood her intentions, and I knew exactly what she was telling me to do, so feeling emotional, I made her a brief salute, and turned back to the guardrail, putting on an expression full of determination, I took a deep breath while holding myself on the guardrail.
“Gon, I have no idea what It is you are going to do, but give up. It’s foolish.” Hanbei said exasperated while grabbing my armor.
“I agree with Hanbei’s words, master.” Crys said besides her while putting on a serious look before turning towards the cat doing the stretching. “And if Lieutenant is somehow involved, I must say that it can’t be good.”
Even Aura made a bark in agreement with the girls while staring at me seriously. However, even with all that pressure over me, this isn’t something I can walk away from, so I took a deep breath and gave them thankful smile.
“I am glad for your worries, but this is something I must do, no matter what.” I said with a heavy tone.
Yami sniffled emotionally as she held back a tear and simply nodded, while the others simply looked at us with dead eyes. Confused by the scene, Rio looked around and started asking what was happening, but since the only three person who could give her an actual answer were either too lost in their own world or unwilling to do so, she seemingly gave up and simply watched me with curiosity.
Seeing that no more words were needed, as Yuu still insisted on avoiding me, I turned my back to the group and rested my hands on the guardrail. Lieutenant put on a dashing smile when he saw my face and I nodded back to him, showing him my resolve.
“GERONIMOOO!” I shouted with a wide smile while jumping over the guard-rail. “FLUFFY COLD, HERE I COME!”
“WHA… GON!” “TEACHER!!!??” “BWAHAHAHAHAHA!” “What are you doing, master?” “EEEEH? SHISHOU?”
A plethora of reactions came from the group above as they didn’t expect my sudden jump, but I cared not for their reaction.
SNOW! HERE I COME!
Excitedly looking down towards the half meter of fluffy cold, roughly fifty meters below the ship, I spread my arms wide and awaited for impact. While feeling the cold wind hit my cheek as I fell, a small green figure darted besides me, as Lieutenant fell head-first compared to my belly dive. Giving me a brief acknowledgement with his eyes, he quickly passed me even though I jumped a bit earlier.
Still this meant that I could see as he hit the snow, the impact strong enough to make his whole upper body get stuck in the snow, with only his legs wiggling outside.
I would have burst into laughter at the moment, if it wasn’t for the fact that I also met the snow soon after.
-923 (37/960)
…
The pain… The cold…
Where is the fluffy of the fluffy cold?
I DEMAND MY REFUNDS! SNOW! YOU LIED TO ME!
YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO ABSORB MY FALL! NOT MAKE ME FEEL PAIN!
While cursing the traitorous “Fluffy” snow that felt as hard as rock, I laid quietly at the bottom of my golem-shaped crater, feeling as the creeping cold pierced through the armor and assaulted my stony body.
I think I heard some confused and surprised gasps, but I couldn’t really care about it. Unable to move due to the pain going through my body, I knew full well that this one was my fault. I was a fool to trust that snow was as fluffy and soft as they made be. I should have known that it was a lie all along, and in truth, it’s a traitorous being.
Deciding to never again trust anybody, I laid quietly waiting for my HP to come back up. Through the snow, I heard as Lieutenant excavated himself out of his pit, and with a brief glance at his HP bar, I saw that he was in a far better shape than I was. Probably because he was a lot lighter than I am.
“Huh… Sir…” I heard a voice coming from above. I would have turned my head around, but I really didn’t have the strength to do it. “Are you alright?” He asked me with a worried tone.
“Yes… I’m fine…” I just fell face first into a ground covered in hard snow and now am hurting all over.
“Just to be certain, but… Erm… you are from Skarr’s ship, correct?”
“Yes…”
“Could you… Give me your name?” He asked as if trying to make sure he chose the correct words. “Just formal procedures, you know?”
“Gondorrer… Piratebane…” Ugh… Really me? “I mean, Gondorrer Gravelheart.”
“…Oh, here you are.” He said, probably checking some kind of list or something. After a few seconds of silence he finally asked. “Do… Do you need any help?”
“Nah… I think I can manage.” I replied with a weak smile. “Actually… Could you see if you can find my pride? I think it broke over there…” I said pointing to my right.
I heard a dry laugh coming from what probably was one of the guards before some hesitating steps left the area towards somewhere else. Finally feeling that the cold was a bit more than what I could take (and by a bit more, it meant that I was almost becoming an ice golem), I decided that it was time to get up and put my cold resistance ring.
However, before I even had the chance of bringing up my equipment window, another window popped up in front of me.
EVENT COMPLETED:
Pirate raidWhile travelling via airship, you were attacked by pirates, but instead of waiting for the battle to end, you decided to take thing into your own hands and help up.Rewards:
(Rewards are based upon your participation on the event.)
Experience from defeating pirates
Reputation with airship owners
Reputation with the city of El-Dirrah
For capturing the pirate airship:
The airship is now property of Wargon
I stared at the window in confusion for some time, trying to make sense of it since I didn’t get any quest related to the raid. It was only when I starter re-reading the window that I noticed that it wasn’t a quest window, but an event one.
Surprised by that, as I didn’t know about such a system, I decided to later ask Crys some more details about it. But, if I had to guess based on my previous knowledge about games, events are kind of like quests, except that they are spontaneous and usually difficult to foresee.
While thinking so, I noticed an icon flashing on the corner of my vision, telling me of a level up. Quickly opening my status screen, what greeted me left me shocked, as I saw that not only had I finally crossed the level thirty line, but I also had reached level thirty one! This left me with not two, but four points to spend and one more derivation point for my skill!
As usual, I spent my points in defense, spreading them evenly now that they had all reached fairly similar values. Taking a good look at the window, I nodded satisfied, deciding to leave the derivation point for later when I had a bit more time to check my skill.
NAME:
Wargon (Gondorrer Gravelheart)TITLE:
The MadClass tree:Warrior/rogueClass:SkirmisherRace:GolemGender:Neutral (Male)Level:31Experience:23%
STATUS:
Remaining points (0)Health Points:1010/1010HP regen (out of combat):4/secEnergy:100/100Energy Regen:11/secSTR:63(16)TGH:50 (36)AGI:66(16)VIT:70(36)INT:31(16)MND:61(36)ATTK:55-47Extra:NoneDEF237M. Res.:179Fire resistance:24Satiety:64/100 (Neutral)
SKILLS:
Derivation points (1)
Spoiler :
--------Generic skills--------
One-handed Sword Mastery[Intermediate][lvl 2]
-Slash (Active)
-Stab (Active)
-Slice ‘n dice (Active)
-Fencing
Dual-wielding mastery [lvl 2]
-Whirlwind (Active)
Bow Mastery [Intermediate] [lvl 1]
-Power shot (Active)
-Quick shots (Active)
-Piercing shot (Active)
-Double-shot (Active)
-Snipe
Two-handed Sword Mastery [lvl 9]
-Slash (Active)
-Hunter’s style
-->Claw strike (1st form)
-->Fang Strike (1st form)
-->Talon Strike(1st form)
-->Talon Strike(2nd form)
Martial Arts [lvl 6]
-Kick
-Pummel
Shield Mastery [Intermediate] [lvl 1]
-Bashing - Shield slam*
-Stand Ready
Scale-mail Mastery [Intermediate] [lvl 1]
Chain-mail Mastery [Intermediate] [lvl 1]
Leather Mastery [Intermediate] [lvl 1]
Shockwave resistance [lvl 3]
Taunt (Active) [lvl 9]
-Focused mockery
Nature walking (Active) [lvl 4]
(Original) Roll (Active) [lvl 9]
(Original) Petting Mastery [lvl 2]
Recklessness [lvl 2]
Muffled steps [lvl 4]
---------Class skills--------
Consumables mastery [lvl7]
Unstoppable Charge* (Active) [lvl 9]
Retreat (Active) [lvl 3]
Ready for anything [lvl 3]
UNIQUE Adaptability [lvl 9]
-Cycle weapons(active) -Offensive Cycle(active)*
Tracking [lvl 4]
-Strategic mapping
---------Crafting skills--------
Skinning [intermediate] [lvl 2]
Mining [intermediate] [lvl 2]
Crystal Tinkerer[Intermediate] [lvl 1]
Leatherworking [Intermediate][lvl 2]
Blacksmithing [Intermediate] [lvl 2]
Alchemy [lvl 8]
---------Racials---------
-Nature’s bastion (Active)
-Rock Eater
-Sedimentary skin (Active)
-Nature attuned
---------Equipment skill--------
Ignite Weapon
Ah, skill table! How long has it been since the last time we saw each other? How long as it may have been, I’m pretty sure the author wouldn’t have minded if we took even longer.
Anyway, leaving the fourth wall alone for now, I closed the window and stood straight while bringing my inventory window up. For a moment I felt the freezing cold of the traitorous mount of white not-so-fluffy cold that still clung to my skin, however, the moment I put on the cold resistance ring, the sensation went off, so I finally sighed loudly in relief.
As I looked around, I saw as the snow besides me started trembling slightly before a hole appeared from it, from which a certain soldier-cat popped up. He looked around, checking his surroundings for a moment before turning to me and giving me a salute.
Except that it didn’t last long, because he soon started shivering from the cold too. I grimaced slightly while tossing him another cold resistance ring.
I had already left Yuu and Hanbei with their rings, while Yami somehow managed to get one for herself, so I had no need to worry about them getting too cold.
Aura is an ice fox, so I have my doubts whether she will even bother with the weather.
Taking a deep breath, I finally ended up sighing, thinking of what I would have to do next. Seeing how I had the whole ship thing to take care of, I couldn’t simply go out to fool around in the snow as I initially planned.
This wouldn’t be so troublesome if I left the fooling around for after we had our business talk or if I sent someone in my place, but problems arose when I gave that idea.
One, the owner of the airship needs to be present during the moment of the trade. Seeing as how I was now the temporary owner of the airship, I didn’t have much escape, even after deciding to leave all the annoying parts to Argento, whose eyes had become a pair of gold coins thinking about profit.
On the other hand…
“Shisou!” I heard a voice coming from the tower, where Yuu left through the door followed by the rest of the group. All of whom looked either worried or amazed at me. The kitsune, obviously, was one of the worried ones, and she quickly got close to me and started to examine me from head to toes. “Shishou… Are you alright? Did you hurt yourself? Why did you do that?” She asked me while holding my hands.
Waa! Yuu isn’t running away anymore!
While feeling satisfied from the depths of my heart for that, a silly smile appeared in my face. During my happy moment, Yuu finally noticed her situation, and her face soon changed from a worried one to an extremely embarrassed one tinted completely red.
“Uu… Waaa!” She shouted suddenly, breaking me from my trance and running away until she hid herself behind Yami.
WAAAAAH! MY HAPPY MOMENT! BROKEN SO FAST!
Falling down into despair, I sat down on the snow and hugged my knees closely before starting to scribble in the snow. If Yuu hates me, I have no more reason to live!
As my life breaking depression corroded me, a certain crystal elemental floated closer to me and said in a serious tone.
“Master, as much as I enjoy seeing your reactions and idiocy like this, I regret to tell you that we do not have time for this.” Crys told me while using her small crystalline hands to pull me up. “As you know, Yuu’s grandfather should arrive soon, you know?”
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
Yeah. Yuu’s grandfather. The martial artist old-man I certainly had not forgotten at all is arriving soon at Brazil. In fact, he should be arriving in around three hours in real life, so we had nine hours in game to worry about that.
Taking in consideration the time it would take for us to arrive at the airport, we didn’t exactly have more than a couple of hours inside before having to leave.
“BUT I WANT TO PLAY IN THE TRAITOROUS FLUFFY COLD!” I said throwing myself on the ground and starting a tantrum.
Those who didn’t know me for long looked at me in shock and confusion, but Yuu, Hanbei and probably her stalker too, had seen me throwing a tantrum earlier back at Torg’s house, so they weren’t as surprised.
“Te-Teacher?” Lily asked in a mix of surprise and confusion seeing my reaction.
“Is that really the guy who jumped in the enemy ship?” I heard hothead asking confused.
“Yeah… Gon can be like that from time to time…” Hanbei said with a wry tone.
“I’VE BEEN DRAGGED ALONG FOR FAR TOO LONG!” I complained loudly. “First it was at Eldor, having to talk with everyone before leaving. Then we went into the airship where Yuu got drunk and started pulling me by the nose.” I said and saw as said girl blushed slightly before looking away. “I HAVEN’T HAD THE CHANCE TO FOOL AROUND AT ALL RECENTLY! I CAN’T EVEN REMEMBER THE LAST TIME I WENT ON A HUNT ON MY OWN!”
Shouting my true feelings and feeling exteremly bothered by it, I looked defiantly at the people in front of me, only to be met with a cold looking Crys that made the surrounding snow looks like a warm bath.
“Master. I understand that you need to eventually vent off your frustrations and am more than willing to let you do that when you have the time.” She said while using her small body to drag me back up again.
Strange, I don’t remember Crys being this scary…
“Then…” You’ll let me fool around? I was about to ask that, but she simply smiled at me with her small black crystalline eyes.
“Right now you are going to grow up and leave playing around in the snow for later, okay?” I nodded scared out of my wits by the strange pressure emanating from the little floating maid. Helping me dust off the snow from clothes, she then proceeded to pull me back towards the group.
“You sure are a fast learner, young maid.” Huh? What the hell does that means? Turning to Yami who said those words, I saw as she looked towards Crys with a proud look.
“Thanks teacher Yami!” Crys said with a nod and a happy tone. “I’ll be counting on you to help me in my road to becoming a skillful maid!” Wait. Since when did Crys become Yami’s apprentice? Looking at her with an inquisitive gaze, she turned to me with a serious look and said. “Master. After your last stunt, when I felt a bit helpless about having such an irresponsible master, Yami told me that a good maid would be able to set you straight, so I asked her to train me into becoming a good maid!” She said cheerfully. “She told me that good maids can even go as far as scolding their masters when they do something wrong!”
Staring at the cheerful miniature maid, it finally dawned on me as I understood what had happened. Turning towards the maid made of slime, I stared at her as I finally understood why she actually went and told me to go ahead and jump.
So, she had planned something like that to get an apprentice for herself? That tricky little bugger…
The ninja maid looked at me with a triumphant smirk and gave me a thumbs up. Sighing and acknowledging defeat, I approached the group with a defeated look and followed them as they took the cleaner path.
Feeling like a prisoner being dragged to the death row, I saw as some people who looked like guards shoveling the ground and cleaning up a good path down the street. They all looked at me with an amazed look due to the group that we were composed of.
Since the people at Eldor had gotten used to me already, I kind of ended up forgetting how people usually react when they see me being followed by a fox wearing a water armor, a floating crystal elemental with maid clothes and a cat wearing soldier’s garb. Well, now we could also add Rio to the equation, as I’m almost sure that a dragon is something many people wouldn’t see in their entire lives.
Well, the fact that there were so many girls following me also helped that, I guess.
Pouting as Crys sat on my shoulder and threatened to pull my ear every time I thought about running away, I followed down the road while holding back my instinct to start a snow-ball fight for no reason whatsoever.
“So, what exactly were you planning when you jumped down the ship, Gon?” Hanbei asked curious.
“… I wanted to make snow angels?” I replied with a shrug. She turned to me with dead-pan eyes.
“And you jumped from fifty meter in the air just to make snow angels in the snow…?” She asked me with distrust in her eyes.
“…Okay, snow craters.” I said while avoiding her eyes.
“Really?” Hanbei asked me with dubious eyes.
“From the way it looked, I’d say that he wanted to get to snow the fastest possible and since he thought that snow is soft, he decided that even if he jumped he would be safe.” We heard an androgynous voice saying. Turning our heads we saw as Ashley appeared from the bottom of the tower carrying a travel bag.
“And you wonder why I call you my rival!” I said while giving him a thumbs up. “Only you understood me!” I said proudly.
“…I take back what I said.” She said before walking past us.
“Hey! Wait! Tell us where you are going!” I said while darting to run after her, but the moment I took a step forward a sharp hand held my ear, pulling me back.
“No running away, master.” She said while grabbing me and pulling me back.
GAAAH! I WANTED TO USE HOTHEAD AS AN EXCUSE TO RUN AWAY!
Looking at Ashley with teary eyes, I pleaded for him to help me with my eyes, but he simply gave me a mocking smile while walking away.
It seems that I have no allies in this group at all!
…
After Argento asked some directions from the guards, all we had to do was to say that we were the ones wanting to sell the pirate blimp to have them escort us towards the lord’s mansion. Apparently, Skarr had sent word ahead that we were coming, so they didn’t treat us with too much suspicion.
Afterwards we were guided through the not so covered in snow town that rested just beyond the valley. As Skarr said, the town itself wasn’t as deep in snow as the valley where the tower was in. From the looks of it, the mountain range limited the snow-fall to this side only, thus the opposite side was only cold, but completely removed of snow.
Although most of the time we crossed a path that had been already cleared of snow, on the brief area between valley and the town there was a small piece of ground that had a fair amount of snow covering it, so I had the chance to lower and snatch a piece of snow before hiding it in my hand.
Crys noticed my brief action, but she kept quiet, probably knowing that there was only so much she could hold me back from.
I also understood why the hell people who live in snowy countries seem to dislike it so much. Walking in snow is a bother, because your feet get stuck deep into it and it makes it really bothersome to move around.
It would be interesting if it was something that only happened occasionally, but I guess that if I had to live with something like this for my whole life, I would get mad sooner or later.
Still, we were guided through the town and towards the lord’s castle.
On the way, I made sure to quickly burn in my mind the place where the smithy was and where was something that looked like a leatherworking workshop. As Skarr said previously, it seems that we might be stuck in here for a few days due to the odd sea, so knowing this kind of thing will probably be of great help to relieve me of my boredom.
At the front gate, we had to wait as the personal guard of the lord of the region went in to warn about our arrival.
Hey, those kids are playing snow-balls war!
“Master. Whatever you do…” Crys told me coldly noticing where I was looking at. “Keep your mouth closed and let Mister Argento do the talking, okay?”
“Moneybags.” Argento told me with serious eyes. “Leave it to me. I’m going to strike you a deal they won’t be able to refuse!” He said with a smirk. “Of course, I’ll ask for a small commission for my services, alright?”
I knew he had second intentions! Oh well, he’s probably going to get even more money than what I could think of knowing this money-mongering gnome, and I get to leave the boring negotiations with him.
“Yeah…”
I said halfheartedly while looking downheartedly at the kids and cat playing around...
Wait a second, cat? Looking back at the group, I noticed that there was a certain cat wearing green soldier uniform who had taken the leadership of one of the kid’s group and was apparently shouting orders around, transforming the playful competition into a one-sided slaughter.
“OI! FURBALL! GET BACK HERE!” I shouted angrily once I noticed that Lieutenant wasn’t by my side anymore. “IF I HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS, YOU’LL ALSO HAVE TO…” Before I could storm away to catch the cat, I heard the sound of a gate behind us opening.
“The lord is calling you to come in.” I turned back to see a red-haired dwarf wearing a fish-tail overcoat, not unlike a butler. “And if you will, we ask that you leave all your weapons on the hall. Security reasons.” He said in a cool voice.
Gritting my teeth as I noticed that Crys wouldn’t simply let me escape from this predicament, I turned to the fox besides me and said briefly.
“Aura, can you get that sneaky little cat back while I go in?” She looked at me and then towards the cat and gave a brief nod before darting towards the cat.
“…Looks fun! Can I go too?” Rio said while looking at Lieutenant throwing snowballs around.
“Huh? Sure, go ahead.” I told the little wyvern, and she happily flew away, landing besides Lieutenant who immediately climbed on her back and made a triumphant meow.
I might have to make him a dragon-knight armor later. It seems that this will become an habit of his…
Shaking my head, I followed the group who was already half-way through the path, going right after the dwarf as he guided us to the main entrance. As ordered, we left all of our weapons with one of the servants and walked in towards what looked like the main entrance.
I didn’t miss how Yami kept eyeing all the servants and analyzing them from head to toe. I guess that she does take her job somewhat seriously after all. The servants didn’t pay us much mind as they went on doing their own jobs. It seemed like they were more than used to having visitors.
We were left in a room with two couches that looked way too fancy for my own tastes. By instinct I decided to take on the simpler bench, but I was dragged back to the couch by both Argento and Yami, who said something about me being the central figure here, so I had to be present in the negotiations.
“But Yuu was also in the airship at the time!” I said while pointing to the Kitsune who hid embarrassedly behind Lily. “And I’m pretty sure she is much better educated in these matter than I am!”
“Do you really think that Yuu is in any state to negotiate right now, Master?” Crys asked me in a cold tone, and when I saw Yuu who was far too shy to even look at me in the eyes I gave a sigh.
Sitting down in the couch heavily, I crossed my arms angrily, put on a pout in my face and slouched the most I could to show my dissatisfaction. Yami and Argento each took a seat besides me and the maid gave me a jab with her elbow to make me sit straight up.
Nothing that Nature’s bastion couldn’t prevent.
Yuu, Hanbei and Lily all stood behind us since there wasn’t any more space in the couch.
It didn’t take long for us to hear footsteps approaching the doorway from which we came from. The moment the door opened, in came a trio of dwarves that couldn’t be any more different.
One was a refined-looking dwarf, with a clear white long hair that was tied in a braid. Instead of a full on beard, he had a pair of side-burns that linked into a magnificent looking mustache. He wore something akin to a business suit, but it was made of a thicker material than the usual.
The other one was perfectly bald, but had a full on beard that went all the way to his waist. Different from the first one, his beard was dark black, and the clothes he wore were simple leather garments. In his hands was a miner’s helmed and what looked like a pickaxe with one of the sides made into a full-blown battle axe hung on his waist.
Finally was the red-head butler that guided us in previously. He didn’t have a beard or a mustache and kept his hair curt short, probably to not bother him with the work.
“…an’t work any more like this! We need to send the guard or else the mines will have to stop brother!” The bald dwarf said with a worried tone.
“I see… I’ll look into it, but I doubt any of our guards have enough skill to take…” The white haired dwarf stopped once he noticed us in the room. He gave a brief glance towards the black bearded one who simply nodded in reply. “Excuse me for my rudeness.” The white haired one said while taking a step towards us. “I’m Myorrin Wichcrad, the local lord.” He said in a serious tone.
“Good morning. I’m Gondorrer Gravelheart, adventurer. These are Argento Belomondo and Tanto Yami.” I said presenting myself and the two besides me. “They are here to help me with the negotiations since I’m not very experienced with them.”
Huuuh… Why does it feels like they are staring at me as if I was some kind of odd creature? Is it because I acted polite with him? Is that it? I can hold myself back on my jokes, you know?
“Ah, so you are the one who captured the Airship, huh?” The white haired dwarf asked, and I noticed how the black-bearded one looked at me with interest.
“Yes. It were me and the kitsune lady over there.” I said pointing towards Yuu, who managed to give a brief greeting. “But due to some reasons, the negotiations were left to me.” Even though I don’t want to!
“I see.” He said with an amused look while examining the two of us. “I didn’t expect the two of you to be so… Young.”
“Well, we did have to resort to some tricks to get it done.” I said with a wry smile, and the white haired dwarf nodded briefly before sitting on the other couch. The two other dwarves stood behind him, with the black bearded one clearly looking impatient. “Err, would it be impolite of me to ask what happened at the mine before we start the negotiations?”
“The mines…?” Lord Wich… heh. Asked curiously. “Are you a miner too?”
“Ah, yes.” I replied immediately. “Knowing that there’s a mine-shaft nearby caught my attention.” I said shortly, and the dwarf looked slightly troubled. After some seconds he turned to the black-bearded dwarf who nodded.
“Ah, you see lad…” He said in a much more informal tone. “You really got here at a bad time. The mine was all well and fine till a couple of days ago, but a certain monster invaded it not long ago.” Huh? Monster? Did I hear correctly? “We miners are more than used to dealing with the usual cave monsters, but…” HUNTING. SENSES. TINGLING! “That might be a bit too much for us, so we are looking for someone to take care of it for us.”
“That… monster…” I said while trying to hold back my excitement. From behind I heard Hanbei sigh deeply. “Is it an animal or something?”
“Hmm?” The black bearded dwarf became surprised for a moment before nodding. “Aye. It’s a Sulfuric Impaler Matriarch. Luckily, it’s just a youngling. If it was an elder…”
“Sulfuric Impaler…?” I asked, the name tingling something in my memories. “Is that related to the Impaling spider?” I thought of the spider that took me to Eldor back when I was just beginning the game.
“Aye. It’s their volcanic cousin.” The Black haired dwarf said while scratching his head before blinking and staring at me. “Wait, are you saying you going to hunt it?” He asked surprised, and I saw as Lord Wich put an slightly interested look.
“Well… Let’s say I have a thing for hunting monsters…” I said cheerfully while barely able to hold back my excitement.
“…Looks like this is going to take even longer than what I expected, huh?” Lord Wich said with a brief sigh before turning towards his butler. “Oldir, can you get our guests something to eat?”
“With pleasure sir.” The butler said with a nod. “Is there anything you want in particular?”
“Just tea for me.” Yami said briefly.
“Then I’ll have whatever you have right now.” Argento agreed.
“Since I’m here, I have to ask for a sandwich…” Ah, I heard the people around me face-palming.
…
DANG IT! I WAS GOING SO WELL!
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(Dead)Author’s corner: Well guys, you saw it. Grand finale stole the cookies. Go hunt him!
*Munches cookie while grumbling about tables and how they are the evil of the universe*