Voz was a medium developed continent but comically recognised as a country due to it's small size, it's borders were quite strict with knights guarding them from day to night.
The continent was really lovely on the inside , with genetically modified flowers which sprayed lovely scents all over the country and decorating it with their colourful petals. Not all of the country was like this though , just a particular space. Most of the country was full of medium classed towns and rarely villages. People in this continent were quite lively, earning money from several yet common methods. One of them is being a hunter , which was exactly why Voz had quite the population of hunter candidates but Ironically , none of them ever reached the A rank for some unknown reasons. A person in here could also become a teacher , an engineer, a constructor and many other job classes but none made quick and big money as hunters did. Hunters normally took monster parts and sold them to people for a large amount of cash , yes monsters. Monsters were a terrifying existence with special ranks for each type of monster and different skills. Beyond it's ravaging were a monster's body parts for which swallowed could greatly boost one's physical condition based on the monster eaten. For an example - the scaled chicken. it was a monster resembling a chicken to the very shape but with scales instead of feathers. If eaten , it would greatly strengthen a person's bones. It wasn't easy to catch though , with it's scaled feet and it's skill to run great metres away from poachers , which was exactly why people farmed these type of monsters which wouldn't fight back - this was the second option to quickly make big money but you'd have to be equipped to deal with it or atleast be a rank D citizen which was why monster farming wasn't quite common.
Topping it off was the central city of Voz , this was the special place with modified flowers surrounding the country. You'd see some of them placed near a resident's home too. The houses were exclusively for higher medium classed folks, the ones at the peak of being rich but not quite there. And in the middle of it all was a palace
The palace was breathe taking with beautiful features that'd pain one to look away from
The palace itself was green in colour with odd shaped black coloured art on it , it looked like something out of a crazy dream with its even more odder shape. Of course the palace was smaller than the king's own castle , but it had quality and quality beats quantity in ways more than one.
It's outward appearance could be compared to the famous type of piano played by the miraculous dracula in movies with its straw shaped structures, packed closely together as they grew in length. One of the many straw-like structures was in the middle of them all , and a large, beautifully decorated door was positioned at its bottom. Seemingly , this structure was the entrance to the palace as itself was taller than the others , to it's right and left the 'pillars' grew smaller in length per pillar.
The palace was under construction as such there was no telling what beauty it would become once it was finished , it's side , top and back view were concealed from the front so there was no telling what they looked like from the front.
As Jain and his rookie gang neared the entrance ; just 4 steps away from opening the large door , suddenly two individuals appeared literally out of nowhere - they wore heavy knight armour made with silver , they also both carried silver shields. One of the suspicious individuals was on the left side nearer to the door from Jain's frontal view and the other one , the right.
Both of them had long staff - resembling axes which made an 𝗫 as the gang of 5 people tried to walk in the palace.
" Halt , state your name , where you come from and your reason to visit Lady V. "
Guard 1 stated in a loud voice without moving much as his head.
Jain's gang opened a way from him, of course they were just extra guests and Jain was the actual person summoned by Lady V. After many begs to Jain from them to come along with him , his heart finally softened and took them along.
Jain approached the two guards in a dragged walk manner before stopping before them , 2 feet away.
"Uhh...my name is Jain , I've been summoned here by the king's right hand man...I come from the town of geelbra not so far from here , oh and the reason for my visit....I kinda don't know..hehe."
The last part was said in a nervous and down tone ,but not to be mistaken as lies, Jain indeed told the truth as he was whisked away from his an E-rank dungeon fighting weak slimes by a messenger , "Lady V summons you , you may visit Lady V's palace in about 4 days from now , the reason for your visit shall be stated by Lady V. " The messenger had said before bowing and leaving , Jain found it weird that a man was refer to as a 'Lady' , after all this man was the king's right hand man. But nevertheless , in the 3 days left before his visit , he had prepared himself for anything , for meeting the king's right hand man was a true honour and a once in a lifetime opportunity . The king's right hand man was never shown in public as such a very few people knew his face , but not only that piqued his interest ; maybe Jain was going to be instated as a Knight , perhaps he would become the king's right hand man's assistant or successor or just maybe , he'd get one of those clerk kinda jobs which give you a lot of salary so he could finally retire from his life or death job as a E-ranked hunter , all of his guesses were wishful thinking but did not stop Jain from wishing that atleast one of them was true.
"Jain , Jain who ?"
The same guard asked , leaving Jain disbelief
𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 ?
: he silently thought to himself
"Jain McGui - ."
" Oh , you..Lady V has been expecting you and told me to let you in when you arrive and guide you to her chamber , but she didn't mention the rooks which accompany you. "
Guard 2 suddenly spoke , cutting off Jain from finish his surname
He looked back at his friends ,the trouble making gang of his were calm and collected for a change.
For a moment , Guard 2 covered his left ear with a hand - He was nodding as if he heard things nobody would , he would probably look like a mad man from a 3rd person's view.
𝑰𝒕𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄...
Jain guessed , never taking his eyes from the guard. The guard who had his hand on his ear removed it , and in one movement he removed his spear-shaped axe and the other did the same, therefore allowing them entrance.
" The rookies can go in ,but they are expected to be seated in the dining hall. Follow me. "
Guard 2 said in a programmed voice before turning and opened the door and disappearing into the darkness which revealed itself when the door was wide opened , the guard didn't even check to see that they were indeed following him , or maybe he did but they couldn't see him in the enveloping darkness. All they could hear was the sound made from the heavy armour as it withered around as he walked.
A choir of muffled sounds was heard afterwards , it was the sounds made when feet hit earth , of course this was the sound made from the walks of Jain and his rookies as they entered the door.
The room lit when they walked in. After , the door shut with a loud bang.
Flame torches were attached to both walls which faced each other , from the right and left which then began to light themselves after the door had closed.
There were pictures of several musical instruments attached to the walls ranging from something as small as a flute to something as huge as a piano. The walls , floor and ceiling were cream in colour and had engravings of flowers from the edges , the palace wasn't only breathe taking on the outside but also on the inside as well.
But what stood out the most was how each step one took made a sound that felt like the direct sound was originating from their ears after each and every step. In simple words ,any sound you made in here sounded closer to your ears than it should have.
𝑫𝒂𝒎𝒏 ,𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆.
Jain thought to himself and while thinking about it , it had been long enough since they had been walking , turning many passages , an hour must have long passed since they entered the place.
The place just seemed like a maze and the surroundings hardly changed ,just different types of musical instruments and different engravings , a normal person would have flipped their lid a long time ago but Jain decided it was time he flipped his now, after all - his feet and thighs were beginning to hurt.
" I had enough of this ! We've been walking for hours , that one I am sure of. Is this some kind of sick joke ?! "
Jain shouted to the knight clad in heavy looking silver armour , the knight continued walking as if he didn't care of Jain's complaint or even heard him speak for that matter.
" hey you , are you even listening to me !! "
Once again ,the knight didn't bother even stopping for a second and continued walking
𝒉𝒎𝒎 , 𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆...𝑰'𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒈𝒐 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 , 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒕𝒐𝒐.
Jain decided , but as he turned to walk away..he was met with an eerie sight - none of his friends were behind him ,they were all gone.
"Ack..what the heck is going on here ?! Where are my friends even? "
" Your friends collapsed 15 minutes ago and you're the only one who remained. "
The knight responded in a cold tone , he had finally stopped walking and gazed at Jain at the corner of his left eye
"...."
Jain remained quiet , trying to piece together what the knight was saying to him.
𝑺𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒑𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆?! 𝑨𝒉𝒉...𝑰 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒃𝒂𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒐𝒕𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈.
" What will happen to them? Why did they collapse and when are we arriving to the destination already? "
The knight started walking again and Jain followed behind him , he was less infuriated than he was a few seconds ago..but he really wanted to know what was going on , all of this just felt like a big prank ,or an unfunny joke.
" Your friends have been taken by the maids to rest , or atleast must have..Lady V did not shed any information to why they collapsed , but what I am sure about is that it was a test.. 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱"
𝑶𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 ? 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏...𝒂𝒎 𝑰 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 ? 𝒐𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒇 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒔𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒋𝒐𝒃 𝑰'𝒎 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅? 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏...𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒆𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘
The knight turned a corner , the one on the left and Jain followed behind him as usual.
A large door was presented infront of Jain's eyes , it was about 12-15 steps away , the door was awe-strucking like the rest of this place ,it had an engraving of a rose with thorns surrounding it, Jain never thought he'd be this happy to see a door , it meant an entrance to something and just perhaps , and end to this miserable walking.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
" We have arrived. "
The knight said in a high tone , and for some reason he could not tell whether that was directed at him or someone else hiding somewhere.
The large door suddenly opened and splitting into two , not much could be made out of by this distance but Jain was sure that he could see a very large table .
The knight changed the pace and started walking faster , there was only a slight boundary left from him walking and running.
"Hey..wait for me ! "
Jain hurried behind him and as they entered the room , the doors once again closed themselves.
This part of the palace was even more awe strucking , the room was wide enough to fit an entire set of musical instruments, the floors were made in cream and brown tiles and the walls were made in a similar fashion too.
Infront of Jain was a really long table , the table could host 17 guests and still have a bit of space left , the chairs themselves were a work of art, each chair had an engravement of its own , relating to flowers of course.
" I have brought the visitor to you Lady V.."
Jain snapped out of it , he was so absorbed in the beauty of this room for so long that he forgot why he was here in the first place . He looked around the room for any traces of a foreign person , but there was nobody there except for a seat which faced the opposite direction than others.
"Thank you schiver. You may leave "
There was a voice which came behind the seat which alone faced the opposite, the voice was quite very pleasant to the ear , it was calm ,collected and relaxing;it was like drinking hot chocolate on a really cold day and chatting with family and friends , it was like the whisper of a kind angel. It was the voice of a woman.
The knight immediately left the room , and the door of course closed after he left and then there was a silence which crept it's way Into the room ,the silence made the moment awkward for Jain and he was really afraid of screwing things up.
𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈'𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒏 , 𝒔𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆?! 𝑰𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅....𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒔 , 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒖𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉.
"You can take a sit Mr.Jain , by that chair facing me. "
The voice commanded sweetly , normally he wouldn't do anything without thinking it first but this voice felt really warm and kind , so he did as he was told without a second of thinking.
The chair he sat in was really far from the suspicious woman , like 16 metres away.. if more than anything , he was worried that he couldn't be heard by the woman and vice versa. The table was rectangular shaped so only two seats could be hosted on its opposite small sides , the same sides which both of them accumulated.
" I am sure you're wondering why you're here , but don't you worry ..everything will be clear once I explain to you , after all ..both of us have something to gain out of this. "
The woman spoke , it was shocking that Jain could hear her very well to the point that she sounded like she was just seated next to him despite the physical distance , maybe the entire palace was magical. But he couldn't let the woman's kind voice and the beautiful view around himself trick him into being this woman's slave , after all he was summoned by the king's right hand man and not her.
" I-I am sure we do ma'am... "
"Oh drop the formalities , just call me V. "
"Okay V......so where is the king's right hand man? he summoned me here...are you his assistant or what?"
Her lips curled in a smile even though Jain couldn't see it.
" How very rude of you Mr.Mcguire if It were someone else ,the entire place would have been bloody by now.."
She said the murderous words with so carefree that it made it creepy and scary then continued.
" But I won't blame you for your ignorance - "
The suspicious woman turned the chair and Jain got a better look at her appearance ; she had a curved chin with bright red cheeks , her eyes were emerald green while she had on a crimson red lipstick , her dress was modernized with its tightness , in a way it was like one of those dresses fashion models wear , but it wasn't exaggerated and surely Jain couldn't help notice the very sexy cleavage which was sticking out in the overall appearance. His cheeks turned pink, he had never seen a woman's cleavage before.
She noticed that Jain had been looking at her cleavage and made a shooing glare at him and her smile faded.
"Er....so....what do ya , Uhm mean by your err...previous words "
Jain said , trying to change the direction of things ; suspiciously again, she smiled before making an eerie movement with her hands in the air.
𝑶𝒉 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒑. 𝑰𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆?! 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝑰 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒃𝒔 , 𝒐𝒉 𝑮𝒐𝒅 𝑰 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏
While Jain was busy imagining how he would be killed , two maids quickly entered the room , another carried two glasses in a tray and the other a weird red liquid in a large bottle, they both wore typical maid clothing but unlike the ones you saw in anime , they weren't sexy at all. They clothing was the type you'd expect a maid working at a retirement home to wear with its black and white colouring and long dress
" I see it as best if we discuss things over with a beverage. "
𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒅 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅..𝒐𝒉 𝒏𝒐,𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 ?!
"Uhh.. Yeah. But you know - " he lowered his voice reflexively then continued " I'd like to pass on the..blood. y'know ? "
She looked at him straight in the eyes while her chin rested on her hands which she stacked , her smile never left her face and that made Jain's nerves tingle
" Relax will you? I can tell from your words that you are shaking , if you're concerned about what you did a few minutes ago when you stared at my boobs , it's in the past to me..I don't like clinging on the past so it's okay Mr.Mcguire , if anything..I would have been offended if you didn't look at them. But let's not venture deep into it."
One of the maids stood next to Jain and placed a glass next to him , the other one was next to the woman pouring the liquid on her glass until it was full , Jain had been paying attention incase the maids tried to slip poison in his drink , the woman could still be after to kill him despite her words. The bottle she carried suddenly disappeared into thin air and reappeared next to the maid next to him in under 2 seconds , it looked like a magic trick and Jain couldn't help but be surprised. He was an E-rank hunter which meant he never saw magic live in action but could only picture what it must be like hearing from his friends who had higher ranks than him , the dungeons he went into were either full of slimes or parasitic vines so he didn't get to see other magical creatures either
𝑺𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄 !
" Oh relax , this is just a little trick I taught my servants. "
The lady said , still not taking her curious eyes from Jain ; she probably could notice the shock in Jain's face.
" Now go on , drink. "
The woman insisted after the maid had finished pouring the suspicious liquid , her lips curled up even more and that made Jain uneasy , regardless he couldn't reject an offer from her as he still wanted to know where the king's right hand man had disappeared to
He took the glass and brought it to his lips , the liquid shined in the light as Jain took a closer look at it - he couldn't notice any poison in it but he made sure to slowly drink it.
𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑰 𝒈𝒐 !
He drank the liquid slowly and there was a strange taste that was lingering in his tongue , it was sweet yet slightly bitter , spicy yet hydrating and sour yet fulfilling - the liquid tasted very nice and he decided to gulp the entire thing down , and so he did but the liquid ran out from his glass faster than he wanted it to
" Uhmm...can I have another glass , please. "
He asked , he noticed that the maid was looking at the lady over the other side of the table despite his request. The lady nodded and then the maid poured him another one
𝑶𝒉 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 , 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒅𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒕..𝒉𝒆𝒚,𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 , 𝒔𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒕 ?! 𝒉𝒖𝒉..𝑰 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏 , 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅.
" It's effects are seemingly working , judging by your free posture , yes ? "
Jain could feel his nerves and muscles relaxing.
𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 '𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕'
but he could'nt help but be impressed by her hospitality , in a way that made him more prepared to hearing what she had to say.
" I'll begin... earlier on you asked where the king's right hand man was , yes ? "
The lady asked but all Jain could do was to nod , he was too busy savouring the delicious taste of the strange liquid.
" well , the king's right hand man has been in front of your eyes this whole time. "
this confused Jain , it was the same confusion and naiveness a child probably got had when they were told santa did not exist , when they thought deep in their heads what the words meant.
𝑩𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆? 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒆?? 𝑨𝒉𝒉. 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒌
" well , where is he ? Is he hiding behind something or is he using concealment magic ? "
The Lady smiled even more , it was the smile a person would make before revealing something big about a particular thing , the same smile which had so much behind it and unsaid words , it was the same smile any person would make before popping a person's delusion bubble.
" 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 , 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴'𝘀 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗻. "
Jain spit his drink he had recently drank after hearing those poisonous words. The woman's smile spelt one thing , and that one thing was 'satisfactory'
"what?! you're the king's right hand man ? So that means you're transgender, right?? What the flip is going on here ! "
Jain was so tensed up in disbelief that he didnt realise he was shouting so loud, that is - until the sound rebounded back to his ears and strained them.
" No , I am not a transgender Mr.Mcguire , I've been a woman since birth neither do I have any insecurities about my gender. "
" But...the king's right hand man is a guy , that's what everyone is saying ."
Jain was careful not to shout this time ,what did this mean?! He was so tensed up that he couldn't think critically. The woman moved her lips to speak
" yes , that's what 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 is saying...."
𝑶𝒌𝒂𝒚 , 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 , 𝑰 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒊𝒇 𝑰 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅...𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒚 𝒂 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒍
she continued.
" atleast that's what 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 believe."
The smile on her face had not faded even through Jain's shouting , if anything she seemed pleased over Jain's overreacting.
" I am not feeding you any lies Mr.Mcguire , I am the king's right hand man , a subordinate which chooses to live in the shadows , very few know how I look and those who do - I have warned each and every one of them not to spill the beans to my identity because I like it that way.. " she took a deep breath and her smile faded " you know , this country is really sexist..most of it's citizens are anyways , I was offered this job by my best friend , King Trion after I retired as a musician and a singer , I could play all the instruments back at my time and I still can , better believe it. "
A piece from the wall behind the woman shifted , like a hidden door and it turned , revealing a large potrait of a woman singing , her face was smooth , and her cheek bones narrow , she had a glintering sparkly dress black with shiny dots like the night sky , she also had red lips and her eyes were closed.
" people called me the Angel , and some called me the Sleeping Beauty. Better believe it , I lived up to both of those names... but well , now I am here , it gets boring being here , you know but I can't complain, I need to help my friend Trion as he also helped me out.. so here I am , the King's right hand man. "
she finally stopped talking and eyed Jain for a response , he could feel the pressure from her gaze and the meaning behind her words.
𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔𝒏𝒕 𝒍𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 , 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍..𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆.
" Oh...I believe you now. "
Jain said in a low voice ,he didn't know what else to say.
" That's good , since you do believe me , we must get into business.... " and just like that , she quickly changed mental gears " as I said earlier on , I am sure you're wondering why I called you here. The thing is , I am looking for a really small favour. "
"hmm? A small favour ? "
𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓? 𝑨𝒔 𝒊𝒇...𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒈𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒃𝒓𝒂 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒂 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓 ? 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒕
" Yes .... a small favor , I am sure you are aware that there is a monster extermination coming up soon in a week, yes ? "
" Yeah...my friends told me , apparently it'll be in a C-rank dungeon and will be taken on by B ranked hunters. "
"Yes , thats the one. I am going to need you to go with them and get me the boss's magic core. "
𝑴𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆? 𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 ?
a magic core was simply a ball of energy which immediately condensed after a monster's death , depending on the level of the monster , a magic core could be dense with energy or just weak. Some people believed that the magic core could boost a person's physical and magical capabilities. but that was proven to be incorrect after a few unfortunate people tried to absorb it and instead blew up their mana cores , mana cores were similar to magic cores but they existed before the creature was dead and disappeared after , mana cores helped in storing the absorbed mana in the atmosphere.
" Okay , I get all of that but how do you expect an E-rank hunter to join in a strictly C-rank mission ? that's against the law. "
Jain complained , the woman obviously did not think this through, it was known wide that hunters couldn't take on missions higher than their own ranking , it was suicide. They either had to be lower by a single rank or higher than the mission's own rank.
" have you forgotten ? I am the king's right hand man..I can bend the rules a little without suffering the consequences "
𝑯𝒖𝒉 , 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒅..𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒊𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌
" Okay , let's say I do help you and don't get caught , but what do I get out of it ?"
her eyes closed half-way and her smile grew in length , the lipstick glittered in the light , the whole expression was a physical representation to how the woman had been expecting the reply.
" 𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 "
" a position ? "
" 𝘆𝗲𝘀.. a position , I am sure you're really tired of being an E-ranked hunter for so long , well I am offering you a position to become one of the king's knights. "
this was an offer he just couldn't refuse , the king's knights had the best training , best pay and to top it all , they could live within the kingdom of ryunas in Azania.
𝑯𝒖𝒉...𝑰 𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 , 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓.
Jain smiled at the offer , and he knew it could be possible with the king's right hand man , basically the woman was a king by herself and she didn't seem like the type to betray her own words.
Jain stood up from his chair , stared at her in the eye with a bright smile on his face and a dancing heart.
" I'll take it. "
the woman nodded perhaps predicting this , it was kinda weird how that smile never left her face.