The mood turned tense as Zeke and Mikella stared at Cloud and Val, their new ‘hosts’ in this town.
The way Cloud asked where they came from made Zeke weary, even more so considering how powerful they are.
They knew their exact levels, which meant that they had some ability to see through their statuses. He wasn’t sure whether they can also see their stats, skills, or any other secrets, so he can’t really find any reason to lie to them. For all he knew, they might have a skill that can see through lies.
Should he just tell the truth? How would they take it? Looking back at Val for a second, as long as Clara is with them, they can’t be considered dangerous.
Then again, relying on a child like a shield for their morality didn’t sit right with him. Then again, what other choice is there?
He looked back at the nervous Mikella holding the confused Clara tightly. Her muscles were tense, but not in preparation for something, but in fear. He could tell that they were in a precarious situation.
He had to make a decision. He could lie and judge the situation for himself, or just flat out tell the truth.
And realizing how he acted the past two weeks after entering this strange new world, one thing was clear for him. No matter how powerful he was, he just wasn’t the kind of guy to easily maneuver conversations.
If he was the type to easily gauge the room and read the air, he wouldn’t have so many issues in his past that led him to some serious mental scarring for years to come. He knew he wasn’t the social type, so there was only one choice to do.
Hoping that Mikella would forgive him, Zeke finally answered.
“...We’re not really from around here,” Zeke eventually said, steel in his voice.
“Zeke!” Mikella said harshly, but when she noticed the downcasted look he put on, she turned silent.
“I’m sorry, Mikella. There’s no way I can do this without telling the truth. I suck at keeping up an appearance. I know I said we should keep it a secret, but I don’t really see a choice here.”
“...I understand,” Mikella nodded. Then, she turned to the two who were now fully interested in their story. “But please understand… We have no intentions of hurting anyone. If you think we’re dangerous then… at least let Clara go.”
Mikella grasped Clara tighter, hugging her as Clara noticed her distress and hugged her right back.
“We would never do anything bad to you, no matter where you come from,” Val said, her voice tinged with heavy resolve. Her eyes turned sharp too, enough to practically cut through anything.
“I will assure you that you will be safe,” Cloud said, also showing the same resolve in his eyes. “You have my word. But know this–depending on the circumstances, we may have to shift our plans of letting you stay here.”
“Cloud?” Val said, almost looking at him in horror. “You can’t seriously be considering kicking them out of the town?”
“Of course not,” Cloud said resolutely, but he still kept that cold look in his eyes. “But I also have no intention of endangering anyone around here should the situation be that bad. I hope you two understand this.”
“We do,” Zeke said, figuring that the situation might get more tense if they delay their story any longer. With everyone almost getting nervous, Zeke began. “Well… what can I say? We just sort of… woke up in a castle.”
…..
Zeke wasn’t able to tell how long they told Cloud and Valorie what happened to them. It seemed like hours passed trying to explain everything. Though seeing that they have a working clock that showed the same 12 numbers around the circle, it was proof that they had the same concept of time. As for the story, it took roughly an hour or so.
When he first tried to explain everything, he was stuttering about how to start, and what to keep in to avoid suspicion. Fortunately, Mikella aided in adding smidgets of information that escaped his mind at the moment. As seconds rolled by while the story unfolded, Zeke began to speak more confidently.
Or rather, he explained in a way that seemed like how a professor would in a college lecture. He was clear, avoiding any type of filler to waste time, and more importantly, adding information and his own thoughts about what occurred that he was sure Val and Cloud didn’t know about.
He had a feeling that his Intelligence stat came into play there. He wasn’t sure, but he knew that he was speaking eloquently and had better memory in a drastic leap compared to before. Before he even realized it, Cloud was intensely invigorated, possibly about how all this happened, while Val was just interested in the story itself, like how one would enjoy it in a campfire.
It wasn’t a story, per say, but it sure was an interesting one.
Finally, after reaching where they were now, he looked over at the two. They were, expectedly, dumbfounded by all this information. Val was just too stunned to speak, her eyes brimming with surprise, confusion, and sympathy at the same time. Meanwhile, Cloud had that intensity behind his eyes that made Zeke feel like he was being stared at under a microscope.
“That’s… I don’t know where to begin,” Val said earnestly. She frowned at the three. “Though I am very sure that you three are victims in some strange, otherworldly kidnapping. But… just the idea that a world can exist without the system in place is… well, it’s terrifying to even think about.”
“Is it really that terrible?” Mikella asked, curious at her response. “I mean, where we came from, there weren’t any dangerous knights, wyverns, and beasts trying to kill us at every turn.”
“You do have a point…” Valorie started with a nod. “However, there are as many benefits to having a system than without, even with the dangers involved. How can you tell which way you specialize without the system guiding your path?”
“We just guess,” Zeke said flat out. That was something that he wished he could have back where he came from, but always had to wander about meaninglessly.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Goodness! I can’t imagine how that would turn out. Without ever figuring out what you’re good at, what you’re bad at… and even through all this, you are expected to figure this all out before reaching your twenties? Is your world that cruel to your children?”
Zeke was taken aback by that. He tried to explain how their world worked first, with their natural laws and clearly no system help involved. But Val was still sure of herself that both Zeke and Mikella were children in her eyes.
“Come on, Val. They live in a completely different world–literally. It’s only natural that their cultures are vastly different from ours. Perhaps without any monsters around, they have more of a reason to hurry with their progress. Though, I still find this incredibly difficult to swallow. No offense.”
Zeke let Cloud continue. According to them, there wasn’t any skill and such that would help them learn whether the person was lying. Though Zeke hasn’t told a lie once. However, if he were in Cloud’s shoes and someone said that they came from a different world back in his own world, they would naturally be sent to the mental institution for some help.
So he was earnestly surprised at how easily they agreed to their crazy story.
“Do you two have any questions about us?” Zeke asked, clenching his fingers.
“About a hundred or so,” Cloud said upfront, but he raised his hand. “But I’ll be kind and hold myself back. For now, just a few is fine. Particularly about why you think you were sent here, and in a dungeon, no less.”
“I can’t understand that for the life of me,” Valorie said, shaking her head. “Why on Tarial would all of you be kidnapped to a dungeon? Without initialization, that’s no different than sending babies there, and you even had one there as well!”
Val covered her chest with both hands at Clara, who in turn tilted her head back at her. She was following the conversation to the best of her abilities.
“Trust me, I’ve been wondering about that too,” Mikella said, shrugging her shoulders. There was a hint of anger in there, but she hid it well. “For your question, we have no clue why we were taken. We talked about ourselves, and we only knew that we’re just normal folks, at least in our world.”
“And this dungeon disappeared the moment you left? And this happened two weeks ago?” Cloud asked, getting Zeke to nod. “I suppose that answers the question that it didn’t have much to do with the horde attacking us.”
Zeke perked up at that, but Valorie only waved her hand.
“You know they were too far for it to affect us. Two weeks is too far to be anywhere close to us, even if they were traveling on foot.”
“True,” Cloud nodded. “Still, that’s good to know. A dungeon left alone is a disaster waiting to happen. But if it’s gone, the danger is gone. Though, I never heard of any dungeon named the Castle of Arthurian Knights before when we first located our town.”
“Our town’s been around for years now. Perhaps it propped up unannounced?” Val mentioned, getting Cloud to nod his head.
Zeke had plenty of questions himself regarding that. They talked about their town, Eve Glade he supposed, like they were there since its foundation. While that may or may not be important, he was stumped to find out how easily Cloud took in that the tower just ‘propped up’ unannounced like it’s natural.
But right now, they were the one being questioned, so he stifled his questions for now.
“As for how you were sent there…” Cloud continued, rubbing his chin in deep thought. “It sounds like you were teleported there, but that should’ve been impossible at the moment. Not at least without some heavy materials used for the process, or even some dedicated mages around the vicinity where you appeared.”
Zeke figured that was the case. Then again, who was he to know how this world works? All he knew is that if there was a skill for teleportation, he would take it in a heartbeat.
But considering how much work there is to use the skill, perhaps it’s not really worth it.
“I know this feels insulting, considering everything you’ve been through, but I hope you can understand that this is… incredibly hard to grasp.”
“Of course, we don’t plan on kicking you out of here,” Val consoled, revealing a gentle smile. “It’s clear you need help. And according to what you said, you sound like you two can carry yourselves despite how young you are.”
Zeke easily showed a grimace that Val still considered them children, but apparently, in this world, they were like children.
“We can let you stay, and you can help us with taking care of the town just like everyone else is. It’s only natural to work if you want to eat. I don’t plan on taking any leechers into my house after all.”
Zeke couldn’t help but chuckle. Considering how game-like this world was, leechers would be the same as those who join the party but don’t do anything as they let the others kill the monsters to net some free XP.
“Of course,” Mikella said with absolution. “We don’t plan on not doing anything. We want to work. All I ask is that you give us what we need to take care of Clara, and I’m satisfied.”
“But of course!” Val said, almost offended. “What makes you assume I’ll just leave Clara alone like that? Worst case, I kick you two out and Clara stays. I can’t in good conscience leave a little girl to the hands of leechers. However, I can tell by the atmosphere around you. If one never asked, you would easily look like a simple family of a father, mother, and child.”
That idea brought Zeke to feel heat in his cheeks. If one didn’t know them well, they would see Zeke as the father, Mikella the mother and Clara their child. He slapped himself inwardly at the childish thoughts, taking into consideration that Val would, in her words, kidnap Clara from them for her sake.
But instead of getting angered, Mikella only smiled. “That’s good. Thank you… really, I appreciate this. I don’t care what happens to me, but I want Clara to be taken care of.”
“Sissy,” Clara spoke up, tugging at Mikella’s dress. “Are you gonna leave?”
“Of course not,” Mikella cooed. “I’ll be staying with you.”
“And Bobo?” Clara turned back to Zeke. He immediately turned, smiled at her, then brushed her hair roughly.
“Obviously, I’m staying”
Clara giggled as she tried to hold Zeke’s hand to stop the brushing, and Zeke gladly let her hold it as she kept smiling. For the past two weeks, Clara kept Zeke sane and composed.
Knowing that Clara was in clear danger if he didn’t, he kept at it, no matter how hard things got. Even sleeping on the forest floor with constant monster threats around them wasn’t enough to bring him down.
“Well, you clearly tugged at Val’s heartstrings, so it’s clear none of you are getting kicked out,” Cloud smirked as he saw Val smiling so brightly, possibly even brighter than the star above, at the display. “I’ll make some requests to see if we can get you two settled. I’ll also be providing some identification and supplies for you two as well, since I’m guessing you have nothing that you own.”
“That’d be great,” Zeke explained, but then tilted his head. “Oh, but we do have some stuff we got from the tower. If possible, can you use it to sell and see if you can use it to purchase those supplies?”
“So you’re providing rent up front?” Cloud joked. “I’m already starting to like you. Alright, let’s see what you got. I’m also curious about what you got too.”
Turning over to Mikella, she nodded in understanding as the two stood to open up their packs.
That alone got Cloud to widened his eyes as, unlike Val, he didn’t see them put away their weapon from earlier.
The living room was big enough to handle it, so Zeke and Mikella pulled out what they thought would be appropriate. That would be the barrel full of fruits they found, and an entire armory full of metal armor and some weapons they took.
On top of that, Zeke and Mikella pulled out several gold and silver coins, though not enough to make a pile up to their height, but just on top of the table that was nearby.
Immediately, that got Cloud and Val’s attention.
“You think this might be enough?” Zeke asked, showing a bit of a smirk. Even he would be shocked if someone just brought out what looked like a pile of treasure in his living room out of nowhere.