*Evan POV*

"No, you can't," Liza replied firmly, flat-out rejecting Luna's request.

"But why!?" Luna protested.

Liza looked at Luna with sharp, professional eyes. Honestly, Liza looks the most mature out of everyone here and the only reason she seems to look up to me is because of my knowledge with this game-like world. Otherwise I’m pretty sure she would be the mature one amongst us

"Luna Helputt, the sole daughter of King Helputt of the Demi-humans Silver Daemons kingdom. There is no way we can let you go on any missions, especially since the Cultists are looking for you," Liza explained.

"But-" Luna started to argue but was cut off by Liza.

"We will take care of you here at the Adventurer's Guild for your safety until the Cultists' problem is resolved,"

Luna then suddenly pointed at me. "Then take care of Reid too! He's my personal knight!" she exclaimed.

To my surprise, Luna's words seemed to have an impact on Liza as she looked at me helplessly. It was clear that Luna's request had some weight, but I couldn't ignore this mystery/quest which involved cultists, genocide, and the chance to act like a real Sherlock Holmes. It's all a man could hope for.

"Alright, I'm going to have to butt in on this one here. Regardless of what happens, I still need to prepare for the worst-case scenario, which is facing off against the Eye of Cthulhu," I said, determined to solve this mystery.

"The Eye of Cthulhu?" Luna repeated with confusion and fear.

Liza answered before I could, "It's the giant threat we have to face right now. If not taken care of, it can cause complete genocide, according to Mr. Evan here."

Luna started freaking out, turning to me with desperation in her voice. "No! I reject the idea of you facing this threat!" she protested.

"I don't want to either, but I have no other choice, do I? Plus, I'm the only one who knows how to defeat it in the first place," I replied.

"Hm? Evan, do you really?" Liza asked curiously.

I smiled smugly and slammed my fist into my hand to show her exactly how. "Yep! Face it head-on and beat the crap out of it," I said confidently.

Luna was at her wits' end now, but I couldn't let that stop me. I had a mission to accomplish, and I was determined to do it.

“NO MEANS NO!!!” She yelled out.

"Sorry, Luna, but I can't waste any more time. I have a lot of things to do, and time is of the essence. By the way, Liza, is there a mine or any cave system nearby? And where can I buy potion-making materials?" I asked, trying to redirect the conversation.

"Listen to me when I'm talking!" Luna protested, her eyes welling up with tears. But I had to ignore her for now.

Following me, Liza started ignoring Luna as well, "There's a cave south of here in the mountains, and you can find the alchemical materials in the shopping district, which is also near the south gate,"

"Listen to me, Reid! You're not leaving this building! And why does she call you Evan!?" Luna demanded, clearly upset.

I sighed, knowing I had to explain myself. "Okay, so, uh, remember when I said I had amnesia? Well, I thought my name was Evan, which is why she calls me Evan. Also, sorry Princess, but I'm in a hurry and I have to go," I explained, hoping to appease her.

"Amnesia?" Liza repeated, sounding surprised.

I heard Liza quietly say Amnesia so I bolted towards the exit doors. I’m fucked if I have to explain it anymore so I might as well just run away to save myself. Hopefully Liza will keep Luna with her, but even if Luna comes after me, as long as I’m fast enough, she can’t catch up to me.

As I ran outside the Guild, I could hear Luna calling out to me, but I ignored her cries and ran straight towards the south gate. I knew Luna was going to be a pain to deal with, but I had a mission to complete.

I didn't really need to ask Liza about the shop's location since I had already read some books from the library that had saved all locations and points of interest in this kingdom on my map. However, I figured there was no harm in confirming.

Despite seeing some shops along the way, I didn't have any money with me, so I dashed through them all. Soon, I arrived at the gate where two guards quickly stopped me.

"Halt! What business do you have outside?" Guard 1 asked.

"Hello, gentlemen. I, uh, need to go towards the mountain over there," I replied, hoping they would let me pass.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

The guard looked in the direction I pointed and nodded his head. The other guard took out a small register and a piece of wood that had its edges blackened.

"On what time do you expect to return?" Guard 2 asked.

"Uh, around night time? Maybe tomorrow? Something like that. But why are you asking exactly?" I replied, cautious about giving out too much information since the Cultists were after me.

"This is in case you haven't returned by the time you specified. After that, a rescue party will be dispatched to search for you or your body," Guard 2 explained.

That sounded reasonable enough, but I couldn't trust them completely. If I wanted to solve the mystery of the Cultists, I had to act like Sherlock Holmes and trust no one. As the great man once said, "Trust no bitch." So, I decided to keep my guard up and proceed with caution.

{Author Note: A little bit wrong, he actually said “Never trust to general Impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details.” But it’s close enough.}

"I'm actually going mountain climbing for some ingredients and will probably return in a day or two," I replied to the guard.

"Alright, please write it in this book," Guard 1 said, handing me the book and a small wooden stick with black ink. I quickly wrote down my details and left.

The outside of the gate was plainer and had fewer trees, giving me a wider view than the forest where I built my house, which was surrounded by trees. I could see all the large mountains in the distance, some of which had snow-covered peaks. Liza had told me the cave was near the mountains, so I started running towards them.

In a few minutes, I reached the mountain range and saw a large hole at its base. It was lit up by torches and went straight down. I equipped my zombie arm just in case and ventured down without hesitation.

Right now, I needed some iron and, if possible, some life crystals to increase my max HP. After that, I planned to explore the surface at night for some fallen stars to increase my total Mana. Although the amount I currently had was enough, it still took a few seconds to recharge and another 2-3 seconds to fill up from 0 to the max of 40 points.

Next, I needed some blink root, which only grows deep within caves. Hopefully, I would find some treasure chests that hadn't been looted in the underground chasms. I knew I would definitely need Hermes boots for this fight if it did happen since they could increase my speed immensely.

As I ventured deeper below, I kept thinking about my needs and plans.

*Tifa POV*

*During the time Evan reached the human kingdom*

After I had rested and regained my energy, my sister's constant nagging prompted us to set out to visit the Silver Daemon who fought off the zombie horde all night and built a small shack for himself afterward. We were both heading towards his shack, but my sister didn't know the way, so I was leading her. I was still unsure about whether this would work, but my sister was confident.

"Are you sure this will work?" I asked uncertainly.

"Of course!" Sarah replied, brimming with a smile.

We had searched for more information about the Silver Daemon in question and found out that their entire castle had been annihilated. However, we had no information about how or when it had happened. We did know that the king and queen of the Silver Daemon's kingdom were recuperating in our kingdom. It must have been tough for them to live like that and find the strength to move on.

After a while, we finally found the small shack-like wooden house.

"This is the one," I said.

"Then let's give a big knock!" Sarah exclaimed, running towards the door from behind me and trying to bash it open.

"Hello!? Silver Daemon!? We've come bringing joyous news! Open up!" she shouted.

Moments later, the door opened, but we were both shocked to our very core. The person who opened the door was not the Silver Daemon in question but a human, a taboo race that all elves avoid no matter what happens. He had shabby brown hair and was wearing an off-white buttoned shirt with blue pants.

Sarah and I were in shock and couldn't move. This would be hard to explain back at the Adventurers Guild.

The human who had opened the door looked at us curiously, trying to identify who we were. But he quickly lost interest when we didn't say anything.

"If you're looking for my master, he isn't here at the moment," he said before closing the door. The door slammed shut in front of Sarah, who was closest to the human, and she looked bewildered.

"What just happened?" she asked.

"I have no idea. That was an unusual reaction. I thought we would get the usual 'Look, an Elf! So amazing and beautiful!' or something like that. And did he say 'master'?" I replied, trying to process what had just happened.

But before I could say anything else, Sarah started knocking on the door again. I quickly screamed out, "Wait! What are you-!"

However, before I could finish, the door opened again, and the human appeared once more. "Yes?" he asked.

The human looked completely uninterested as if we were wasting his time.

"Where can we find the Silver Daemon who made this house?" Sarah asked, seeming unfazed by the human's demeanor.

"Why?" the human asked suspiciously.

"Because we have some amazing news for him!" Sarah replied cheerily.

"If you're looking for him, he went straight east from here. He won't come back for some time. Maybe hours, maybe days, maybe weeks. There is a human kingdom in that direction, so his destination was probably there," the human answered before shutting the door.

As soon as he went away, I lashed out at my sister for her recklessness. "What were you thinking!?" I exclaimed.

She shrugged her shoulders at me. "Getting info about our Silver Daemon friend? Duhhh? What else is there to ask the human?" she replied.

"I'm starting to freak out. What if he tells others about seeing us? What then!?" I exclaimed, feeling anxious. They already despised me because I wasn't a purebred, and if anything else happened after this encounter, I would be in a world of trouble.

"Relax, he already saw us. So, let's make the best use of it, right? Plus, if we don't tell anyone about this encounter, then no one will know either," Sarah said, trying to calm me down.

I was getting angry and was about to lash out again, but I gave up in the end. "Forget it," I said, realizing that I could never win against her in logic.

"Okay then! We're heading for the human kingdom!" Sarah said, excitedly.

"W-wait? No! We can't!" I protested.

"What? Okay then, you head back home, and I'll go alone," Sarah said, pouting.

"Why are you going to the human kingdom?" I asked.

"To find the Silver Daemon, duh?" Sarah replied.

"I don't think he's worth that much trouble," I sighed.

"When I say I'll do something, that means I'll do it. Even if it means paying the human kingdom a visit. So, are you coming or not?" Sarah asked, determined.

I made a troublesome sigh. "Fine, you win. I'm already here, so I might as well go," I said, reluctantly.

Sarah looked excited and almost jumped in response. "YAH HOO! Then let's go! I can't wait!" she exclaimed.

As we headed off for the human kingdom, I couldn't shake off the bad feeling in my gut.