Legend of the Western Lands

Treasure Hunt (3)

Cale looked refreshed again, staring at the staircase that opened up with complicated eyes.

The strange voice previously talked to him, unfairly and annoyingly, however, more importantly, definitely not human. If Cale was still back on earth, he would compare the tone of voice with warped AI sounds.

Something about the way the voice talked bugged him.

He didn't know why and it annoyed him greatly. The dust that filled the air clocked his airpipes. Coughing to remove the wayward particles ended with Raon having a crisis.

-Human, are you dying?!

The small dragon shrieked, filling Cale's already stuffed head with even more noise. His panicked shouts alerted not just the ancient powers living inside of him, but also the rest of the crew since his panicked flapping was suspicious enough.

Considering Cale's throat was still sore from coughing up blood, having dust irritate it some more was just plain annoying. He couldn't tell them that he wasn't dying, which naturally made Raon panic even more.

-I will kill them!

He vowed venomously.

Kill whom? Me?

Cale had tears in his eyes.

Their hopefully last staircase adventure was halted for a bit till Cale got his bearing back and Raon stopped screaming bloody murder.

Meanwhile, on the mainland a few hours earlier.

Ron smiled benignly at the group of dark elves that had been merrily fishing while they were risking their lives trying to find and save them. Vicross started flexing one of his knives in the background. The shiny blade couldn't look more ominous even if he tried.

Luckily – for Ron and Vicross -, and unluckily – for the dark elves -, the grandma accompanying the duo left them on their own after realizing she didn't want to know. Some things needed to be investigated because gossip was her second name, other things would just be annoying.

Placing the suddenly quiet group of strangers in the category 'annoying and not worthy', she left them without hesitation to get some snacks in a nearby restaurant. The tearful eyes of the dark elves didn't faze her.

"Good day," Ron greeted them, even adding another benign smile and a calm bow.

The elves scrambled to stand up and return the gesture, one almost falling over into the water in his hurry. The bracelets on their wrists jingled merrily as they took a while to collect their flailing limbs. The panic was obvious in their faces yet it was overshadowed by the utter relief they were feeling, naturally recognizing the trusty butler and chef – torture expert cough – of the young master.

Their eyes wandered, hoping to catch a glimpse of the ex-commander.

"How about we change the location since we haven't seen each other for a while and have a lot to catch up with?" Ron offered gently.

One dark elf gulped.

Nodding, they packed their belongings, waved goodbye to the other fishermen, and followed Ron and Vicross to a secured location. The place in question was the hotel room Cale previously occupied. It wasn't hidden nor were the walls thick, however, Eruhaben placed some seals to allow secrets to remain unheard.

Ron approved, directly dragging the dark elves into the room, throwing the confused receptionist a benign smile tinted with exasperation. The best lie sometimes was the truth. She waved in sympathy and went on her merry way.

"Now then," he started, "Tell this Ron how you ended up here."

He was calm, even gently thanking Vicross, who brewed a fresh cup of tea – chamomile, since the young master wasn't here and lemon tea was exclusively for the young master to use -, placing the cup down with a frown. No elf asked for anything. They liked living. Thank you very much.