The handsome man seemed to have bought Rod's lie as an expression of understanding showed in the man's face.
But there was still a hint of uncertainty in the man's eyes as he questioned Rod.
'"You say you are a writer, yes? And that you were with a group of the same profession?"
Rod nodded eagerly in affirmation to the man's questions. The man continued, his eyes darting around as if searching for someone.
"Then, you wouldn't mind if I ask where your 'group' of writers are?"
Rod swallowed the irritation he felt that came from his impatience.
He wanted to get this over with so he can eat!
But to think that this handsome man wouldn't believe such an elaborate and well-made lie that he thought hard for. He could only inwardly huff in disappointment.
With a plan ready in his head, Rod gestured towards their table where Renee and Nol sat.
"There they are. The woman is Renee and the man across her is my brother, Nol."
The man looked at the muscular Nol with rising suspicion in his eyes.
"Not to be rude or anything but that guy, Nol, right? He doesn't look like the type to be wielding a quill. He looks more like the type to wield a sword."
Rod pretended to lightly laugh as he perfectly covered up the problem through some quick thinking.
"That's because he does wield a sword. He's supposedly our protector whenever we're out traveling and he's really strong so we owe our lives to him. And you may be thinking that we can't really call ourselves a group if it's just Renee and me who writes but actually, we were supposed to be three but my other friend is just finishing up a certain assignment in the palace. So, we went ahead instead."
The handsome man's eyebrows both raised in surprise as he looked at Rod.
"The palace?"
Then the man sorted, the disbelief oozing in his gaze.
"How the hell did you get called in the palace? The emperor has lots of writer in his beck and call. Stop lying."
Rod chuckled lightly as he reached into his pocket to pull out his trump card.
"Well, as proof of the emperor's favor unto us, would this do?"
He slid a small golden circular medallion that held the Emperor's royal crest.
Upon seeing it, the disbelief in the man's face completely washed away and it was replaced with shock instead. He tried inspecting the medallion for chances of it being counterfeit but it proved to be genuine.
"I see, I see. But why are you here in this small village?"
Although he truly believed their identities now, he still couldn't help but be curious about their actions.
Meanwhile, Rod was nearly at his wit's end as his patience was running thin.
Can this annoying idiot just say the name already?!
But in his head, he understood that the man was being extremely cautious so he had no choice but to endure.
"Originally, we were en route towards… Edseria. But we decided to stop for a little while to rest and replenish. And lo and behold, we stumbled upon an interesting story to write about!"
Rod tried his hardest not to show the inner annoyance that was dying to come out of him as he smiled.
Seeing that the man didn't seem to have anymore questions, Rod assumed that he must be fully convinced by now.
So, testing the water, he decided to ask one more time.
"So, as I've asked before, can you please tell us the name of the girl? And if you wish to add anything more about the story, please do. Details about her attitude, personality, or even appearance would help us immensely in understanding and writing about her."
Since the handsome man didn't seem to find any problem with their story, he decided to trust them. And so, with a cheerful and proud tone, the man began to finally give Rod what he desperately wanted.
"Okay. Her name is Nana."
But he didn't give Rod enough time to show his relief as the man began to shoot off words so fast that even Rod had trouble processing them all in his mind.
"By the way, when you describe her in your writings, capture her beauty into words well. She's got these brown locks that just makes her look so pretty and feminine and her piercing green eyes are so tantalizing that you just can't help but stare at it for the longest of times. She just looks so beautiful and feminine but dear heavens don't let it fool you! She's way stronger than hundreds of men. Add that okay? Make sure you include that she's really good at fighting! Although she always got this blank look on her face but that's probably because she's concentrating on the fight and she's most likely trying to drown out all distractions by clearing her mind and emotions. That's how you can really spot a good fighter, y'know? So, despite what everyone says about her, she's not weak at all! It's true that her magic power ranking is not that high but unlike those ignorant magical fools, she has the ability to fuse magic and fighting really well so it doesn't really matter. Oh! And include also that she completely obliterated her opponent in the duel despite him being a mage of Intermediate tier peak stage. Tell them that she finished him with a single move!"
Rod felt exhausted just by listening to the man so he decided to butt in before he could say more about her.
"Okay, okay. Thank you for your cooperation. Well, I'm quite starved now so I'll be taking my leave."
And with perfect timing, Rod's stomach grumbled in protest. The man finally decided to stop his rambling as he nodded in understanding.
"I see, I see. Alright. Although I still have tons of things to add about the story, I trust in your ability since you were, after all, able to be graced by the Emperor's presence. Just make sure that she doesn't look bad in the situation, okay?"
Rod nodded hurriedly as he clutched his stomach. Then with a short goodbye, he walked back towards their table with a wide smile.
Renee and Nol knew immediately the meaning behind his smile. It's the smile he always gets whenever he got what he wanted.
And so, when Rod sat back down to his comfortable chair, Renee immediately asked him.
"So, what's her name?"
Still not breaking the smile he held, he answered with a merry tone.
"The girl they've been describing is named Nana. From the guy I talked to earlier, he said that she has brown hair and green eyes. And apparently, she's a great fighter."
Upon hearing Rod's description, Nol furrowed his brows when he realized something.
"They're too alike."
Rod nodded as he agreed.
"Indeed. So, if this 'Nana' is actually the 'Inna' we've been looking for, I guess we wouldn't have the need to escape and hide. If we surrender her to that red-robed man, surely he'd let us live our lives freely."
Renee snickered as she commented with a maniacally evil tone.
"You really forgot about George, huh?"
Rod's eyes widened in realization and he chuckled awkwardly.
"Well, it's been so long, after all. And I'm sure he's pretty comfortable there in the palace. I wouldn't want him to be deprived of living luxuriously."
Renee saw through Rod's lies easily. But she just shook her head as she smiled in amusement. Rod knew that Renee didn't believe what he said but he didn't really care much. Him not liking the innocent kid wasn't such a well-kept secret anyway.
"I just need to send a letter to the palace about our findings and then we can just rest easy for the following days."
Renee and Nol nodded. And a few seconds after, their food was finally served and Rod smiled in excitement.
Yay, he can finally eat.