Rastel sat on the chair by the window and was lost in thought. He was back in his room at the inn and the time was around 9 in the morning.
They had returned not long after finishing their breakfast with a slightly recovered Amba hauling the massive overweight body of the unconscious necromancer. Iron and his team had also followed along and were chattering happily after having a full meal while Doe maintained her silence throughout.
Rastel though had stood behind them as he was lost in thought throughout the journey. Even when they got attacked by a group of beasts that looked like overgrown hamsters with glowing red eyes, he had barely paid attention to the fight and it was actually Doe who got rid of most of them.
The large beasts fell like leaves under her swift attacks as she transformed into a blur of a shadow and killed each one with just a single thrust of her blade.
Iron was sure to applaud her skill and then proceeded to take some of them into his inventory. He could sell them for their meat and fur later on.
The remaining journey was uneventful as they easily reached the settlement before long. They were welcomed by the agitated old man who looked relieved to find Doe safe and then had a vicious gleam in his eyes when he saw the necromancer.
"I'm sure there would be a lot of people with scores to settle with that one. Heh heh, it won't be pretty for him once we get him to answer for his crimes." he had said with a low gruff voice.
The rest of the settlement were also alerted by their presence and had crowded over. Except a few, most had seen Amba the previous night and weren't that curious about him.
But when they realized who the fat unconscious elf was, the crowd instantly turned vicious as some women broke down crying while some of the men turned violently eager to get at him.
The settlement had lost a significant amount of people to the constant attacks of the undead and some had to even leave the area for fear of their lives which turned their settlement into a deserted area which people rarely passed.
Because of that, their means of trade was severely affected which made life harder for them so either directly or indirectly, the people of the settlement had suffered severely under the necromancer's hands.
The old man quickly had them go inside the inn while Iron and Sing tried to stop the mob. Once they had entered. Rastel quickly realized that both Myra and the girl he had saved were nowhere to be found.
The old man had explained that they had both got up at dawn and had ended up crying and comforting each other.
When some of the villagers decided to head out to the miller's house to clear it out and give them a proper burial, the girl as the only living relative left had to go and witness it according to tradition. Myra had decided to accompany her to give her comfort.
Doe had then questioned the old man over Myra waking up early. "She should have slept till noon" she had pointed out.
The old man had just shrugged his shoulders and said she had looked fine when she woke up.
They had then taken the necromancer and tied him up in the room right next to Rastel. Doe had taken the room next to it saying she wanted to rest where she could keep an eye on him and Iron and rest also paid for rooms to stay for a night.
Rastel had been in the room ever since thinking about his predicament. He took out the immortal's blade and spun it slowly in his palm as he considered the situation.
The guilds in the Kingdom of Gorm were hunting for him while some had already put on a bounty and the reason for this was very clear, they wanted Amba!
And he couldn't blame them.
Armanda who is recognized by the gaming community made a name for herself with her golems. She had climbed to the height of top tier rankers quite easily as none in her level were her match. Only those monstrous existences at the top could face her.
As for him, just with Amba alone, he was already unfairly strong for his level and he didn't even need to use his other golems to fight which he also had a lot of.
But the guilds didn't know that, the guilds didn't even know whether what he had was a class or a skill or some secret weapon but they surely wanted Amba.
He had already made contact with players who were after him as he hadn't forgotten about the green haired elf that had attacked them when they were escaping Laron.
Granted, they weren't all violent as Sing had pointed out to him when he asked for more info. Some were actually willing to negotiate.
This was the crucial point, if he could latch onto a big leg, he wouldn't fear been hunted down for his unique class. He would be free to play the game and most of the danger would be averted.
But…...
He stood up from the chair as he began slowly pacing the room while flicking the small blade playfully. The most obvious answer was also the one he was most unwilling to take.
He already had plans and dreams about what he wanted his gameplay in this virtual fantasy world to be like and joining a guild was in conflict with what he wanted.
He wanted the freedom to travel across the entire map and witness everything the world had to offer from its mysterious beasts, bizarre environments, enchanting events and everything in between. Guilds which were normally rooted in a particular area or kingdom at most wouldn't give him that freedom.
If he decided to run from the guilds, he could for sure rule out visiting the big cities. Entering a place where their forces would be concentrated would basically be the same as knocking on death's door and asking it out on a date.
From the fact that no one had come for him yet he was sure that running away would be significantly effective if he went under the radar and missed all the big towns and cities. He was going to leave Gorm soon anyway. After he dropped Myra in Aysver to complete his B ranked mission, he would stay in the kingdom for a while before moving forward and never turning back.
He was sure that after a while, the heat on him would gradually die down. And once he gets strong enough, he wouldn't have much fear of been hunted down anymore and could go out in the open from time to time.
"The stupid sacrifices one makes just to satisfy his desires" he chuckled self depreciatingly as he mumbled to himself.
'Granted it shouldn't be that bad. I would meet up with Natsu soon. Wait, we were supposed to meet in the walled city of Kurn nearby. That would have to change now.' He thought to himself as he sat back down and dropped the blade on the table.
He started drumming his fingers as he considered the matter more. 'With Natsu around it would be much safer. His level is already at 30 and he is also a powerful ranker, if I remember correctly his rank was….'
"Hero!" Myra burst into the room at that moment and jumped into his arms.
"Oh Myra, you're back. How're you feeling?" he stood up and put his hands on her shoulders to take a closer look at her condition.
Her face was still covered in dried up tear tracks and her eyes were swollen. She looked a bit haggard and her face still drooped sadly but she suddenly put a big smile when she saw Rastel looking at her intently.
"I am feeling much better!" she took a step back and used her hands to smoothen her dress which now looked rough from all that happened.
Rastel sighed internally before patting her on her head and smiling. "Okay sure, let's look for that grumpy old man and see if we can get you a hot bath."
Myra chuckled at Rastel calling the old man grumpy but followed him as he took her hand and pulled her towards the door.
Rastel had just opened the door and was about to go outside when he realized that Myra had stopped. When he turned to look at her, he found that she was looking down and tears seemed to be dropping from her eyes.
"Hey, Myra! What is it girl?" he quickly turned and bent down in front of her.
Her voice was scrambled and weak as she struggled to let out the words in her mouth.
"Hey, Myra don't cry. It is alright, it will be alright." He pulled her into a hug and stroked her hair.
"I… I… I'm sorry" the words finally came out amidst the tears.
Rastel paused at her words and felt his heart go weak. She repeated it again and he couldn't help but turn her face to wipe her tears.
'She must feel she's responsible somewhat for what happened yesterday. Although she did end up taking care of the problem and wiping out an army of undead with one spell. Something I'm sure I would most likely die before I'm successful if I was in her situation.' He wiped away her tears as he calmed her down.
"There's nothing to be sorry about Myra, you didn't do anything wrong. If anything, it should be me saying sorry for not coming to save you on time. It must have been really scary for you." He spoke as he smiled comfortingly at her.
She burst into a fresh set of tears at his words as she fell into his embrace again." I was so scared! But then Amba protected me, but then we started running away, but then…."
She fell into a long explanation of what had transpired the night before while trying to fight back her tears. Rastel just smiled as he sat down on the room floor and allowed the small girl sit on his lap, he then paid attention as he allowed her vent all her suppressed emotions.
When she was done, she had already quieted down considerably and was no longer crying. Rastel then patted her head and told her." I promise you this Myra, I would never put you in that situation again"
She looked up at his face and saw his smile, the reassuring smile that convinced her to follow him that day he freed her and without even thinking too much, she nodded.
After Rastel had thoroughly wiped her face and cleaned her up, he led her outside to go and find the old man and get a hot bath for Myra to wash with.
As they stepped into the corridor, something triggered in Rastel's mind and he decided to check on the necromancer. He had been tied up quite well and probably couldn't escape with Doe staying guard in the next room but he decided to check just in case.
As he opened up the door to the room, a horrible stench hit his face that made him blanch immediately. He quickly pushed Myra that was following behind him to stop her from seeing the horrifying scene.
The elf had been tied down to the bed by his four limbs and he had lost his robe exposing the multiple layers of folds that made up his stomach.
His long elf ears had been cut off at some point as all that was left there was stumps. His eyes were closed but blood oozed out from beneath the eyelids and there was more blood all over his body. A thick white foam covered his jaw and his entire body was a sickly shade of green and yellow.
From the stench in the air, it seemed he had lost his bowels at a point through whatever horrifying scene had happened here and it was obvious that he was already long dead.
Rastel took in everything in one glance before quickly shut the door. He was shocked, horrified and was now quite speechless. That elf was tortured to death!
'Who could have done this? No, the answer is very obvious but I never really thought she would do such a thing. Now that I think about it, the elf had called her 'Assassin'. So she's skilled in these kind of things?'
Rastel took some time to get his thoughts together before turning to look at Myra. She hadn't seen inside the room but had smelled the stench and was curious about what was there.
Rastel looked at the door to Doe's room and hesitated for a moment before venturing to knock the door. At the very least, he wanted to see her reaction.
Before he could knock the door, he heard the Old man's voice coming from downstairs.
"Doe! Yer better be there girlie or I swear to the gods!" he took the stairs with surprising agility and came face to face with Rastel and Myra standing right in front of her door.
"Is she in there? Knock down that door if yer have to. It's my damned inn!" he yelled agiatadely as he approached them.
Rastel gingerly pushed the door and let it swing wide open. the room was clean and the chair and table was well arranged. The bed was well made like it hadn't been touched in ages and the room was empty.
Doe had disappeared!