"Gah! Cough! Cagh!"
Arbor woke up, he could feel his throat was very dry as if it was made out of concrete. He coughed loudly several times before finally realizing that he was in a room.
Now he noticed his hands and legs were cuffed. He used whatever strength he could muster to break free but it was very durable.
"Hey."
Will called out to him, he sat on the corner of the room while pointing a gun at Arbor.
Arbor took a second to recollect his thoughts and assess the situation he was in. The man before him was obviously human, but very young at least 20 years old.
The thought about being kidnapped crossed his mind as elves are kidnapped by humans and are used as mere tools for sick purposes.
"Where… am… so thirsty. CAH!" He kept coughing to clear his throat. It was like running 10 marathons without drinking water all the way. Adaline might have given him water when he was unconscious, but it wasn't enough. If she had given him more while he was unconscious he might've choked.
Will raised an eyebrow. What was his next move? He had no idea.
To be fair he honestly didn't think he would make it this far.
He grabbed a stone bowl that was on a table and stretched out to Arbor.
"Adaline, give him this water, slowly."
Several roots grabbed tightly onto the stone bowl and made its way to Arbor's face.
Arbor made a weird look. It looked like water but how was he supposed to know it wasn't drugged? If his hands weren't binded he could know, but something told him that the man in front of him wasn't going to release him from his cuffs.
He traced to where those roots came from, but they came from outside the house which meant that he didn't know who or what was controlling those roots.
"Drink, it's not poisoned." Will assured him.
Arbor didn't understand him, he only knows elven tongue. Only his daughter and some other elves know how to speak human tongue, that's how they refer to other languages.
But he didn't care if the water was poisoned. He took mouthfuls of it not even spilling a drop. It was clean, cool water, as if it was the best and only water he had in his long life.
"More, please."
One bowl wasn't enough after what he had endured this past week.
"???" Will did not understand him.
"Can you understand me?" Will asked.
"???" Arbor had no idea what he said.
"Um… donde esta la biblio… yeah there's no way in hell that that's gonna work. Do. You. English?" Will made giant gestures with his hands as if that was any better.
"Oh my Lea. I did not think this through." Arbor realized his mistake, he did not bring a translator with him. How was he going to communicate with a human?
His only reason for coming here is to bring back Adaline. The thought of communication with a human did not cross his mind.
"What?" Will thought he was talking to him.
"I wish I had brought Grace. But at least she's safe from harm and did not have to endure this torture."
Meanwhile…
Grace was tracking her father's tracks. She lost track of him after she left the forest which guided her most of the way. Obviously she wasn't the best tracker.
Right now she was walking through tall grass that easily towered her. It was like a giant maze of tall grass because it looked like she wasn't making progress at all, and she was most likely lost for good.
"What's a pretty young lil thing like you doing in these parts of the grass?"
A man with a long sickle blade appeared beside her like a creeper. He was slender and tall, with short black hair and was wearing blue overalls. He smiled at her sinisterly.
"Hello there."
Another man came out wearing the same blue overalls as the other man, but this one was bigger, fatter, dumber and bald.
Grace immediately felt a bad premonition. She gripped tightly onto a cobalt knife that was on her hip.
"No, seriously, what are you doing here? This is like a maze. If you don't know your way through this then you are lost for good."
The man cut down the tall grass using his sickle blade.
"Pardon?" Grace said but was still on guard.
"My name's Billy. This dumb thing here is my younger brother, Tucker."
"I like being tucked away in bed, that's why my name is Tucker." Tucker said while picking his nose.
"I'm Grace?"
"What brings you here? Why would anyone want to come here?"
"I'm looking for my dad."
"You have a dad?" Tucker said, a hint of sadness could be seen on his eyes.
"Aw shit, you said the damn magic word."
"WaH! DaD!" Tucker started crying like a big baby.
"Tucker, why do you always cry when we mention dad? Why? You just saw dad last week! He's doing fine ever since he lost his arm to some bandit and his organic monster a month ago."
"..." Grace started to slowly walk away.
"I wouldn't go there if I were you. That path will lead you to nowhere."
"DADA!"
"Here, look, it's a rubber mouse, your favourite." Billy took out a rubber mouse from his pocket and gave it to Tucker.
Tucker made a complete turn and stopped crying.
"Sorry about that, he's… special."
"..." Grace really did not care at all.
"Here, take this." Billy handed Grace a compass.
"Keep going north and you will find your way out of this maze."
"Thanks, but I'm going south."
"Why would you want to go there? There are monst…" Billy looked at Tucker as he stopped his sentence midway.
"The 'm' word scares him a lot. Anyways, if you go south a lot of 'things' will attack you."
"I'm looking for my fath-"
Billy quickly blocked her mouth using his hands.
"Get your hands off me." Grace backed off several steps back.
"Don't say anything related to what you were about to say." Billy said seriously.
"Listen… I need to go to the deserted lands to find my, you-know-who."
"The deserted lands? Hey, we live there." Billy said.
"You do?"
"Yes. Our daaa… you-know-who just recently sent us here to collect some stuff. We usually take this route to avoid any dangers. We were just headed back. If you want you can come join us. There's a chance that your you-know-who is there. My dad is basically the head of that village."
Grace looked at the cons and pros of this.
"Seems that I have no choice."
"Okay, come on Tucker, let's get going."
"NO!"
"What do you mean 'no'? Dad is waiting… aw shit."
"DADA!"
"OH COME ON!"
'I am so glad I was born an elf.' Grace thought to herself. At least she had a clue to where her dad might've gone.
Meanwhile…
This past month Jack's village wasn't doing so well.
After the tax law was implemented on their village it was a disaster. No jobs, no trades, no nothing.
The village that they live in was in a remote area where very few people lived nearby. So it wasn't convenient to trade or have anything to do with these kinds of villages. Before it was okay because it was independent and had no tax laws, but now was different.
Not only was trading from village to village far, but there were various obstacles standing on their way like bandits, monsters, and more.
Even before Jack's blacksmith job was doing bad, and with the tax law it was doing worse. They only had a few knives to sell and some arrows, and that was it. Who's gonna buy bows and arrows when there are guns? But they were out of materials to make guns and bullets.
And yet somehow despite their financial crisis, Julia, Jack's grandmother, had more than enough money to feed her family 3 times a day, while others were still scouring for food, even the Chief right now could not eat that much.
Many of the villagers, which only remained a handful of them, protested and wanted to become independent again, but there's a problem, they can't.
Technically they could become independent again after signing another contract, but there's a problem, the tax law that's killing them slowly, is also keeping them alive.
The increase of bandits and monster attacks was noticeably higher these days. If it weren't for the protection of the kingdom they would have all been decimated.
"This is not normal." July said.
"I know, how does grandma have so much money?" Jack said that but ate a whole loaf of bread with a happy face.
"Not that. Why are there an increase in monster attacks?"
"July, how are we supposed to know that answer?" Sam said while eating happily.
Sam could not return back to his home because thanks to his sister, he's broke. He has to live with them now until he can get back on his feet. He already sold whatever he could, even his house to pay back part of his debt.
For some reason his cobalt dagger was gone. It was easily worth a few gold coins which could help him, but it's gone for good.
Grace took it from the garbage can when it caught her eye.
"If we make enough money, we could hunt some monsters on the fourth layer or above. We could earn a fortune." Sam said while he scratched his head.
"I don't want lice on my table." Julia smacked his hand with a newspaper.
"It seems that's our only way. The shop isn't doing so well."
"When has your shop ever done good?"
"Hmmm… fair point."
"Isn't monster hunting dangerous?"
"Become a sorcerer and you'll do fine." Sam jokingly suggested.
"According to what Jasmine told me, it seems like a lot of hard work to become a sorcerer."
"Nothing is easy. If it was easy to become a sorcerer then everyone would be a sorcerer by now."
"I think I'll stick to my blacksmith career." Jack said.
"Or you could learn from me and earn some good money." Julia suggested.
"..." no one said anything and continued eating.
"Aren't any of you gonna ask me what I do?"
"..." they sipped on some nice hot coffee.
"Fine, I guess I'll say it."
"What do you do for work, grandma?"
"NO, JACK!" Sam and July said.
"Hahaha, not telling any of you the secret of my fortune making method."
"Ugh."
This is what happens every single time. Julia never reveals what she does, aside from owning a hotel, but that makes nothing. It was like speaking to a broken record. Whenever they ask Julia how she makes her fortune she always replies the same.
The best they could do is guess, and the best thing they had come up with is that she was into some illegal stuff.
Obviously only the four of them know that they're doing better than others. If word were to spread around that Julia has some money on her, then people would most likely show their true selves and kill and steal from them.
How nobody has realized this can only be contributed to Julia.
*Rumble*
Their house shook violently, a huge shadow covered their house for a second before leaving. Whatever it was it landed in front of the village gate.
"A monster?" Sam said ready to kill it.
"Doesn't seem like it."
Everyone in the village gathered outside to see what it was.
The creature that landed in front of the village was a four-winged creature, at least 6-7 meters tall, was covered in blue with greenish spots on it. There was a long, pointy head that stretched on his face all the way back to his shoulders. It also had a strong, thick jaw and large teeth.
On top of that monster, was a man in his mid 20's. He wore a white cloak that had two red stripes going across his abdomen area. This is a sorcerer.
"Oh, it's the pedophile. Nothing new." Sam continued to scratch his head as if it was full of lice.
"Pedophile? Oh, is this the Kyle person that Jasmine mentioned?" July asked.
"Yeah, that's him." Jack said frustrated. Obviously he's not happy that the man before him was here.
Jasmine is not only a good friend of Jack's and Sam's, but also July and Julia. They are all acquainted with her.
A little girl overheard them talking.
"Mommy, what's a pedophile?"
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh… a person who… can't… feel love?" The mother was put in a tight spot. How could any parent react normally to these kind of question from their children>
"Oh, so he's sick like my uncle."
"Unfortunately, you're not wrong about him." The mother brought her daughter away from Jack's group before she overhears some other 'unique' words.
"I never heard Jasmine mentioning him before. What's his story?" Julia asked.
"Jasmine mentioned him many times. His name is Kyle. He has been after her for quite some time. His family is sorta rich. And he became a sorcerer when he was 18, making him an experienced sorcerer."
"We call him a pedophile because that 25 year old man is in love with Jasmine, a 17 year old."
"He's been chasing after her for 8 years now." Jack added.
"Eight years… Jasmine is 17 right now… oh my god." Julia and July frowned.
"Yeah, many people now refer to him as a pedophile thanks to us." Sam hugged Jack tightly and both smiled, as if what they had done was something good.
When Jasmine told the fabulous stories of Kyle the pedophile, Sam and Jack made sure to spread the news to as many people as they could. And now everyone makes fun of Kyle, and make sure to keep their children away from him.
Kyle's reputation was never recovered and never will be, even though he is a sorcerer. He hides in shame in public areas. Which is why he likes to visit villages far away because not many know about his reputation.
The sorcerer got off his mount and walked through the village as if he owned the place.
"Excuse me," he spoke to a random village, "Do you know where the bathroom is?"
She pointed to a store.
"Thanks." He ran to the store and finally relieved himself.
People that gathered here began to disperse and resume with their lives. They all thought it would be something important, but it looks like they were wrong.
"Let's go. I don't want to talk to this pedo." Jack and Sam quickly entered the house.
July followed them. Julia went back to her job at the hotel.
Not long after that same sorcerer came to the hotel.
"Excuse me, I would like to stay a few nights here."
"1 silver coin a day."
"What? But your sign says that it's 20 copper coins a night." He pointed.
"Sorcerers get a premium price, and pedophiles especially."
"How'd you know I'm a pedo- cough, how about I give you 2 silver coins a night if you don't spread the news."
He handed her 10 silver coins on the spot.
"Make it 5 silver coins a night and I'll consider it."
"pFft! Fine." He handed her an extra 15 silver coins.
Julia took the money and gave him a key. It was basically free money and who doesn't like free money? She expected a fight from this sorcerer, but he didn't even put up a fight at all, or even bothered trying to lower the price. It almost made her feel sorry for him. But then again this guy is a pedo, so yeah, she felt not a shred of guilt towards him.
"So, what's the news around here? I've heard that there are monster attacks happening around here, is that right?" He handed her an extra silver piece.
"Sorry, I am not supposed to spread the news, remember?"
"PFFT! That's not what I meant!"
"What isn't? All I know is that some rich, pedophile paid me so I won't spread any news for the next… 5 days." Julia was merely doing what he asked.
"Okay, leave it like that. Just please don't tell anyone about me." He went to his room.
"No promises." She began smoking without a care in the world.
Meanwhile…
Will was trying to communicate with Arbor trying to get something out of him, but it did not work.
Arbor was trying to do the same, but it would be better if he wasn't tied up.
So far communication between them was impossible.
"How the hell do I… what the hell am I supposed to do? Adaline?"
He asked Adaline for help, but she was of no help right now.
All Adaline could do was communicate using simple gestures. Not even Adaline could do everything.
While Will was saying one thing, Arbor was saying another.
"Hey, that Adalis is mine! I've been taking care of her for the past few years while she was still in her egg. She's like a second daughter to me."
But Will also did not understand him.
When he pointed at Adaline he got even more confused. No matter what he could not accurately tell what he was trying to say.
"Maybe there's something here." Will looked through his brown book but found nothing.
"And take these off me! And where are my weapons?" Arbor started wriggling like a worm. He was still weak as of right now. Once he is completely healed he could snap the steel cuffs as if they were twigs.