"Are you sure this was the building they had entered?" Joseph asked Kyther.
They had been watching the building those two men had entered earlier since hours, but there was no sign of any suspicious activities.
"I am sure," responded Kyther.
Joseph's uneasiness grew as more and more time passed. He felt he could never reach Mogu at this rate. "Damn it." After staring at the building for a while, he began to run towards it.
"Joseph?" Tyler followed and grabbed his arm to stop him. "What are you doing?"
"I can't wait around like this forever. I will go, beat those people inside, and confirm it by myself." Tyler could listen to his uneasy breathing. "Let me go." Joseph moved Tyler's hand away and was about to approach the building's entrance when Tyler grabbed his other arm.
"Do not act reckless like that bushy bear," Tyler said. "Do you know how many of them are in there? Are you sure you would come out alive if you barge in there recklessly? What would happen to your vengeance? What would happen to Mogu? Huh!?"
Tyler was like the older brother who always gave you the right advice when you needed it the most. The one who always stopped his younger brother from taking the wrong path.
Also, Tyler was three years older than Joseph, so Joseph always looked up to him and learned from him.
"I know." Joseph clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. "I…" As he was speaking, Tyler hugged him tightly.
"I know how you feel, but stay calm," He said and stroked his hair. Joseph was about to break down and cry, but they sensed someone coming out of the building at the very moment.
"Someone is coming," Tyler said and pulled Joseph to where they were hiding. Joseph wiped his eyes to get rid of the tears that were about to flow.
"They are ones I followed yesterday." Kyther pointed to the men who walked out of the building. Joseph monitored them closely.
They stopped just outside the entrance, and it seemed like they were talking to a third person who still had not walked out and remained at the door.
"It seems like they are talking to someone," Tyler said before he noticed the third man coming into the light. Their eyes expanded in shock as they saw a familiar face. "Niko?" He muttered.
It was Niko, the very person who helped them.
"Is he one of them?" Kyther mouthed.
"Only he can tell us now," Joseph said, his glare fixated at Niko.
Two other men brought a wooden chest and put it in a chariot at the front of the building. Niko and the two men entered the chariot before it began to move.
"Let's go," Joseph said as they moved away.
The chariot moved out of the town and was moving on a desolate street when someone blocked their way. It was Kyther. "Hey, leave our way!" The charioteer wearing a red cap shouted at him.
"What if I do not leave your way?" Kyther put his hands on his waist. "What would you do?"
"You do not know who do I serve," said the charioteer and stepped down.
"It does not matter."
The charioteer approached him with fast steps, his face red in anger. Kyther noticed the guy was barely the height of his shoulder.
The charioteer looked up at his face when he stopped in front of him. "Move," He said.
" I said I would not." The guy tried to punch him, but Kyther's right arm hook was enough to bring him down. "At least, look at their size before attacking someone."
Niko could hear a familiar voice coming from outside. "Kyther?" He guessed and tried to peek outside. When he opened the door, someone placed a blade to his neck.
"Niko…" It was Joseph's voice.
"Joseph?" Niko was perplexed. "What are you doing?" Joseph grabbed him by his collar and pulled him outside.
"Hand over that chest," Joseph ordered the two men sitting inside the chariot. "Hurry!" He threatened them by showing he would slice Niko's throat.
The two men stepped outside the chariot with the wooden chest.
"You will regret this," One of the men said with a sour face.
"Shut up, and keep it beside that rock." Joseph signaled with his eyes to the rock beside the street. The man did just as he said and kept the chest there.
"Did you come to rob us? Did the Rakhtars lose their honor? Do you even know what you are doing?" Niko said in between as he felt the edge of the blade against his skin.
"We know what we are doing," Tyler said as he walked out of the bushes, and opened the chest.
"You…" One of the men jumped at Tyler, but something heavy hit his jaw. It was Kyther's punch. He fell to the ground and passed out.
"Did you like that?" Kyther mouthed as the other man kicked him from behind, but he felt as if someone threw a pebble at him. He turned and glared at him. "You do not care about…" He pointed to Niko. "… his life, do you?"
"We can not let you take the sapphire! Even if he costs us our life!" The man shouted and tried to punch him Kyther in the face, but Kyther grabbed his arm.
The bushy bear grabbed his jaw, but eyes had already expanded in surprise. "The Sapphire? Do you mean the sphere?" He thought he must have heard incorrectly.
"No, he is right," Tyler said in between while staring inside the chest. "It is a sapphire."
Kyther banged the man's head to the chariot, making him retire to the ground while holding his head. "What?" He hurried to look inside the chest. He was surprised to see that it was really a gemstone the size of his fist. "But…" He was sure he had heard "The Sphere" from their mouths.
"So it is not what we are looking for." Joseph removed the blade from Niko's neck and looked at Kyther. "You must have heard it wrong, Kyther." At this, Kyther felt embarrassed.
"I can not understand what is happening now." Niko was confused. What were these tribal men searching for? Just at the moment he spoke, the horses neighed and ran away.
It was the charioteer who had secretly disconnected the horses from the chariot and escaped on one while they were busy taking the chest and dealing with those two men.
"Ah, I had to deliver this gemstone to the governor's daughter in the other city. It is her marriage today," Niko said with a facepalm. "I was the one who let the sapphire stay in the Karma town longer than it was supposed to. I will be in a trouble if she does not receive it in time."
Joseph felt bad after listening to him. "We apologize, Niko. We will certainly do something, so that you don't get into trouble."
"I will manage somehow, but you owe me an explanation." Niko crossed his arms. "What are you searching for?"
Joseph looked at Tyler as he was not sure if he should tell him everything or not. Tyler nodded which was a sign for him to tell Niko the truth.
"Fine. I will tell you everything," Joseph said.
He explained the things from the very beginning. How he met the old man. How he got 'The Sphere'. How he lost his master. He did not tell him that the sphere could talk. He made it sound like the sphere was sort of treasure and those masked assassins killed the people of the tribe to get their hands on it. He thought Niko would not believe that a white non-living ball spoke to him.
"Hmm…" Niko thought for a bit after listening to him. "So you decided to leave the tribe and dig deeper into this matter. And possibly…" His face now had a grin which confused Joseph. "… take your vengeance." He shook his hips sideways and moaned in a way as if he was feeling pleasure. "Ooh ooh… How interesting."
Joseph and others could only watch his weird actions.
"Ahem…" Niko composed himself. "Before you go to the search for your sphere, you will have to come with me to the governor. That charioteer must have headed straight to him. He has seen your faces. The governor is a crazy man, and his daughter is even crazier than him. You do not want to become wanted criminals, do you?"
"Of course not," Kyther responded.
"Then you will have to explain a few things to the governor. He will understand. I hope so."
His last words made him sound not so convincing. Joseph and others had no choice but to do what he was saying.
"Alright, we will do as you say," Joseph said.
"Good, good. After we get out this situation, hopefully, I will show you some things I have related to the sphere…" He paused for a bit and continued. "… or maybe it is not. It could be, but I am not sure."
"Show me, right now!" Joseph grabbed his collar.
Niko could see the rage in his eyes which even scared him for a second. Tyler stepped up and tried to pull Joseph away.
"Hey, Joseph, leave him."
"I would not," Niko responded to Joseph. "I mean, I can not, right now. I have my materials in the Rusty city where the governor is for his daughter's wedding. I can only show you when we reach there."
After hearing him, Joseph left his collar. "Fine. We will come with you."
"You are intrigued, aren't you?" Niko again made a lewd face and tapped multiple times at Joseph's right breast from his index finger. "I know the feeling. It gives me such pleasure." He started drooling.
"You are right. I am intrigued," Joseph replied coldly. "But even more than that, I am enraged."
Niko stepped back when he saw those fearsome eyes again. "Ah, right."
Kyther pointed to the two men lying on the ground. "What should we do with them?"
"Ah, they are researchers like me, and are extremely loyal to the governor," Niko said.
"They did not care for your life when Joseph threatened to kill you. Are you sure you can trust them?" Tyler asked.
"They are just envious of my success and want to get rid of me somehow. It is not a big deal." Niko shrugged.
"Oye, just what are you?" Tyler thought when he listened to him.
"We have more important issues to handle," Niko added.