Chapter 25: The Lost Grimoire
"Pardon my sudden letter to your workplace, Mr. Leon. It's an urgent situation. Of course, it's an honor to meet you and your partner." A man in shiny armor and too white teeth, which sparkled as he spoke, greeted Leon and Louise first, then introduced himself. "I'm William Drillen, known as White Sparrow. A young knight, the winner of the two hundred and sixty-nine knight tournament of the Silver Wing Kingdom, and a member of the Silver Wing Guild.
"I'm here on the orders of Her Majesty!" William proudly hit his chest, struck his left boot with his right, his sword's sheath on his hip trembling, and saluted.
Leon and Louise gawked at him differently.
While the scarlet-haired fox felt awkward introducing herself without any achievements and her race alone, for she couldn't even remember most of her life, Leon extended his hand forward and took the lead in the conversation.
"Leon. I'm just an otherworlder, like many in this world. Louise is my partner on my adventure in a new world — a lucky gift I'll always be grateful for. I hope you don't mind her presence." Leon introduced himself in the same way as Louise had done, then added a few nice words to boost her confidence.
It was another way of him teaching her some stuff, hoping she'd learn before picking her memories back. Perhaps, in the future, Louise would teach him a lot of new things, with all of her memories unlocked, as much older than him existence. But for now, though both of them were twenty-two years old peers, the reality was that Leon had way more experience and easier circumstances to adapt to a new world.
Not shocked by that, for Leon was more popular in the village despite Louise's beauty and cuteness, William nodded and smiled at Louise. "I'd never question her presence here since you've brought Mrs. Louise with yourself."
Although too flashy, William seemed like a cool and affable person. He left a good impression on Leon and Louise, who had expected him to be much different.
In fact, they were ready for many scenarios against someone from the guild.
But other than displaying his higher level(Lv. 50) and white teeth, William hadn't revealed any aura of superiority. He was open to a talk with Leon and Louise and even seemed like someone who would answer a few questions for free.
'Why did he call me, though? Is it because of the skeletons, or he wants to recruit me?' Leon wasn't sure, but he wouldn't be surprised if it was both.
He was sure that William wasn't alone, though. Leon's body itched with uncomfortable feeling all over him, sensing someone's attention going up and down him like a bug or snake.
"We're at the village's feet because this is where you've been spotted first, Mr. Leon. It means you came from the south." William's words told Leon he wanted to talk about the skeletons. "We've scoured the forest and beyond a few times, finding nothing. Can you swear on your life that you haven't lied about the undead monsters? Can you swear you haven't used those existences to call us here to recruit you?"
Leon chuckled and shook his head. "Excuse my language, but I don't know what kind of shit I'd step in if I swore something. I'm not in the mood to watch out for my words. Besides, you should look at it from my perspective. As someone who has just come to this world and village, how would I know about the undead?"
"Our research says that you haven't reported about the skeletons immediately, Mr. Leon. It took you some time to notify the villager, didn't it?" A sharp glitter crossed William's eyes as he became more serious.
He insinuated that Leon learned about the undead from the tourist or villagers and used that to call someone from the guild.
And why would he do that? Of course to join them!
Louise became nervous when two men intensely stared at themselves, seemingly on the verge of unsheathing their weapons. It went without saying that Leon had his crimson chains wrapped around his right arm, and William didn't even need a second to take out his sword.
With her legendary senses, Louise also spotted some people gazing at them from afar. Similarly to Leon, she couldn't pinpoint their location or see through their strength.
Leon felt her feelings without glancing at her — their connection was equal and trustful, so Louise unconsciously sent her worries to him. "I'll keep my word and don't swear anything. I want you to know that we never had any plans of calling you to join your guild or use it in any other way. We've spent our time here like other residents… Well, we broke just one law, didn't we?"
Louise blanked as she didn't know what kind of law her master was talking about.
Of course, it was them learning a new occupation without permission.
William couldn't care about it, though. "It's nothing since you're an otherworlder. We don't want to become enemies with more of you, so you don't have to worry about that. You'll be fine if you don't kill innocents and abide by laws. Still, we haven't found any trace of the undead in the forest.
"It's implausible for them to wait for you. The Lost Grimoire possess unknown means to see through otherworlders, but they will never be able to find them unless the otherworlder lands in their lands or they're close to him." William explained some stuff, calling out a new name.
Leon and Louise formed clueless expressions, though the latter found the [The Lost Grimorie] familiar.
"It's a group that hunts people like you, Mr. Leon. The Lost Grimoire consists of undead creatures whose goal is to kill otherworlders. It's said that if they fill some quota, they'll be able to cross the world and go to Earth. I can't imagine the pointless deaths…." William became emotional for a second before sharpening again. "Since you don't want to swear an oath, we'll keep an eye on you two. It just happens that we have plenty of time, and I like fishing."
With those words, William left Leon and Louise alone.
The uncomfortable feeling also disappeared, and Louise no longer felt troubled.
"Tsk," Leon clicked his tongue, "We will postpone our adventure for some time."
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A few days later, after Leon's talk with William, a sudden skeleton appeared in the middle of the village.
He wore an old and full of holes cape, his red orbs of eyes shone with murderous intent, and he channeled a lot of dangerous mana! All villagers felt frightened and scared for their lives, scattering away from the monster!
However, the white slash cut through the skeleton in the blink of an eye. That slash appeared to be William a few seconds later.
He stood behind the skeleton with his sword slowly hiding into his sheath. "Just one?"
In another place, with scrunched and clearly exasperated face, Leon tapped the desk. "He was the most useful."
"Yes, Master. It's a big loss…" Louise used this as a chance to finally pat her master's hair, finding this action fulfilling. She indeed couldn't care about Leon's loss.
He just lost the skeleton that had attacked them. Louise also had bad memories of him, so how could she care?
Instead, it was a great occasion to puff out her voluptuous chest and get enough courage to act a little more closely with her master — to comfort him and ensure he was in a good mood.
"Master still has me!"
"I know. But I wish those events would have happened in different times…."
"Mmm!"
"Well, I'll sell this meat to merchants and send them to a different village. And then, we'll go on an adventure to hunt some monsters. I want to find some nice-looking monsters, fuse them, and evolve them into something cool. I might be Monster Collector, but I'll collect only exquisite stuff."
"Really?" Louise asked with her ears flapping happily.
But while the fox girl thought of legendary existences, Leon aimed far lower. Still, it was an excellent first step toward something more significant, right?
"This guy and his people shouldn't suspect us now. We're free, aren't we?" Leon asked, knowing that things didn't have to be that simple.
Louise had some doubts but nodded nonetheless.
Thus, the short adventure will start tomorrow!