"It is a good thing you are joining us, with your help, we will be able to refine our negotiation strategy further," said Robin as we walked out of Count Darrow's office.
It is ten in the night, and we have bid our good guys to Count and now leaving for the Owlspring.
If the journey goes well, we will be in the Owlspring by dawn, and I really hope we do.
I don't want to die before I accomplish something worthwhile.
"You do not need my help. I am sure the preparations you have made are more than enough," I replied with a smile.
"We did prepare, but I still want you to take a look at it. You are quite good at picking up the flaws," he said.
"Fine." I agreed, and he smiled. Declining him again would have been disrespectful.
Soon, we got out of the mansion and sat in the carriage.
The ride to the port was silent and slightly awkward. Robin talked to me, and Damon Hardt and we would reply in a few short words.
We both are busy with our own thoughts. I don't know what he was thinking, but I am thinking about my safety. These six hours would be dangerous; there is a good chance that I might get attacked on the journey.
Given my luck, it is not good, but a high chance we might get attacked.
I really hope I would have been going alone, instead of Robin and Damon. Their lives would be in danger if there was an attack.
Soon, we reached the port, and the carriage stopped by the ship. We stepped out of the carriage and walked toward the ramp.
"Welcome to pearl, gentlemen," said Captain Pierce. It had been a few months since I had last seen the man, and he looked good.
"Thank you, captain," said Damon Hardt.
We talked with the captain for a few minutes, before he walked away and soon, the masts unfurled, and the ship began to move.
We remained on the deck and watched till the city had passed before I went with them to the small conference room.
Two hours passed quickly than I had imagined, and I got out of the conference room, with a surprise on my face.
Damon Hardt had really changed.
They had made thorough preparations for tomorrow, which is not surprising because both of them are experienced and high-level.
I do not know their exact level, but I know they are close to Level 30. The bottleneck that stopped most people who crossed the Lv. 20 and is much harder to cross.
I wanted to go to the deck, but it was dangerous. So, I went into my cabin. I didn't lock the door and had Jon inside; he didn't ask questions when I had asked him to come inside.
I am glad he didn't; I don't like to lie to people who are responsible for protecting my life.
I lay down and tried to sleep. Usually, I sleep pretty quickly, but it is now eluding me.
The worry about the danger is making us unable to fall asleep. Every moment, I am sleeping about the danger.
I imagined thieves and assassins coming at me through the river or the door and killing me like they had killed my father.
I tried for half an hour before picking up the book and reading it and before I knew it; I fell asleep.
"Mr. Silver, wake up, we have reached the Owlspring," informed the familiar voice, waking me up.
"Really?" I asked, not daring to believe that we had reached it without any incident. I even had a nightmare about being attacked and was dreaming it, when Zela had woken me.
"Yes," she affirmed, with a question on her face, but she didn't ask it.
I turned to the porthole and could see the city of Owlspring, shining despite being so late or rather so early.
'It seemed like we have arrived sooner than I had thought,' I said to myself and went to the bathroom to freshen up. When I came out, I changed into the new suit and activated Get Ready.
Like all the skills, it had also become slightly powerful with level up.
After taking a last look at the mirror, I walked out of the cabin and went to the deck. The sun had just started to come out, with its rays reaching further and brighter every second.
It is a beautiful scenery with a confluence below it.
"Good morning," said a familiar voice behind me. "Morning," I replied, without looking back.
"It is really beautiful scenery," he said, looking at the sun shining over the confluence.
"It is," I replied, looking at the scenery.
For a few minutes, there was a silence before he turned to me.
"I have seen people experiencing shocking things, and it changes them, but the shock you have given to Damon Hardt, and the changes it brought to him and still bringing, are the biggest changes I had ever seen happening to a person," he said.
People say Robin is undeserving of his position, but they don't know the man well enough.
He is the most intelligent among all the advisers. He notices everything and speaks a few words, but when he does, intelligent ones listen.
Count despite all his flaws, recognize his value, and listen to him the most. Far more than me or any other advisers.
"He has changed," I said after a pause, and he smiled.
The shock he had received was enormous, Count had taken away part of his responsibilities and handed them to me. If it was not bad enough, I had succeeded in achieving what he couldn't for more than half a year and the results were amazing.
He hated me so much that he had started opposing me even more and even stopped me from getting the aid I needed against monsters with Commander Atticus, but that seemed to have changed since I had come back.
He still hates me, but there is now some respect.
Last night was quite surprising. He had heard everything; I am saying, without any snide comment or unreasonable counter.
Something seemed to have happened in the past month. That brought this huge transformation to him, and it is not just his attitude toward me, but also the decision he is taking in the merchant guild and his own business.
They are more comprehensive and somewhat daring.
Locke had said that Damon Hardt has become accommodating, listening to what he and others say in meetings and even implementing their ideas.
We stayed watching the scenery for half an hour more, before going inside and sometime after that, we had breakfast with the captain.
"Come to the merchant guild, if you have time," said Robin as we walked off the ramp of the ship.
"I don't think I will be able to make it," I replied with an apologetic smile. I might be able to make it, but I will not.
Damon Hardt might suffer my presence and listen to my opinions, but I don't have much interest or time to put my neck in his business.
I have things of my own that I have to do.
I watched them sit in their carriages, and I sat in mine, and it began to move toward the city. I had to go to the place and empty this load that is like the mountain.
Even now, I am worried and would be till I had over to the person.
If it were up to me, I would have gone there the moment I had woken up, but I couldn't. The time is seven-thirty or after.
Minutes passed and the thieves or assassins I had been waiting for didn't come and finally, I had reached the place.
Aryveson Alchemy.
It is a five-story building, bigger than the establishment. It is the best alchemical store of the Owlspring, and its owner is said to be a Lv. 40 alchemist; one of four in the whole city-state of Meldhorn, which has over thirty cities.
The other three are in the capital, Meldhorn City. These two places are the only ones in Meldhorn-state that have the legacies.
I have reached the storage, and now, I am nearly safe. I will be completely safe once enter the store and hand the thing over to the person inside.
With that, I stepped out of the carriage and walked toward the pale green building with a smile on my face.
"Mr. Silver, watch out!" shouted Jon suddenly, and after that, everything happened so suddenly.
I saw Zela's staff lighting up and watery bubbles from around me and, at the same time, Stone swinging his sword toward something.
I couldn't see Jon as he was behind me, but I could feel his and Stone's skills covering me, along with Zela's spell.
'Thief,' I thought.
There is definitely a thief or even an assassin. It froze me and flashes of my father's death began to appear in front of me; they became clearer than they had ever been.
They froze me for a moment, but I forcefully shook it away and moved my hands.
One went toward my sword while the other toward my storage.
My hand had just reached the storage, when I saw the grey form materialized in front of me. Avoiding the bubble that Zela has cast and is still around me.
It had appeared suddenly, like a phantom, and moved his hand toward the storage that I had just touched.
Its movements were so fast and smooth that I could see every movement and could feel my own slowness in front of him.
It is not just I am slow, but also Stone, who turned his sword toward the masked grey form, but it seemed to be moving too slowly to do anything.
I felt him taking out the storage from my pocket and the moment it did; it turned to an extreme blur and disappeared from my view.
A moment later, everything turned normal, and could feel Jon moving in that direction fast, but even his speed seemed far too slow compared to the thief who had just stolen my storage.
"Mr. Silver are you all right?" asked Stone, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"Yes, I am fine, but the thief had got my storage," I said with a laugh. "Was there something valuable?" he asked.
"Kind of," I replied, as I watched Jon return.
"He got away," he said with a regretful shake. I didn't say anything and turned to two people appearing beside me.
"You guys?" I asked, with hope in my eyes.
Jon was not the only one who was chasing the thief. These two had come from the direction of the store and moved toward the thief, and they were even faster than Jon.
"He disappeared without a trace." The half-elf woman replied with a sigh.