POV: Bobby
I was running in the dark on the empty streets, my breath started to run out before finally arriving at the walls of the city.
"Halt! Oh, it's you sir, would you like for us to bring your horse back?"
"Yes *Huff, as soon as possible *Huff."
After a few minutes of waiting I was able finally catch my breath and I had my horse ready.
I then climbed the horse and started to ride it towards the palace at full speed.
The conversation with Black Ear was interesting to say the least, I never knew what a witch, and when I found out I got a bit envious of their abilities.
But what really caught my attention was the second person. The one that found out the cure, his name was Trader.
When I first heard that name, I was skeptical but marked as a very big coincidence.
Until I heard more about him, like the fact that nobody knows where he's from, and that he doesn't have a beautiful nose like us.
All of this pointed at something that I was afraid to believe, I was afraid that my newfound hope would be crushed again.
But even with that fear, I was still excited, I didn't want to ignore the possibility of good news.
I also wanted to share what I got with Undying Flame to calm her guilt, it was something too good not to share.
After a few hours of riding, I finally got to the castle where the guards let me in once they recognized my horse.
I walked through the poorly lit halls until I arrived at the room where my friends stayed.
I knocked a few times before the door was opened.
Undying looked at me with tired eyes but still fully opened the door.
The room was not too big, it had four beds, two chests, and a desk, the minimum requirements for a living.
"Did you finish the special mission?"
"How did you know that I was given a mission?"
"I didn't, we just assumed it since the servants told us you last talked with the princess before you left."
I sometimes forget that Tobby managed to get into the Academy without having a special job, he was smart enough to get a sponsor through the whole academy time.
"Yes, I did finish the mission, or at least most of it. I had to find information about two people in the Sandstone Kingdom and what gifts I should bring them. But while I was gathering some information about that, the description of one of them was very similar to Trade's, he's a man that has no nose, and his name is Trader!"
Undying Flame stopped whatever she was doing and looked at me in shock.
"You think this is our Trader? He actually managed to escape through a portal in the fortress?"
"I hope so. And the best part is that I'm invited to the party, so I can see him with my own two eyes."
"Wasn't the Sandstone kingdom in the middle of the desert? A few weeks away from your village?"
Tobby intervened.
"That is a good point, but while I was here I tried to look for information about the Nether, which wasn't a lot unfortunately, but I found from an old book that the distance in the Nether works different from our world. So maybe when we traveled for a few days in the Nether, we actually walked a few weeks in our world."
"Hmm, that would make sense if it's true, it's still shocking to hear about another dimension but I believe you. Then why didn't he come here, he's been missing for a few weeks after all."
Tobby raised a good point, which made me think about what was going on out there in the desert.
"I can only think of two reasons why he wouldn't want to come back. He either lost his memories through an accident or he's being held captive. "
"Why would he be held captive? From what you're telling me he's at the palace from the desert, if he did something bad wouldn't be much easier to kill him?"
"True, but what if they want to get information out of him? He was the one that found out a cure for an inflected person after all."
"He did what?!"
Tobby yelled in shock, while Undying looked at us in confusion.
"What's an Infected?"
"When you get killed by a zombie there's a high chance that you'll turn into one as well. But you'll be a different zombie than the natural one, you'll keep your appearance with the slight change of the green skin. That's why is theorized that it's possible to turn back an Infected person, but nobody in the world managed to find one."
Undying nodded her head in understanding at the groundbreaking discovery.
"He also knew a lot of information about us, when we first met. Like our original name as Piglins, and I think he's also the one that actually made the portal to our world."
"He did indeed, last time we talked he told me that he holds the knowledge of dangerous information that can even destroy nations."
"You found some weird friends recently Bobby. One of them knows too much for his own good, and the other one comes from another dimension."
I sarcastically laughed at his comment.
"So what do you want to do now?"
"I'll have to get a present for both of them so I can go there in the first place, and I think your two can stay a bit more before you can get back to your home. I'm sure your wife wants you to get back as soon as possible, and Undying I'm more than sure that your tribe is worried about you, especially because this world is a constant danger for you."
"Thank you for your worries!"
She then bowed slightly.
"I guess you're right, my family would want to have me back as soon as possible, and since I know you're doing well, I can also rest easy."
We talked for a few more hours before I decided to get some rest in my room, since I've been on a horse most of the night.
I walked into my room, and once my head hit the pillow everything turned dark.
____
The next day I woke up, ate my breakfast, and started to think about what I should choose as gifts.
For the witch named Froggy, I think it can be pretty easy, since were both alchemists and what I would love the most would be some rare ingredients for me to use.
And luckily I didn't use all the items that I got from the fortress. So maybe I can give him some pufferfish and maybe some ghast tears.
We are the capital of alchemy after all, so we can afford to have gifts like this.
As for my possible friend Trader, things can get more complicated.
I do consider him a good friend, one that helped me through harsh times and even gave me more than I could've ever asked for, but I didn't know a thing about him.
The more I thought, the bigger my embarrassment grows, I knew he was not from this world, and I think he wants to get back to his original one, but otherwise, I don't know anything.
Even his name is a mystery since I was the one to nickname him Trader when we first met.
I stayed like that for a few good minutes before giving up and decided to go to the library to get inspired.
"He most likely wants to get back, so that means I have to look for books related to other dimensions."
I walked to the last place where I found the old book about the Nather and looked around more carefully.
Some of those books were old while others were still good-looking.
Finally, after a few minutes of searching, I found a small book that caught my attention.
'Coming of the hero'.
"This book may be related to what the pope spoke."
Fortunately, the book was not long so in half an hour I managed to read it all.
And I was not disappointed with the results. The book told the story of a hero who would come to defeat one of the rulers of the monsters.
The hero has to search for the monster's heart and destroy it for all.
Once he manages to do that, then the hero would be transported back to his original world.
"So for Trader to get back to his original world he has to defeat one of the rulers of the monsters. Is he perhaps the hero awaited by the prophecy?"
I have some new information, but it only brought me more questions than answers.
I put the book back and sat down at one of the tables in the library.
"Maybe I should just give him a diamond pickaxe as a facade, with the pretext that he'll be helping the hero with gathering resources."
I decided to go with that.
I'm sure that he would like the new information, plus the new tool.
With the plan now made, I left the library to tell her majesty what ideas I got.
Since it was a sudden meeting, it took a few minutes until I could finally meet her.
"Bobby, good morning! I didn't expect to see you so early. Is everything ok?"
The princess was in her room writing something in a book, most likely reports for different people.
"Everything is ok your majesty. I came here to tell you that I found the perfect gift for the two heroes."
She finally stopped from her writing and looked at me.
"That's a quick response, so what did you figure out?"
"For Froggy, since he's an alchemist like us, we can gift him some rare ingredients like pufferfish and gast tears to catch his interest, as for Trader I didn't manage to figure out his actual specialty, but I'm more than sure that he'll greatly appreciate a diamond pickaxe, to show our support for the upcoming journey."
The princess started to think about my suggestions.
"I think your ideas are not bad, and your rapid response is truly admirable. Thank you for helping me, I'll surely take you with me on this journey."
She said with a smile, which made me sigh of relief.
I said goodbye to her before leaving the room, I had to meet with Undying and Tobby before they leave.
They decided to leave today since they got what they come for.
I walked for a few minutes before arriving at the door that I visited just last night.
*Knock *knock
"We just had lunch there's no need for more food, thank you-, Oh it's you Bobby, you've come to say a final goodbye before we left?"
"Yes Tobby, I just finished talking with the princess, and she liked my suggestions."
I said with pride.
"That's good to hear buddy, just be careful not to get in any more trouble than necessary, since you seem to have a knack for these."
I wanted to rebuke that statement, but then stopped once I started to realize, that I did indeed get into a few troubles in those past years.
"I'll try my best. Where's Undying?"
"She's working on her potions for the trip. I still don't know how to react around her after I found her origins."
I then remembered that the people from the Nather don't have the system, so they can actually brew whatever they want without restrictions.
I walked into the room where I could see her watching the brewing station intensely.
"Undying, I've come to say goodbye before you two leave. Please don't forget to gather as much information about the outsider's fortress until I'll contact you."
She jumped a little at my sudden presence.
"Thank you for coming to see us before well leave, and you don't have to worry, we'll try to get as much information as possible."
I needed my head in understanding then turned my head towards Tobby, and gave him a big parting hug.
"I'll try to write you from time to time so you'll know that I'm not dead. I'm thankful to have such a great friend like you. I wish you two a good journey back."
"I'm also glad to know you're doing well. Good luck with your mission as well. "
He responded with a big smile.
After an hour of waiting, they got on their horses and started their journey back.
I watched as they slowly disappeared over the line of horizon and then turned back towards the castle.
I have to get back to work as well.