I think we are far enough.
It has been a long time since Aefrine departed Olson. His shoulder's pain couldn't be ignored longer. He stopped Yuta and sat down a tree, and pulled out the dagger with all his might. It quickly came out, and so did blood. He pressed hard on his wound so the blood wouldn't spoil out.
"Master! Your shoulder!"
"It's nothing seriously. It will heal eventually. Just don't worry."
"This is all my fault. I have failed in protecting you... maybe that orc girl was better after all..."
"Larry, don't say that... it was my fault..." He pulled his ID card with the title "B-rank" on it. " I should have known better...Anyway, I think we should rest here for the night. Yuta can't run forever, right, Yuta?"
Yuta, after hearing that, jumped in a resting position not far from Aefrine. Aefrine took the lamp from him and put it between them.
"Listen, Larry, could you do me a favour?"
"Anyt'ing my master!"
"Could you collect some wood for a campfire... it is really cold here..."
"Alright master! I will knock this tree off and get you a giant trunk of gigantic wood !"
"No! Just... just gather some fallen branches if you can find some."
Even if we were far away, I still couldn't want to make such a scene.
"Alright, master. Just call if you need me."
"Ok."
As Aefrine set there in the quiet solitude of the giant tree above him , one hand holding to his shoulder and another on the metal lamp, he looked up to the sky.
Oh my god, everything fell apart in this one day.
...what I am supposed to do now... I guess I should just head east, right ? Follow the sunrise? And hopefully, find a way to Hamilton? I mean, I am in no rush, right? Even that whole tournament thing is still a month away. I can get there in one month, right? Damn it, I was really looking forward to a rivalry with that blond girl, her name was Kate, right ? I bet she also was going to kill or capture me ... like, WHO IS AFTER ME ? RUDOLF? wait...Ryuji? Yeah, definitely that stupid masked swordman...why does he come after me himself ? 2 million duvats for a petty peasant like me seems too much, eh? I need to calm down... I guess I will finish what I started... where is the holy bal?
Just as he searched his bag, Yuta quickly stood up. He was smelling something. And suddenly, he shot a beam of light at the tree next to them. Yet, it hit nothing, just the big branches of the tree. And then Aefrine was forced upon his feet, a sharp blade just an inch away from his exposed neck. The sword was curved as a hook. It was him.
Bloody hell, he catched up to us?!
"You move, you die." Said a cold unclear voice behind him calmly
"Hey, get away from my master!"
Larry had just appeared, throwing all the sticks he had collected away.
"One wrong move, and your friend dies." Explained the same voice in the same calm manner but louder this time so everyone could hear.
Why is everyone so desperate for money!
"Listen, I have money, I will give you all. I have only one million, but I can give you er... anything! Just, please, there is no need for this mess!"
Oh my god, please help me, just this once!
"I will take your life or your key , choose." Replied Bloody Mary, not changing his manner of speaking.
"What key?"
"The key of Fate that you have. Give the golden key that you have, and this will be over."
Damn it, I just need to act dumb or maybe-
"Oy, leave my master alone, I have keys!"
Larry took off his mask and showed off the three keys in his mouth. At first, the murderer backed away a few steps, a normal reaction to seeing a skeleton...
Larry, you idiot!
"Give me the keys or your master dies."
"Leave my master alone or else you die!"
"I won't hesitate in killing. Thus, you will have failed your master."
"How dare you -"
"Larry, destroy the keys if he kills me, got it !?"
"Eh, yes master! I will crush them with my teeth!"
"If you destroy them, I will kill your master."
"Larry, only destroy them if he kills me!"
"Yes, master!"
He opened his jaw in preparation.
Everyone knew that they had reached a stalemate. Silence was dominant as each party was thinking of a way to get an upper hand. And then Aefrine spoke:
"Listen, friend, how about we make a deal, eh? Like, what do you want with the keys? I might be able to help you."
The 'friend' didn't reply for some moments until he responded:
"How many keys does your wish need ?"
"What do you mean?"
"While one needs all eight keys to use their power, depending on the wish he wants, he might only need to use one key to achieve that wish. On a scale of eight, how many keys does your wish probably need ? "
"Errr...."
How many keys would I need to break my curse...?
OK, it doesn't matter!
"One ! OK, well, more like two, three at best..."
Hope that makes it believable enough...
"If that is the case, then we can share the keys...We will both help each other to get the rest of the keys and get the second ancient scroll and get our wishes. But you need to prove to me that I can trust you..."
The second ancient what?
"Oh, yes, of course! Errr... Larry, kill me if I betray him."
"W'at ?"
"I don't trust your servant either. If I betray you, Larry can just destroy the keys if I broke our deal, but if you do it, I need a guarantee. I suggest you give me one of the keys so that I can also be able to threaten your goal."
"Errr, OK...Larry give him one of the keys..."
"Ok..."
He took one of the keys from the safety of his jaw and threw it at him. It was the red one. Mary threw Aefrine to the floor and took the key quickly.
"I would like to point out also that I won't hesitate in killing all three of you if you actually betray me."
He said after he put his hookswords back in his sieves.
"Ok..."
"You dare talk to my merciful master like that, you ungrateful piece of junk! Hey, don't touch him!"
He lent a hand to Aefrine, pulling back up and putting him upon the tree that he was resting on before.
"You seem to lack experience as a raider..."
"Ha, how could you tell?"
"Because the last thing to do when stabbed is take out the dagger."
"What ? That is the first thing you do! And then it just takes care of itself."
"Your statement is wrong."
He took a glass bottle full of a red liquid out of his own bag and poured some of it on Aefrine's wound.
"Hey, what is that, OWWWW, and why does it hurt?"
"It is a high-quality healing potion. It will heal your shoulder in a short time, but it hurts as much as being stabbed."
As he spoke, he also put a bandage on it.
"Don't move it too much. You will need some rest. Anyway, does your servant here have a raider license?"
"Errr, no. They said that he is too young...why?"
"Because we need another raider in order to participate in the duel raider tournament. You are going to participate, right? The reward is one of the eight keys."
"Oh, yes, of course! I guess we need to go to Hamilton before the next month arrives, right?...you know the way there?"
"Yes, I do. We just need to follow the Medninian coast, and we will arrive there in approximately 25 days. In those days, we needed to find another participant to aid us."
"Oh, OK... but I think you could do well in the tournament."
"I am a wanted criminal with a bounty of pne million duvats on my head."
"Oh, yes."
For some reason, I forgot that in a blink of an eye...
"Plus, I originally intended to simply steal the key, but looking at how far the rumours have been spread, they will definitely double their security, so simply winning it would be more reasonable. For that reason, we use that as our second plan if the first one fails."
"Ok, but can you tell me more about the rumours- Hey, where are you going?!"
"I am going to collect more wood for the campfire."
"Oy, that is my job. Get your own !"
Meanwhile, back Olson, while the sun was starting to rise, a secret meeting was held in an attic. An old woman was tied up to the wall, looking upon her were two men, Çetin and Nathan.
Then a new man climbed up.
"So, Arcangelo, how it went ?"
"I told them that it was Bloody Mary, and we were only trying to stop her-"
"You mean him...anyway any news about that monkey?"
"You mean Aefrine? They said that they escaped from the Eastern gate. But it seems that Bloody Mary went after him, as there were two outer guards that were killed, and the others reported something following him."
"Great, it means that our prize is already taken now... Nathan here tells me that you ran away during the fight. Is that true?"
"I-I swear, I only ran away from Bloody Mary, I-i..."
"It is OK, I am not mad this time. If I were as pathetic as you, I would definitely run away from an A-rank threat like that. But keep in mind, if I had it my way, Afli would have been the one who would have survived tonight. What a shame. He really had potential. A C-rank without any decent enchanted tools is pretty rare. Speaking of which..." He looked at the tied body, stepped forward, and made fierce eye contact with her. "Tell me how that monkey got away from you ?"
"H-he overpowered me and threw me in the water..."
"Ah, and why didn't you cry for your Prince in shining armour to come and save you ?"
"H-he knocked me out..."
"Oh, but why can't I see any injuries on your ...HEAD!"
He punched her hard to the point that she was thrown to the wall. As a result, she lost several teeth, and blood was now spilling from her nose.
"Çetin, her niece is downstairs.."
"No need to worry, he is deaf and can't even move... I really can't see why anyone would want to live like that..."
He took a napkins and started to clean Rose's face with it.
"So, tell me dear what did that monkey have to offer, so that you would make such mistake? Was it money, a cure, or perhaps it was love ? Haha, I just want to know what the thing that you thought it was good enough. I know you two only met that night, so I must say that he was a good talker."
"S-something that you would never have..."
"Oh, please, what could that be?"
"Kindness. "
"Kindness? Kindness? " He turned around."Boys, she said kindness! Hahaha, hahaha. Like ... OK, let's act like the monkey didn't just dunk on you and ran away... you said that you wanted kindness, oh my...I am sorry, do you want me to be more kind with you? Treat you like my Grandma or something... Oh, Rose, I never thought that you could be this delusional at such an age. Absolutely, everyone gets the amount of respect they deserve, no exceptions at all. If there is something you don't like about me, you have no one to blame but yourself. Anyway, Arcangelo hang her."
"What ?!"
"Hang her, or you're next. That is your punishment... Make sure that it seems like an ordinary suicide. "
"B-but..."
Çetin went downstairs, where he found Kate guarding the door.
"So, has the boy moved at all?"
"No, he hasn't moved... so what is our next move..."
"There is no point in chasing the monkey, Bloody Mary went after him, so probably, the chase is over..."
"So, are you going to cancel his membership in the guild?"
"Not necessarily, I think they want him alive for a reason... There is no rush in kicking him out if he is alive, of course... we could track him down if he ever decides to use the guild's name for something... anyway, we better prepare for the tournament..."
"What do you think that he is wanted for ? 2 million are no ordinary prize..."
"I don't know, maybe that bow of his, it isn't normal in any way. Or maybe he knows something about the keys ? I will ask him himself."
"But you said that he is probably dead?"
"Well, logically speaking, he is. But I have a feeling that we are going to meet again one day."