Here I am in some large meeting hall after we were served with some rather luxurious breakfast earlier. All of us were seated in places that were strategically allocated to us. I was surprised when I was being seated at the front. I would assumed it was due to humans having horrible eyesight compared to elves but the Elementalist assured me that wasn't the case. He needed my insight as well which was why he brought me over in the first place. But compared to the other guildmasters, I'm the youngest compared to all of them. What insight could I provide compared to their centuries of experiences?
But what pisses me off is— where the fuck is Zen?! Why is he always late?! Now everyone is staring at me as though I knew where he went. I had knocked on his door several times before coming here and there was no response whatsoever. I thought he went out earlier and was pretty sure he's not in his room. Where the hell did he went though? Please don't tell me he's fooling around with some female elf and got drunk somewhere after what the Elementalist had warned him. Zen, don't you fucking dare sully the reputation of humans any further. We're already considered as monkeys in their eyes now. Hurry your ass here, right now!
"Where— is Zen? Any idea where he is?" asked the Supreme Commander.
"I— don't know either. We had looked all over for him but we couldn't find him at all. It's as though he had vanished from our city. Where else could we went?" the Elementalist answered with another question.
"Unless.. I have a feeling I know where he went. Come with me," said the commander as he gestured the Elementalist to follow after him.
I thought of following them but as they were heading out the main door, some commotions could be heard outside the hall. As they almost exited the door, they were halted in their tracks by something blocking their way. A rather large wolf was squeezing his way in through the main door while he was biting on to something. Hang on— isn't that Zen?!
"W— what's going on, Kuchisabishii-sama? Did Zen caused you any trouble for you to carry him here?" asked the commander with a rather speechless expression.
"Not at all! I had fun, honestly speaking. This boy is certainly— interesting, to say the least. He almost had me a couple of times! Hahaha!!" laughed the dire wolf as he placed Zen on the floor.
"What happened? Did he challenged you to a duel or something? I'm surprised you were willing to entertain him in the first place knowing you," asked the Elementalist.
"Not a duel but rather a game of cat and mouse. His sneaking abilities versus my nose. I thought of entertaining him a little at first but turns out he was interesting indeed! I daresay he fooled me a couple of times. You elves are going to have a tough time if you ever make him your enemy. This boy— is destined to be even more powerful than he is right now," he laughed.
"I can vouch on that. He even managed to sneaked up on me in our own turf. This future son-in-law of mine is a real trouble indeed. Wake up, Zen. It's already time for the meeting," poked the commander.
"Gah! Need to hide again! Huh? Where am I?" he asked as he realised the changes in his surroundings. I smacked my head in embarrassment.
"You're in our meeting hall. It's already morning now. I'm surprised you challenged Kuchisabishii-sama until morning. Lost track of time?" asked the commander.
"It's— morning already? Shoot, I'm so sorry. I had way too much fun training with the alpha dire wolf. Do forgive me, I'll get myself as presentable as possible," he quickly stood up and bowed to the commander.
"It's fine. Go wash yourself up before we begin. We'll bring some food for you," the commander snapped his fingers as a member came over to guide Zen somewhere.
"Thank you for willing to entertain me, Kuchisabishii-sama. You really put me to work with that nose of yours," he bowed to the alpha dire wolf.
"Likewise, young one! I really had fun finding you as well. I'll be up for another round if you make it as entertaining as what you did," he laughed as he followed Zen out the door.
"Oh, don't you worry. I already have many ideas to combat that nose of yours," he chuckled before disappearing out the door.
Sigh, as much as I want to reprimand him, his unorthodox method of training is how he improves himself. And I can certainly see where he's coming from. The alpha dire wolf had extremely sensitive nose that is effective at tracking. What better way to train your specialty when such opportunity had presented itself. How strong will you eventually become, Zen? Even I'm curious as to how far you can go.
***
Damn it, what an embarrassment that I needed Kuchisabishii-sama to carry me here. I never even noticed that I had passed out until morning. Such was the excitement of the challenge. Sad to say I couldn't outfool the wolf as his nose is just too precise to pinpoint my location, despite having managed to fool it a few times at most. I'll be more prepared with some equipment next time when I challenge him.
Glad Noah's my future father-in-law though, otherwise I would had been punished for my actions. I was surprised they were even kind enough to allow me to munch on a rather large jikentette leg as we proceeded with the meeting plans. I'm sure there will be a lot of elves judging me but fuck it, I'm really hungry now and I am eating as silently as I could already.
Let's see, their plans were pretty solid thus far, but it's based on a lot of "what ifs". A lot of talk on being on the offensive but— so little on the defence of the city. Even John had raised his concern that we will still need to have some armies defending this city in the event the enemy outsmarts us. "It is pointless to fight when there's nothing to protect" he said which many of the members here nodded. And so began the discussion about the defence of the city after many had agreed. I just kept quiet thus far since they were deep into the conversation. That and, I should just finish my meat before speaking with a mouthful.
"What do you think, Zen? You've been quiet thus far, despite knowing that you're still eating," asked Noah as he smiled at me. He must be finding it funny and intriguing for someone to actually be eating in such an important meeting.
Realising he had somehow made me the centre of attention, I quickly chewed my food and swallowed as fast as I could. Good thing I didn't get choked or something. Someone was even kind enough to serve me tea as I was chewing.
"The plans are good both offensively and defensively, which is a good insight from John. One question though, how are you planning to track the bugs? From what I understood thus far, it was based on the assumptions that you could follow the bugs. Have anyone here succeeded before?" I asked.
"We— couldn't follow after them as they had the power of flight. But rest assured, this time, we have our winged dire wolves who be helping us. We will be able to track them with the help of their nose and our ears," answered Noah.
"What about on foot? Couldn't you have followed after them by sound in the first place?" I asked curiously.
"These bugs— seems to defy logic. They don't.. seems to make any noise when they fly despite having those wings. Even we are confused as to how they can avoid our ears," he sighed.
"How about— employing some sort of tracking item on them?" I asked all of them.
"You seems to be implying something, Zen. If you have an idea, I'm all ears," Noah gestured for me to present my idea.
I rustled through my back pouch to look for the item in question. I kept it inside an airtight glass container so that it doesn't make too much noise when I'm carrying it around. Where is it? I swear I kept it— Ah, there it is.
"Ever used one of these before?" I lifted the glass container before all of them.
A couple of them were confused as to what they were looking at. Even Noah squinted at it in confusion while Violet and a few more female elves seems to be chuckling. Is this bell supposed to be funny?
"Zen dear, what you're holding is actually something that only female elf uses. That bell is actually used to signal our partner on which location to meet. Each bell actually plays a different frequency that only our ears can identify. It's actually a rare item now but one that I had used before, isn't that right, darling?" Violet poked her elbow against Noah as he coughed.
"Uh— pardon me for not knowing it's real usage but this very bell is the reason as to how I tracked the beast monsters back to their hideout. With— the help of your daughter of course who was instrumental in its success. Rest assured, I onlyused this for tracking purposes," I answered firmly.
"Reverse hideplay? We should try that out, honey," chuckled Violet.
"So, what you're trying to say is that using this bell was a success for tracking down the beast. Violet, do you trust your future son-in-law's idea of using the bell for tracking?" asked Noah.
"It's a sound plan for sure over just following them using our wolves. It's more subtle and allows us to follow the bugs without alerting them. I— actually like his idea more," she giggled.
"Alright then, let us form a small team to track the bugs on foot. Violet, you take charge on that since you vouched for him. Let's have a little test, Zen's idea over mine, which of it is better?" he smirked at Violet who suddenly frowned at his sudden suggestion.
Uh— did he just turned this into some competition? I just gave my insight on what I did previously to track the beast. And I to have Violet as our leader? Oh gosh, is there going to be more flirting from her throughout the journey. I'm so glad that Lily doesn't take after her otherwise I'm not sure if I can take it.
***
"I swear that husband of mine is so unpredictable," complained Violet as she followed after us as soon as the meeting had ended.
We found it strange that she decided to follow us when we will only be departing tomorrow. Why is she following us in the first place? To find someone to complain to?
"Uh, Violet? Any particular reason as to why you're tagging along with us? We were just planning to stroll around and do some sightseeing," I asked her.
"Is that the right way to ask your future mother-in-law? O, I just thought we can bond together since we're in the same group tomorrow. You know you want to~" smirked Violet as I turned my gaze to John asking for help.
"Uh, I just remembered that I have something to do," answered John as he tried to run away but I grabbed his arm tightly before he could escaped. There was no way he can escape with my high agility.
"Don't you dare, John. You owe me a lot and now is a good time to repay one of those favours by not leaving me alone with her," I whispered as I grabbed his collars.
"Okay okay, I'll keep you company," he smiled awkwardly.
"C'mon boys, I'll show you around. Just give a holler if you find something you find interesting," she chuckled at our interaction and walked ahead.
We followed after her as she guided us around the elven city. I guess she had taken upon herself to become our guide and bring us around the city as we only have today to enjoy ourselves here. How kind of her to guide us. I must had thought too badly about her due to all of her flirting but since she is Lily's mother after all. Her kindness have to come from somewhere and I doubt it's from her father.
"Whatcha thinking about, future son-in-law?~" asked Violet as she grabbed my arm intimately.
Oh gosh, this is not good for my heart whatsoever!
"N— nothing, just thinking how peaceful this place is. A shame that I can't bring Rose or my child here to visit," I sighed.
"Well, if you're able to boost your reputation from this war with the bugs, they might be kind enough to grant you unrestricted access. It all depends on your role in this war. Knowing you, you're going to be at the brunt of it. You areborn for greatness after all, Zen. Just like your father," she smiled as she stared directly into my eyes.
Thump
"I— thank you. You're too kind. Let's see what else this place have to offer. Lead the way," I gestured her to guide us which she obliged to do so happily.
W— what the hell was that? Don't you dare, don't you fucking dare! This is her mom, dammit!! Control yourself, you fool. You're just getting confused because she looks too similar to Lily.
As we followed after her, we came upon a marketplace where the elves were happily doing business out in the open. This area was covered in soft grass that was completely comfortable to step or even sleep on. It looked as though these were mostly small businesses that were looking to sell their specialties. I stood upon a side store that was offering to draw cute things or portraits. Emiley and Daidas's inks, eh? Pretty cute name for a store.
"Anything tickle your fancy?" asked the elven male. He looked like an emotional boy with that orange hat of his.
"Yeah, how fast can you draw a female elf?" I asked him.
"Female, eh? Emiley would be more suitable for this. Hey Em, get over here," shouted the male elf.
"What's up? Please don't tell me it's about cute stuffs again. You're totally qualified to draw it," she squinted at him.
"What? No! This gentleman here wishes to get a drawing of a female elf. You're way better at drawing girls than me," he explained to her.
"Oh, c'mon. You're not that bad at it. Is there anyone in particular you want drawn?" asked the female elf.
"Her actually, but with some minor differences," I pointed my thumb towards my back where Violet was chatting with another woman.
"V— Violet?! Oh no, you take the lead, Em. I can't handle her non-stop flirting," shouted the male elf as he scoured to hide.
"What do you mean?! She's not that bad!" she retaliated but the male elf ignored her.
"So uh, are you willing to draw her?" I asked awkwardly.
"Sigh, I'll do it. Not the first time someone asked me to draw her when she's such a beauty. You said earlier that you wanted some alterations on Violet's image, are you referring to her daughter?" she asked.
"Y— yes. How did you know?" I asked her.
"I think everyone knows. You're pretty well-known and it's no secret that you had decided to marry her. Doubt you would want a picture of her mom in your bedroom, right?" she smirked at me.
"Of course not. Do you take western currency, instead? I don't have any EVCs on me, sadly," I asked her.
"Hmm— it's a bit of a hassle to get it exchanged but I guess I'll give you a pass," she sighed.
"Great, much appreciated. I would like to have an image of her sitting on a chair inside a house looking out a window. Would that be possible?" I asked and placed a gold coin on the table.
"W— whuat?! How detailed do you want the picture to be for you to give me a gold coin?! It's going to take days before I can fulfil your detailed request," she asked with her mouth agape.
"Just do your best within a couple of hours. I'm not asking for details down to her skin pores. Consider this a reward for willing to take my request," I smiled to her and proceeded to ask Violet to take a seat.
She stared at me curiously but somehow obliged my request. I decided to let both of them do what is necessary as I left them alone and continued to stroll around the marketplace with John.
***
"Is that your way of shooing her away? Sneaky," asked John.
"Yes and no. I kind of want to give them a picture of Lily since it sounded as though they have no idea when she's able to come back here. There's not much to change from Violet since she is a carbon copy of her daughter minus the emerald hair tips and glasses," I explained.
"How kind of you, Zen. Not even married but already giving gifts to your future parents-in-law," he chuckled.
"Oh har har. I'm sure you did what you could to suck up to yours as well. Besides, Rose doesn't have any parents, so Noah and Violet are practically the only "parents" that I'll ever have," I sighed.
"Yea, I certainly did sucked up to them. Sadly they still don't like me though. I didn't even dared to visit them since Daffodil isn't here with me. Who knows what they'll do to me if I were to meet with them alone," he made a dry laughter.
"Sigh, getting married isn't easy, eh? Guess I lucked out with Rose somehow," I patted his shoulder.
"Tell me about it. Why would anyone want to marry twice or more is beyond me. There's so much hassle, especially when it comes to parents," he sighed.
"Oh, get off my back, John. If you're in my shoes, you'll marry both of them too. Sigh, let's check back on Violet. We've been gone for a while now," I told him.
***
"Oh, there he is! Zen dear! Over here!" shouted Violet.
I hurried over to her and was surprised that the painting was already completed. Surprisingly detailed despite only a couple of hours passed. Turns out the elven male was forced to help out with the painting as well to quicken the process. I am glad though, the painting is really good and was exactly what I wanted. An exact copy of Lily, minus her gauntlets, of course.
"Thank you so much. This is exactly what I wanted," I bowed to them.
"You gave us a gold coin, what do you expect? Of course we have to do our very best," she wiped the sweats on her forehead.
"And I appreciate that. Thank you, once again. If I were to return here, I'll gladly commission you for another," I smiled to both of them with another bow which they returned.
"Let's get back to our rooms. It's evening now," I gestured Violet to lead the way.
"Are you going to hang it in your bedroom? Won't your current wife be jealous of it?" asked Violet.
"Actually, this is for you and Noah. You won't know when Lily will be able to return here so I thought of getting something for you to remember her by. This is how she looked like now and I can attest to that. I promise I'll do my best to help her in anyway possible so that she can come back here again," I handed the painting to her.
"Zen— this is.. such a thoughtful gift. I love it, and I'm sure my husband will appreciate it too. You are such a good person. I'm getting jealous that Lily will be having such a good husband. Thank you, Zen," she gave me a peck on my cheek.
Thump thump
"You boys know how to get back from here, right? It's just straight from here. I'll need to make dinner soon. Jaa Ne~" she winked at us and skipped happily away while hugging the painting.
John stared at me as I clutched my chest. He seems to know what's going on with me.
"You do realised that's her mom, right?" asked John as he curled his lips.
"I know, John. I know," I told him as I rubbed my forehead and sighed. Fuck my life.