"Did you hear that?"
'Hear what?'
"It sounds like a voice…A familiar one."
"Aaahhhh, save me!!!"
A person jumped out of the branches and towards Leon. It was Tiriana. She immediately saw him and her eyes brightened. She hid behind Leon and let him deal with whatever was chasing her. Leon looked towards where she just came out of and was disappointed that Kei wasn't with her. He then took a defensive position, readying himself for whatever was to come. It was a huge savage beast. Leon and the savage beast instantly went into battle.
"Why the fuck did you lead him to me?!"
"What do you mean? You're the one in the way! Plus, I know you can handle this! I'm just a weak magician!"
"Useless. I see you tore off that disgusting fake pure persona of yours. Still rude as fuck but at least I don't have to pretend to like you anymore."
"Hey, what do you mean fake! I'm innocent!"
"Yeah right. Anyways, where is Kei?"
"We were attacked by a large pack of savage beasts. He told me to go to the city first. He'll follow afterwards. Ah, beside you!"
Tiriana shouted in fright and tried to warn Leon of the sneak attack that the savage beast launched from the side. In an instant, the sound of wind swooshed forward. Leon watched as the savage beast's claws were about to touch him within a hair's length. And then saw an arrow stabbed into the head of the savage beast. They were silent for a second before turning to the one that just greeted them.
"Hey! You two alright?"
A handsome elf jumped down from the tree and walked towards them. He greeted them with a bright and sunny smile.
"I was passing by and heard some screaming here. When I arrived, I saw you about to get hurt. Good thing I reacted in time. I'm Theodas Dasatra. The proud third prince of the Elven Kingdom! No need to be polite, just call me Theo. Talk to me casually like everyone else."
"Errrr…Okay. Thank you for saving me, Theo. I'm Leon."
"I'm Tiriana! Thank you so much! We were about to be goners!"
Tiriana pushed Leon aside and greeted Theo back. She knew that Theo must have seen her bicker with Leon so she just stopped pretending.
"I see you're mixed race, Leon. I'm guessing Beastman and Elfs from the fox ears, tail, and elf ears."
"Yes."
"Wait, you're not human and elf?"
Tiriana spoke up when she finally noticed his fluffy ears and tail. Her eyes widened in surprise.
"No, I'm a beastman and elf mix."
"Why didn't you show your fluffy ears and tail before?"
"Because I saw the look of discrimination flash through your eyes when you realized I wasn't a pure blood elf."
"No, you're wrong! I looked at you in disappointment. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I was sad that I didn't encounter a pureblood elf since they had the ability to communicate with mother nature. They are able to ask for a beast companion to help me and Kei reach the outpost faster."
"What about when you acted like a fake bitch?"
"I was annoyed that you treated me with distaste and kept a distance from me while you were nice to Kei! I'm not a bitch!"
"Oh…then I'm also sorry for treating you like that. How about we start over and be friends?"
"Yeah, I would like that. As long as you stop calling me rude things."
"I will."
Leon realized that he misunderstood her this whole time. He felt a bit guilty so he decided to treat her better from now on.
"Now that you two have fixed your misunderstanding. How about telling me who this handsome companion of yours is. He just arrived and was waiting for you two to finish your bonding time."
Theo spoke up and pointed at Kei.
"Ah, Kei! You reached me faster than I thought. Amazing as always!"
Tiriana went forward and hugged Kei's arm like always.
"Why are you so sticky with Kei? Don't you see he doesn't like it?"
"What do you mean?! Kei and I have been traveling together for 3 years! Kei doesn't mind, right Kei?"
Still showing an aloof and serious face, Kei slightly nodded after a pause when Tiriana had asked him that question. Then he resumed to stay silent.
"Tsk. He definitely hates it. You're being annoying."
"Hey! I thought we agreed on you treating me nicely!"
"When you are good. Now you're just a bother to everyone."
"I'm not a bother! Kei, am I a bother?"
"..."
Kei didn't respond, staring into space as always.
"Haha, what a fun group of friends. You don't mind me joining your party right?"
"Of course not, you're welcome to join us!"
"So what's your guy's current plans?"
"Have you all heard of the history of the Dark Dragon?"
"Yes, who doesn't know of it? It's told to children as a bedtime story. By all parent's that wanted to teach their misbehaving child and put them in place."
"Well, the magicians in the human kingdom all predicted that the dark dragon had been born and there would soon be chaos and bloodshed throughout the four lands. The king sent in a mission to the Adventurer's Guild, recruiting all S grade Adventurers. The task is to find the dark dragon, defeat it before it goes on a rampage. You know, before it causes disasters and ruin to us all."
"Sounds like fun, I'm joining in with you guys!"
Leon was silently listening and made no comment. Currently, he didn't know who the dark dragon was. So he had to figure out who and find them before his team did. The group decided to head to the next village.
"Oh, I have the privilege to use the teleportation halls in the villages, towns, and the city. We can go to the hall and directly teleport to the city."
"...tch, rich people."
"Leon, that's rude!"
"Haha, it's fine. I'm grateful to be born a prince with lots of benefits."
"At least you're not snobby and annoyingly proud like those peacock royals in the human kingdom. Let's hurry to the village before the sun sets."
"...you're right. Why do most of the human royals have bad personalities?"
Tiriana spoke her realization out loud. The party followed Theo's lead since he knows his way better than the three of them.
"Leon, you entered the entrance after Kei and I. Right? So why did you get teleported closer to the village than us?"
"Luck. I'm joking. It might be because I have elven blood in me. So I'm closer to the mana of this land. Whereas you two are humans."
"Oh, that sounds logical."
Leon didn't voice out that Kei also had elven blood in him. He just spouted some bullshit as he didn't want to really think of the reason. He found that Theo, a pure blood elf, also didn't notice that Kei had elven blood.
"Theo, since you're a pureblood elf. What's your real age?"
"I'm still young. I'm 92 yrs old."
"...I just turned 18. Uhhh, how old are you in human years?"
"I guess I'm around the same age as you in human years. I know mixed races also have different growth cycles than humans. How old are you, Leon?"
"19? I don't know my real birthday. I'm an orphan."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to touch a sensitive topic."
"It's okay. I don't mind. What about you, Kei? How old are you?"
"...28."
"Ehhh?! I thought you were 23! We have been traveling companions for 3 years and now I found out about your age?! Kei!!!"
"..."
Tiriana was shocked and hurt a little. Finding out that her only party member that traveled with her for 3 years was much older than she had expected. The group continued towards the village. They arrived just when the sun was about to set. They hurried to the teleportation hall and Theo flashed his badge. Which screamed his identity as royalty. The elf mages rushed to comply with his request. Within a few minutes, they all gathered in a room and the elf mages started chanting. The four of them were standing in the center and on the ground below their feet were magic circles. They were instantly teleported to one of the teleportation halls around the city.
"What will you guys do now? I can take you to my place. Or do you all want to go individually and find your own place to sleep tonight?"
"Thank you~ I'll go with you. I've never stayed in the castle before. Especially an elven's castle."
"I'm good, I'll find somewhere to stay for the night. We can gather again at the fountain over there tomorrow?"
Everyone agreed on the meeting spot and went their different ways. Kei was silent the whole time. He left when the whole group decided on something and everyone splitted off. Leon found a random place to sleep for cheap. It was only a night anyway. He can decide his next actions tomorrow.