The labyrinth city of Rapan was one of a kind.
Rapan was in the middle of a vast desert, trapped inside a peculiar and enormous white cage, any curious person who came closer would discover that this cage was built with bones, those of a long-dead Behemoth, the ribs alone, were large enough to enclose the entire city.
At one point, the city had been nothing more than a small oasis, the remains of the Behemoth had transformed it, and now it was surrounded by a surprising number of labyrinths, making it an attractive destination for countless adventurers.
That said, this place was unexpectedly green, perhaps thanks to the oasis next to the bone pillars, even from afar, he could see a line of what looked like palm trees.
The environment was also unique.
There was something like a raw smell in the air, not unlike the crowded slave markets.
"Surprised? Those pillars are actually the ribs of a Behemoth" Galban muttered.
"When the great hero, the North God Kallman II visited this land, he and his companions defeated a Behemoth that was rampaging through the desert, feasted on some of its flesh, and let the rest of its body rot away, leaving what you see now: bones that refuse to decompose, a testament to the passage of time" he explained.
"Incredible" I muttered as I looked out at the city.
"The ants were among the numerous monsters that feasted on the fallen Behemoth's flesh, and they are the cause of the city's numerous labyrinths. When the monsters devoured other monsters stronger than them, they gave birth to powerful creatures in turn. Those mutant ants dug countless nests, and all the nests became labyrinths." Galban continued to explain.
"I see... that makes a lot of sense," I muttered.
...
We said goodbye to Galban after arriving at Rapan. Apparently, his group was going to set up shop on the outskirts of the city. Our time together had been short, but I had learned a lot from his group, and they had taken care of us.
"Thanks for everything," I said.
"Same here. If you ever need anything again, just say it." Balgan replied with a smile.
It was a quick farewell. I said as little goodbye as possible and only bowed to Balibadom and Carmelita.
Now we had to look for Gesse or Paul, I certainly hoped they were here since we had made all this way in a hurry, there was still some time before the sunset, and normally, we would move to find an inn first, but perhaps we should prioritize finding those two instead.
"How are we going to do this?" I asked
"Excellent question, this town is big enough to have an adventurer's guild, so let's go there first," Elinalise said.
"Understood" I replied.
...
When we asked the locals about the location of the guild, they pointed us to the center of the town, the usual place for such things, the people walking around the streets were mainly merchants.
Most of them wore the same attire as Galban.
The adventurer's guild building was carved out of a huge rock, probably by magic, and once you entered, it was well-ventilated enough to feel refreshed.
The atmosphere inside the guild was more or less the same as the rest of the town, but being the type of town it was, there were no newbie adventurers to be seen.
"Okay, let's start asking around for Paul and Gesse," Elinalise said.
"Sounds good to me, I'm sure we'll find out something if we ask," I said.
"Gesse must have an information network here by now, so I'm sure he'll find out if we go snooping around using his name... oh, it seems like it won't be necessary" she murmured.
I followed her gaze to discover a monkey-faced man in a corner of the guild...
"Come on, I'm begging you, you owe me one too" Gesse pleaded.
"You're asking for the impossible" a man replied.
"Can't you give in this time? This is a race against time" Gesse said, clasping his hands in a sign of supplication.
Don't tell me...
"It's been a month, right? She must be dead already" the man replied.
"You son of a bitch monkey!! He must have had something to do with it!
"No! There's no way, even if he is! At least we have to go in and check, find his remains, come on! I beg you! I've seen your skill myself! That's why I'm here! I'll even pay you double!" Gesse said desperately.
He didn't know that damn rat could make a face like that.
"I'm sorry, but try someone else, I don't feel like dying," the man said
Gesse tried for a while to persuade the man, but in the end, the man shook his head and Gesse clicked his tongue.
"Tch! You damn coward! I can't believe you bother calling yourself an adventurer with that attitude!" Gesse shouted
"Yeah, yeah, say what you want," the man said as he walked out the door without even looking back.
"It seems like he's really backed into a corner," I muttered as I crossed my arms.
"Oh? That's how it usually is." Elinalise said.
"Really? I had a different impression of him," I said to keep up appearances.
"He must have been trying to look more mature in front of you...hey Gesse!!" Elinalise shouted.
The monkey turned his head looking, his eyes widened when he saw us and he shuffled his feet towards us.
"Oh! Hey! It's Elinalise!" he said excitedly.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," she said with a smile.
The monkey let out an empty laugh.
"Not at all, you've actually gotten here a lot faster than I thought," he said as his gaze turned to me.
"Actually, how the hell did you get here so fast? Hm? It's only been six months since I sent the letter!" he exclaimed.
"We'll talk about that later, what happened to Zenith?" She asked.
His face clouded over "Not very well, I sent you that letter because I figured it would be a long affair, although to be honest...well, we can talk about that later too" he muttered and finally got up the courage to talk to me.
With his best performance, Gesse's eyes widened when he looked at me, and then he started scratching his upper lip.
"Oh, hey...is that you Gino?...you've really grown!" he said with feigned surprise.
"Yes, and you don't seem to have changed Mr. Gesse," I said with my best smile.
"Ah! Or would you rather I call you rookie like I used to in the big forest?" I said looking into his eyes.
Gesse's eyes widened even more, his lip trembled and he clenched his fists.
But all this happened in less than a second because the next moment he smiled again and patted me on the shoulder.
"Hehehe, of course, boss!" He said as he looked into my eyes.
"Wow, it seems like you two are very close," Elinalise said amused.
"Of course, the rookie took me from the great forest to Millis when the mana disaster happened, I owe him a lot after all," I said.
"Hehe, I appreciate it, my friend," he said and turned away.
"Now I'll take you to Paul" he muttered and we followed him.
Paul was staying in the corner of the city, the building was built with mud and stone and was meant for B-rank adventurers, at least it wasn't luxurious or noisy.
When we got to the entrance, Gesse told us: "Listen carefully, we got here about six months ago but our progress hasn't been the best, please Elinalise, I know you have a lot of things to say, but save it this time."
"I can't promise anything," she said with a frown and shaking her head.
Gesse forced a smile and shrugged, leaving it at that.
However, this was Elinalise we were talking about, she wasn't going to suddenly become hostile and aggressive.
"Okay, let's go in," Gesse said and we entered.
There was no door, just a curtain that separated the inside from the outside, the first floor was basically like all the ones I had seen.
With those tables for people to eat at,
the materials used to build those tables were different, as was their arrangement, but apart from that it was the same
I recognized Paul at a glance, he was gathered in a group with other people, the guy looked serious but also had a tired face.
Next to him were Lilia and a hooded woman, it was Shierra right?...
All the faces were full of tiredness.
Lilia was the first to recognize us and whispered something in Paul's ear, he immediately turned his head in our direction and when he saw Elinalise he frowned.
"hmmp" Elinalise stood on a nearby chair, looking completely indifferent.
Paul slowly turned towards her and their eyes met.
This was bad...
"ahem... good afternoon, Mr. Greyrat, my name is Gino Britzs, I am a friend of Gesse and I came with Miss Elinalise to help you with the matter of your missing wife," I said with a bow.
"..." Paul ignored me and made his way to Elinalise.
She looked at him, her hands clenched into fists and stood up as well.
Elinalise looked at Paul, he was a head taller than her.
The air was thick with tension. "Volatile" was the word that came to mind.
Maybe they would end up punching each other? No! Maybe they would try to kill each other!
Shit, was their relationship really that bad?!
"Gesse..." I looked at him for help, but the idiot just shrugged his shoulders helplessly and gave an infuriating smile
This man really is worthless...
"Elinalise?" Paul murmured
"Yeah, what's wrong?" she said in a cold tone
Paul then looked at me, I gave him a small smile with a bow, he looked away from me and then looked at LIlia and Shierra, there seemed to be some meaning behind his gaze but I couldn't figure it out.
Suddenly...Paul got down on his knees...then he rested his forehead on the ground, he was crawling.
"I'm sorry about what happened back then!" He said
Elinalise refused to look at him, she turned her head to the side, and then... she pouted, puffing out her cheeks...
"Well, I guess I was partly to blame then" she said.
Paul continued to prostrate himself "I've caused you a lot of trouble since the Mana disaster happened, I'm so sorry!" he said
"It's okay, I also had someone I wanted to look for, so it was convenient" she said.
"Ugh..." Paul let out a long sigh, stood up from the ground and dusted off his knees.
He then looked back at Elinalise who softly smiled back at him.
"Age hasn't been kind" she said
"It has been to you, you're as beautiful as ever" he said nodding
"Oh boy, I'll tell Zenith you said that" she said
"That means I'll get to see her get jealous again" he joked.
"Something to look forward to I'm sure" she replied
They both laughed, it was nice to see them like this, they painted a nice picture together: a beautiful elf and a tired middle-aged espachin.
"Still, it's impressive that you were able to endure the trip all the way here, it's a long way from the northern territories to here isn't it?" Paul asked
"Yes it is, but I had help" she said patting me on the shoulder.
Paul looked at me and raised an eyebrow.
"Who is this?" he said bewildered
"My name is Gino Britzs...I came to help my friend Gesse, he sent me a letter asking for help, so I came with Miss Elinalise" I said
Paul's expression turned into one of doubt, his gaze traveling between me and Gesse.
"Monkey face, how can this child help us?" Paul said in a sharp tone.
"Don't be so hard on boss Paul! This child seems stupid but he is a very skilled swordsman, even more skilled than you" Gesse said and at this Paul crossed his arms.
"That's true Paul, without him I would have died in the desert" Elinalise intervened.
"Ah...that reminds me...surely you slept with him, right?" Paul said with a mocking smile.
"I only ensured my survival" Elinalise answered and Paul let out a laugh at this.
Also, to verify my skills, I showed my adventurer card to Paul and he believed me... minimally...
Even so, after all this hustle and bustle, we were here and it was time to rescue Zenith!...and Roxy too, apparently.
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