Chapter 528:
Where To?
WE RODE THROUGH THE FOREST on Snakey-back. We went much faster than human walking speed… About ten times as fast? I wasn’t sure, but we were definitely traveling fast.
“Zinal, I just thought of something.” My father shot Zinal a mysterious gaze.
“What’s up?”
I glanced at my father, and the look in his eye piqued my interest.
“Did we tell the serpents where exactly we were going?”
I tilted my head. Well, of course we told them. I mean, there they were, moving at top speed without hesitation.
“…Nope.”
“Huh?!” Fische and I gasped in unison.
I mean, if we hadn’t told them, where were they taking us?
I looked at the Snakey I was riding, and it glanced back at me questioningly. It felt like we’d slowed down a little.
“Snakeys…did you forget to ask us?” I asked.
I felt a little bump under my butt to let me know they’d gotten my message.
“Let’s stop for now,” Fische said, trying not to laugh.
The serpents slowly rolled to a halt.
“So…where exactly were we going?” Zinal asked.
A deep crease formed between Fische’s brows. “Okanke Village, you dolt! We’ve got something to deliver!”
Right, right, I totally forgot that we were headed to Okanke Village. And it was for a job, too.
“Ahhh, right, we were. Sorry.” Zinal scratched the back of his neck as he apologized to Fische. I felt a little ashamed of myself, too.
“By the way, where were the serpents taking us?” Fische asked.
Zinal and my father both seemed perplexed. Then they all looked at me, and I quickly had to shake my head to show I didn’t know. I’d neither told nor asked the serpents anything.
“But they were traveling like they knew where they were going, right?” my father asked.
Everyone nodded in agreement. We looked at the serpents, and they answered with an expression that seemed to say, “What’s the plan?”
“Can you take us to Okanke Village?” Zinal asked the Snakey he was on, giving its head a pat.
The Snakeys all nodded eagerly and slithered back the way we came. Seriously, where had they been taking us before?
“We’re backtracking,” my father remarked.
“Yeah…we definitely are,” Zinal nodded.
“Were we headed to Okanny Village?” my father asked. His Snakey turned around and shook its head side to side, meaning we weren’t.
“Then was it Okanko Village? No. Okanno Village? Not that, either. The only places left are the towns bordering the royal capital.”
The moment my father said “royal capital,” the serpents’ bodies shook.
“Whoa!” The sudden movement jostled me out of my comfortable seated position.
“Ivy!” My father sounded scared.
I reached a hand up. “I’m okay. Just got shook around a little.”
The serpent magic kept us from falling off, but I’d yelled way too loud and scared everybody. I felt silly. It had just been a little shaking…
“Don’t get too relaxed up there, okay?” my father said.
I smiled sheepishly. He was on to me.
“Yes, sir. I’ll be more careful.”
My father chuckled lightly, and the other men followed his lead.
“Wait a minute, Fische—have you ever seen those flowers and that boulder?”
I looked where Zinal was pointing. There was a big boulder leaning against a tree with white and yellow flowers.
“Oh, I’ve heard of this! That’s the landmark you see on the way to Okanke Village. Once you get to it, you’re about thirty minutes away, which is like a couple of minutes for us.”
We zipped past the tree with the white and yellow flowers before Fische even finished his sentence.
“I’ve never seen a tree with two different colors of flower blooming on it before,” I said, looking over my shoulder at the flowers.
“Want a closer look?” Zinal asked. The serpents suddenly slowed down.
“No, I just thought it was odd. It’s okay, Snakey, we can keep going.”
The serpents picked up their speed again.
“Those flowers only bloom around Okanke Village,” Fische told us.
Oh, okay. Does that mean we’ll see them again?
“And if you’re wondering why they bloom in two different colors…it’s just the way they are.”
Just the way they are?
“That’s what we say when we don’t know something,” my father explained. In other words, it was a mystery.
“If you try to grow that kind of tree in another climate, the flowers only bloom in white,” Fische said. I gave him a shocked look, and he nodded back. “Somebody took the soil from this region and tried planting the tree somewhere else, and the flowers were still only white.”
“How weird.”
I looked over my shoulder again, but the tree was already out of sight.
“Ivy, look. There’s more over there,” Zinal said.
I looked where he was pointing, and indeed there was a tree with white and yellow flowers. I looked around and saw similar trees here and there. And each one had both white and yellow blossoms on it. They bloomed readily in this region, but nowhere else. Truly, what a mystery.
“Looks like this is the end of the line.”
The serpents stopped, so we got off. I walked over to my Snakey’s head and gave its nose a pat.
“Thanks. So hey, where were you guys trying to take us earlier?”
When my father asked them all the places they might have been taking us, they said he was wrong. But when he mentioned the towns bordering the royal capital, they responded in a way that struck me as odd. It was a slightly different reaction. That’s what was odd about it.
The serpent stared intently at me, then shifted its gaze elsewhere. As I watched it closely, my father joined my side.
“What’s up?”
“I was asking the Snakey where they were taking us earlier.”
My father joined me in looking at the serpent. Its gaze returned to me, along with a little nod that told me I was right. They were trying to take us somewhere.
“Could they take us there after we finish our job in Okanke Village? It won’t take long…will it?” I asked.
We’re supposed to deliver a magic item to somebody who will end up complaining about it—that much we knew. Then the merchant guild will appraise the magic item… Wasn’t that it? How long will that take? Do we have to stay in the village while we wait? If not, the serpents could take us wherever they wanted. Wait a minute, they don’t need me there when they deliver the magic item, do they? Then couldn’t we split up here and still be fine?
“Is it okay if I go there on my own?” I asked.
“Not on your own, Ivy, I’m coming with you,” my father answered. “But if we tell Zinal and Fische we’re leaving them here, they’ll probably be vehemently against it.”
I could definitely imagine them putting up a stink about it. “Dad, are you sure you don’t need to do the job?” As much as I appreciated his company, I’d feel bad depriving him of work.
“The job is technically Zinal and Fische’s. We’re more like their helpers, so we can consider our job done when we arrive at the village.”
Okay. In that case, it shouldn’t matter if Dad and I go off with the serpents. So…now how do we convince them?
“We get it. We’re curious about it, too, so we’ll come with you.”
I wasn’t expecting Zinal to give me such a critical stare. Well, I didn’t blame him for being curious. Any place the serpents wanted to take us was sure to be exciting.
“But if we’re gonna finish the job quick, we’ll need your help, Druid,” Zinal said.
My father sighed. I gave him a curious look; he shrugged his shoulders and said, “There aren’t any one-armed adventurers out there. If I deliver the magic item, the ornery client will let me have it. I’m the perfect bait.”
Now that made sense. I assumed Zinal and Fische would do their part after that.
“The more we stand out, the more successful our job will be,” Zinal said. “The adventurer guild bastards will have to bite their tongues.”
Wait a minute—wasn’t this job request from the merchant guild?