Chapter 545:
Which Was It?
“FEEL BETTER NOW?” my father asked, handing me a wet cloth.
“Yeah.”
I had cried like a baby.
“Here you go.” Fische handed me a cup of water.
“Thanks.”
It had been so long since I cried that my eyes felt heavy. I pressed the wet cloth to my eyes and drank the water. My throat must have been quite parched, because I gulped it all down in one breath.
Hmm…this all took me by surprise, too. I cried my eyes out, not just in front of my father but in front of Zinal and Fische as well. I guess I feel more comfortable around them than I realized. It all feels so surreal.
“Found anything?”
Hearing Fische’s voice, I removed the cloth from my eyes. Zinal had come back from inspecting the area. He said he wanted to find anything the guild master might have left behind if he’d been here.
“Found his magic bag.”
Fische and Zinal proceeded to rummage through the bag. There were potions, several changes of clothes, magic stones, and some dried meat.
“Oh! This looks like…”
I looked at what Zinal had just retrieved. It was a stack of papers.
“Looks like he did his fair share of investigating Okanke’s problems. He had evidence of embezzlement…and illegal contracts… He was very thorough. Oh, somebody also got their hands into some illegal drugs, too. We’ve also got threats and blackmail…ugh.” Zinal sighed heavily, and Fische looked just as frustrated.
“Look how deep the rot spread… I’m almost impressed,” my father said.
Everyone nodded in agreement. The guild master had tried his hardest to work in the most hostile environment you could imagine.
“Wait, what’s this…?”
A deep crease formed between Fische’s brows as he stared at a document from the pile. It seemed to say something very important. He silently handed it to Zinal, then checked the magic bag again. Zinal scanned the document he’d been handed, an equally grim look on his face.
“Okay, there’s no point in us staying here forever. Wanna go back to the village?”
I looked at my father to find he was shrugging his shoulders, which was probably his way of saying he didn’t want to meddle any further. I looked back at Fische and Zinal to see they were already putting everything back in the magic bag.
“Guess we have to go back there,” I replied.
If we were going to hit the road again, we would need to pack. Then again, we were mostly already packed, so we could leave anytime.
“Will you leave Okanke tomorrow?” Zinal asked.
I thought for a moment. I wanted to cook some food to eat on the road, but I would only have half a day to do that if we left tomorrow. Between prepping the ingredients and cooking them, I was quite limited in what I could make.
“Let’s go the day after tomorrow,” my father said. “We’ll borrow the kitchen tomorrow to do some cooking.”
That’s my dad. He gets it.
“Okay. When we get back to the inn, I’ll let them know that you want to use the kitchen,” Zinal said. “Write down everything you need us to buy for the journey—including any ingredients you need for cooking. We’ll go out today to buy them.”
I was a little confused. Was there some reason my father and I shouldn’t be walking around town? I wanted to look at the groceries with my own eyes, but if people out there were waiting to give us a hard time, maybe it would be better for us to stay in. Yeah, let’s go straight back to the inn.
“Ivy, was there anything you wanted to check out?” Fische asked.
I shook my head. It wasn’t necessarily something I had to see for myself.
“Okay, then let’s go back and—somebody’s coming,” Zinal said.
I perked my ears and searched for auras…but I couldn’t quite place it…
Oh, there it is! It’s a very faint aura, so I didn’t notice.
“That’s a high-level adventurer aura,” Fische said.
I heard my father grip his sword. If this high-level adventurer was a bad guy, we’d be in for some trouble.
“If they run into us in here, we won’t be able to escape,” Fische added. “Then again, we won’t need to. We have the serpent protecting us.”
Everyone’s eyes turned toward the serpent at the cavern entrance. It had been so quiet I had almost forgotten it was there.
“We should make first contact, just in case our guy isn’t an enemy. You two stay here,” Zinal said, heading for the exit with Fische.
“Be careful out there,” I said.
The two smiled and walked out.
“Think they’ll be okay?” I asked.
“I didn’t sense any malicious intent, so I doubt whoever it is will attack them on sight.”
I nodded and moved closer to the cavern entrance so I could see outside. The serpent was also curiously eyeing the outside area.
“Can you see anything?” my father asked.
I peeked outside, but I couldn’t make out Zinal or Fische’s silhouettes. I didn’t sense any fluctuations in magic energy or any malicious intent, so at least they didn’t seem to be fighting.
“We sure came to a pesky village, didn’t we?” my father sighed.
A chuckle escaped me.
“What?”
“Oh, I was just thinking we seem to run into trouble everywhere we go.”
Most people didn’t run into so many problems during a journey, but I had no choice other than to accept my fate.
“It feels like somebody’s guiding us along,” I said.
“…You’re probably right,” my father sighed deeply, accepting our fate along with me.
“Should we just turn around and go back? Not bother with the royal capital?”
I pondered my father’s suggestion. We certainly did have that option. The fortune-teller had even said I didn’t have to go to the town next to the royal capital.
“Looking back now, the fortune-teller worded her directions very strangely,” I remarked. “She didn’t specify exactly where I was supposed to go, and she even said I didn’t have to go.”
She said to go to the town neighboring the royal capital, but it turned out the royal capital had more than one neighboring town. She said she wanted me to go there, but she didn’t say what I would be doing there. What’s more, she also said I didn’t have to go.
“Why…why did I never question it all this time?”
“You mean, what the fortune-teller told you?” my father asked.
I nodded. It had been a very vague request.
“She wanted me to go, right?”
She didn’t tell me where or why, but she wanted me to go? Wait, did she not want me to go? Huh? Which is it?
“Ivy?”
“It’s nothing. I think I do want to go to the towns next to the capital. I have a curiosity I just can’t shake.”
But I didn’t need to go to the royal capital itself, so I wouldn’t go there.
“Okay. But if you ever think your life is in danger, we’re calling it off.”
I nodded in agreement. Of course we would.
“They’ve come back…only Fische, I think?”
“Looks like it,” I agreed.
As we climbed out of the cavern, we immediately spotted Fische. I was going to call and wave to him, but my hand froze when I saw the irritated expression on his face.
“Uh-oh… Seems like something happened,” my father remarked.
“Yeah.”
I want to ask, but would that be okay?
“May I ask what happened?” my father inquired.
Fische thought it over. “Only the basics.”
“I don’t mind.”
“So the aura we sensed earlier…it was a high-level adventurer we know. He’s trustworthy, so when we gave him a quick explanation of what happened, he told us more. You were right, Ivy: Ruzzy was shut off in that cliff for protection. And the guild master left Ruzzy’s side because his assistant used some people of the village to trick him, though the guild master was very likely wise to the plot.”
My father slowly nodded in understanding. “Okay. Thanks for telling us.”
“Zinal went back to the village with this adventurer. We’ve got some planning to do now that we know what we know.”
Some planning? What are they going to do?
“Is it okay if Ivy and I go back to the village?”
“Of course. Also, you can leave the day after tomorrow as planned.”
My father nodded. We weren’t sure what Zinal was going to do, but I hoped he wouldn’t endanger himself with whatever it was.
“I hope Mr. Zinal doesn’t get himself hur—”
I cut myself off, knowing I shouldn’t say it. Zinal and Fische were in their line of work because they had strong convictions.
“Ivy, he’ll be fine.”
I looked at Fische to see him wearing a calm expression—the complete opposite from before. If he said Zinal would be fine, I had to trust him.
“Okay.”