by D Wolfin
Finally realizing that it is morning, I hurriedly wake Verde up and plead for her to leave here before anyone else notices. It is early so they shouldn’t wake up for ten or so minutes at least.
Verde looks at me in confusion at first, but soon blushes before hurriedly leaving.
There is no Mason or Sir Laurence waiting outside the room so I feel like I have dodged a metaphorical bullet. If they saw… I shudder to think about it.
When Fen wakes up, she is angry at first, but calms down when she sees Verde has left. She pecks me on the cheek a few times and bites my ear, distracting me until I turn my head and return her kisses. Pressing my lips against Fen’s, my mind becomes blurry and all stray thoughts are lost.
An hour later, we have all packed up our belongings and begin to head back toward Kano City. Our speed is much quicker than the way here so I suspect we will reach it by dusk.
During the journey, Mason edges over to me before whispering words that only I can hear, “Lost… How, was last night?”
“W-what do you mean?” I ask him, but the intent behind his words was clear.
“You know. Fen, Verde… It’s exciting right? A scared girl moving closer to the-“
“You! You set it up from the beginning, didn’t you?!” I practically shout and all eyes fall on me.
“Shhh, not too loud. Listen, Lost… I have some stuff to tell you, no, everybody later on. That was my apology to you.”
“What? Apology? Are you saying that Verde is an apology? What are you talking about Mason?”
“Setting up such a thing is the apology. It is all I could do. I will tell everyone and say sorry later on.”
“Later on? For what?”
Instead of answering, Mason falls back to join his brother. Everyone else notices the exchange and is curious as well. I guess we’ll all have to wait.
Back at Kano City, the city lights are just coming to life when we walk through the gate. We head directly to the castle and find the place to register our guild.
“Good evening, how can I help you?” a bespectacled nekomata NPC greets me when I approach.
“Ah, yes, I would like to register a guild. Am I at the right place?”
“Indeed, you are. Registering a guild will cost twenty thousand gold and you must also have six initial members. Do you have these things?”
“Yes, here is the gold. We have seven members, too.”
I indicate the party members behind me, Fen included. The gold was thankfully prepared by all of us beforehand. I pitched in six thousand while everyone else split the remaining fourteen thousand between themselves. My winnings from the ‘Royal Summer Tournament’ were ten thousand gold, and with my personal savings I still have around five thousand gold left after contributing to the guild creation fund.
“Apologies,” the nekomata with glasses indicates toward Fen, “but a companion cannot join a guild. Shall I form it with the remaining six of you?”
“Ah, yes, please.”
I look at Fen beside me, but she is unfazed by being told she cannot join the guild. I guess as long as she is beside me, she will be happy. She has the guild tattoo so she may as well be a part of the guild anyway.
A window appears in front of me asking to provide the guild name and emblem. I immediately write ‘The Wanderers’ and use my tattoo as the guild emblem. The guild name was thankfully not already in use, otherwise we would have had a big problem.
I let out a sigh of relief, since all the formalities are complete and our guild has officially formed. A guildstone appears in my inventory that can be placed in our guild base to serve as a resurrection point for all guild members.
All our tattooed guild emblems suddenly shine with a golden light that catches all of us by surprise. I look at the others, who are as lost as I am in this situation. I quickly ask the nekomata with glasses about it, but he acts as if he can’t see anything.
The golden light soon fades, and our previously black tattoos have suddenly become a dark golden color. This is something I have never seen nor heard of before. I ask Mason, who is usually the most knowledgeable, but even he is at a loss here.
We decide to ignore it for now. There are no benefits from it, but there are also no detriments. I notice Fen’s tattoo has also become golden, but she isn’t in the list of guild members, so perhaps it doesn’t have anything to do with a guild.
Heaving a sigh, I lead everyone out of the castle and toward the teleport point at the church.
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“And this will be the location for our guild!” I exclaim extravagantly, waving my arms through the air like I saw some notable game show host do a year or so ago.
Apart from Verde, everyone’s jaws almost drop off their faces. We did just leave the snowy region around Swordbreak, follow a hidden cave and emerge into a large cavern where it is spring inside. There is green grass, and hundreds of apple trees are bearing fruit.
This is precisely where I first met Fen, but the others don’t know that. I also checked with PeachStar, and she has already lost interest in the cave. She is happy as long as she can occasionally come and pick some apples for her personal consumption. She has done an excellent job of keeping this place a secret so she deserves at least that much.
“Why is there such a place?” Mason asks in a mixture of admiration and confusion.
“I found this place a long time ago. I thought it would make an excellent base for us.”
CaptainGordon’s face is so red it is almost purple in excitement, “T-t-to ‘ave such a ‘idden base… I-I-I c-can’t wa-ait!!”
“Now, I hate to put a dampener on the mood, but we still need to decide on what to do in the future. Sir Laurence, Verde, and I will be away three or four times a week. It is up to everyone if you are happy to wait for us, or go off and do your own thing. We don’t want to hold you back, so it is your decision.”
Sir Laurence and Verde nod their heads, acknowledging their views. Mason looks at us and the troubled expression once again appears on his face. He eventually musters up enough courage to speak.
“Everyone, there is something I have wanted to tell you for a while… But, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I re-really didn’t want to be left out of the guild so I didn’t say anything… The thing is… I used to be a part of… ‘The Swords of Light’.”
For some reason the name sounds familiar, but I can’t seem to place it so I ask Mason, “The what?”
“The guild. The guild ‘The Swords of Light’. The man, Chronix, keeps finding us because I was the one telling them where we were…”
Everything seems to click into place at that moment. Chronix is the person that has put Fen’s life in danger multiple times. I glare coldly at Mason while remembering every time Chronix happened to find us. I had suspected that someone was telling him where we were, but I never suspected Mason.
Noticing my glare, Mason started sweating before hastily saying, “I-I’m sorry. I know he has been causing trouble. I’ll do anything, but please, let me keep being a part of this guild!”
“Why?” I ask, my opinion of Mason plummeting.
“Money. My family is really poor in real life, and I needed the money. I couldn’t turn down what he offered me.”
Some of my anger abates upon hearing his rationale. I can understand because I was also in the same situation as him after the accident, in desperate need of money but nowhere to turn. Verde and Sir Laurence aren’t angry in the least. After all, for them this is just a game for fun.
“…Fine. You are already one of us anyway. But you must be absolutely honest from now on. Tell me, can I expect to run into Chronix again soon?”
“Ah, that. No, the last time I spoke with him, I said we were nearly at Koga City, so he should be waiting near there for us. Although I am nervous with having our base so near Iceridge. If he was to use a scroll to search for your location, he could find this place.”
“We should be safe for a while,
and I won’t be spending a lot of time in the base anyway.”
Clearing my throat, I address everyone once more and ask them what they will be doing.
“I’ll stay ‘ere an’ make the best base ye e’er seen!!” CaptainGordon even starts to lose his pirate accent while panting. I worry about him, but his enthusiasm is good at least.
“Matrix and I will take a different path. We want to advertise the guild and hopefully bring in a few new members. Of course, only the upper members will get to know our secret base location. We will need to block them from respawning at the guild base as well.” Mason speaks with a lot less tension, clearly feeling like the pressure on his conscience is now relieved.
I nod and agree with their decisions. I hadn’t planned on recruiting new guild members originally, but after some thought decides that it is for the best. I instruct Mason that the guild objective for now will be locating and collecting the mysterious stone tablets. If any guild member is to acquire one of them, he or she will immediately be promoted to an upper guild member and permitted residence in our secret base.
I shake my head to myself, wondering why I didn’t think of such a brilliant idea earlier.
‘Wait, if Mason was the spy, then what is the deal with Mouse always appearing wherever I am? I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he appeared in the secret base to sell some of his wares,’ I silently think to myself in confusion.
Chapter 39 – Separate Paths
– Lost –
After making the decision to take on different roles for our new guild, ‘The Wanderers’, we all travel to Iceridge before parting ways. I take the lead with Fen and Mason on either side of me, with Verde, Sir Laurence, Matrix, and CaptainGordon following close behind.
The south-eastern area of the new Kingdom of Dalbe, also known as the former Kingdom of Glace, or south-east-most Human Realm, is currently going through a light snowstorm. A few small snowflakes land on my face, but quickly melt away. I am not discomforted from the cold thanks to my cloak blocking the effects of nearly the entire storm, but I do feel a lingering dampness.
The distant walls of Iceridge can be seen after a few hours of walking. Everyone, apart from Fen, is slightly miserable from walking through the storm. Perhaps it was due to the other night when Verde crawled into our bed, but she is closer to me than usual. She somehow gets under my cloak and presses her body against mine, transmitting a pleasant warmth. The downside is that it is incredibly difficult to walk like this, and the wolf girl violently refuses to stop.
Finally arriving and entering the gates of Iceridge, quite a few players entering and exiting take note of our party. Or, more accurately, they take note of Fen, whose head and shoulders are emerging from within my cloak. Some looks contain blatant jealousy, while others seem to be surprised.
“Lost, now that we’re here, Matrix and I will go and find a place to start recruiting some guild members,” Mason says politely next to me.
I have never been good with goodbyes, so I awkwardly say, “Ah, yes. Please send me a private message if you need anything.”
“Will do. Matrix, let’s go!”
Mason gives Fen and me a smile free of burden as he leaves, even hinting toward Verde with his eyes. The gesture isn’t missed by Fen, whose grip on me tightens considerably and makes the already difficult walking posture now impossible.
“Fen… can you please let me walk?”
Fen turns her head and gives me a chilly look, but maintains her silence. Seeing that no progress is going to happen, I sweep an arm under her and pick her up in a princess carry. The movement breaks her grip on me, but she isn’t displeased in the least. It is actually the opposite, with Fen kissing my cheek and jaw several times before nestling her head against mine and enjoying being carried.
Quite a few players around stare as we walk past. One particular party rushes toward us and the party leader, a man wearing leather armor, excitably says, “Lost! My name’s ForgetTomorrow, I have been a massive fan of yours for a long time! Can I take a screenshot of us together?!”
Still holding Fen in my arms, I feel like I am in an awkward situation, but I still try to reply to ForgetTomorrow positively while smiling amiably.
“Ah, yes, of course. Feel free to do so.”
ForgetTomorrow, and all of his party members, group around me before several camera snaps sound from the air. Verde, Sir Laurence and CaptainGordon join in for the last few screenshots before the other party leaves excitedly.
CaptainGordon also leaves the party to purchase metal and other materials to build the guild hall with. I hand over a thousand gold which should be able to buy a large quantity.
The snow on the ground in Iceridge has thickened from the snowstorm, so there are a large amount of NPCs and low-level players patrolling the street with shovels. It is a strange sight to see as I never took on such a job when I began in Iceridge. Of course, I couldn’t talk to NPCs without gaining infamy so I didn’t accept much.
I lead the way for the remaining three members and companion in my party. We all began playing in this city, so all the sights are somewhat nostalgic.
There are a couple of locations I want to go to now that I have returned to Iceridge. The first is the player’s bazaar where I first met Mouse. I notice Sir Laurence walking beside Verde and glaring at any players who look at her.
‘He really likes her, doesn’t he? I feel worried that he may go crazy if he finds out about the other night… I’m sorry Sir Laurence, Markus, I will never mention it,’ I discreetly think to myself.
When we arrive at the player’s bazaar, I can tell nearly all of the merchants have changed to different players. I stroll through and have a look at the items for sale, but most of them are not suited to my level as this is an area for newer players. I do notice that there is a much wider variety of light armors and shortswords compared to what there used to be.
Verde and Sir Laurence disappear at some point while I’m looking through the stalls which helps me convince Fen to walk beside me without getting in my way.
After exploring half of the bazaar, I meet the friendly face of Peachstar behind an unremarkable stall. She looks exactly the same as when I first met her – a short girl with pink hair that flows like water tied up in twin tails.
“Peachstar, I thought I may find you here.” I smile at the small girl who beams when she sees me.
“Looost! It’s been sooo long! How have you been? Haaave you been well? I was juuust thinking ‘bout you the other day!”
I groan inwardly after hearing her talk. It has been so long I forgot how much of a headache she can be. Just remembering the previous conversations is already enough for me to become dizzy.
“Umm, Peachstar. Yes, I have been well. Actually though, I want to get straight to the point today. I was curious about Mouse. Do you know who he is or where he comes from?”
“What do you meean? Mousey is Mousey, a trader juuust like me! I don’t know wheeere he comes from more thaaan any other merchant.”
“Urgh, Peachstar, how did you meet?”
“Nooot telling unless you have sooomething for me!”
“I collected some of those apples you can have if you like.”
“Nooo!! I ate tooo many of them and now I caaan’t stand them!”
“…So that’s why… Nevermind, I have some meals I cooked and kept in my inventory if you prefer?”
“OooOOhh, hurry up and give them then!”
I hand over several meals of meat and vegetables to Peachstar before rubbing my temples to try and abate the accumulating headache from talking with her.
“Now, please, how did you meet Mouse?”
“Yayyy! Ahem, I met Mousey because he was a merchant near me!”
“What?! That’s it?!”
“Yeeep. Although it wasn’t looong before I met you, and strangely I nevvver heard or saw him before that.”
I shake my head and walk away from Peachstar after a curt goodbye. Fen looks at me strangely while I am h
olding my head and tries to help by hugging me. The wolf girl only succeeds in creating an awkward situation in the middle of the bazaar that doesn’t help and is instead detrimental.
With one hand still on my forehead, I hold Fen’s hand and lead her away from the bazaar. There is still one more place I want to visit in the city, but it is late and that place is also headache inducing, so I decide to visit it tomorrow. After sending a private message to the rest of the party bidding farewell, I log off with Fen to rest.
Inside the locker, I unequip all of my clothing and climb into bed. Fen finds her way into bed only a few breaths later. With a throbbing pain in my head, I wrap my arms around Fen and pull her close to me. The warmth she gives off with her arms grabbing onto my back creates a pleasant sensation that numbs the pain I am feeling and helps me fall into a deep sleep.
***************************************************
The next day, I have class at the university, but I am up early enough that there are still a few hours before Markus comes to pick me up. I leave my locker and remove the virtual head gear, glancing at the pre-dawn sky outside my window, making some food and returning to End Online where the sun is currently high in the sky.
‘Yeah, I should have enough time,’ I think to myself while determinedly walking through the streets of Iceridge with Fen at my side.
My destination is the Iceridge Military Academy, where I did the tiresome beginner’s training and received the ‘Advanced Military Arts’ skill. The instructor, Centurion Markus, told me back then to return when I was stronger, but I have pointedly avoided it so I would not have to deal with him again.
The military academy and the stone monuments of soldiers out front are blanketed in fresh snow just as I remember from when I first started playing. Hesitating and having second thoughts about coming, I decide it is better to put up with any situation that may arise if it benefits me. Even being just a little bit stronger would make it a little easier to collect items to sell for real money.
Just inside the main entrance, there’s a prim and regal receptionist with glasses and blond hair tied up in a bun. I notice that her signature white uniform has changed slightly, most likely due to losing the grand war between the kingdoms. There is now a yellow and red patch on each shoulder with the design of two swords crossing. It is definitely the symbol for the Kingdom of Dalbe.