Chapter 34: We meet again

Cathie POV:

“Why are you here?” I asked the young man who appeared to have been following us. He was the only son of Leah’s uncle, making him her cousin. He was also one of our childhood friends. We used to play together a lot back then. However, although he was our childhood friend, I could no longer see him the same as I used to.

There was a line that one shouldn’t cross. The thin line that separates a friend from becoming an annoyance. This Jeffery, he crossed that line not only once but twice in a row. From the beginning, I never had any romantic feelings for him. He was someone who grew up together with us. He was more like a brother than a friend. How can it possible for me to develop a romantic relationship with someone I consider a sibling?

“I was sent by dad. He was worried about what happened last time and thought the same thing could happen again since you are coming here once more.” Jeffery looked at me with a strange expression before continuing, “Why have you come here again?”

“I have some business. Also, we both will be fine on our own. No need to worry, you can return to the town.” How can I let this annoyance follow me around? Moreover, I couldn’t let him find out those two fellows inside the dungeon. I couldn’t let him find out the intelligent Imp who helped me. Things might become ugly if that happens.

“Eh? But dad said to follow you around until you come back to town. I can’t disobey dad. He would break my legs otherwise.” That smile on his face though for some reason, I found it fake. Uncle Freddy was an old friend of my dad, making him my uncle. Since dad’s death, he took care of me in case I run into some trouble. But I knew why he sent Jeffery to follow us. And I was slightly disappointed at him due to that.

“Its alright, brother Jeffery. We are not doing anything dangerous. We are only going to retrieve a lost item. Its very important to me.” Leah understood what I was trying to do, so she followed after me. Although Jeffery was her cousin and someone she liked relatively, she couldn’t just watch our friendship falling apart. Despite my annoyance towards Jeffery, we were still friends. Things hadn’t developed to that stage where we have to end our friendship yet.

I hope such a day never comes.

“Is that right?” He looked at us strangely. With his brows raised, he gave Leah a deep and meaningful gaze. He clearly didn’t believe her reasoning, which sounded a little farfetched. But even if he didn’t, he had to. “Even if you girls aren’t doing anything dangerous, I am still worried. Since I am already here, I will just follow you around and help you find this lost object.” How annoying, he was sticking to us like glue.

“That won’t be necessary, brother Jeffery.” Leah kept smiling, “We aren’t exactly weak. Besides, this isn’t something I want you to know. Couldn’t you take the hint?” She still kept her smile even while dissing him in a lowkey manner. Moreover, she didn’t spare any face for him while scolding. I couldn’t help but let loose a giggle.

“Hey, Leah, couldn’t you say it in a more gentler way? I am your cousin, you know!” Jeffery whined and complained. Well, considering how he ‘lost his face’ in front of his love interest, it was normal for him to feel a little embarrassed. I didn’t care, though. I had no feelings towards him. On top of it, I am his childhood friend.

“What are you saying? Just go back. We will return as soon as we retrieve it.” Under Leah and my scrutinous gaze, he sighed miserably and went back. The moment his presence vanished from our sensory range, Leah sighed. “That was close!”

“Indeed, it was.” I agreed. It was a good thing we discovered him following us before entering into the dungeon. That Imp I met was very intelligent, almost frighteningly intelligent. If such a thing was to be known by others, things could become ugly. There were conflicting ideals among people of power regarding these monsters with intelligence. These people of power divided into three sides.

One group was actively against such monsters, going as far as eliminating them upon discovery. The second was somewhat pragmatic and insisted upon capturing them and force them to work for humankind as their loyal slaves. The third group was completely neutral about it. They didn’t support either of the groups. However, no matter what group it was, their standing towards these monsters was never positive. I could understand why though. Every year, millions of innocent people die due to the monster’s rampage. At the same time, due to crusades led by human adventurers and mercenaries, even more monsters were killed.

This hatred was on a deeper level. Its in our very genes. Even now, my views on monsters hadn’t changed the slightest. I would kill in a heartbeat the moment I spot one. It's just towards that Imp and that orc, I had these contrary thoughts.

…

“Green Flame!” I whispered, creating a ball of flame the size of the coconut fruit. With a shake of my wand, I threw it towards the group of Furless Baboons jumping towards us from the trees. After we sent Jeffery back, not even a minute passed, and we encountered these vicious monsters.

Kikii!!

They howled while jumping from tree to tree to avoid my attacks. Just then, one monkey who was closer to us suddenly jumped straight towards me, displaying its rows of sharp teeth. Those teeth could tear through bones like they were soft cheese. No matter what, one shouldn’t let these monkeys get too close to them.

“Like I would let you! Hiya!!” Leah appeared in front of me and swung her sword towards it. The air vibrated around her sword as they heated up rapidly, forming a thin screen of yellow light. When her sword touched the monkey’s outstretched claws, the collision of forces sent both of them skidding back with a booming noise. I took advantage of their momentary standoff by sending another Green Flame towards that monkey.

It exploded on its face, instantly killing it.

Kikikiki!!

The other baboons were scared shitless upon seeing one of their getting killed so easily. They howled even more loudly before vanishing one by one. Within a minute, the forest returned to its absolute calmness.

“Hmph! These monkeys are scardey cats. Just kill one, and the whole pack would disappear.” Leah spat as she sheathed her sword. These Hairless Baboons were aggressive but were timid. They never hunt alone. Their most used tactics were to gang up on their opponent. They were strong, but this timidness was their fatal weakness.

“If not for this timidness, they would have been ranked much higher in the list,” I commented before going towards the fallen Furless Baboon. Its face was charred black with steam coming from within. Two-third of its head on the right side, was blown away from the resulting explosion of my Green Flame. “What should we do with it?” I asked while looking at Leah thoughtfully. When a party set out to kill monsters, they would hire a Dismantler to dissect and carry their ‘loots’.

Dismantlers were people who were proficient in retrieving all the useful parts from the corpse of a monster. They needn’t to have high levels. They only need to master the dismantling before getting hired by parties. Moreover, the better they were at it, the more commission they would get. However, due to the nature of this job, not many chose it. After all, who would like to mess around with corpses? Even if they were of monsters!

“Leave it. I don’t know how to dismantle, and even if I knew, I wouldn’t do it. It's too disgusting!” Leah said while twisting her face. Disgust was evident clear as the day on her face. To be honest, I learned Dismantling while my time with the teacher. But I don’t want to display those skills in front of Leah.

Moreover, it was really too damn disgusting.

“Alright. Let's go.” We left the corpse of the monkey on the ground for whoever be lucky to get it. The bones of this monster could be used to make armors if taken to a skilled Blacksmith. And its price wasn’t exactly low. A full set of the skeleton could sell for anywhere between 10 coppers to 1 silver. Depending on the age of the monster, the price could go even higher. One silver wasn’t exactly low. An average family of commoners could live pretty luxuriously with that amount of money. They could even afford energy-rich meat almost every day throughout that month.

Although, that sum was just peanuts to adventurers.

“Sis, my Invocation Mark is now glowing bright!” Leah’s sudden scream startled me, who was about to walk forward. I flipped my head and looked at the back of her left hand, where a complex geometric circle was glowing brightly.

Wow, Leah! You have level upped again!” I exclaimed in surprise. Nonetheless, I was very happy for her.

“Let’s go to Warrior’s Association at the Royal Capital after this,” Leah said happily while still gazing at the bright mark on her hand.

…

After this group of baboons, we didn’t encounter any other monsters on our way to the dungeon. Taking a deep breath, I stepped through the large metal gate and went towards the tunnel leading to the first floor.

Roar!!! Oink!! Oink!!

Suddenly loud roars were heard. From the sound of it, it belongs to the orcs. We both halted in our advance and looked on with a frown. Hesitation started to emerge within the depth of our hearts.

“Sis, what’s this roar?” Leah asked fearfully. She was looking at the entrance to the first floor with a very complicated expression. All her initial confidence seems to have evaporated somewhere. Well, even I was in the same situation. The only monsters I knew was the Imp and that orc.

“Sis, should we go?” Suddenly Leah sounded very hesitant. Events of last time she was here flashed in her eyes as they glazed over. She seemed to have remembered it again, causing her to go into another lapse. “Now that I think about it, we might have ignored a very important thing...” After a brief pause of several seconds, she regained her bearing and continued her sentence.

“What is it?” I asked curiously.

“Do you think that orc and the Imp… do you think they are still alive?” She asked hesitantly. Perhaps she was worried about my feelings. However, she did raise a valid point.

Are they really alright?

Wars bewtween monsters was not like those between humans. It was violent and pretty cruel. Downright brutal. That Imp, although it had evolved to a higher speices, could still die. That orc was also the same. Moreover, their opponent was goblins, who seemed strange the last time I saw them.

“I hope they are alright,” I mumbled inaudibly while taking deep breaths to calm my agitated heart. Deep inside, I was worried about their wellbeing and hoped nothing happened.

“Ei! They will be fine. Didn’t you say that they were pretty intelligent? How can they die if they were intelligent enough to understand and even help you?” Leah’s comforting words gave some form of confidence. However, the problem was thus, how are we going to meet them?

Just as we were about to ponder more, a thin orc came outside and spotted us. Then its eyes widened as it scurried inside while screaming at the top of its lungs.

“Looks like we are spotted. Sis, what should we do?” To Leah's question, I was really clueless about how to answer her. Even I am unsure of how to proceed. From the beginning, our plan was flawed. We didn’t consider the presence of so many orcs. While we were still indecisive, two silhouettes came out of the dark corridors that the earlier orc entered. When the two figures emerged from within the dark place, all my worries vanished as I smiled in relief.

I finally meet them again.