19.

During the 1 week of everyone’s rest on Graspmoon, Kyap made his way back to Mechtown. Using Kane's shortcut tip, Kyap arrived at Mechtown faster. He silently goes to the Guildmaster's room to report but he hears the Mechtown’s Guildmaster talking to someone. He didn't want to interrupt so he decided to wait for a while. Kyap is about to leave but he overheard the guy inside reporting Broko and Mista’s death. Out of curiosity, Kyap tried to listen to the conversation.

“Are you sure about this?” The Guildmaster Kayle asked.

“We scouted first when we arrived. Mista died from an accident, we did not know what happened exactly but everyone in the town believes it” ???

“If the majority of the townsfolk talk about it, it must be true, what about Broko?” Kayle responded.

“I’m sure that he is dead by now, we used the most potent poison that we have in the lab.” ???

“Good, we need to clean up this mess or else will say goodbye to our heads. Kyap will arrive tomorrow, is the assassination ready?” Kayle asked.

“I’ll send the troops after our meeting” ???

Kyap was shocked about what he heard, but he stayed and tried to listen further.

“Now the only problem will be Kane and his party…” Kayle mentioned.

“What are the plans so far?” ???

“We are not sure about their location, they were probably reached Graspmoon by the time the assassination to Broko was done. When I talked to Kane, he told us that they were planning to tail our pawn, a day late to avoid making contact with them” Kayle said.

“Good thing we know that they are chasing Rud, we should just let him be killed by Kane” ???

“Take it easy, we’ll get there eventually but before that, we should at least put a good use to him” Kayle replied.

“How?” ???

“We told him to stay at Lacreyn. We know that Kane will surely follow him if our pawn stays there and never moves. I gave him strong troops and items to help him kill Kane, if he managed to kill Kane then he will be forgiven” Kayle said.

Kyap immediately sneaks out and escapes, he rides his ground dragon and cuts down the wagon to fully sprint back to Graspmoon. After a minute, someone reported to the Guildmaster that a suspicious wagon is at the front side of the Guild.

“Looks like Kyap already knew, he might have cut the wagon to fully sprint away” Kayle said.

“What are we going to do” ???

“Change of plan, release the werewolves. The hunt will start tonight” Kayle ordered.

The chase has begun, werewolves have a skill called bloodhunt wherein when they target someone, their speed doubles while running towards them. The guards taming the werewolves ordered them to sniff Kyap’s wagon and use bloodhunt when a trace had been found. The eyes of the werewolves turned red which indicates that they already know who the target is. In that instant, the guards release the werewolves.

Halfway through Graspmoon, the werewolves already caught up with Kyap. Leaving him no other choice, Kyap tried his best to fight and survive the onslaught. He stands his ground and uses his strength to punch his way to Graspmoon. Kyap has superb strength but it is no match for werewolves’ speed and agility. He took down 5 werewolves but the overwhelming numbers of werewolves is the clear victor, tearing Kyap’s flesh through massive scratches. At the point of Kyap’s last breath, the werewolves stop moving.

“What the…” Kyap said.

A beautiful hum from a distance echoed through the place. It is so relaxing, it ceases the werewolves’ bloodhunt.

“Who are you?” Kyap asked.

“I’m a fairy” Mych said.

“Why did you help me?” Kyap asked.

“These werewolves were enslaved, they must be tortured and hungry, I suggest you leave that metal arm of yours here and as well as your clothes, don’t worry you can have this spare cloth” Mych offered.

“I owe my life to you, I hope I can repay you someday,” Kyap said.

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of this, you can escape now” Mych chuckled.

Kyap limped his way through and after a couple of hours Kyap reached Graspmoon, barely surviving.

“KYAP-SAN!” Akari shouted.

“QUICKLY NEE-SAN USE HEAL!” Ryuu panicked.

“What in the world happened to you?” Reiko asked while healing him.

“Ryuu, get bandages and potions!” Akari requested.

“On it!” Ryuu sprinted.

“We need... to talk with.. your father Mista-san..” Kyap said.

“Mista, notify your father, we’ll follow shortly,” Kane ordered.

“OY HERE ARE THE POTS AND BANDS” Ryuu shouted.

“Kyap-san, everything will be fine, just keep it together” Akari said while applying the potion and bandage.

“That was a relief.. I guess wounds are easier to heal than poison, HAHA!” Kyap laughed.

“You can’t even stand on your own” Broko responded.

“Plus your metal arm is missing” Ryuu added.

“I’m fine HAHA! At least I’m breathing, though I’m still exhausted” Kyap replied.

“Broko, Ryuu, assist Kyap. Let’s talk in the Guildmaster’s room” Kane said.

The party reached the Guildmaster’s room, alongside with Orichi (Mista’s father and the guildmaster), Kyap explained everything.

“I would have been dead by now if it wasn’t for that fairy” Kyap said.

“Fairy! I want to meet her!” Ryuu commented.

“Leaving your metal arm and changing clothes is a smart move, they’ll probably think that you are dead by now” Reiko responded.

“The more we try to solve this, the more complicated it gets…” Akari mentioned.

“Good thing that they bought our story,” Kyap said.

“So far They thought that Broko, Mista and Kyap are dead, now we can’t trust the Guildmasters” Kane replied.

“My father is not one of them! He is very kind and he won’t participate in any shenanigans that will cause harm!” Mista objected.

“Relax Mista, Kane has the right to be suspicious after all of these events” Orichi said.

“But if boss Orichi is involved here, they should probably know that we are still alive, I guess that proves his innocence?” Broko added.

“Yes, the only Guildmasters that we can trust are Orichi and Barry” Kane replied.

“Thank you for trusting us” Orichi said.

“Wait, who is barry?” Broko asked.

“The Guildmaser from Bysstal” Kane answered.

“YOU MEAN GRAMPS?” Ryuu surprisingly asked.

“So that was his name…” Akari added.

“You guys are from Bysstal right? How did you guys not know his name?” Broko questioned.

“Well, no one actually knows his name, we either call him gramps or Guildmaster, and at this point I won’t even ask why Kane knows about it” Reiko replied.

“I remember Kane told us that he was the one who helped him when they were young” Broko mentioned.

“With the story that Kane told us, I’m sure we can trust him” Mista added.

“Gramps will be furious when he knows this!” Ryuu shouted.

“What if you and Barry team up and arrest the Guildmaster of Mechtown?” Akari suggested.

“I doubt that we can arrest Kayle that easily, he is very influential” Kyap responded.

“Kyap is right, Kayle controls the Summer expedition, lots of investors favor him. Not to mention, we still don’t know who is on his side, even if Barry and I team up, there’s no guarantee that we might win the argument. We most likely end up assasinated if we brought this thing up without a plan” Orichi explained.

“Since you are the next target Kane, what’s your plan?” Kyap asked.

“We’ll go to Lacreyn” Kane answered.

“HA?” Reiko and Ryuu shouted.

“Aaaahhmm, Kane, do you want me to repeat what Kyap said earlier?” Akari suggested.

“Most probably they were preparing a trap there, it’s dangerous Kane-kun” Mista added.

“They'll be more suspicious and they might re-investigate the deaths of Mista, Broko, and Kyap if we do not go there” Kane replied.

“Kane has a point… The story won’t be congruent if Kane just changed his route, knowing that they have an idea about Kane’s next step” Broko responded.

“Here’s my plan, My party we’ll head to Lacreyn. While we are there, you guys prepare your military force here. If we manage to beat them and go back here, Orichi will declare an all out war to Mechtown” Kane explained.

“Doing that will make the bandits think that we already know about their underground movements. Enemies will be coming left and right” Reiko argued.

“No, the reason we will use is the assassination of Broko and betrayal to Kyap. That will make other countries think that it's a direct conflict wherein Mechtown strikes first. It is a normal response when a townsfolk were tried to be assassinated by another guild. We will use Kyap as proof since they tried to kill Kyap as well.” Kane responded.

“Basically we will use politics and internal conflict on Mechtown since they tried to kill their steamships’ captain. That is a buyable story in my opinion. Those guys controlling Mechtown cannot intervene since it is a political issue between 2 countries. That will also blow their cover if they do so.” Orichi replied.

“So the story will be I ran to Graspmoon to ask for some help then we will link it to Broko’s failed assasination from Mechtown. It’s doable, we can clear the rats on Mechtown if I will be the next Guildmaster.” Kyap added.

“The only problem left is you guys surviving at Lacreyn…” Mista mentioned.

“I’VE BEEN PREPARING FOR THIS RIGHT FROM THE START! LEZZGO!” Ryuu shouted.

“Yeah, I also don’t want to let all our training go to waste, I mean Kane always has the spotlight recently” Reiko added.

“Don’t worry Mista-chan, we have a guy with a power of a hundred man, probably a thousand I think. And the 3 of us undergo his training. We will get back here in no time” Akari said.

“It’s settled, we’ll leave immediately” Kane ordered.

“YOSHA!” Akari, Ryuu and Reiko shouted.

20.

The party prepared for their journey and without a second thought, they proceeded to travel to Lacreyn. After some hours, they reached the border of Lacreyn. Upon entering, arrows rain from the sky.

“They really prepare for our visit” Ryuu said.

“Leave it to me! PHOENIX!” Akari cast a scorching flame shaped like a phoenix, melting every arrow in sight.

“How many are they? Looks like they are charging as well” Reiko said.

“Now it’s my turn!” Ryuu swiftly charged in. Due to his skill, combined with instincts, Ryuu turns his body into a mist. Before the enemy landing a hit, he swiftly repositions to land his dagger.

“Yosh, let’s keep this up, Ryuu will be the vanguard while Akari and I provide range attacks. Water Blade!” Reiko casts a highly pressured water that shreds enemies' armor on hit, making Ryuu’s work easier.

“Nice one nee-san! Now let’s speed up the pace, illusion!” Ryuu spreads a mist on the area, confusing the vision of the enemies while it doubles his movement speed as well.

“Oy Rud, I thought Kane was the only problem here? Those 3 are kicking our armies’ butt, Kane is not even moving yet!” the bandit complained.

“That’s what I also thought. The reports say that Kane was the one who killed 100 of our men. I guess that summer expedition boosted them. If I’m going to die, I’ll take them with me!” Rud furiously said.

“But how are we going to do that? We can’t go near them coz the combination of their vanguard and that water girl, range attacks also do not work because of that fire wizard.” Bandit questioned.

“Buy me some time while I cast their demise” Rud ordered.

“You are gonna use Destiny bound? You're desperate, selling your soul just to cast a deadly blow” bandit replied.

*after some minutes*

“Hmmm.. Why are they changing into defensive mode?” Ryuu asked.

“Yeah.. They just suddenly stop attacking and only firing arrows when Ryuu tries to close the gap” Akari added.

“Something does not feel right here” Reiko mentioned.

“OY COME ON! COWARDS, THIS IS BORING IF YOU WILL ONLY DEFLECT RATHER THAN ATTACK, WE ARE OUTNUMBERED HERE!” Ryuu shouted.

“Ryuu duck. HEAT WAVE!” Akari cast a slash of flame, raising the temperature of the enemies’ shield.

*Bandits dropped their shields*

“WOOOAAHH! AKARI SO COOL!” Ryuu praised.

“Well they are using metal shields sooo I guess that’s not a good idea against me” Akari bragged.

“Oy... a spell has been cast beneath us!” Reiko warned.

“Destiny Bound!” Rud casted.

That moment Akari, Reiko, Ryuu and Kane are constricted, preventing them from moving. Destiny bound makes your target immobile and after some minutes the target will die alongside the caster. If the caster dies first, the spell will break.

“HAHAHAHA! Who has the last laugh now? WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE!” Rud said.

“You mean you are going to die?” Kane responded.

“WHAT? HOW DID YOU ESCAPED? YOU WERE THERE A WHILE AGO!” Rud surprisingly asked.

“I guess your IQ is below average. You clearly saw that one of us can use mist as an illusion right? What makes you think that I will just sit there on the wagon?” Kane mocked.

“This… this is impossible! You cheated!” Rud stuttered.

“I was never there from the beginning” Kane draws his sword and walks forward.

“Ge..GET AWAY FROM ME!” Rud hopelessly ran.

“Pathetic..” Kane dashed, slicing Rud’s body in half.

The remaining bandits fled, ditching their mission and running for their own lives.

“Thank you for saving us Kane” Akari said.

“Should we chase them?” Ryuu asked.

“That will take some time, they kinda all run randomly” Reiko mentioned.

“Let’s not waste our time, let’s head back to Graspmoon”

The party wastes no time and goes straight back. From Graspmoon, they were able to cross the borders of Lacreyn within 3 hours. The party started to wonder why they still cannot see the mountains since they are already travelling more than an hour.

“Why are we still on land with trees? Where’s the mountain? We sure are a lot slower this time” Ryuu complained.

“Maybe you were just too excited earlier, that's why you are bored now? I do think we are travelling at the same speed like earlier” Akari argued.

“Yeah, it is so odd that both of you were right at the same time. I mean we are travelling at the same speed but at the same time it feels like we are travelling for quite some time now” Reiko responded.

Kane double checks the map to make sure that they are on the right track. His map read indicates that it is the right track but his instincts tell him otherwise. Because of that, Kane stopped Taurus.

“Yow? Why?” Ryuu asked.

“Is there something wrong, Kane?” Akari asked.

Kane goes down the wagon and slices a tree, afterwards he goes back and jumps as high as he could to see how far they have travelled.

“Is he showing off?” Ryuu asked.

“He is not like you” Reiko replied.

“He is probably on to something...” Akari responded.

“Actually something does not feel right, I actually doubt that we travelled this long earlier” Reiko added.

After assessing the area, Kane rode the wagon and ordered Taurus to pull the wagon again. An hour has passed but they are still travelling, without a single sign of mountains. Kane once again stopped Taurus from moving.

“CAPTAAAIN, are we lost?” Ryuu asked.

“Something is going on here” Kane jumps as high as he could.

“It’s quite impossible that we are lost, there’s only a single path from Graspmoon to Lacreyn” Akari replied.

“Feels like we are trapped or some sort” Reiko added.

*Kane lands*

“What did you see?” Reiko asked.

“There are still no signs of Graspmoon” Kane replied.

“Soooo we are lost?” Ryuu asked.

“No, but I think we are looping?” Akari answered.

“Both of you are wrong” Kane responded.

“Kane’s right, we are not lost since there is no other path, and we are also not looping since Kane sliced a tree back then and we haven’t seen that tree again” Reiko mentioned.

“So we are travelling endlessly?” Akari asked.

“It kinda like that? That is my hypothesis so far” Reiko replied.

“The sun is about to go down” Akari mentioned.

“Captain, what should we do???” Ryuu asked.

3 hour long is supposedly their estimation of time in travelling from Graspmoon to Lacreyn. But it turns into a whole afternoon of travel from Lacreyn to Graspmoon. The party began to question their path, making them speculate various things due to the inconsistency of logic presented to their current scenario.

“Is there a skill that can extend roads and pathways? This is making no sense” Reiko complained.

“We should be at Graspmoon by now. It is already night but we are still travelling” Akari added.

“Can we just cut all of these trees?” Ryuu asked.

“Check your maps” Kane ordered.

“What’s up with the map?” Ryuu asked.

“Straight ahead is Graspmoon, right side is mechtown, left side is a forest. Going straight to Graspmoon takes us nowhere, right side is also not a choice. We are entering the forest now” Kane suggested.

“Going to Mechtown then Graspmoon would be easier since we are already familiar with it but that is not a safe choice” Akari mentioned.

“Why are we leaving a path which we all know that it leads to Graspmoon?” Ryuu questioned.

“If it really leads to Graspmoon, we should have reached it by now. I actually agree with Kane, maybe a detour will change things up” Reiko replied.

“But there are stories that a forest near Graspmoon lures adventurers in and never lets them escape” Ryuu added.

“I remember Gramps telling us that story, was it my...Mystic forest?” Akari responded.

“YEAAH THAT ONE! LET’S NOT ENTER THAT ONE!” Ryuu said.

“What makes you think that we are not yet inside of it?” Kane responded.

“That would actually make sense if we are already inside of it…” Reiko mentioned.

*Kane changed their path and entered the Mystic forest*

“Akari, lights” Kane said.

“On it” Akari lits up her hand, illuminating their perimeter.

The party tried their best, navigating their way out of the forest. But no matter how hard they try, they cannot escape. They slowly start to lose their cool, complaining why they are running in circles. Minutes after, a voice can be heard miles away.

“Do you hear that?” Akari asked.

“Thiisss waaaay” A voice echoed.

“This way? Did I hear it correctly?” Reiko clarified.

“OY OY OY! This is getting creepier, we should not trust a random voice from a random life form or some sort!” Ryuu nervously said.

“Thiiiss waaay” the voice repeated.

“OY! CAPTAIN! WHY ARE WE TURNING? DO..DON’T TELL ME WE ARE HEADING THAT WAY!” Ryuu asked.

“This is better than running in circles” Kane replied.

“You can stay here if you want” Reiko teased.

“OOOOYY! I AM NOT GOING DOWN THIS WAGON” Ryuu shouted.

“SSSHH! You might scare them away, lower your voice” Akari said.

The party followed the voice which led them to the heart of the forest. Different beasts started to show up one after the other, but they were all tamed, living harmoniously together. Upon reaching the heart of the forest, they saw a mystical creature glowing in the center of a throne-like made out of the woods.

“tha….THAT’S A FAIRY!” Ryuu surprisingly shouted.

“She’s preeeetty” Akari praised.

“Are you the one who’s responsible for this inconvenience?” Kane asked with a straight face.

“Straight right to the point, seems like charms do not work on him” Reiko commented.

“I don’t mind living here forever tho he..he..he…” Ryuu mentioned.

“Aren’t you scared a while ago?’ Reiko asked.

“Scared? Who’s scared? HAHAHAHA you must be joking nee-san” Ryuu replied.

“Your party is interesting” Mych chuckled.

“Quit playing around, we are on a rush. Stop bothering us” Kane said.

“Aaahmm.. Kane, let’s not fight a Mystical being please?” Akari suggested.

“Relax, I’m sure that this inconvenience will be convenient for you” Mych said.

“What do you mean?” Kane questioned.

“You see, humans like to overcomplicate things... power, greed, money. The higher the thinking capability of a creature, the more restless they become” Mych said.

“I don’t understand what she’s saying but I can listen to her all day long” Ryuu commented.

“It’s our nature to strive. But… having different ideologies is what keeps it hard for us to live in peace” Reiko responded.

“I do think it is possible to all live in peace” Mych replied.

“How are we going to do that?” Akari asked.

“I don’t know how. I don’t know when. But you see creatures here in my forest live harmoniously despite their differences. If a low level creature can do it, I believe that humans can do it too” Mych explained.

“What are you talking about? In the food chain, the stronger one eats the weaker one in order for them to survive. How do you prevent the predators here in the forest from eating the prays?” Kane questioned.

“Do you ever wonder why a lot of monsters were in different areas of this world? Not to mention, all of them were Predators who will not hesitate to kill all, even humans.” Mych asked.

“Yeah… come to think of it, I never saw any harmless mobs on our travels, we usually fight those monsters that attack humans and cause other problems” Ryuu mentioned.

“Sooo all of the creatures here are prays?” Akari asked.

“No, there are still predators here. The ones out there were exiled from this forest due to attacking the weaker ones. There are also tamed creatures out there, like that 3 horned bull you are with, though they do not live that long compared to the ones in here” Mych replied.

“How do predators live here? They must be eating something to survive” Reiko questioned.

“I’m the protector of this forest aaaand I do think you all know some myths about adventurers coming here and never getting out. Any type of creature as long as they have an intent to harm this place will never go out. We actually have plenty of them hihi” Mych chuckled.

“I am not gonna ask where they end up” Reiko realized the answer to her question

“Why are you telling us that?” Kane asked.

“To buy some time” Mych replied.

“We don’t have any intentions on harming this place, out of curiosity, I also just want to ask why did you let us see you? Aren’t you afraid that we discovered your sanctuary?” Akari added.

“Don’t worry about you guys seeing my sanctuary, you can only go here if I invited you, this forest can shuffle on its own. Plus I find quite an interest in your party, especially a certain person among you” Mych chuckled.

“THAT MUST BE ME!” Ryuu responded.

“Buy time? For what?” Reiko asked.

“Like what have I said, this inconvenience will be convenient for you. I do think that you already stayed enough here. If you want, you can go straight there and you’ll reach the boundary of Graspmoon” Mych instructed.

“Let’s get out of here” Kane ordered.

“By the way, what’s your name?” Reiko asked.

“You can call me Mych” Mych smiled.

“Bye-bye Mych, Hope I can visit again!”

“Thank you Mych-san, we’ll be on our way now” Akari said.

“I’ll see you all again” Mych chuckled.

The party headed out of the forest and after some minutes, they were finally at the boundaries of Graspmoon. Shortly, They reached the town proper. Broko and Mista were extremely worried due to the fact that it took them so long. Kyap calmed them down during those times and they are now on a relief when they saw Kane, Akari, Ryuu and Reiko back on Graspmoon. Reiko and Akari explained why it took them so long, afterwards, Kyap and Ryuu discussed if they were the same mystic creature that they had encountered. Due to the similarities of description, they concluded that Mych was the one who saved Kyap before. They began to speculate why Mych is doing this, especially the part where she said that she was interested in their party.

-There are a lot of betrayals that are happening right now, we might not know her nor her plans, but I’m sure she is on our side. We should utilize all that we have.