II

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Arc II Chapter 4

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Aurora started her journey. Despite her diminutive stature, she made significant progress. Her body was frail, her steps short, which made her tire easily, which in turn convinced her to take a few naps in between.

A little pause here and there didn't hurt. She wasn't in much of a hurry. She needed her pauses. She needed her beauty sleep. Nevertheless, she made progress. It just took longer than expected ...

Her ears registered noise in the distance. The sound of trampling hooves shook the ground. They were coming closer.

Aurora sprinted to the nearest tree to hide and peeked from behind her safe cover. Observing, analysing, gathering information was the best course of action.

A cart appeared on the horizon, far away. Its silhouette was vague, distorted, but it was definitely a cart driven by two figures. A group of people accompanied them. An escort, probably.

“Humans?“ Aurora furrowed her eyebrow. Apparently. What should she do? Initiate contact? Ignore them? Rob them? Her little head got an idea.

Her lips formed a smile and she and her doll exchanged looks. They plotted together. “Are you thinking what I am thinking?“

...

...

...

Her doll nodded, which made her happy.

“Then it's decided.“ Her doll agreed with her, wasn't that wonderful?

Leaving her cover, Aurora and ran to the middle of the road. She grabbed some dirt from the ground and smeared it all over her clothes and face. Distributing the dirt was important. Her doll also got her fair share. Her doll had to make sacrifices too.

Aurora ruffled her hair. Her hair was too perfect. Not unkempt, not messy enough. Her appearance had to be believable, otherwise nobody would buy her act.

If she played the abandoned, pitiful girl card, she had to look like a lonely abandoned pitiful girl.

Resting on the ground, Aurora made herself comfortable, hugging her doll and closing her eyes. Now she had to wait. She was a little innocent girl. She was innocuous and cuddly. She was just sleeping.

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“Arwing, why do we need to rely on these ... humans. I fail to understand why you hired them. In fact, I am sure we would be better off without them.“ Nelaeryn snarled. He didn't bother to hide his disdain. The humans weren't needed. Their presence wasn't welcome.

Arwing sighed, being fed up with Nelaeryn. As usual, her companion and his elven pride caused her nothing but trouble. Why couldn't he just shut up?

Everything could be so easy, but no. His attitude aggravated every human they met, which made things complicated to the point that his smugness endangered the success of their mission. His family descended from old elven nobility, and were well-known elven supremacists for centuries.

Unfortunately, Nelaeryn was her esteemed colleague, and she had to put up with his antics. It wasn't always easy. He was an indisputable expert on the field of ancient magic and ancient history. Having him at her side was a gift of heaven, yet he made her life miserable at every opportunity.

Arwing had enough. “Nelaeryn, I know you are dissatisfied ...“

“Dissatisfied? Dissatisfied doesn't even begin to describe my indignation ...“ Nelaeryn interrupted her.

Her glare shut him up for good. “Nelaeryn, I warn you, even my patience is limited. We are not warriors, we are scholars. I hope you realise that we can't clear the ruins on our own. We need help. “

Nelaeryn protested, “But ... But ...“

Her eyes narrowed. “No buts. If the guild reports are accurate, the place is a monster infested hellhole. We have no choice, we need their help. If you like it or not, we need the adventurers.“

Nelaeryn grumbled, but he swallowed the bitter pill. They were indeed forced to rely on humans. A disgrace, but a necessary one.

An amused chuckle resounded from behind. Arwing didn't need to guess the perpetrator twice.

It was Lambert, seasoned adventurer and the leader of the human party; light brown hair, short cut, and green eyes sparkling with gold coins. Watching them argue entertained him.

The human wore a smirk. “So this is the famed elven politeness? To be honest, I expected more, but I understand now why you two had such hard finding a party. I can imagine why.“

His cold glare hit Nelaeryn. Little love was lost between them two. “After all, we are only mere humans, while the murderous bloodthirsty tree huggers of Alfreik are the pinnacle of creation.“

The dislike was mutual. Neither humans, nor elves thought highly of each other. Centuries of bloodshed and war soured the relationships between their races with both sides were at each other's throat, which was unlikely to change for the foreseeable future. The seeds of hatred proved too strong.

Nelaeryn gritted his teeth, unable to tolerate such a provocation. “Human, what did you say?“

Lambert ignored the provocation and offered his most charming smile. “Rest assured, Lady Arwing, we won't abandon you two because of a few minor disagreements. We will see this mission through. We are adventurers. We also have our honour.“

Arwing didn't share his happy outlook. “I hope so, Lambert. We paid you quite a lot. You are better worth your money and do your work.“

His party was expensive even by adventurer standards. He demanded a considerable sum that some people might consider daylight robbery.

Lambert flashed a grin. “Lady Arwing, I never claimed that our services are cheap, but times are hard and professionals like us don't work for free. I am well aware that we are pricey, but we are gold rank adventurers for a reason. We are the best adventurers coin can buy, and you know that.“

“That might be true, Lambert, but the fact stands that we can only afford you once. I sincerely hope for the sake of our modest finances that we will never meet again ...“

Arwing pulled the reins and halted the cart. There was a girl lying on the road.

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