Chapter 2: Inhumane Reward 2.0

On the asphalt pavements outside the tavern, John parted ways with Alwin who was on the verge of tripping himself over thin air. His life in A’vetheas was one that he enjoyed thoroughly, despite getting some strange looks from some elves once in a while, he was content with the way his life was progressing.

If he continued on his path as he was, in just a few years he would be officially appointed to the position of royal scribe, he would be given the task of overseeing the documentations in A’vetheas and assist the queen in managing tasks. He would undergo apprenticeship by the royal scribe, and perhaps, one day make it to that position.

Surely then everyone will be less critical of the idea of him and Raina being together.

“Psst. John, over here,” a whisper crept to his ear.

It was late in A’vetheas. At this hour in the night the people who would call out to him was those who were in dire straits, those who were in need of healing. Turning around to the voice, his face collided with a slender finger, poking his cheek. The whisper came from a slim figure who stood only centimeters away from him.

“R-raina? What are you doing this late? I was just about head back.”

The familiar turquoise eyes glistened mischievously at him.

“Shhh, pull your hood up and follow me,” Raina said as she looked around cautiously, making sure that no one was paying them any attention.

In a precise motion, he lifted his black hood to obscure himself. Raina tugged at his arm and steered him around the town of A’vetheas with quick, light steps, making sure that they stuck close to the town’s umbra.

“Wait, this isn’t the route to the front of the palace.”

John muttered to himself as Raina continued to guide him along the unusual path that they were on. They have moved through A’vetheas hurriedly but missed so many junctions that could have lead have them straight to the castle. It was truly inefficient moving around this sneakily, even if it was just to mess with him.

“We are going somewhere behind the palace, ehehe.”

“The back entrance? Sheesh, whatever.”

The girl was oddly blithe considering it was this dark out in the night. John figured that he would play along with her little game. Considering that they did not spent enough time earlier, and thanks to the exhaustion that came with from her abrupt use of mana consuming magic, Raina must be trying to make up for lost time.

After several twists and turns along unfamiliar intersections and series of panting, Raina came to a halt. They found themselves standing in a great circular patio, surrounded by enormous pillars of descending heights, the pillars were thick enough that it would take at least three adults joining their hands together to fully wrap around one. At the very center of the smooth ground, a small circular table protruded with an orb sitting on top of it, pulsing with faint luminescence.

“This…it’s the teleportation zone isn’t it?”

This was the very grounds that soldiers like Alwin would use to get around long distances. The area surrounded by the pillars were large enough for 30 people fully packed with equipment to stand on, and with room to spare. The last time John was here sending Alwin off, he was specifically told by Queen Veissa herself to keep his distance from the marble ground to prevent getting transported accidentally.

“Hurry up! There’s still left-over magic from the previous teleportation, it is enough for the both of us to go somewhere and return before anyone notices.”

Raina nimbly reached for the orb, placing her delicate hands on top of it. Giving no forethought to her actions, she activated the artifact.

“Raina! Just wait…”

All sensation of the ground that they were standing on disappeared

Brilliant flash of light scattered across their bodies, enveloping them. Their vision diluted until they could no longer see. Their bodies, at that very moment, evaporated into thin air.

“...we don’t know where this will bring us…to?”

And as if they woke up from a dream, the brilliant light faded away as quickly as they had appeared.

Their very surroundings changed, John found that they were displaced into an outskirt of a town that was at an unknown distance from the elven grounds.

Foreign shops appeared in the distance, these were buildings that had rough edges, lacking in aesthetic. Along the very roads were people, most of them were humans, the same race as John, there was also the occasional beastkin—beings that are believed to originated from the human race itself but was fused with animal traits such as tails, pointed ears atop their heads, and horns. The everyday elf that one would find living in A’vetheas was nowhere to be found, there was nothing among the passing crowd that resembled the elegance of elves.

Human settlement was only the word that came to his mind. There was no doubt about it, even with his hazy memories, he was certain that they have teleported into one. A city, from the looks of it.

“Raina, what’s the meaning of this? Why are we outside of A’vetheas!?” he raised his voice at the girl beside him.

“I-it’s fine, really. We will be teleported back to A’vetheas once the magic is used up. I-I was just thinking that this is a rare opportunity t-to visit the outside world.”

The orb that Raina grabbed onto earlier was none other than the teleportation artifact that only the royal elves were permitted to use. To activate the artifact, one must fulfill two conditions. Firstly, the artifact must be powered up before use. Secondly, the artifact can only be used by royal elves.

Royal elves, like Raina and Queen Veissa were the gatekeepers for the teleportation artifact, in order for someone to use the artifact directly, one would have to obtain permission from the royal elves. Hence, trusted elves like the commander of the Elven Elite Squad would be able to use the artifact if given authorization from the queen.

To prevent abuse of an important artifact and its safeguarding, the artifact was often kept empty of its power source—because this scenario with Raina right now would happen much often if any elf simply obtained permission.

And as a rule, only Queen Veissa had the ability to power it,. Even with permission to use the artifact, there was no point in using it as long it isn’t powered up.

If not for Raina’s assurance of their return trip, John would have…

“Are you mad?” Raina tugged at John’s arm as she saw his peeved expression.

“Sigh, I am annoyed that you didn’t even tell me this beforehand. I was surprised that’s all. And it’s pretty cold out here you know?”

There are two methods of return teleportation if the artifact was configured beforehand.

The first would be having the artifact itself store up energy that was dedicated for the returnee, once a return trip is desired, the user would simply have to think about returning, this was how Alwin and the rest got back to A’vetheas.

The second method was before the power in the artifact ran out, it would use up the small remaining energy to bring people back, as long a return trip was made.

As long that they were guaranteed to leave after dwindling in the outside world, it should be fine. It won’t be long before the remaining energy used from the squad’s return would run out. They would have been outside of A’vetheas for three hours, at most.

Breaking John’s pondering of their return trip to A’vetheas, Raina tugged at him again.

“Earlier… You said the reason that I care about you more than other guys…that because you were human... That’s why, I want to prove it to you that you’re wrong! You’ll see how devoted I can be!” Raina huffed, her breath fogged at the cold air, face as bashful as the eye could see.

Ah, she took it too seriously. This girl can get worked up over the smallest things.

“You know I didn’t mean it, it was just a tease, considering how much you like teasing me, I just thought… I don’t doubt you on the devotion part, you being a Higher race and all. It’s just…having to think that you’ll be devastated because of me, I feel powerless.”

After all, he was only human. His life span was limited, unlike Higher Races like elves who could make themselves immortal if they worked at it.

“I told you to stop thinking about those things. When the time comes, I’ll find a way to deal with it. I won’t let up on you just because you said so, Johnny. So, let’s just enjoy this for now. Ehehehe,” she covered her face with those mittens of hers. “Come on, aren’t you even slightly curious about how they make things here?”

“I am not buying anything for you, considering that you are the one dragged me out here,” John riposted as he raced after her.

“Who said anything about money? Wahahaha! Under that calm face of yours is nothing but a block of wood who doesn’t understand a maiden’s heart.”

“You again with that, I keep telling you—”

Raina shook her head at him gleefully, “Just walk around with me, you don’t need to do anything else.”

He merrily followed the Princess and her tour of the human settlement, they briskly walked towards where the crowds gathered. Raina being an elf that had rarely visited the outside world, she was a ball of energy that couldn’t help but get excited at how different the place was.

The storefronts at the center of the city had glossy windowpanes where sparkles danced in front of the displayed goods. One moment Raina would approach the windows and gaze inwards with brimming curiosity, the next she would quickly back up interlocking her arms with John’s.

“Raina.”

“Hmm?” the cute elf in her hood turned and looked at him adorably.

“You just move back and forth at every shop, granted they are somewhat different from the ones in A’vetheas but from the looks of it this place is just average. How does this show your devotion again? Isn’t this just your regular way of going about and spend time with me?”

The elf girl placed a finger on her cheek giving a long pause before continuing.

“Not telling. Ehehehe,” a devilish grin appeared on her face.

“Why you...”

John lunged forward to grab Raina by the waist, furiously running his fingers at her sides, only for her to let out helpless giggles of protests.

“Wahahaha. Hey, that’s not fair, you…know I am sensitive…there!”

John’s smile grew as he felt the girl squirm in his arms.

“Oh? Are you going to tell me then?”

“Ahhh, stop, stop. I...I can’t take this. Hah...hah...hah...” Raina panted.

Having lived outside before he took residence in A’vetheas, he did not understand her taking the risk of sneaking outside so that they could spend time together.

Couldn’t she just ask me to stay up late like usual?

It wasn’t that he would decline her request for him to read her a story before she went to bed. Decided that he shouldn’t torture the poor girl anymore, his fingers stopped.

“Hah...hah…hah... I’ll tell, I’ll tell. Just…hah...stop it already.”

“So? Why is it that teleporting to some place like this going to prove anything? You should have just come to my room like usual. It’s not like I miss the outside world… I never go out much as a kid anyways, places like these are not as special to me.”

“Dummy.”

“What? I am just being honest.”

“D-u-mmy. It is precisely because it’s this place my point can truly get across to you. Where are we now?”

“A human settlement?”

“Yes. And?”

“And what? There isn’t much here, only other humans… Oh, So that’s what you meant,” his face flared pink. The reason for this whole ordeal was because she wanted get back at him for belittling how her affection towards him was the simple case of him being a rare specimen among the elves.

John took an invisible blow to his ego and pursed his lips, looking away at Raina upon realization.

“You had to have me spell it out for you there, that’s why I said you don’t understand this maiden’s heart. What would you do if it was any other girl? I am sure that they’d want to use you only because of your little healing magic. They won’t bother enough to go all the way like me, hmph!”

“It sounds weird when you say it out loud like that. Of course I knew that, how many times do you need me to tell you?”

“If you knew you wouldn’t be saying things like you being a human. It makes me a little bit unhappy...that’s all.”

“Fine, fine, I will try to not do that again, okay?” Raina nodded happily to him placing his hands up in the air for his mental surrender. “And if it was any other girl, I am pretty sure you would use your Princess position to make them back away from me, hahaha!”

“I will not! Johnny!” Raina stomped her foot on the ground.

“Alright, alright, how about we get back before it gets any darker. I am not deprived of the human culture,” John softly patted Raina, gently rubbing her head. “I am fine as long you understand me. It isn’t that lonely for me in A’vetheas, okay?”

“I worry about you John, sometimes you would shut yourself inside and refuse to talk to anyone when the other elves start berating you. Is it so wrong for me to think about you?” Raina stared at him innocently.

“Sigh... No, you don’t have to remind me of something that happened five years ago! I was a kid back then, what do you expect? And I moved on from that.”

“So was I, isn’t that a coincidence? Remember how much it took for you to finally open up to me? You are really a shy one, even now, ehehehe.”

Raina clung onto John even more, swaying her body as she reminisced their past. Lines of drool drooped from her mouth as she rubbed her cheeks on his arm.

“S-save your affections for when we get back. Come on now, Raina, stop messing around.”

Raina obediently wiped her saliva calmed her behavior, returned to her usual, less drunk-on-John’s-presence self.

“Actually, there is a place I want to check out before returning.”