358. The Scheme

Edithe Dawnrise strode through the encampment with a sense of unease building up in her chest. It weighed on her. Her eyes rapidly darted from corner to corner in search of a flash of silver hair. She didn’t find who she was looking for, which only made her more nervous. She glanced to the side as her companion voiced her thoughts for her.

“I can’t help but feel nervous.”

Daniel Song spoke as he fidgeted, even while walking. He scanned the camp with Edithe, but neither of them could find Salvos. The young man continued.

“I’m starting to think this was a bad idea. I mean, the last time Salvos helped us train, she brought us to the Plaguelands when we were severely underleveled.”

“We’re the ones who asked her to help us, alright? Just have faith in her, Daniel.”

“I know, I know. But… it’s just nerves, you know?”

He gave her a weak smile, and Edithe pursed her lips. She definitely felt the same way as he did, but she would trust Salvos with her life. So she raised a hand, stopping a woman in her thirties with the Merryster emblem on her clothing.

“Excuse me—”

The woman paused. She turned to Edithe, raising a brow.

“Did you need something?”

“I apologize for the trouble, lady Merryster. But I am searching for a friend. Her name is Salvos, and she told my friend and I to meet her here.”

Edithe bowed politely. The lady tapped a finger on her chin.

“Ah, Salvos. Well, first of all: I am not a lady. I may be of the Merryster Family, but I have given up my nobility in pursuit of my passion. You may simply call me Mons.”

Mons Merryster smiled as Edithe blinked. The redhead hurriedly apologized.

“Oh, I’m so sorry—”

“It is fine. I take no offense to it.”

Chuckling, the lady-turned-[Merchant] gestured towards the edge of the encampment.

“You’ll find your friend there. She’s waiting for you with a friend of hers.”

“Thank you so much.”

Edithe hurriedly thanked Mons and excused herself. She turned to Daniel who was just staring at Mons with wide eyes. The redhead pulled him away, speaking quickly.

“Come on, Daniel.”

“R-right, sorry.”

He followed Edithe, glancing back occasionally towards Mons Merryster. Edithe narrowed her eyes.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Daniel’s eyes were wide. They were practically bulging out of their sockets. His neck creaked as he faced her, and he started.

“S-she…”

“She?”

Edithe frowned, glancing back at Mons Merryster.

“Did something happen? What did she do?”

“N-no, she—”

Daniel took in a deep breath, and Edithe tensed.

“She was a… Level 100 [Merchant]!”

There was a pause. Both Edithe and Daniel came to a halt. The redhead sighed.

“...let’s just find Salvos, alright?”

And they did. Shortly after that, they found the silver-haired girl waiting at the very edge of the Vampire encampment. Salvos beamed when she saw them, running up to the pair with round eyes.

“What took you guys so long?”

“Sorry, we were lost.”

Edithe shrugged. Salvos frowned at Daniel.

“But aren’t you stayin here?”

He shook his head.

“I booked an inn in the city just to get away from Amanda. She’s been more annoying than usual, lately.”

“Huh. Cool. Anyway, I’ve finally figured out where we’re gonna go.”

Salvos clapped her hands together. Edithe felt the pit in her stomach widen. The nervousness from earlier built up. Her trust in Salvos warred with Salvos’ personality. Edithe begged— hoped— that Salvos wouldn’t just drop both her and Daniel in the middle of the Bloodied Gulf and leave them to fend for themselves.

Fortunately, Edithe’s faith went unpunished.

“We’re going to be hunting down those [Goliath Oliphants]!”

“Those… [Goliath Oliphants]?”

Edithe raised a brow, her confusion evident. But Daniel looked like he knew what Salvos was talking about. He explained.

“It was when we were leaving Shedos— we ran into a herd of [Goliath Oliphants] being chased out of the Motharis Mountain Range by those [Lesser Wyverns] we faced in Catark.”

The redhead nodded slowly.

“I see.”

“Yep!”

Salvos nodded excitedly.

“You should’ve been there, Edithe. I nearly died!”

“That’s… not something you should be bragging about.”

Edithe rolled her eyes.

“But [Goliath Oliphants], huh? I hear those range from Level 100 to Level 125. Lower to medium Diamond Ranked threats.”

She could probably take on a few of them on her own. However, she’d be faced with the same problem as against the Wyverns. These were tanky monsters. And they weren’t swarm monsters. They were each, individually, very powerful.

A Wyvern’s strength lay in their magic and their speed. They had defensive magic too, which let them brush off Edithe’s weaker spells. Meanwhile, [Goliath Oliphants] tended to have higher raw defense and strength, with some area of effect magic that wasn’t really quite effective in single combat.

But aren’t…? Edithe furrowed her brows. She turned to Salvos.

“Aren’t Oliphants mostly docile monsters? Are you sure you’d be fine with attacking them for no reason, Salvos?”

Edithe knew Salvos. There was a whole logic about being ‘wild’ which Edithe sort of understood. If they hunted down Oliphants just to level up, then Salvos shouldn’t be happy about that. And Salvos agreed.

“Yep— but see, he told me that these Oliphants are destroying everything right now. They’re rampaging or going berserk or something, so they’re killing monsters and animals and Humans.”

“He?”

Daniel and Edithe exchanged a glance. Salvos nodded, gesturing behind her.

“The guy who helped me out!”

And from her shadow, a figure emerged. A man wreathed in the darkness. He wore a cloak that seemed to hide his features. But he pulled back his hood, revealing his sneering face.

“You’re—”

Edithe stared at Orgaf as he stood next to Salvos.

“Orgaf, the Thief of the Golden Scales.”

“Greetings, Liberators.”

The [Rogue] spoke simply, that annoying grin still plastered on his face. Edithe instantly drew back warily.

“What are you doing here?”

He barely even glanced at Edithe’s way as he started forward.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet all of you. I met your friend here, Salvos, in the Adventurers Guild just a few hours ago. It seemed like she was troubled, and I offered her my assistance. That is all. I couldn’t just stand aside and do nothing, could I?”

Orgaf spoke in a smooth voice. Salvos just looked at him agreeably, while Daniel gave him a grateful look.

“Thank you… Orgaf, was it?”

“Indeed. And you must be Daniel Song?”

“I am. You can just call me Daniel.”

“Well, I’m sure you may have some qualms with fighting the normally gentle Oliphants. But I assure you, these ones are displaced. They are even worse than a Centinel. Their herd is running amok, and we have to put a stop to their path of destruction.”

“Of course—”

Daniel smiled as he shook Orgaf’s hand. Edithe watched from the side, still tense. She eyed Orgaf’s every little move. She barely even heard his words.

The redhead reached for her Primordial Staff, readying herself for anything Orgaf might try. Salvos and Daniel didn’t know him. They were completely clueless as to what kind of an actual psychopath Orgaf was. He would’ve killed Edithe if not for Helena’s intervention. This was definitely some kind of a ploy.

Orgaf’s eyes flickered. He turned to Edithe, a mocking look on his face. His smile widened as Edithe’s heart raced. He opened his mouth as Salvos and Daniel stood unknowingly next to him, and she braced herself—

“Salvos!”

A voice cut through the tense silence. Edithe nearly jolted back at the sharp voice. She saw a flash. Looked on as a [Will O’ Wisp] darted straight for the silver-haired girl.

“Willy? What’s—”

“How dare!”

Willy spoke indignantly as Salvos backed up. Daniel, Edithe, and Orgaf watched the [Will O’ Wisp] continue to hound her.

“Wait, what did I do?”

“Leave me!”

“Leave you? I was just going on a—”

“Without me!”

“That’s…”

Daniel sighed. He glanced over at Edithe and Orgaf before excusing himself.

“I’ll… give her a hand.”

Edithe watched him go. He left both Edithe and Orgaf alone together, and suddenly, the prickling sensation that grabbed her was back. She realized she was alone with the man who tried to kill her. The despicable Elite who looked down on others as mere frivol.

She immediately faced him as she cast an [Aura of Greater Protection] on herself. He snickered.

“You’re looking awfully nervous, aren’t you?”

Edithe glared at him, ignoring his remark.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Why am I doing what?”

“Don’t play dumb with me.”

She spat, and he chuckled. Edithe pointed her staff at him. He eyed the magic emanating off the tip of the gray-black staff.

“My, aren’t you intense?”

“Don’t you dare hurt Salvos. If you do anything to her—”

“What? You’ll make me pay?”

Orgaf shook his head.

“Please. You are barely at the same level as her second Class. Let alone her main Class. You won’t be able to do anything.”

Edithe bit her lower lip. She knew Orgaf was right. But still— she wouldn’t just watch if something happened to Salvos.

“I—”

She started, but Orgaf waved a hand dismissively.

“Besides, I’d never lay a hand on Salvos even if you offered me a Mythic Grade artifact.”

“W-what?”

Edithe paused. She looked at Orgaf suspiciously, and he met her gaze.

“Are you confused? Don’t be. It should be quite obvious.”

“You’re the Thief of the Golden Scales. You’re that bastard who screwed over the Vaun Qieur Empire and nearly sparked a war between the Humans and the Kobolds. Why are you suddenly being all nice?”

He drew back, glancing at Salvos in the distance with Willy and Daniel.

“It’s because—”

Orgaf slowly turned back to Edithe and placed a hand on his chest.

“I am in love.”

“Bullsh—”

Edithe had been prepared to call out any lie or excuse he had prepared. But his answer made her pause. She blinked, processing his words. Then her jaw dropped. She stared blankly at Orgaf as he spun around, curling his hair back with a single hand.

“You’re… what?!”

“You heard me. I am in love. How couldn’t I be?”

Orgaf, Thief of the Golden Scales, Elite Ranked adventurer, and Level 161 [Rogue] twirled around to face Salvos. He stared at her longingly, practically hugging himself as he breathed.

“Salvos. Liberator of the Plaguelands. Savior of Silvergrove. Secely’s Sentinel. Oh, such a wonderful woman. In under five years, she’s already built a legend. She’s gone from Level 40 to Level 130 in, what, four years? Three?”

He threw his head back, laughing.

“Please, even that annoying hag Helena Warshade can’t compete. This is the next Watcher in the making— no, the next Alexander! How could I not have fallen in love at first sight?”

He continued on as Edithe just watched. She wasn’t sure whether to be relieved that this was how Orgaf felt, or to be even more worried for Salvos.

“She cares not for repute. It doesn’t matter to her if you’re a king, an emperor, or a god— she’ll treat you all the same!”

Edithe thought of the way Salvos acted around princesses. Orgaf was definitely wrong about that. Shaking his head, Orgaf pointed accusingly at Edithe.

“But you! You embarrassed me in front of her! How dare you!”

“I did?”

The redhead genuinely didn’t remember that. But Orgaf was insistent.

“Yes you did. And if I had known that Salvos was bringing you along in this journey… ugh!”

He made a frustrated sound.

“I never would’ve offered my help!”

“You really have a grudge against me for no reason, huh?”

Edithe sighed. She gave Orgaf a sidelong glance as he continued ranting about how Edithe humiliated him. He only stopped when Salvos, Willy, and Daniel returned. No— Orgaf didn’t just stop. He pretended that never happened, posing as if he was calmly glancing off to the side.

“That settles it!”

Salvos clapped her hands together.

“The five of us are going to be going after those [Goliath Oliphants] together!”

“Yes.”

Willy agreed, clearly pleased he wasn’t going to be left behind. Daniel scratched his cheeks, fine with that arrangement. Orgaf nodded, clearing his throat as he barely looked their way.

“Very well then. If you shall follow me, I’ll lead you to them. They were last spotted near the Sickleshade Valley—”

Orgaf brought them away from the encampment as he spoke. Edithe looked at the Elite, still slightly worried. But not as much as before. She was just glad that it seemed like everything was going to be fine.

There was a rumble. The earth shook— like a terrible tremor was crawling its way through the hills. The army of monsters paused as Alix steadied Quinn. The man stared.

“What is that?”

He looked at the plume of smoke up ahead. Alix narrowed her eyes. She recognized that magic. She’d only ever read about it— never actually seeing it before. But that was the hallmark of—

“[Goliath Oliphants].”

She spoke softly. Looking up, she caught sight of the leader of the army. Belzu. The Primeval Demon. His gaze was fixed on the [Goliath Oliphant], wanting. Alix pressed her lips thinly into a line.

“And possibly new recruits into our army.”