His answer was simple, short, and very calm. However, the impact of the response on Merry was far deeper than he expected. Her worried face slowly relaxed as her eyes widened. She seemed almost clueless as to what he said.
However, quickly, her expression turned into relief as her eyes flashed with myriads of emotions. Arthur could read every single one of those moments of honest feelings right in her eyes.
“Is that so… I’m glad… I’m really glad…” She muttered in response as she smiled widely. This entire time, Arthur knew that Merry was hiding her true personality behind the eccentric, sarcastic behavior she put on.
That moment was the very first time Arthur saw Merry in her true character and he was quite surprised by it. He never thought she could even look that gentle.
“Why do you know them?” He asked. “Are they your friends?”
“…” Looking up, Merry shook her head. “Not friends. They’re people I have a very long story with. But, that’s not important now. Tell me, how are they doing? Are they fine? Where did they go?”
Her questions followed after very quickly as if she couldn’t wait for Arthur to respond.
“Hey, hey calm down. They’re fine. I haven’t seen them in weeks, but they’re doing good.” He replied.
“Ehem, I got a little too excited there.” Realizing her behavior, Merry tried to regain her composure as she coughed awkwardly.
“Can I at least know why you asked me about them? What made you think I knew them?” Arthur asked. This was by far the thing that bothered him the most. There were countless people in this world, linking him with these two was simply not a coincidence.
‘Did she just guess since I’m a player?’ He mused.
“… Well…” Merry sighed as she pointed at her nose. “The smell of your chest plate.” She said.
“What? Smell?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, there were traces of their smell on your chest plate. They were extremely faint but I was still able to notice them. I took a risk by asking you but I’m glad I did. The fact those two are still alive… It’s really great.”
‘I’m glad to hear some news about you, Nina, Miro. You two rascals haven’t even sent me a letter ever since you ran away.’ She thought to herself for a moment. Merry had been waiting agonizingly for the two to come back one day but the worry she had for them was naturally deep.
She had been left alone in the city while the two were somewhere in the world, searching for their destined one.
“You must have quite a strong nose to catch that,” Arthur replied. ‘That thing was literally coated in the blood of my enemies several times, how is their smell still there?’
“Yeah, don’t mind that. So, how did you meet them, kid?”
“Well, it’s a long story. But, I just stumbled upon their small shop in a corner of the village where I arrived. They were really nice to me, and helped me get going and gain a lot of power. Well, after that, we became friends and now we have a sort of an agreement.”
“An agreement?”
“Yes, exactly uh… How long was it? Oh yeah, one week from now, we are going to meet here.” He said as he pointed down.
“Wait, they’re coming back?!” Merry blurted out loudly.
“Yeah… We agreed to meet one month after I left.”
“Hold on a second, kid. If they meant to meet YOU…” Merry looked down as her mind raced to piece things together. She clearly remembers what Miro and Nina told her that day and what they wanted to do.
‘We will find him… Our destined one! Our hero! When we do, we will come back and turn this capital into hell! We will get all our people out!!’
That day, still as vivid as ever, replayed again in Merry’s head with all the events that happened during it. It was easily the most intense day of her life and she had lived through many horrifying things in her journey across the Divine Realm.
‘But… If they’re coming back now to meet him does that mean…’ Looking up, slowly, everything changed in Merry’s mind as if an epiphany of sorts had descended on her. Her clouded eyes cleared up and things finally made sense.
Yet, even when they did, she was still in complete disbelief. She lifted her finger and pointed it at Arthur. “You…” She couldn’t even say what she wanted to say. It was simply such a sudden and unexpected turn of events.
Arthur immediately understood what Merry was thinking of and simply shrugged. “Yeah, they seem to think I’m their long-awaited hero or whatever. I don’t think I am, but I decided to help them either way. We are going to infiltrate the Bastion.”
“…”
The two stared at each other for a good few seconds in complete silence.
“The destined hero…” She muttered under her breath. ‘It makes sense… It actually makes perfect sense. This kid, he is different… Too different.’
From the moment she laid her eyes on Arthur, Merry felt something off about him. He wasn’t like the other extremely talented individuals she met before. He wasn’t the strongest, nor was he the most cunning. Yet, the aura he was exuding was simply… of another world.
Now that she knew everything, she realized that her suspicions weren’t baseless. She had felt the same thing Nina and Miro perhaps felt.
‘Those two were the perfect candidates to search for the destined one. They might’ve actually done it. They might’ve found him!’
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“Merry? Why are you staring at me like that?” Arthur asked.
“No, ehem, I’m sorry. I was lost in thought for a second there.” The old lady snapped out of her daze and shook her head. “You said they will meet you here in one week, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I’m going with you. I must meet them.”
“… Uh, I mean, sure. You guys seem to be acquaintances so I’m sure they would love to see you too.”
“I know. But, it seems the time has arrived.” She said.
“For what?”
“For the infiltration of course. I don’t know if they already told you this or not, but this mission is not going to be easy at all, kid. And when I say ‘not easy’, I mean it is something the current you cannot face.” She said. “That bastion… No, that hell is a place not even I want to go anywhere near. It is the worst imaginable location on this god-forsaken land.”
“… I am aware of that,” Arthur replied. ‘Thank you for reminding me of how horribly dangerous this is.’
“Just making sure. Are you really sure you are going to go in there in this state? I mean, no offense to you, but you are far too weak to be able to do anything.” She said.
Merry had already measured Arthur’s strength before and while he did get a lot stronger in the period of time she didn’t see him, this was still far from sufficient. However, Arthur’s reply to that wasn’t what she expected.
“I know. But, there is still 1 week, no?”
“Yes…”
“Well, in that week, let’s see… My goal is to double or triple my strength.” He said with a grin. “I believe that’s sufficient.”
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3