“Let’s search for any items around here,” Arad said, “I would be disappointed if we had nothing after that fight,”
“The ants’ exoskeletons should be used for armor. I guess that’s a way we can make money out of this layer,” Jack replied, knocking on the queen.
“Won’t we find gold around here?” Arad asked.
“Why would there be coins in a dungeon?” Jack scratched his head, “That’s one of the rarest things to happen,”
“The only time such a thing happen is when monsters get out of the dungeon and attack people outside and steal money. Or when we have a dragon or a lich inside,” Aella said with a smile.
The three looked around for the entrance to the next layer.
***
Back in Alina. The mage finally ended up in the silver moon inn.
The bartender looked at the mage with a smile. “What should I get you?” He asked.
“A clean room, that’s all,” The man said, taking his room key and going upstairs.
“William,” Gojo appeared, sitting on the counter, “Which room did he get?”
William jumped, “Ah! Where did you come from?”
Gojo smiled, “The guild. Can you answer my question?”
“He got room number twelve. Why are you asking,” William replied with a puzzled face.
“Nina doesn’t seem to be comfortable with that man. I’m keeping an eye on him for her.” Gojo looked at the tavern behind him. People were drinking like it was their last day.
“Nina?” William took a step back, “I hope she won’t go on a rampage again,”
“She went on a rampage?” Gojo smiled, “When?”
“A few years ago, she destroyed several buildings and almost took my tavern down,” William sighed, “Just don’t start a fight here,”
“Don’t worry,” Gojo smiled, but suddenly the mage walked downstairs and left the inn.
“Already leaving? I guess he only intends to use the room for sleeping,” Gojo stared at William, “You have a spare key? Give it to me,”
“Customer privacy, I can’t give you that,” William replied.
Gojo smiled, “Fine. See you later,” He stood and walked away. He then left the inn without saying a word.
“That was easy,” William sighed. He got back to his work.
Thud! Upstairs, one of Gojo’s snow clones appeared holding the room’s spare key, “If he won’t give it to me, I can take it on my own,” With a smile, he approached room number twelve and opened it.
The room looked normal as if the mage only walked in to leave. “Did he leave anything,” Gojo searched the room without making a mess, and in the end, he found nothing of interest. “I should keep following him,”
The mage walked across the streets, searching for an alchemist’s shop, and he soon found one.
CLING! CLING! The mage pushed the shop’s door open, and a small bell rang, “Excuse me, is someone here?”
“I’m coming!” A man walked from the back door, smiling, “What could I get you?”
“One of my friends should have bought potions from you, and they might have got the prices mixed up,” The mage said with a smile.
“Can you tell me the name?” The shop owner looked at his ledger.
“I don’t know exactly who,” The mage scratched his head, “The order was made for a still unnamed party. It could be for any one of Arad, Jack, or Aella,” 𝚍ｎ𝚘ｖ𝚕.𝚝
The shopowner nodded, “For an adventurer party? I keep those in the back ledger. Excuse me for a moment,” He turned and went to the back.
The shopowner pulled a small letter from his drawer when he felt a cold knife at his neck, “Don’t make a noise,” Gojo whispered, “Don’t give him anything,”
The shop owner smiled, “Jack warned me from telling anyone about what he buys.” The owner showed Gojo a sealed letter, “It has the flora toxin, one whiff and he would be suffering from diarrhea for days,”
Gojo smiled, “So you already know how to act,” He pulled out his knife and left the shop owner.
“Jack is a seasoned thief. It won’t do for me to be lacking around him,” The shop owner walked back to the mage and handed him the letter, “This is the purchase details. Please give it to Jack only. Don’t open it as you would get me in trouble with him,” The shop owner smiled, handing the letter to the mage.
“Thank you,” The mage smiled, leaving as soon as he could.
After walking for a while in the back streets, the mage stopped and looked at the letter.
The mage lifted his wand, pointing at the letter with a smile, “Let’s see what we got here,” His wand flashed briefly with a blue light, and he frowned.
“I see, poison.” The mage opened the letter and looked at the content, “Health potions, mana potions…Seems like a normal order,” He sighed, “It’s fake,”
He then kept walking.
Gojo stood far behind the mage, “Why is this man looking for Arad’s party so much?” He sighed, “Let’s leave a clone after him,” He let one of his clones chase the mage while he returned to the guild.
“Nina, can we talk?” Gojo asked as soon as he entered the guild.
“Of course, but where are the rest of your party?” Nina replied.
“Dealing with some personal stuff,” Gojo replied as he approached the counter. “Let’s get the private room,”
The two walked to the private room. Gojo told Nina about everything he found so far, “Won’t this be enough to kick him out of the city?”
Nina shook her head, “Sadly, no. The dragon he wants to kill is legit, and in his order, the quest is to help with his research, which is supported by the mage tower. I can’t just kick him out without causing a problem,”
Gojo scratched his chin, “What if the dragon he wanted to have killed died?”
“Are you suggesting that we send someone else to kill the dragon? He won’t like that.” Nina shook her head.
“I’m not saying you should send someone,” Gojo smiled, “How far is this dragon?”
“About two days away,” Nina said, and Gojo smiled, “That’s pretty close,” He then stood.
“What do you intend to do?” Nina stood, staring at him.
“Nothing,” Gojo smiled, “I’m just going to have a walk,”
***
“Hey, Vars,” Gojo approached Vars, who was doing some research in the city’s library, “Did you find anything?”
Vars looked at Gojo, smiling, “The noble Goldfin has been outside the city for a few days. He will return three days from now and go through the whispering canine of the east,”
“Should we catch him there?” Gojo asked.
“No, we need him to get into the office personally and bring the vault’s details. We would ambush him and kidnap his wife and daughter,” Vars smiled.
“We use them to force him to work with us,” Gojo stared at Vars, “But we release them later,”
“Of course,” Vars smiled, “Unless Goldfin tries to be a pain in the ass,”
Gojo sighed, “Fine, we can’t let the artifact get in the wrong hand, especially humans.”
“Of course,” Vars nodded, “As I told you, that Artifact is an important elven relic of the great Queen Sylph Zylphyra. We better retrieve it before a war break between the two races.”
“I know, I know. One or two lives won’t matter to stop a war.” Gojo sighed, “Forget that for now. Can you send me somewhere?”
Vars sighed, “You want to go kill the black dragon?”
“You know me very well,” Gojo smiled, wrapping his arm around Vars’s neck, “We’re really friends,”
“Stop it!” Vars pushed Gojo away, “I will send you there, but make sure your return before the ambush,”
“I will return before tomorrow,” Gojo smiled, “But I need you to retrieve me,”
“Of course, Just take this,” Vars handed Gojo a piece of paper, “Tear it when you want to return, and I will teleport you back,”
Gojo smiled, “If the black dragon died, the mage would have no reason to stay,”
“I doubt your plan will work,” Vars sighed.
***
Thud! Inside the dungeon, Arad, Aella, and Jack finally found a way toward the fourth layer, and to their surprise, it was blocked with a stone.
“Should I just dig around it?” Arad asked, knocking on the stone with his fist. Jack inspected the stone and frowned, “It seems to have been pushed up into the hole instead of falling in it.”
“What do you mean?” Aella asked.
“The monsters of the fourth layer have used it to clog the way leading to the third layer. They didn’t want anything to do with the ants.” Jack scratched his head.
“Are you saying they might be smart?” Arad stared at Jack.
“I don’t know,” Jack shook his head, “I would say only goblin smart, but there isn’t many monsters who can achieve that,”
“What about Kobolds?” Aella asked.
“No, those are far smarter, and we aren’t deep enough in the ground to find them,” Jack replied, “Those half-lizards like gems and gold,”