Norkenheim Village, outskirts of Espat.
Space fluctuated in a forest area and three figures teleported out. They were Lith, Ralph, and Dennis respectively.
Lith looked at the two and said, “let me tell you the plans which we are gonna follow.”
The two nodded their heads in understanding.
Lith sat near a tree and those two did the same. The three were now sitting in a circle, cross legged.
Lith willed the Earth elements around his fingertip and started inscribing things on the ground to show to Ralph and Dennis.
“Look, as far as I know about the outskirts of Espat, there’s a forest here. There’s three levels to the forest. The first level is around 1,000 km² in area, the second level is around 10,000 km² in area and the third level is unknown.” Lith said calmly as he inscribed a few things on the ground.
What he inscribed was two lines diverging from a common point and then two lines in between those two to connect the diverging lines. It sort of looked like an inverted ‘A’ but with another line added in the middle.
“This small portion is the first level. This big portion is the second level, and can you guess which is the third level?” Lith asked the two.
“Don’t you need to draw another line in the middle to have a third portion?” Dennis was the first to speak, and asked without thinking much.
Lith looked at him and so did Ralph.
Ralph took a notebook out of his ring, folded it, and bonked Dennis’s head.
“Why are you hitting me!?” Dennis asked in alarm.
“Think before you speak. Have you not studied the local geography? Do you not know the regions in Espat?”
“Eh? What does that have anything to do with this?” Dennis asked again.
Lith and Ralph facepalmed hearing it. Was this guy pretending to be an idiot or was he really ignorant about it? They had no idea.
“Dennis…” Lith called him out.
“Yes, Your Highness?” Dennis answered.
“Do you know where we are?” Lith asked calmly.
“No.” Dennis shook his head.
Lith and Ralph both stared at him once again.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” Dennis asked in confusion.
“He didn’t pay attention when Muron was talking, I am very much willing to bet on it.” Lith turned to Ralph and said with a smile.
Ralph nodded his head. “There can’t be a bet since I too think the same.”
“Hey what bet? What are you two talking about?” Dennis said in the middle, trying to be a part of the conversation.
“Let’s bet on what he knows from whatever Muron said. How does that sound?” Lith said to Ralph with a smile, ignoring Dennis.
“Done.” Ralph nodded and shook hands with Lith. He too ignored Dennis.
“Hey! Hey! Don’t ignore me!” Dennis said.
“I bet you one meal that he only knows the Rank 9 guy part.” Lith smiled and said, ignoring Dennis once again.
“What’s going on?” Dennis asked, only to be ignored again.
“I bet two meals that he only knows the Rank 9 as well as the guy’s brother being sick.” Ralph said with a small smile on his face.
“Oh crap! I forgot that part!” Lith said.
Dennis was circling the ground and minded his own business after he saw the two repeatedly ignore him.
“You can’t change your bet now. Let’s confirm it.” Ralph said.
Lith nodded in approval. Ralph hit Dennis’s head again with the book and said,
“Oi idiot, do you remember the guy Lith was talking to in church?”
Noticing that he was finally given attention to, Dennis became happy and to answer Ralph, he quickly nodded his head and said, “yes, yes. I do. My memory is good.”
“What do you remember about him?” Ralph asked straight to the point.
“Oh! So you two were talking about that guy! And wait… What the hell! You two are betting on my memory!?” Dennis quickly connected the dots and asked.
Dennis nodded his head. Whatever Lith said made sense to him. “What I do remember is that the guy has a sick brother, is from Jingmei Guild and there’s a powerful Rank 9 werewolf in that guild whom we should be cautious of and avoid. And we are here in this place because we want to help him.”
“And what place is this?” Lith asked. If this question was answered correctly by Dennis, the bet would be void, since that would mean Dennis basically knows everything.
“I don’t know. You didn’t tell me and just sent the coordinates.” Dennis said.
Lith nodded and said, “we are in the outskirts of Espat. This place is close to Norkenheim Village and also is at the edge of the Kunlor Forest.”
“I see. So we are on the outskirts. But why did you ask us to be here?” Dennis asked in confusion again.
“I’ll explain it to you. But do you not recall what the Kunlor Forest is?” Lith asked.
Dennis shook his head. He didn’t recall. He had not even heard of, truth to be told.
“It’s a forest which extends from Espat and acts as a border between the two other countries of the Neutral Continent. That border is then connected to a jungle and this jungle leads further to the unexplored areas of the Neutral Continent.” Lith explained calmly.
“Okay. I understand now.”
“Anyway, look at this inscription. This area represents the first level of Kunlor Forest. We are currently a few kilometres away from Norkenheim Village which acts as a start point of this forest. And from there we are gonna…’
Lith began explaining about the plans and stopped joking around with Ralph.
Ralph too shoved aside the thoughts of the bet and first focused on the plan Lith was saying.
Dennis paid attention too.
.
.
.
…..
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