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Volume 4

Chapter 23: Thor Agrees

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Siva left the office and outside, he contacted ‘her’.

—I need Garin. Can you get him for me?

After a while…

[Master, I feel jealous. Why Garin and not me? I even bought a new set of underwear for you to see.]

—I don’t want to…

He paused and erased the message.

—Let’s talk about that later. I need Garin to teach me how to teleport in different places.

[Ah master, are you perhaps going somewhere?]

—North Continent. I’m on a mission.

[Ow, if you’re going to ask him to send you away, it’s not gonna work. The gates only work if the host have at least visited the destination once. Garin and I almost started at the same time so I know that he hasn’t been to the North Side.]

—I see. That’s unfortunate. Then how about you teach me how these gates work then?

The reply came a little longer.

[Only if you punish me… with your wet tongue. Rawr.]

“…”

Siva did not reply and the pause on the thread of the messages took so long that a follow up email was sent.

[…or your hand. Spank me! Twice!]

“…”

[Master, I beg you please! At least verbally punish me!]

Siva thought bitterly. Just why is his luck with women in the wrong side of the coin? He sighed heavily.

He summoned his communicator and put it on his ear, dialing the girl’s ID number. It only rang once before a hair raising moan greeted on the other line.

[Oooohh, Master? Speak for me please…]

“Teach me how to —are you in the shower?.”

[Yes, master! I’m naked! Er, I mean, I was taking my bath and is naked, so uhm…]

Siva endured the thunder of what those words literally meant and gulped down his arising men genes. He need to focus his thoughts.

“Forget that. I need you to teach me how to get to these gates. It’s important that I get them before sunset.”

[Oh, that’s a problem.]

“Why?”

[Getting the gates to work needs at least a day to find it and another day to activate it. But the hardest part of it is actually accessing the Magus Archive which is the link between these gates.]

Siva clicked his tongue. But in order not to throw his frustration to his loyal servant, he sighed instead.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have time. But still, how do I get to this archive?”

[The first thing you need to do is talk to a Book Keeper in any library in any city. If it’s a guy, he will ask you if you have a cat that purrs in your lap. Tell him yes then come and find me. If it’s a girl, leave immediately and do not engage her in a conversation.]

“Why does that sound like one sided?”

[Master, the girl Book Keeper will curse you!]

“I see. But I have a problem with that, how do I know that I can meet a Book Keeper?”

[Ah, you have a Blue Card, right?]

Siva was taken in surprise. “How did you know?”

[(Uuhm) Crown Hotel in (Aah) Maria only accepts clients with a Blue Caaaard…uhm… from Loire. If not, then you’re either with an NPC aristocrat or a player (Ooh) awarded with a noble (Uuhm) title. That’s one reason why it’s named Crown Hotel.]

Siva gulped as listened to the voice on the other line.

“I-I see. Thank you.”

[Aaahh… Aaahh… huh? Oh, please, Master, continue talking to me. I’m already close to—]

Siva cut the line before his Dragon fully awakens.

The curse that Cassiopeia had on him was as strong of an impression —in par with the spell that Rafaela can put on his heart. He felt like he was going to die of excitement so he cut the line before he had heart attack.

He still had 6 hours left until the deadline the manager set for the mission. At least he dedicated to spend this time preparing for uncertainties on this upcoming quest.

“To the library then…”

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In the Inn, the members of The Destroyer chasing group all logged in at the same agreed time.

As irritated as she was, Loni was stomping the ground as the other members were late by either five or ten minutes. They were allowed to spend the time in the Inn by courtesy of the owner, Dante, who was fortunately a very close relative of one of the team’s member.

The last one to log in was the Arch Mage’s friend and she just have to spat on the ground to ease her anger.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Loni, again, spat on the ground as she went to the Arch Mage’s side. Everyone was there, including members of Volt’s group who came earlier than Loni. They were the ones who came from the Inn’s entrance side.

“You done with your errands?” She asked them.

“What’s with you and your attitude?” Samara retorted in the same frowning expression as Loni. The two were like cats about to make a fight over the cat food.

Sparks were flying between their glares and it was only dispelled when Scion spoke.

“Please, shouldn’t we be working together, not bicker with one another? Miss Samara, Miss Loni… please?”

Smooth, sweet, placating, soothing, Scion’s request is like a guilty conscience 100 times more effective than the personal version.

The two made “hmp” at the same time they diverted their glares. Loni frowning at the wall, Samara at Volt.

“Let’s use the information sir Dante gave us and speed up our search for him. Alice, can you help me here?”

From the side, FlowerLord, followed by Kathleen who was fixing her whiskers with her paw, sat down on the sofa of the empty lounge.

“Short meeting, everyone.”

““Don’t order me around!””

Loni and Samara shouted at the same time.

A + was forming on her forehead but Scion calmed her down with a wry smile. Gathered there were Loni and Cramer, with the female guards and members of their expedition group; then there’s Volt’s group; and finally, there’s Scion, FlowerLord, and Kathleen Brew.

“Now,” FlowerLord opened up, glaring sharply at the two contrarians. “The lead we have says almost nothing to his next destination. However we can be sure that when Señor Dante said that he is aiming to collect all the treasures he can find, the only logical place he’d be selling them is here.”

“The only problem is, we don’t have time to wait for him to come back here since he was actually just here.”

“So you want to chase his tail again?”

When Loni chimed in, Samara rebuked her sarcastically that made FlowerLord yell, “You’re going to waste time chasing his tail. It’s best to just trap him here.”

“But waiting here will give us nothing. Besides that’s not even the real reason you wanted us to sit down here, isn’t it?”

Loni’s words bade a pause in the crowd. As the women took over the floor, the men could only endure as they don’t want to be subjected to their crossfires. And just as they were all put into silence, that’s where Scion bid them to pause and spill the beans.

“I beg you. Everyone. Please… can‘t we work on this together. I know we have our differences but we have a similar agenda, right? At least we can use that to work out a way on finding him together.”

FlowerLord had beads of sweat on her face as she tried to press her lips to stop herself form speaking. She can’t say it, of course, the secret she was holding back is for Scion’s own sake.

“But we really can’t tell you his location.” Samara told this to Loni with an expression of reserved worry as she glanced at Volt. “Like we said, his secrets are what’s going to put you all in danger from the people that hold his neck. That’s why we can’t tell you his location in the real world.”

So, in regards to Rex’s real world whereabouts, the one with the biggest pull here is their group, FlowerLord thought. But there is one of them, the White Mage, who was earnestly trying to find him inside the game.

—that means it’s either he is guarded by the ‘danger’ so he keeps them away, or…

—Rex had been relocated and that’s why they are trying to find him so that they can check his whereabouts.

—or maybe he was, just like what we learned, actually pushing everyone away so that he could accomplish whatever he wanted to do.

“““Even to the point of abandoning everything…”””

Loni and FlowerLord guessed it as they watched her speak on their group’s behalf. Kathleen, however, had a rather different opinion but all of them concluded that it was perhaps true after all…

The Destroyer wanted to accomplish something alone.

—But to what extent?

—Or to what grounds?

—Just how deep was this reason?

As the three thought of these things simultaneously, their eyes was naturally drawn on Scion’s direction.

FlowerLord ‘s concern is Rex’s or his avatar’s location.

Loni’s concern is that the Dark Group doesn’t get to him before them.

Samara and the others’ concern was to find him as soon as possible so that they could warn him of all the things that he should know. Especially the fact that his life as a person in the game can be used against him in the real world because of the Dark Group.

Tangled troubles concerning a single man.

All of them had reasons to hide their secrets but all of them care for a single man related on their worries.

Kathleen Brew understood this that’s why she was in a fit of smiles on the corner of her seat. She was assessing the situation and was watching quietly like a cat that is in the middle of her hunt for the mice.

They all learned from her Father, the owner of the TV Network that Panorama Corporation commissioned to be an exclusive channel that talks about RPG: Terroa all time of the day, that The Destroyer is searching for priceless information and treasures.

He collects the treasures as a deal to him so that he will be able to supply The Destroyer information about a few note worthy treasures to chase after.

But that’s not all. The Destroyer is also commissioned by another party and their connection was her father.

What she doesn’t know, however, is what for?

At least her nosy reporter skills are telling her all these stuffs via her cat instincts. So she was cleaning her whiskers so that she could detect all important info on this matter without a ditch.

In her mind she was asking herself over and over, just how deep is this reason for The Destroyer to leave such an impression to these kind people?

She can tell that these people are all good people that is only concerned to him. As impossible as it seem to be, and as laughable the situation may get, the matter of the their concern remains dangerously mysterious.

Terrorists, wanting to use in-game Inventions to cause havoc in the world, was chasing after The Destroyer…

Loni’s seemingly selfless, and although foolish heroic effort to avoid that happening…

Scion’s personal, heart-felt intentions to find him…

Volt’s group’s reason to hide the information about his real world whereabouts, and yet still wants to find him in the game…

His father knew all of these things and the reasons that connects them but knowing him, he couldn’t share that information to her to teach her to look it up for herself and learn what needs to be learnt in the dangerous field of journalism.

She knew her father had also gone through the same things on his youth that perhaps led him to the person he is now. A mysterious businessman.

But instead of cowering, Kathleen was even excited to the fact that this was a major story.

All she had to do is to gather all the facts and then put them in a memory bank somewhere in her mind so that she can access them in the future whenever she wants.

She just couldn’t hide her smile.

As the sounds of giggling noises echoed in the lounge, eyes were dragged to her direction until their attention was snatched away again by an opening of a door.

“Uuuurgh… Master is really stingy but he even faltered when I was moaning in —what are you looking at?!”

Silence. A girl in thin, semi-wet bath robe and wet hair, murmuring, stepped out of the room in some corner.

Cassiopeia is Cassiopeia.

Has an irritatingly loud mouth and a knack to enslave ‘men of certain preferences’ in just a flick of her finger.

But with all of her excellent physical merits, she has a major flaw. She just can’t read the mood.

She’s not even trying to look around the faces of these people in the lounge as she turned to the door adjacent from her own room.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

The door opened and Garin peeked from the small opening with charred face from magic experiment.

“What?”

“Hey Garin, I’m going to meet the master. Do you want to come with me? He said he’s in the middle of an A-rank mission in Tiara.”

“A-ranked mission? Is that a joke? And why are you even calling The Destroyer your master?!”

BLAG!

DAGDAGDAGDAGDAGDAGDAG…!!

Sounds of heavy footfalls echoed.

Three shadows appeared behind Cassiopeia and Garin’s eyes widened as he saw the owner of one of the faces that owned them.

“What the… hey!”

“Sorry!”

Garin slammed the door and Cassiopeia screamed in anger but when she turned around…

“Who did you say your master was again?” Loni had a twitching smile at her face. A floating black material in the shape of spear was atop Cassiopeia’s head.

“Where is he heading again?”

The priestess, however, had a pained expression that is like a baby puppy begging for food.

“Please, take us with you!”

And at that moment, the small device on Cassiopeia’s ear blinked twice and Kathleen snatched it with a hand- speed that surpassed human limits.

She put a hand on her mouth and answered the call.

“Hello, Master?” She mimicked a tone.

[Cassiopeia, I’m in the library, the male Book Keeper is asking for my cat. I told him to wait so I called you. I need you in the library now.]

“Hmmm!! Hmmmmp!!”

Cassiopeia was struggling but two pairs of hands were keeping her restrained. Kathleen replied like a cat girl.

“The library is it? Then please wait for me there, oh my Master. Ooohhhhh…”

Although her performance made the men gulp and the women raise their brows, the call was cut and they all got the information they wanted from the newly bathed girl.

FlowerLord and Loni freed her and Cassiopeia started to yell in anger.

“Pwah! What the hell…?!”

But FlowerLord summoned four more Dark Spears and she stabbed Cassiopeia at the right places where it was just a few centimeters away from injuring her face.

“One, you don’t talk unless I order you. And two, you’ll make sure that you see The Destroyer and tell us where he is. Or else, I will make sure that you will not be the pretty you each and every time I’m online.”

With the two fingers raised, Cassiopeia nodded.

“Good. Now let’s go. You don’t want to be late meeting your master, are you?”

The entire party departed and the men was left behind in the back. They had sweat all over their faces and they exchanged glances along with a nod.

—Women are crazy scary when they’re angry.

An understanding was made that day.