Chapter 32 - Followed and Ambushed

Arthur went down the stairs, going back to the shop’s first floor. That’s where he saw Louise.

The first thing she looked at wasn’t him but Yuki, who was wrapped around Arthur’s neck.

"So cute," she said, getting closer and cuddling the little creature.

When she touched him, though, Yuki moved and hid inside Arthur’s clothes. He was hidden away underneath his cloak.

"My father explained things," Louise said, crossing her arms and sighing, "unbelievable. Also, when the hell did you learn how to tame a beast? I thought you were a blacksmith."

Arthur smirked.

"I can do many things, you can’t even imagine."

Only after a few seconds did Arthur realize that the phrase came out a little weird, so he coughed, "Anyway, what do you want?"

"Ehh, nothing much. Just came here to see the little creature. I noticed a few Chosen Ones are getting really close to the city. I think they might come here tomorrow."

Shadow Cloak was already in the city, but the rest of the player base was still a little behind on levels. A good number of players would reach the city the following day, but the bigger mass of players would flock to the city in 2 or 3 days.

"Yes. I think so too."

Louise stood there as if she had something else to say.

"My father wants me to visit a mountain village not that far from here," she said, "we need to gather ores from a mine up there and herbs for potions. I talked to him about your... special power. You know, storing items who knows where."

She was referring to the inventory that the players had. NPCs had a leveling system, but the quest rewards and inventory, as well as the forum and other things, were only available to players, obviously.

"I was thinking that you might want to come? The monsters in the area aren’t that strong, so you can level up, and you can bring all the herbs and ores without us having to go there with a carriage. What do you say?"

[New Quest]

[A Journey With Louise]

[Go with Louise to the mountain village and bring ores and magical herbs for potions]

[Quest Rank: C]

[Rewards: Fixed - EXP and Coins]

[Special Rewards depend on how you finish the quest]

The quest wasn’t difficult, as it was just a C-Rank, and it sounded pretty good too. All Arthur had to do was go with her, level up in the process, and bring back ores and magical herbs!

Those items were needed for the shop’s opening in 2 days. Mayor Ray wanted their crafters to produce HP and MP potions, so the herbs were for that, and the ores were for low-level items.

Arthur, having his special class, couldn’t craft the items for the general masses, so Ray had to rely on his other crafters.

"Sounds fun," Arthur said with a smile, "when do we leave?"

"Now?"

Arthur still had one more contract to make, so he was still figuring out which one to use.

Maybe a healing class? Or another Rogue to boost his agility even further and maximize his build? Maybe change things up a little bit and focus more on magical classes?

He had chosen the rogue first because it was the best class at the early stages, and it was still true, but now that he had Yuki to fight with him, maybe other classes would be better?

Anyway, he wanted to use his other contract slot, as there was no reason not to. If he did, then his strength would improve.

Point Blank was someone he was thinking of offering the contract to. She was trustworthy, and her Ranger class used agility as well, so it would merge well with his current Rogue class.

But he decided to do that after he returned from the mission with Louise. Point Blank would have reached level 10 by then, so she would be in the city, making things easier for him.

"Sure, let’s leave, then," Arthur said.

"Great!"

They left the shop together. Louise had a horse waiting for them outside! She would be the one riding it while Arthur was on the back, holding her waist.

Of course, Arthur recorded a quick clip of it, and posted it in the forums just to see the reaction.

The players were going insane.

"How the hell does he have a wife already? Why is this NPC helping him so much?"

"Where are they going together? Maybe on their honeymoon?"

Some fangirls were even getting angry at his post.

"We’ll find this lady and make her pay!"

Arthur giggled reading those comments. Players were really funny sometimes, and cringe too.

Anyway, he left the city by horse. Not through the main gate most players used, but through another one, a back gate that led somewhere else.

This mountain village wasn’t in the same direction the players were coming from. It was in the north, going up a small treacherous mud road that had a thick forest on one side, and a gorgeous view on the other.

The view up the mountain was of the city of Snow Pine, as well as the region around it. It was so damn gorgeous.

Arthur and Louise stopped there, using a rope and a tree to tie up the horse, just taking in the scenery. It was getting dark, and with it, Arthur knew he would soon log off.

The game had a time limit of hours to play, but the time inside the game was different from the IRL time. The reason was simple: while the players could only play 10 hours a day, they wanted each player to experience a 24 hour cycle inside the game.

This would make sure all players could still get quests that only happened during the nighttime in game, so no one was harmed by the time limit.

"I think we should camp here," Louise said.

They brought a tent and some supplies that were on the horse.

"We should keep moving," Arthur replied to her.

"Why is that?"

Arthur had started playing the game early in the morning, so it would be late afternoon when he logged out, aka 6 am in the game.

He explained that to Louise while they rode the horse together.

"So you have to go to a different realm, all Chosen Ones go, and rest before your body can return to this plane?" she said.

"Yeah, pretty much. I’ll have to go when it’s morning, and then, you’ll have to wait until I return, so it would be best if we reached the village, actually."

This would make things way easier. Arthur didn’t want to have to log in earlier just because of Louise. If they reached the village, then she would have a place to stay and do whatever she wanted while he was out of the game.

It was just how the game worked, there was no way to go around it. The game company couldn’t let people play 24 hours straight, as they didn’t have a proper way to feed the players through the game capsule.

Well, maybe they had, but laws didn’t allow that. The government still wanted players to leave and do other things. Some had to work, so they didn’t even play 10 hours.

Those who played full time had to leave, go to the gym, eat properly, and do other things, not just get stuck in the game 24 hours a day.

Anyway, because of that, they changed plans. Louise thought they would camp and sleep, but they decided to keep going up the mountain.

"The number of monsters increases during the night, so be ready."

Yuki had been out of the water for quite a while now, and Arthur didn’t bring a bucket of water with him.

"Do you know if there’s a river? I think Yuki wants to swim."

"Yuki? Ah, your pet, which should be mine... Yes, I know where we can find a river."

They left the main mud road and took an auxiliary one that led deep into the forest.

It was hard to see at night, so Louise had a magical light following them. She knew quite a few useful spells.

"I’ve visited this mountain village a few times, that’s why I know about this river."

"Why did you visit it before?"

Arthur just wanted to keep a conversation going to know more about her.

"It’s pretty. No other reason. You’ll see when we get there."

They rode along that road for only five minutes, moving slowly on the horse. The poor creature was already tired, yet they still had a few more hours to go.

Once near the river, Yuki jumped into it, finally getting the water he needed to keep himself alive. The horse also stopped to drink.

Everyone took the time to rest again. It would still take them three more hours to reach the village.

Then, a group of ten people showed up. Arthur wasn’t expecting it.

All of them were players.

They circled around him with their weapons drawn.