39 Flair

As the party made its way out of the dojo, Aldrien called out one last time.

"Milords, I have called upon a servant named Evie to attend to your needs and show you around the tower. She should meet with you on the way."

"Thank you, Aldrien," Shesmu replied. "You shouldn't have gone so far."

"It's my duty."

With the exchange of flatteries done, the party made its way out of the room.

"Oh, seems like lots of people came while we were training," Ryan couldn't help but say.

Shesmu looked at the crowd of players before using Inspect on some of them "Yeah, plus their level isn't that bad. Hovering around twelve."

The talk about levels prompted Shesmu to inspect Ryan too. He was already level 15, much like his own self.

Following Shesmu's train of thought, Leo's eyes also focused on Ryan. He exclaimed, "Ohhh, Ryan, you're already 15? Equip the silver dagger, I wanna see you with it."

Ryan couldn't help but grin at Leo's suggestion. "Oh, you want to see me in my fabulous silver wolf coat? My stylish silver wolf king's dagger? Sure! If that's what you want, I shall let you feast your eye on it! Muwahahaha!"

Hearing Ryan's usual speech, Shesmu couldn't help but sigh. While Ryan and Leo bickered about, Shesmu's attention was drawn to a conversation amidst the crowd.

"Did you hear about the monster that's roaming the forest?"

"A monster roaming the forest? What's that supposed to mean? There are so many monsters roaming the forest."

"No, I'm not talking about those. Those monsters are but mobs, the one I'm talking about is a true monster. He killed a party of a hundred level 10 and above players if the rumors are true."

"A hundred level 10 players?! What kind of Boss is this?! Is it one of the clan kings everyone has been talking about?"

"I'm not sure about that. The only thing I know is that the monster was a fox, and it used both fire and frost. And, the most unbelievable part of this whole story was: the monster was level 5."

Shesmu stopped for a second. A fox that uses fire and frost. Is it- are they talking about Isshog?

Shesmu knew of only one fox who used both fire and frost. It was the double evolved Tier 5 monster: Isshog.

I don't remember an incident like this in my past life. Isshog isn't supposed to evolve until much later. Shaman was only able to have it evolve after reaching Tier 1 and went through the trial. This is much too fast.

"-Shesmu. Hey, Shes. From Earth to Shes, do you hear me?"

Finally snapping out of his thoughts, Shesmu looked at Ryan before saying.

"Sorry, let's continue."

Ryan was already clad in his new outfit. A deep blue coat with silver streaks all over it. Shesmu gave Ryan a cursory look before saying, "You're looking good."

Shesmu's praise made Ryan smile and giggle, at the expense of Leo's annoyance.

"Yeah, he is looking good but he doesn't need to rub it on our face."

Ryan ignored Leo's remark and just laughed even more loudly, garnering unwarranted attention from bystanders.

"Damnit Ryan, you're making me embarrassed." Leo blushed. He hurried his friends so as to not be in the spotlight any longer. Shesmu couldn't help but find his reaction cute.

The party marched their way through the crowd and finally reached the entrance of the tower.

"Hey guys, weren't we supposed to be escorted by someone Aldrien sent?" Leo asked.

"Oh, now that you say it, she was supposed to meet us somewhere around here. You think she got lost and couldn't find us?" Ryan suggested.

"Impossible… right? I mean, the whole place is only so big, how could she get-."

"-lost…"

Someone rushed in, cutting him mid sentence. Her pink hair covered her face as she huffed and puffed. She put her hands or her knees as she tried to catch her breath.

"I apologize, huff, your grace, puff, milords. This lowly servant deserves death for not performing her duties. Please tell me your punishment and I will comply."

The girl looked at Shesmu with resolute eyes, showing her determination. However, her constant shaking quickly broke that image and turned it into one of a scaredy cat.

"Your name?" Shesmu asked.

"Your grace, this lowly criminal's name is Evie. Please punish me but I hope that you would spare my family. I can endure any punishment."

Evie's begging raised both Ryan and Leo's eyebrows.

"Huh, I didn't know that you were secretly a tyrant overlord, Shes." Ryan's grin stretched all over his face as he looked at Shesmu.

"Damnit Ryan, now isn't the time," Shesmu murmured under his breath. He leaned in and looked at the scared girl in the eye, a docile smile on his face.

"So your name is Evie. Good name. Don't worry, no one is going to punish anyone. You're safe here."

"Thank you, thank you!" Evie groveled on the ground. "This lowly one's gratitude is eternal. This lowly one's gratitude is eternal!"

The sound and sight of a maiden crawling and shouting on the ground made many eyes turn Shesmu's direction. Even Ryan and Leo couldn't help but snicker at the sight. Seeing that the situation was going to turn messy, he immediately gave a hand to Evie before consoling her.

"Hey Evie, don't worry. You don't need to thank me, no decent human being will punish you for something as petty as this."

After calming Evie down, Shesmu held her hand and helped her all the way to the entrance of the tower.

"Evie, how long have you been working here?" Shesmu asked.

"Yeah, you look like a newbie. Was this your first mission?"

Leo snapped at Ryan's remark.

"Ryan, that's rude."

Ryan just whistled and looked away from Leo, "I didn't say anything."

"Milord is right, this is my first mission. His lordship Aldrien told me to attend to his grace and milords, but never specified that milords were in the main hall. I kept looking everywhere in the plaza but to no end."

Shesmu heard her story and sympathized with her. The world of Ashes of Gods was harsh to peasants. Even an incident as small as spilling water can result in a whole family being massacred. Shesmu couldn't imagine the amount of stress and pressure that was on her shoulders as time went on without finding her targets.

"Well, don't worry about it. All of this is a thing of the past."

Shesmu took a more pensive look at Evie and found a grimoire stuck to her hips by a chain.

"Oh, so you're a mage, I see."

"No, your grace, this lowly one is but an apprentice. I still need to work hard to reach the level of a mage."

"I see," Shesmu responded. "Well, you should keep working hard to grow stronger. Strength is law, such is the way of Stal, no?"

Evie bowed after hearing Shesmu's words, "Your grace's wise words are lost on this lowly one."

"Hey Evie," Ryan cut in, his voice a tone higher than everybody else. "I may not have known Shes for that much, but one thing he hates is flattery like this."

He then marched forward and scratched her head playfully, "Just be natural. It���s better that way, haha."

"Yeah, Ryan is right," Leo added. "We're all just friends. You can be one of us too."

"Sniff sniff, milords!"

The masks cracked and the innocent teen behind them shone through. Evie jumped at Ryan and Leo and hugged them both. Ryan was flustered at first but he couldn't help but soften up. He and Leo laughed with all their hearts.