Chapter 142: Second meeting (1)

"Next mission?" General Zhang frowned, "is this another one of your premonition stuff again, edgy prince?"

Premonition? Next mission? Uh, was there a possibility where he knew about the missions that were yet to come out?

"Yes. I'll just say this once. It will be beneficial for both of us if we join forces," Eli sneaked a glance at me before continuing, "but know that my side will still survive even if you don't join us."

"Ooh, and did you also see that in your 'premonition', Elias?" General Zhang smirked as an evil glint flickered in his eyes.

"Actually, yes," Eli surprisingly nodded, "I did see that. You can use your judgment to decide whether I'm lying or not."

"Nah, I know you're not lying. You wouldn't go through all this trouble if you're lying. You're not the type to waste your time like that." General Zhang smirked.

"Well, what do you say, then?"

Silence fell when the question was asked, and even general Owen and general Enzo looked anxious. I glanced at Luke, who was surprisingly quite calm about this whole thing.

"Shouldn't your friend say yes?" Luke leaned into me, whispering into my ears.

"I mean…" I paused, glancing at the two hostages that we had just rescued, "you see, they—no, maybe the whole citizen of Alistair, our town, have a rocky relationship with that man over there." I explained while I pointed at Eli, also whispering.

"And then?"

"And then what?" I asked him back.

"I don't understand. And then? I mean, so what if you guys got a rocky history with him? Even I can sense that his mana is unbelievably strong. If he wants to join forces, even just for a while, isn't that great?" Luke whispered while shrugging his shoulders.

"Uh… Well, it's pretty uncommon to team up with someone who got a bad history with your team. Won't that create new problems? Like trust issues, and demoralizing the troops and so on?" I crossed my arms in front of my chest and tilted my head.

"Uhh. I'm not sure. That's something only you humans do. We never had problems like that," he sighed and shook his head, "you see, that's probably why some monsters are better at teamwork than some humans. It's because they don't think too much, and they don't think about unnecessary things like that."

"… Okay, you got a point," I scratched my head, "but well, our troops are mostly humans. So we have to make a decision based on that, too, right?"

"Ugh, yeah. Now that part's troublesome," he sighed while touching his forehead, "humans, they always stress over unimportant matters. Or should I say, less important matters? Sometimes they have a habit of ignoring the big problem and emphasizing the smaller problems, you know? Tsk, tsk."

"… You're talking to one right now. But, I kinda agree." I said as I scrunched my nose in disapproval.

"You're kind of not human, but okay." He snickered.

"Hey. That thing sure is active." Eli suddenly remarked, his eyes following my movements.

"Sure is. She's healthy, so isn't it normal to be active?" General Zhang just giggled upon hearing that.

"Annoying. My head hurts." He clicked his tongue while looking down.

Excuse him? Me? I was making his head hurt? By talking from so far away with someone that was not him?

"Hey! What the hell is your problem!?" I finally snapped and jumped down the hole in anger, "if anything, you're the one giving me a headache. If you're only here to discuss your plan with this eel, then just discuss. Why do you feel like you need to comment badly on others? How am I bothering you?"

"Huh?" He flinched and took one step backwards when I closed in on him.

"Well? Any excuse why you're being such an asshole? Or will you finally shut up and admit that you're doing that for no reason?" I growled while glaring back at him. Who said that he was the only one who could glare at people?

"… What is wrong with this thing?"

"Eel, does he often do this kind of stuff? Calling people as 'things'?" I turned my head towards general Zhang, who answered me by shaking his head from side to side.

"You're not from this world. So why are you claiming to be a part of 'people'?" Eli asked back, much to my annoyance.

"Whatever. I'm done explaining myself to others. This isn't the first time someone called me non-human," I sighed and rolled my eyes, "but don't you think you need to maintain mutual respect with someone you're going to work with?"

Eli raised an eyebrow and looked at general Zhang, "this thing—"

"Yeah, she's a part of our team. That part is kinda non-negotiable, so let's just have a mutual understanding, shall we~?" General Zhang quickly answered while pointing at me.

"… Alright," Eli instantly agreed, much to my surprise, "I do have some wonders about… Her, too. I guess it's for the best."

"Me? What do you want to know? I don't even know much about myself anymore." I shrugged. After speaking with him for only a short amount of time, I already felt like I was talking to a new person. A part of me rejoiced because there might be a possibility that he wasn't the same Eli that I knew, but another part of me felt like my whole world had just crumbled.

"Your purpose." He stated firmly.

"My purpose?" I parroted back, thinking that I might've misheard.

"Why did you come here?" He asked and took a step forward towards me, before getting blocked off by general Zhang, "ever since you came here, the missions are progressing in a weird way. Are you a dark horse that will slowly bring doom to this world, or are you someone that brings hope into this world?"

… Me?

"Uh, neither." I quickly answered with a flat expression.

"What?" Eli flinched, probably not expecting my dry answer.

"You're asking about the extremes. Most people fall into the middle zone, not the extremes. You do realize that I'm only a newbie here who doesn't have a huge influence, right?" I sighed, "so why do you expect me to have a big role? I'm probably just another NPC in your story, since you're some kind of a big shot here, and that's okay to me. At least I'm my own main character."

"… That's exactly why I'm confused," he let out a sigh that was deeper than mine, "you're… I don't know, you're like a newly-hatched duckling, and yet the course of the missions is—forget it, I'm getting another headache just by looking at you."

"Huh? Did he just insult my face?" I turned towards Luke as I felt a vein popped on my forehead.

"Pfft—Hahahahah!" The golden-eyed man just laughed and rolled on the ground instead of helping me.

"Alrighty! Everything aside, it seems like we'll be working with each other from now on~" General Zhang clapped his hands together and averted the topic skillfully.

I opened my mouth to protest since we haven't heard the other members' opinions, but surprisingly, everyone else looked pretty okay with it. By pretty okay, I meant there was almost no reaction from them. Only a slight eyebrow raise and a sigh from Owen, and none from general Enzo.

Huh, perhaps general Zhang was unexpectedly reliable in making this kind of decision?

"Good. If you've decided, then hurry up and claim this throne." Eli exhaled, as if his energy was drained just by talking to us. I had a feeling that our cooperation wouldn't go as smoothly as planned…

"Well, mind telling us how to claim the throne, Mr. Know-it-all~?" General Zhang teased him by poking his arm a few times. Pretty weird to see them act like they were friends when the last time I saw them together, they were like strangers who were busy trying to kill each other.

"Ugh. I've already told you before, haven't I? Either the leader gives it to you, or you kill the leader. That's why I advised you to not go against the elves, since they have this automatic succession system. You won't be able to get their throne unless you force them to give it to you." Eli sighed and rubbed his temples.

"Hey, it wasn't my idea, it was hers," general Zhang giggled and pointed at me, "but it went well, though~"

"Hers?" Eli peeked at me, before turning away again, "this is what I meant by changing the—ugh, whatever."

"… He's so grumpy." I muttered under my breath, which Eli apparently heard since he was now shooting a sharp glare at me.

"Not that, edgy princey~ I mean, where is this minotaur leader that you speak of?" General Zhang chuckled and looked around us.

"Not too far from here. I've taken care of him for you." Eli replied and with one jump, he managed to get out of the hole that we've made before.

"Ooh~ So you already knew that we were going to accept your proposal? Scary~" General Zhang teased him and followed him out of the hole, but not before grabbing the three of us, me and the other two generals, to help us get out of the hole.

"I didn't. I just figured that you weren't stupid enough to reject my proposal," Eli shrugged, "if you didn't accept, I'd just kill the minotaur leader myself, so you'll have no choice but to take the elves' throne, reducing both of your numbers."

"Spooky~ So relentless." General Zhang giggled in response.

"Well, if you didn't accept, we would become enemies in the next mission anyway." The dark-haired man replied as he started to walk, to which we followed.

"What's the next mission about?" The carefree general asked while he threw the three of us onto the ground once we were out of the hole already.

"Ack! So rough!" I protested and rubbed my head that hit the floor upon landing.

After glaring at me for god-knows-why, Eli finally opened his mouth to say,

"our next mission is…"