Chapter 24 - Dark Side

Riku was assigned his first task. His task was to assist the western section of the Arzotoc village. Water scarcity was the exact term used to describe the farmer's current problem.

The Arzotoc village was in the countryside. This means there was a healthy lake nearby, similar to what he saw when he spent a month inside the vast forest.

He needed an air compressor and a metal tube to build the idea that came to him. Also, the villagers were eager to assist him.

But first and foremost, he needed to see the location in order to determine whether or not his idea was feasible.

"I'm ready, lady Arisu?" Riku said, wearing multiple outfits and a white blanket over his face.

In his mind, if the location was the farm, the sunlight would have been much stronger.

"Why are you still wearing those clothes, Riku? You don't know what season it is, don't you?" she asked, as she was the one who felt hotter just looking at him.

Riku was aware that was already summer. But what he could do? His HP was draining little by little every time he was having contact with the sunlight. He already explained to Arisu that he was comfortable wearing those clothes, yet it looked like it was enough to convince her.

So he pretended that he heard nothing. After he tied his boots, he lifted his head and said. "Let's go, lady Arisu, you need to help me to gather some information."  

Arisu couldn't help but smile as the outsider treated her as if they were ordinary friends. Or maybe Riku just knew how to play her since he came from a wealthy family as well.

Arisu and Riku walk out of the room. Suddenly, three guards appeared in the corridor, waiting for Arisu. They knelt on the ground and placed their hands on their left chests.

WE ARE HERE TO GUARD YOU, LADY ARISU!

They said at once, showing how much they respected this woman. Well, for Riku he just remembered his two-row maids.

Arisu didn't appear to be pleased. "Who ordered you to accompany me, Calin?" he inquired of the man with brown hair, fox ears, and orange eyes.

Calin stood in front of her and said politely, "Your father, lady Arisu, King Luke said you need guards to protect you."

Calin appeared to be 24 or 25 years old based on his appearance. This man also had a special feeling for Arisu.

"Don't fool me, Calin, my father will not order you to protect me, and even though I haven't told him where I am right now, he will not look for me. Do you know why?" She was irritated as she knew Calin was doing this because she had been with Riku. It appeared that the maids were the primary reason Calin discovered Arisu in this location.

"Why, lady Arisu?" Calin approached her politely despite the fact that she was irritated with him.

"Because my father trusted this man." She spun around, facing Riku. "You can get rewards after we help the western part."

The two guards and Calin were taken aback though they knew the outsider had already achieved his first successes in this village. As a result, he made significant progress and developed a positive relationship with King Luke and Lady Arisu.

Arisu took Riku's arm and led them to their destination. "Let's go, you're the one who said we shouldn't waste our time sitting around."

Riku was astonished, but he waved his hand to the guards. "We're leaving," he said, mocking them with his expression.

Tsk!

Calin clicked his tongue as his plan to observe the outsider would be hard. Yet, he was persistent as he followed them on their way.

"Let's go, we're all done if we didn't give information to Majesty Cuifer." He said in a deep tone.

It looked like Cuifer wanted to observe this man and find a big opening to attack the outsider.

A horse-drawn carriage was waiting for them outside the guest's hall. He noticed that the horses here were different as they had bulky muscles and aggressive eyes. To put it another way, they appeared to be specially designed for battle.

When the horse rider noticed Lady Arisu standing closer to them, he bowed his head slightly. "G'day, lady Arisu!"

Riku asked, pointing his index finger at the horse. "Did you bring this, lady Arisu?"

She shook her head gradually. "No, it's not mine, but we can use it to get to our destination quickly." It was, in fact, Calin's horse.

Riku looked behind him and saw the guards still standing beside the pillars. In his mind, riding to this thing would benefit him. Why? It was as simple as that: he will avoid direct sunlight contact.

"Hmm... I think we should use it, lady Arisu," he suggested.

They both agreed, so Arisu entered first, followed by Riku. Calin attempted to enter, but Arisu refused and shut the door and red curtain. "It's already crowded here, and I want to feel at ease."

Calin could do anything about it, so he just ordered his men to get a new horse and followed them. "Hurry! They are leaving!"

__

"Lady Arisu, where did you want to go?" the rider politely inquired.

"Bring us to the western part, to the farmer's location," she said, reclining her back against the wooden wall.

Riku was not quite surprised by their transportation as they were having old civilization.

The rider gave her a nod of his head. "Lady Arisu, we'll be there in about thirty minutes," he told them.

"No problem, and thank you," she said before closing her eyes.

He wanted to look around, but it was already afternoon, which meant the sunlight was too bright. So he just did the same thing, closing his eyes and waiting to get there.

...

Arisu and Riku arrived at the location after 35 minutes. "Lady Arisu, this is the only place I can ride you because those wheels are prone to breaking."

Riku stepped outside and noticed the road had come to an end. A dried surface and a large chunk of stone were one meter away.

'Hmm... I believe this location requires improvement. From a distance, there are some houses, but I know they will be washed away if a strong storm hits this area.' He thought to himself as he walked closer to the rider. "Thank you for the ride," he said, bowing his head.

"No, no, no, this is my job." The rider shakes his head and hands in unison.

Arisu stepped out, then walked directly to the entrance. "You can go now, just pick up here tomorrow morning."

He waved his hand at the rider, and for some reason, the eyes horse caught his attention so he took a glance at it for a couple of seconds.

Yeeha!

And then, all of a sudden, the horse became aggressive as it attempted to flee the carriage.

"Hey, Junard! What are you doing? C-Calm down!" the rider yelled as he could no longer control the horse and was thrown into the air and rolled several times to the ground.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

It drew Riku and Arisu's attention as they approached him. "What's wrong, rider?" she inquired, having discovered this man's head had been struck by the sharp stones.

"I don't know, lady Arisu, but I think Junard is afraid of something. B-But I have no idea what it is..." were the last words he could utter before collapsing.

According to their observations, the rider was correct in that the masculine brown horse was terrified.

Arisu yelled at him, "Riku, what are you doing? Come back here! That horse is dangerous!"

He couldn't hear anything as his gaze was fixed on the horse. And as he got closer, the horse became increasingly desperate to be released.

'This horse is scared of me?'

"Hey, Riku! Watch out!"