Chapter 116 - New Party Members 2_2

"Why can't I take that Airship?"

"Because that Airship is mine!" Lostria's hands clutched the collar of my shirt even tighter. She's getting irritated.

"The Airship is a treasure. I don't think it belongs to anyone."

"You..." The woman wanted to say something but chose to push me. A moment later she walked away.

"Where are you going?"

"That's none of your business!" She responded with a shout.

"If you want to find that Airship, you better join me!" I told her. 

Lostria stopped then turned to look at me. "I have no reason to join you."

"Well... I think you'll probably have it after hearing things I like to say," I told Lostria. Then, I signaled her to sit in her former chair.

Lostria looked hesitant before accepting my offer. She returned and sat in her chair.

"I'll say, I'm ready to fund an exploration and can go to search that Airship, the Red Comet in less than a week. I also know the shortcut to where the Airship is located. Lastly, I need a Helmsman, and aren't you good at it?"

I've already said things I want to say. Now, I just have to wait for the response of this red-haired woman.

Her red eyes investigated me while her pretty face formed a thinking expression. Not long after, she bit the bottom of her seductive lips.

Lostria took a deep breath then, "as I said earlier, I have no reason to join you."

"Really? Are you sure? If you don't join me, you'll lose that Red Comet forever."

"I won't lose the Red Comet, I'll get the Airship before you can touch it and I'll make it true," she declared with a strong devotion.

And yes, she can make those words real. 

Lostria is key. The tattoo on her stomach became part of the Magic Circle that locked, hid, and to revive the dying Red Comet.

Copying the tattoo?

No one could do it because the tattoo wasn't made of ink, it was made of Mana and it was, as I said earlier, a part of a Magic Circle. If the tattoo can be copied easily, the Lostria family does not need to pass the tattoo to their children for generations.

That tattoo is extremely valuable.

Without her and the tattoo, even if I get to where the Red Comet is, I wouldn't be able to retrieve the Airship because I didn't have a part of the Magic Circle I mentioned earlier.

I had to recruit Lostria while keeping her from knowing the importance of the tattoo on her stomach.

And to be honest, I never thought, I had the opportunity to almost be able to take the reward of a Quest without having to accept or complete the Quest.

With such a possibility, I got the idea to take the precious reward from some Quests that I didn't want to take. And again, before I do it, I have to ascertain whether the Quests Giver of those Quests exists in this world.

Now, let's get back to my issue with Lostria.

"Are you truly sure about that? I know you're in an extremely unfavorable position right now. You just came out of that hell, you who are a former Sky Pirate are going to have trouble moving around, and you don't have the funds to form an exploration team, right?"

"No, that's not true. I can still do something..." Her words trailed off.

Well... If that's true, I'm in big trouble.

My changes to get the Red Comet will gone.

Red Comet is a good Airship, it excels in terms of speed. And even out there, there are still many Airships of equal or better quality than the Red Comet. 

The reason I want a Red Comet... The airship was better than the Airship sold in this city and I need it to aid my quest to find my friends.

And yes, searching for this Airship will delay my Quest to find my friends. But hey! I can still do something to search for them by making quests to gather information about them, again.

However, this time, I will make my Quest available in several big cities in this kingdom and the capitals of neighboring kingdoms. With that, I'll get something.

Ugh, once again, I thought something else when I had to focus on dealing with my issue right now.

I shook my head. "So, do you want to join or not? If yes, we can start to do some preparations for the exploration to find the Airship as soon as possible."

"..." Lostria grow silent.

"If you want to do an exploration, can I join?" Myu asked excitedly.

"Why do you want to join?"

"You need to know, I do this for romance and you lovely girl." She gave me a wink.

"Myu, please be serious!"

"If you don't want to join me, I just need to join you. Isn't that simple? And please let me join!"

"... Okay, but before that, what can you do?"

"I'm an Alchemist, I can make all sorts of drugs, bombs, or simple tools that are useful during your exploration."

Alchemist... That word reminds me of Wilxes Lancaster, a woman the jerk says is dangerous.

With that memory, I watched Myu's face more closely. The shape of his eyebrows and eyes was different from mine. As for her nose and mouth, "Can you open that mask, Myu?"

The girl blinked her eyes and then asked, "...why?"

"Good question," I said, then fell silent. Moments later, "it's to build trust."

"You don't want to ask, why am I wearing this mask?" She asked in a faint voice tinged with pain.

"No," I replied briefly.

I realized that there was a possibility that Myu was wearing that mask to hide scars or something like that. And there's a chance she's just shy, she's ugly, or she has the special traits of a race that she didn't want to show.

Yes, I'm so rude but I have to do this because making sure this girl was not Wilxes is extremely important to me.

"All right," Myu said.

She then opened the mask that covered her mouth and nose. Thanks to that, I could see burns on her cheeks and cuts that made her mouth stretch to her ears.

"Have you tried to heal that wound with Greater Heal?"

"I haven't tried it yet." Myu wears her mask back. "Greater Heal is not a Spell that can be used by just anyone. I know some people who can use the Spell but I need ten large gold coins for their service."

"I know someone who can use Greater Heal. We'll ask for his help when we have free time."

"You don't have to do that. You know that?"

"This is an apology because I forced you to take off your mask."

"I don't want to bother—"

"I'm not bothered," I cut Myu's words. Then, emphatically, I said, "You deserve it and I don't accept rejection from you."

"Do you know that you're too pushy?"

"Yes, I think Ruciel once said something like that before," I replied to Myu. A moment later, I moved my head to look at Lostria who was still silent. "Let me hear your answer, Lostria."

The woman raised her face and look at me. She bit her lower lip again before saying, "... Fine! I'll join you in this exploration. But the Red Comet will be mine. You can take the other treasures stored with it."

"Hmm..."

Giving Red Comet to Lostria. That's not something I can just do. I needed an Airship for my Quest and I was afraid that Lostria would escape after receiving the Red Comet.

So...

"We can divide the treasures we find equally. And along with that, I wanted the right to use red comet until I got an airship of my own. Agree?"

I will buy time to brainwash her or to make her didn't want to leave my side. I want to befriend her.

"After that, the Red Comet will be mine?" Lostria tried to confirm my words.

I nodded. "Of course, the Red Comet can be yours once my wish comes true."

And it will take forever maybe.

"...fine with me. I agree with the deal."

"In that case, we have a deal."

I extended my hand to Lostria and she welcomed it. A handshake sealed our deal and I need to remember, I have to make a written statement of this deal to rope her tightly.

After that, we ordered the food as a small celebration. We talked about what kind of preparation we needed while eating those foods.

Time passed and...

Cling! Cling!

The little bell in the entrance door of this inn rang. A guest, an old lady whose entire body was covered by a brown robe walked in and approached our table.

"I've been looking for you, young girl," she told me.

I made a smile when Myu and Lostria looked at Ronove with curious gazes.

"It's extremely surprising to see you here, Ronove."

"I don't think you should be surprised considering you told me to meet you in this town. So, I went to you because I wanted to ask—"

"About Dulionya Catacomb or where can you find The Despair Tears of The Deaths?"

The question I asked made the old woman freeze. Seconds passed and, "... The Despair Tears of The Deaths." Ronove answered.

"Alright, I'll tell you but you have to help me first."

"Help? What kind of help?"

"I want to do an exploration and I want you to be in it."

"I don't have time."

"This exploration lasted less than two weeks. I'm sure you have time. I also guarantee that you will get a lot of valuable things because we will visit a place where thousands of Undead gather. What do you think?"

Ronove gave me a probing look for a moment then she let out a long sigh. "Haa... I will obey your wish."

"Perfect!" I said, full of joy.