"I have brought you one too," Isla replied as she pointed at one particular horse at the back that didn't have any mounter.
"Oh... I appreciate that. How much for that horse? I will pay you back the sum." Arthur blinked as he pulled out his pouch of money. However, Isla shook her head.
"No need, consider this a gift from me."
"I can't accept that. It must've been expensive." Arthur replied. Looking at these animals, it didn't take a genius to figure out that they must've cost a lot of money to buy.
"Accept the gift. I believe this is a good way to establish our partnership." Isla insisted with a serious tone.
"..." The boy pursed his lips as he tried to find words to turn her down. Arthur wasn't a huge fan of gifts since he never received any in the first place so he didn't know how to accept one. Yet Isla didn't seem to be backing down for some reason which put him in an awkward spot.
"Ok, if you insist then. But, I don't really know how to ride a horse." Arthur said as he approached the giant creature and gently tapped on its head.
"Tsk, so useless."
At that moment, he heard a grumbling whisper that made him look up. The one who made that comment was none other than Danny. Although the entire group was oddly silent, Danny was perhaps the most displeased out of them for some reason.
"I'm sorry for not knowing how to ride a horse. Not everyone got daddy's money to learn horsemanship." Arthur replied with a small smile.
"What did you just-"
"Enough, Danny. It's not time for this childish behavior." Isla immediately intercepted the conversation before it went out of control.
"Come on, Danny. We already agreed to this." Herculia tapped his friend on the shoulder.
"I'm not with this at all! Why are we asking this bastard to join us? He will most definitely try to use us and then run away like a coward." Danny retorted angrily as he glared at Arthur through the mask.
Not only was he shocked when he heard that Isla had asked Arthur to join him, but he also felt very humiliated after that. The player that beat him up with ease was now somehow a part of their group. He could never accept that.
Herculia and Emmy were also displeased, but they weren't as displeased as he was. After all, they knew that Isla had done that for a good reason. They needed all the power they would have to cross the forest and whatever lies beyond the forest.
There was no better option than the best player in the world currently. It was something that was truly worth swallowing their pride over. For the greater good and for their bigger goal, this was but a small sacrifice.
"It's Isla's order," Emmy replied seriously. "If you wish to do something different, then go ahead. But, we won't wait for you."
"..." Hearing that, Danny clicked his tongue with a deep frown and turned away as if he didn't wish to speak anymore. However, even his mask couldn't hide his dark aura that was leaking out of his body.
Meanwhile, Arthur simply jumped on top of the horse as if he wasn't the one being talked about. He really didn't care what they thought of him secretly. As long as they didn't do anything stupid and simply did their job, he didn't care if they liked or hated him. This was purely a business relationship that will end as soon as both parties got what they wanted.
"Arthur." The boy replied. "You can call me Arthur."
"Emmy... I'm Emmy." She replied with a nod.
"Thank you for welcoming me. I hope we can get along." He smiled nicely. 'I don't really care if we get along or not, though.'
"..." The girl didn't say anything else and simply turned away.
"She's a very shy girl by nature. Hahaha!" On his left side, Arthur heard Herculia's laughter. "Welcome to the team, my friend. I'm Herculia."
"Nice to meet you." The boy acknowledged him with a smile.
"Hey, you bastard, I never said I'm shy. I simply had nothing else to say!" Emmy puffed her cheeks angrily.
"Sure, sure. She's actually just very shy." He whispered to Arthur.
"I can still hear you! I will strangle you in your sleep!"
"No, please spare me." Herculia pretended to be terrified as he lifted his hands up. However, by doing that, he lost control of the horse, almost making it trip and fall.
"Woah!"
"Pfft, hahaha, you get what you deserve! Karma is real!" Emmy laughed.
"..."
Meanwhile, Arthur watched their interaction amusedly. He found it quite funny but also very wholesome. They didn't sound as obnoxious as he expected them to be. In fact, so far, apart from Danny, the others were actually not bad people.
'I can't really judge them yet. But, their relationship definitely looks real.' He thought to himself.
Whether they were actually good people was still something that only time would tell. In the next several days, he will discover if he has ended up with a good group or a horrible group.
Looking ahead of him into the distant horizon, Arthur closed his eyes for a moment. 'Whatever lies beyond this forest, here we come.'
He had a feeling that this journey was going to be very special. What he was going to see beyond this forest was bound to be mystical.
Next destination, The Last Empire.
A//N: Don't forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3