“Have you been to the Red Woods already?”, Bloody asked his little brother. You could buy maps, but your personal navigation map would only uncover areas you had visited and then uncovered it fully once you explored at least 70% of the place. Everything else was white fog.
“I have a map”, Dead Rabbit avoided the topic, which was as good an answer as needed.
“I am so sorry.” Bloody slapped his hands before his face and groaned. “I’ll make it up to you sometime, Ice. It’s just, he’s at my place, and if I don’t take along he’s gonna run to my parents and whine that I didn’t take care of him.”
“It’s no problem”, Ice said, his voice filled with discomfort. Dead Rabbit tensed up but Bloody only chuckled.
“No, it is. You don’t owe me anything, I mean it.”
“Then neither do you.”
… ???
Dead Rabbit listened to the conversation but couldn’t understand anything. How had his older brother come to the conclusion that Ice thought he owed him?
In fact, the underlying conversation went roughly like this:
It’s no problem to take him along. You are always helping me out, and just having someone tag along on your request is far from paying back everything you have done for me.
To which Bloody replied:
No, I am aware that you are not comfortable interacting with people. Taking along my little brother is uncomfortable for you, so I have to apologize. There is also nothing you need to pay me back for, since I am happy to help you out at any time.
Finishing with Ice’s words:
That goes for the both of us. I am also happy if I can help you, so please don’t think you owe me anything now.
Bloody smiled sweetly. Ice’s expression was neutral as usual, but his gaze held some embarrassment. The whole area seemed to be filled with flowers and glitter, blinding Dead Rabbit, who was wondering what was going on.
“Alright. Your dear older brother is going to take you out for some exploring, YunYun.”
Dead Rabbit bared his teeth at the unwanted nickname but did not complain. After some planning, Bloodless Sunset summoned his mount for them to ride to the Red Woods. Haven had long travel times, but that was part of the game’s realism, so they did not mind having to fly another while to reach their goal.
Dead Rabbit’s mount was a Pegasus that he took out after a lot of embarrassed mumbling. Clearly he didn’t like having a snowy white horse as an assassin, but he had been unlucky during the event draw.
Bloody had been much luckier in comparison. His mount was a huge winged lion, coloured completely gray and looking like it was made out of stone. It was large enough to carry both its owner and Ice, who had yet to find a mount he liked.
Absolutely no one could convince Ice to take a pet or mount he didn’t like. He thought that personal connections to his pets was important, much more than their use. He didn’t like event mounts and was surprisingly stubborn about it.
With the mount’s speed, the forest soon came into sight.
The Red Woods weren’t creatively named. It was a huge forest that was caught in eternal autumn; the leaves were red and yellow, giving a warm hue to the otherwise cold and grayish tree bark.
“The Red Wood elves aren’t too fond of visitors.” As soon as they landed near the edge of the forest, Bloody began to lecture the young assassin. “I’m not saying they’re racist, but they’re kind of wary. Especially towards unconventional jobs like yours. Don’t talk and behave yourself, alright?”
“I know.” Dead Rabbit scoffed. “The Ice Emperor is going to do the talking, isn’t he?”
“Uh, no.” The beastman’s face twitched at the admiration in the boy’s voice. “I’m going to do the talking, Ice is going to nod. They’re still more okay with beastmen than humans, since we are closer related to nature.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Ktfs ibkfgfv atflg nblmfr. Pmf aliafv tlr tfjv lcab tlr cfmx, ibbxlcu eq ja atf gbbo bo ifjnfr atja rtea bea j regqglrlcu jwbeca bo reciluta. Ljylaejiis, tf yfujc ab ribk vbkc jcv ojii lcab qjmf j ubbv akb rafqr yftlcv Dibbvs, ktb kjr ifjvlcu atf kjs.
C wjuf vlvc’a kjix ja atf ogbca, fnfc lo atfs kfgf bcis jqqgbjmtlcu j nliijuf. Ktfs vlvc’a fzqfma ab yf ugffafv klat tbralilas, yea la kjr jikjsr vjcufgber ab jqqgbjmt qijmfr atja vlvc’a ilxf nlrlabgr abb wemt.
Not that it would be a problem with this particular one.
The village itself was surrounded by a high fence, with guards stationed outside. They raised their bows and spears when people approached, but quickly lowered them again the moment Ice appeared in their view. Their expressions turned almost overly friendly and gentle, but they were clearly ignoring Bloody and Dead Rabbit.
Bloody took a step to the side, dragging his brother with him. Ice stood before them now, bowing slightly, and they returned the greeting with a salute.
“Ice Emperor”, an older guard said in a kind tone. “What a joy to see you again. How have you been? What brings you to this corner of the world?”
The mage had visited this place once for a chain quest where he had to deliver letters. In the process, he had gotten to know the chief, who was quite fond of him.
“We have a report about a suspicious blue egg”, Bloody spoke up in Ice’s stead. “We wish to offer our help in this matter.”
The guard’s smile vanished. He let his gaze wander over Bloody with a tilted head before returning to Ice. Only when the elven mage nodded did his expression bloom back into a smile. “Is that so? The chief will be delighted to hear about it. Please do come in.”
His tone did a one-eighty, becoming cold and demanding. “You two, please leave your weapons here at the entrance.”
The beastman grabbed his brother’s head and pushed it down before the young assassin could complain. Wordless, he took off his dagger and handed it over. Dead Rabbit took longer, since he kept a number of hidden weapons on his body and he was stared down until every single one was handed over.
Ice was only carrying a staff. It was longer than he was tall, and pure white with a structure similar to polished marble. Cracks filled with a softly glowing blue liquid ran up to the crystal at the top of the staff. The staff itself wasn’t fancy, but the materials had been expensive and hard to gather.
The guard looked at the blue staff with some unhappiness, as if it was a shame that it was blue, but didn’t complain further. After all, this man was the Ice Emperor.
“Why is everything so reddish here”, Dead Rabbit muttered under his breath. The whole village looked like an autumn leaf; red, brown and yellow were the most prominent colours. Green existed, but mainly in the form of grass on the ground, and even that had a stronger yellow hue.
“You haven’t informed yourself at all, have you?” Bloody softly hit his little brother’s head. “Learn the lore of the world you are in!”
The guard – possibly because he regarded the two as Ice’s followers – was kind enough to explain. “Around eighty years ago, a bad plague struck our people. It appeared in the form of blue blotches on our skin and took over half of the village’s population. Since then, keeping blue things has become a sign of bad luck for us. Ah, that does not include visitors, of course!”
Ice didn’t show offense at the flustered guard’s words. He felt bad for the village – the setting had given them this plague probably only so that there was a reason to keep this red village red.
Ice had a feeling this reason hadn’t always been there, but the company was large and always worried about possible racism or sexism accusations. It was better to give the elves of the Red Woods some sort of reason for not liking blue.
(The true reason, and that was kept carefully hidden, was that the developer of this corner had gotten a certain song about the colour blue stuck in his head during the design process. Almost out of spite, he made the whole area red.)
“Chief”, the tall elf called out as he knocked against the door of the cute wooden hut in the center of the village. A voice called him inside and he opened the door for the party of three.
“Chief Misa”, Ice greeted in a respectful tone and bowed again, this time lower.
Misa smiled, delight visible on her face, and bowed as well. Similar to most elves, she was tall and lean. Age had begun to draw wrinkles on her face, but only the length of her hair truly suggested how long she had been around already. Elves did not cut it. Her pretty red hair was braided and decorated with ornamental flowers, while her clothes were without ornaments, simple and useful.
She walked over and grasped both his hands. They simultaneously lowered their heads a bit, closing their eyes for a second before she released him.
Dead Rabbit watched on in awe. He had never seen an NPC elf use their personal greeting with a player, but the Ice Emperor had done it as naturally as if he had grown up using it.
“Ice Emperor. It has been a while. What brings you to my little village?”
The mage’s eyes flickered over to the highly conspicuous blue egg in the corner of the room. It was half his height, which meant it was gigantic. It didn’t look like a dragon egg or any other large egg he had ever seen before.
“Ah, this?” Misa frowned. “I don’t like this thing. I can’t just throw it away, either.”
“Can you tell us about that egg? Where you found it?” Bloody raised his eyebrows.
“Near the lake. These things appear once in a while. They’re nymph eggs, so we can’t destroy them, and letting them lie around means someone else might break it. So we have to take it into the village and wait for it to hatch.”
She pointed into a direction.
“Could you gather red acid from the Cave Olms that live over there? It’s a bit of a walk down into the mine, but we can use that as a base to dye the blue colour. I’d send my people, but you Foreigners are experienced with fighting, so I’m quite glad you came by.”
“Acid? Isn’t that going to dissolve the eggshell?”
The words broke out of Dead Rabbit. The chief’s eyes narrowed dangerously at being questioned, but Ice calmed the mood by quietly explaining. “Their dyes use other, alkaline ingredients that nullify the acid. All that remains is the strong red colour.”
“O-Oh…”
“Ah, when you go, please take that other Foreigner along. He might as well help you out, if you get along.” Misa waved her hand and a guard left the hut. He returned two minutes later, another player in tow.
Bloody froze seeing the figure, all of his hair standing up.
When high-level players had time due to there being no new area unlocked yet, some would focus on acquiring new skills, some would do all kinds of quests to forge relationships. Either was useful.
The game’s number two player, White Light Shining Down, was a player of the latter category. He was a fan-favourite; a human warrior that had marketed himself as a knight in shining armor. People liked that kind of setting, and so did the NPCs. He was a player that got along very well with most players… But not with Bloody.
Ice had no idea where that feud came from.
“White Light!” Dead Rabbit perked up, amazement written all over his face. He was obviously a fanboy.
“Ice Emperor”, the knight greeted with a calm voice, prompting a nod from the mage. “What a pleasant surprise.”
Bloody wrapped an arm around his little brother’s head, stiffling any further questions about the two players knowing each other. Beastman and human shared a dark glare before ignoring each other.
Misa did not care about their opinions. In her eyes, it was the Ice Emperor who would decide whether this person would join or not. He was the one she was acquainted with, not any of the rest. As long as the mission was completed, she did not care who tagged along.
With Ice’s agreement, the quest was shared with White Light. The knight’s eyebrows raised a bit at the… special task but he wasn’t stupid enough to question it.
All four left the village and got their weapons back. Dead Rabbit kept on poking Bloody’s side curiously. “What’s the thing with Nymph eggs?”
“Nymphs are high-level spiritual creatures”, the older brother began to explain once again. “Level 80. If you hurt one of them, the whole group jumps at you. They’ll go after anyone who was last seen around their dead companions, so once the village found the egg, they probably had no choice but to protect it.”
The assassin hummed in understanding. That was also how this would qualify as a repeatable quest; these eggs could show up at any time.
Together, they moved a bit into the direction of the cave before stopping again. The glaring match resumed.
“As the player with the most experience, I should be leading this mission”, White Light declared.
“You are a tag-along”, Bloody said between grit teeth. “So it’s going to be me who leads it.”
“W-What about the Ice Emperor?” Dead Rabbit chimed in from the side, but lowered his head at the daggers that were thrown at him through their gazes.
“Are you stupid?” Both players spoke in unison.
“Why would you force Ice to do that? He doesn’t like it.”
“He’s a mage. He shouldn’t be walking at the top to check out the situation.”
“He’s not well versed in battle tactics either. He feels uncomfortable being forced to come up with them.”
“Right. He should concentrate on his spells, not tactics. Leave that to the players like us, who just need to swing their weapons.”
Dead Rabbit took a slow step back, then one to the side, hiding behind the tall figure of the Ice Emperor. Ice blinked, tilting his head, and looked down at the nervous assassin. He wasn’t sure if being an assassin truly suited this guy.
“I’m fine either way”, he said in a slow, husky tone. It did not lower the hostility between the two players at all, but he did not expect that.
Bloody humpfed and dragged White Light to the side. The two of them talked heatedly for a while. All of a sudden, White Light’s expression became awkward. He appeared to relent and nodded.
When they returned, Bloodless Sunset declared himself as the leader. Dead Rabbit looked disappointed, but got a knock on his head that made him run behind the Ice Emperor again.
The group entered the dungeon area. An NPC wouldn’t see the transparent wall at the entrance and it didn’t stop the four either.
The air shifted the second they had stepped inside. No one opened up the dungeon’s information, as it truly wasn’t necessary.
The Ice Emperor let his guard down. Unlike when he hunted on his own, he knew that Bloody would take full responsibility as the leader. He’d warn about enemies and give commands depending on the situation. Ice didn’t even have to worry about scanning the surroundings, especially not in a dungeon he was gloriously overleveled for.
Both Bloody and White Light looked around, scanning the tunnel.
Author’s Note:
Check out the CG event! I’m also participating with rewards. ……
……………
…… goes hide under the bed cause it’s awkward
Little Theater (that totally has nothing to do with the chapter)
Bloody: “Are you a piece of meat?”
Ice: “Huh? Why?”
Bloody: “Because this wolf here is hungry for some!”
Ice: “… O_O”
Ice: “(｡•́︿•̀｡)”
Bloody: “Wait”
Ice: “(｡╯︵╰｡)”
Bloody: “Wait-”
Ice: “(〒﹏〒)”
Bloody: “Oh my god I am so sorry I didn’t mean to scare you-”
… This is a story that’s going to display that “dominant does not mean on top, submissive does not mean on the bottom”
Thank you for the chapter (๑˃͈꒵˂͈๑) 💜
OMG I love the “underlying” conversation that Ice and Bloody are having! Already at old-married-couple stage, I see XD
Also flowers and glitter….so shoujo hahahaha
OMG indeed, Bloody does the talking and Ice does the nodding. HAHAHA
Bloody bonking his little bro’s head is also so amusing. That kid really has things to learn XD
cough-choke, all the truth about the developer…
Also the ~secret~ history between Bloody and Light, huh…. 🤔 Looks like a rivalry~
Thank you for the chapter! ❤
Thanks for the chapter!
thanks for the chapter <3
Aaah, younger siblings who want to tag along with the older friends but you don’t want to have them around you xDD
I like the mini theater, it breaks with the mainstream again :3 Looking forward to it~ (if I’m getting it right xD)
And the difference in treatment between Ice and the rest. lights a candle for the color blue
Thx for the ch ٩(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )و
that feeling when you were the youngest who wanted to join his brother’s game
Thanks for the chapter ヾ(＾-＾)ノ
Same about mounts (and pets). I especially dislike event mounts/pets that expire after a few days. I just leave them in a warehouse or sell if not bound, because I don’t want to get attached to a piece of data that is going to disappear soon.
I feel like I’m watching a high quality anime. Kudos to the author