“Are you gonna tell me what’s up with that key?” Aryn asked as he followed Leheen from the castle to their home. She hadn't said a word the entire way. When they reached the door, she smirked at him.
“You will see.”
They went to their shared room, and Leheen lay down to rummage around under her bed.
She pulled out a bunch of old stuff, like toys and trinkets.
Finally, she came back up with a wooden box.
Showing Aryn the key, she inserted it into the box and turned it. The wooden box opened.
“See? Finally, I can open it!” Leheen said with relief in her voice.
“What? What is that supposed to be?”
“Oh, nothin’. I wanted to open it because I lost the key weeks ago.”
Aryn sighed. “What a waste of time." But he paused "weeks ago? That key was in the duke’s pocket.”
“I know, right? How lucky.” Leheen said as she played with the box’s lid. “I didn’t have the money to buy another one yet.”
“So that means someone in this city still makes these boxes and keys.”
“Yep, there’s an old man in a store just a few blocks away.”
“That’s odd. Why would someone from Chanderay have a key made here?”
Leheen stopped playing with the box.
“You’re right... They shouldn’t.”
Realizing that the Duke of Soriel had been carrying a key made in Arel, they both headed to the store where the old man who could give them more answers about the anomaly worked.
A chime rang as they entered the store. Many wooden boxes were lined up on the shelves. Behind the counter stood an old man who looked very upset.
“Good morning.”
“Ah, good... good morning. How can I help ya?” The man waved half-heartedly, looking very tense.
“We found this key. It belongs to one of the dukes of Chanderay,” Aryn said. “We need to know why and when he bought it.”
The man waved his hands. “No, no. I don’t want to get involved in any more investigations. All it’s done is make me a target for bandits for months, and nothing has come of it. The sheriff can do his own work.”
“But we need the information, Mr. Trik. The war between Arel and Chanderay depends on it.”
“I don’t care about no damn war!” the man shouted. “I have my own war, and I’m losing. The bandits are taking all my money!”
“There has to be something we can do,” Aryn said.
“You know what? If you can make the bandits leave my store for good, I’ll tell you all about it.” The old man stared at the key.
Aryn hesitated at the offer. He was going to get the information, but in exchange, he might have to fight for the first time. Who knew if the information this old man had would even be useful? Before he could decide, Leheen, as prudent as ever, accepted on his behalf.
“He will,” Leheen said confidently.
“Really? That’s great!” the old man said. “I think there are only two of them. Maybe only one will show up today, so there isn’t much to worry about.”
Aryn pulled Leheen away from the counter and into a corner.
“Listen. This will be very difficult to pull off. We might die here, but I’ve got a plan.”
Aryn remembered the times he used to play Call of Task. When you’re at a great disadvantage, all you need to do is hide and attack when they can’t see you. It was a very cowardly move, but a necessary one given the situation. Aryn explained his plan to Leheen.
“...So, the only thing we gotta do is wait on this side of the room. Got it?”
Leheen nodded as they both pressed their backs against the wall next to the door.
Moments later, the doorbell rang again, and several voices entered the store. They were the rough voices of people with very bad intentions, like a group of aggressive drunkards you might encounter at night, only without the alcohol.
Several burly men walked around, picking things off the shelves while the old man stood nervously behind the counter.
“Aye! Old man, you got our money?” one of them asked as he looked around and reached behind the counter.
“I don’t have any more money today, son. You’re bleeding me dry.”
“Don’t talk like that, or I’ll destroy your entire store!” He grabbed the old man by the collar of his shirt while the others kept looting.
There was one man at the center of the group who stood silently. He wore a tunic with a cloak over it, making it impossible to make out his build. But it was obvious he was very tall and strong.
Aryn had his sword out, but he didn't charge in to attack.
Leheen whispered, “Why aren’t you attacking yet?” You are reading on novelping.com, the official source.
“There are so many of them" Aryn whispered back "He said there’d only be two, or maybe one. This is real bad.”
“So that changes our plans, huh? You said we must attack first.” Leheen remained calm. She scanned her immediate surroundings and spotted an empty wine bottle.
She picked it up and nodded at Aryn. The next thing Aryn knew, the bottle was flying through the air and shattering against the cloaked figure’s head, before he could even consider running away or trying anything else to get the information. Leheen surprisingly had a very good aim, it was a shot from about 12 meters away
“Ow!” said a feminine voice.
At that moment, Aryn realized that Leheen wasn’t exactly brave. The reason she acted that way in moments of crisis was that she was downright dumb.
Damn it, Leheen.
Aryn briefly closed his eyes and smirked, accepting his fate.
All the bandits turned toward them. The cloaked figure quickly drew a large sword and charged at them, swinging wildly. As she got closer, the hood fell off her head, revealing the face of a woman with wavy lavender hair and water-blue eyes.
The guy is a woman?
“Leheen, get out!” Aryn shouted, pushing her to the side. He immediately raised his sword in front of him, forming something resembling an ox guard. It was barely enough to absorb the impact of the bandit’s strike, leaving his blade trembling less than a centimeter from his eyes.
Everything around Aryn turned black and white and slowed down. He could also hear some kind of rhythmic pounding all around him. Maybe it was the battle soundtrack, but most likely, it was his own heart trying to climb out of his mouth.
[Battle!
Bandit Leader Lv. 8
Aryn activated: King’s Mark Lv. 1]
Oh God, yes! The system is gonna save my ass. King’s Mark has to have a super overpowered ability.
[Zone State (1/5):
Every time you block or parry an attack, you get one mark. With 5 marks, your next attack increases strength by 10%.]
Never mind.