5.2 Daytime robbery

As expected, that evening Levay personally came to say goodbye to Ilseu. Zither was nowhere in sight, probably sulking. Shu XinYi didn't find it surprising, but he was a bit disappointed. He actually didn't mind Zither following him. It doesn't matter now.

Once Ilseu leaves for the north, Bane would follow the original story line and enter the capital looking for the council to inform them of his "findings". This was all planned by Shu XinYi. Although Shu XinYi did want to save that baby dragon, but Bane didn't prove of any harm to the baby dragon until much later. So it was okay to save him later.

Right now, Shu XinYi was actually curious to meet this northern dragon. The dragons had a kingdom in the far south, for a dragon to show up in the north was really weird. It could only mean that the dragon either circled the whole Elven kingdom and then appeared at the north or the dragon was residing in the north to begin with. Either way, it was okay to meet with the dragon.

Shu XinYi had departed with only some money, and his horse as a ride. He was not stopped by the guards at the city gates, which was unsurprising. Dark elves were not generally respected in the kingdom but Ilseu was different. Ilseu may even be the only Dark elf to ever work directly under the king; Although he too had faced discrimination at many walks of life. Ilseu seemed much more like a protagonist than Bane was, Shu XinYi thought. Well that is true if the novel story is considered.

Shu XinYi liked Ilseu's character, He even wanted to imagine himself as Ilseu. But Ilseu had a mysterious air that Shu XinYi didn't have, and could only impersonate. Although this crypto behavior was exactly what led Ilseu to be easily sabotaged by Bane.

"So is this a novel world? And is there an actual earth within this world? Like was there an instance in the story that Bane went back to "earth" and if so then how?" Shu XinYi asked, looking at the beautiful expanse of hillside pass by before him.

Snow replied, "No, the transition of Bane coming to this novel world was never explained. Neither was there any moment of Bane going back to earth. Earth may not exist in this current world, this Novel world is the only universe to exist. But it obviously exists in Bane's memory. Also the fact that, to Bane this world is just a novel that he transmigrated into."

If that is the case, then earth is most probably not present in this world. This made Shu XinYi question what these worlds were really made out of? Codes? Memories? Writings? What?

Shu XinYi didn't feel the need to rest as he traveled for 2 whole days. After the last world Shu XinYi was interested in how; physics and nature may differ in every world. But much to his disappointment, except for the extraterrestrial beings like dragon and elves, this world was very normal. The sky was the sky, the sun was the sun and the moon was the moon.

At the hillside far north, that could now be seen by Shu XinYi, he decided to make a stop. The dragon appeared somewhere nearby the chain of these villages. Shu XinYi could stay for 4 hours, in every village and wait for the dragon, After that he would try to make communication. Although the chances of this event were close to 0, Shu XinYi was optimistic.

------x------

Well, I guess I shouldn't have been so optimistic, Shu XinYi thought looking at the never ending night sky. Not even the shadow of a cloud passed through these clear skies in the past 2 days. He had went from village to village, even waited by the highest point; but there was no sign of a black dragon.

Shu XinYi was feeling a bit sad at this point, he didn't have a reason to be, but who can really understand emotions? Tommorow at sunrise, Shu XinYi had decided to head back to the capital. It was useless to spend any more days here, Bane too would have approached the council by now. Bane may have even gotten a position in the council. So it was an optimal time to head back. But Shu XinYi was reluctant to leave this place.

He walked back to the village where an old dwarf elf had generously allowed him to stay. The house was old, on the verge of breaking down. At every step you could hear the creaks merge with the night air. Shu XinYi laid down on the old rugged carpet, the only thing that old elf could offer Shu XinYi. It was a difficult night to pass through, Shu XinYi couldn't sleep a wink. The yellow hues of the sun had started to surface the horizon, and Shu XinYi could hear the farmers working on the nearby feild.

Shu XinYi was dazed, he didn't have it in himself to wake up this morning; not that he wanted to sleep either. Just laying down was enough. Shu XinYi even thought of himself as sleep deprived when he saw a black shadow pass through the window and enter this broken "house". Was it daytime robbery? Even though it was early morning. Still, would there even be anything worth in this place for the robber? Shu XinYi owed the that old elf just enough, that seeing the robber fumble with the things on the rack, Shu XinYi finally decided to get up.

The robber had a robust build. Unkindly, one could say. Shu XinYi kicked the man's right knee from behind, twisting his left hand all the way and held his neck down. The robber was forced to kneel, his back facing Shu XinYi. It might be Shu XinYi's imagination but the robber seemed docile to his control.

"Do you perhaps not have any better hobbies for yourself?" Shu XinYi asked without much meaning, it would be better to hand over the robber to the villagers, they would know what to do with him.

"Have you mistaken me for a robber? I am here to hide away, this house seems unnoticeable so I chose it. There is a gang running after me, and someone weak such as myself is unable to defend." The "weak" robber said such a ridiculous thing, without any hesitation.

Shu XinYi didn't have the time or energy to deal with this man so he said, "Mhm. Tell this story to the villagers, they might even believe you."

"No, no wait. Please I need your help. I am actually in danger. Can you please help me?" The robber said in a soft voice, that would lure anyone in. Shu XinYi had been unaffected by these techniques for all his life, but right now his heart had softened. It was only for a moment though, Shu XinYi tightened his grip on the man's neck and wrist saying, "With the way you are, You are telling me you couldn't protect yourself against a few goons?"

The man replied, "I.. They are right to fight against me. After all I did steal from their shop. I stole because I had been hungry, for a long .. long time. I don't say this as an excuse but as a reason. I also couldn't just stand there and get beat up, so I ran."

Shu XinYi chuckled as he said, "So you can beat them up, you just chose not to because you're in the wrong. How moral. Then how am I supposed to help you? Would it be even moral for me to help you?"

The man said in a disappointed tone, "Tch. Can't you just protect me? If I get beat up, then would you just stand and watch? Is that moral?"

Shu XinYi found his words intresting, the man was saying them to a mere stranger without any hesitation. Shu XinYi replied close to his ear in a low voice, "What if I chose not to? Morality doesn't matter to me. I can watch you get beat up for a whole day, without feeling the need to help you." Shu XinYi said these words with much confidence, how can such a thing even bother him?

The robber gave a soft laugh saying, "Don't try and make yourself seem more of a corrupt being than you are, it's pitiful. Those men are here, you can present me to them and leave. They might even give you some rewards. But know this, I won't even try and defend myself, much less attack, once you hand me over."

Shu XinYi could see through the various cracks inside the house; 5 burly men probably the guards of some big shop, were talking to the nearby farmers. Shu XinYi didn't know why there was a moment of contemplation in his mind, but in just that moment everything went down. The man loosened himself of Shu XinYi's grip very swiftly and walked out of the house.