C7: The Hideout (P1)

The fireball incinerated the nightmare. The mist cleared away and the following messages appeared in Winry's system.

[Third-grade nightmare Mist killed: 140 XP gained]

[XP: 3340/10000]

"Ha..." Winry wiped her forehead from the back of her hands. "That was a —

"Now... Let's start moving! Our hideout is... right there!" Elijah pointed at the large wooden building which was now lit up with lights.

"Huh... Only moments ago, all the lights were out... How are they lit up instantly?" Alan asked out of curiosity. He was right... The lights were out before but all of them went back to normal the moment the nightmare was killed.

Winry turned to him and answered. "The grade four mist nightmare can stop the time around the people who are caught within the mist..."

"Oh..." Alan was surprised. He did not quite know about that. Even though he had been fighting monsters for decades now.

-

-

The building was enormous. It must've been a 4 story building. The walls were made from cobblestone and the place looked like an inn. Alan could hear many laughs and gossips even from the outside.

It was quite a noisy place.

"Now, let's go in!" Elijah gestured for the team to come in. She dragged Alan in and Winry followed from the back.

The inn was quite impressive.

"Haha! Did you hear what happened to Barbra yesterday?"

"Quite a young fellow passed by the other day! Everyone says that he was a level 400 mage!"

"No, he isn't!"

The drunk men chattered as she went in, dragging in the boy along with them. The moment she walked in, everything went silent. Everyone's gaze turned to them.

Alan who was in chains was in the spotlight. He smiled at the people, not knowing anything else to do.

One old elf raised his mug of wine and asked Elijah; "Why are you dragging that boy along, Elijah?"

She smirked and pulled the chain, making Alan slightly step forth. "He... Is my slave." The whole inn drove silent. Suddenly, everyone turned around and continued with the chattering.

'Eh...' Alan had no idea what just happened. For a moment there, it almost felt like Elijah was the authority of the town.

She pulled Alan to the bartender and took a seat in the wooden chairs in front of him. Winry sat right beside Alan. The bartender raised an eyebrow at the boy as he wiped the wine spilled on the table as if he was going to serve them some.

"Elijah... Winry... What brings the young man here?" The old guy asked with a smirk on his face. Elijah stretched out her arms and let out a yawn.

"Well... He's a grunt from Telor you see..."

Gasp!

The moment she said it, there was a wave of whispers running all over the inn. And before the whispers would continue, Elijah explained the situation.

"This little guy was betrayed you see... Plus he can't level up." Elijah smirked at Alan as she said that.

"BWAHAHA!" The inn filled with laughter after hearing this. "Tch!" Alan cursed from the inside, as he heard this. 'For a king to be disgraced by some low life in an inn...' Alan lowered his head and kept looking down.

"Now now... He's not here because he can't do anything. He says that he knows a way to Telor. And he's gonna show it to us," Elijah said with a smile.

For the first time, Alan thought that she had a heart somewhere deep down inside. But no matter what... For the little time he had been with her, she had disrespected him, solely.

"So... You're taking him there? Is he to be trusted?" The old man glared at the girl. "Yes, Endier. He is... A trustworthy person. An ally, as for now."

"Huh... Good then" Endier smiled at the boy and placed a jug of wine in front of him. "Here you go! If you're staying with us... There's a lot to see," the old man's smile seemed friendly.

"Thank you," Alan respectfully accepted the jug and tried to raise it to his mouth but failed since he was in cuffs. Elijah looked at this, but couldn't act sooner. Her sister quickly grabbed the jug and helped Alan.

"Here..." she said with a cute smile, closing the jug up to Alan's mouth. Alan drank the wine and finally restored some of his energy.

[Energy: 5/40]

>>>>

[Energy: 12/40]

"Thank you very much!" Alan thanked the sister with a smile. "Welcome!" The sister smiled back at him.

Elijah had some wine for herself too. And then, all of them stood up to take their leave. Though, Alan did not have any idea where they should go further into.

"Umm... So this inn is your hideout?" Alan asked Elijah from a whisper.

"Of course not, your foolishness. Just wait, and see..." she answered. "Endier! If you please..." the elven sister sat back in her chair, waiting for the old man to do his thing.

"Here you go," said Endier, the old and wrinkly man with an utterly long beard that looked like it had been growing for decades. He pulled out a shelf under his counter and took a coin that had a leaf carved onto it.

Then, the man placed the coin down on the table, with the blank side face up. "Bye..." the old man said with a grin and flipped the coin.

And just like that... They were teleported. Alan wasn't sitting in the same chair he sat before. But Winry and Elijah were next to Alan. However, these three weren't sitting in a bar. They were sitting on empty chairs in front of a wall.

"Welcome back... Captain Leaf," a mysterious voice spoke from the back. Alan turned and saw a man, wearing a dark overcoat.

He was a handsome young man, brown hair, long leather pants, and an overcoat unsuitable for a thief in the night, but a thief informal.

"Thank you, Aether. Let me introduce you to our new friend... uh... What was your name again?" Elijah asked from Alan, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Uh... Alan. Alan Revolt."

For the first time, he introduced himself to a person using this name. "Such a handsome name!" Winry cried out.

"Now then... What is his purpose?" Aether asked from Captain Leaf, aka. Elijah. "Well... He's the most interesting news I've got so far. He's going to help us get to Telor."

"Fuck! No way! This guy... Well then, welcome to the Woodland Foxes!" Aether yelled out, showing them into a dark hallway, letting the lantern in his hand light up the darkness.

"One thing though... In his previous life... He worked for Telor."

Aether stopped in his tracks.

Aether went silent. He slowly lowered the lantern in his hands. Suddenly, he started to chuckle.

"Are you serious? You're joking right, Captain? Because if he is..." the man turned around and looked down at the ground.

His hair was covering his eyes, but Alan knew that he was not happy to hear that he's from Telor.

"....I'm going to kill him."