She Becomes The Hero In Another World 172 She Find De Way

"Meanwhile, as this is happening, Robin and her companion slimes will scour every last cobblestone o' this city clean o' any last mite of a bedbug, so ifn' ye don't wish ta face mah wrath, ye'd best make sure yer men behave." Ayva warned.

"But what of the First circle?" One dwarf asked.

"What of et? Only me an my husband live there, an' he's not even home. we'll worry about tha first circle once he returns." Ayva shrugged. "Ah'm not worried aboot et. Why should ye be?"

"With that, this meeting is dismissed. Proclaim my decree. And may the dwarven ancestors have mercy on whichever repugnant pustile should go against et." Ayva stood up, and raised her fist. The other dwarves stood and saluted her.

Ayva smacked her fist upon the table, creating another resounding, echoing boom. The chamber was designed in such a way that the sound could be heard throughout the city, so all the people were aware that a decision had been made. With that, the room was emptied in a hurried, yet ordered fas.h.i.+on, as all were intent upon proving themselves loyal.

"How long will it take before they realize you just gave them paperwork to keep them out of your hair?" Robin asked.

"Long enough, an' that's all that matters." Ayva grinned, a twinkle in her eye. "Yer sure et'll wark?"

"It already has." Robin smiled. "Now on to more important things..."

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"How goes matters in the dwarf kingdom?" A beautiful masked girl with black hair asked through a communication sphere. The mask, though thorough in covering the upper face, was an ornate piece of work with black lattice over a white background. Only the head was visible, currently.

"Ah, that place? No good, no good! The Hero arrived too quickly. moreover, he brought Demon Protecto-I mean Guardian Tarquinn. The plan had to be sc.r.a.pped, cuz the Slime Guardian brought King Slimes along." The human in the carriage quickly conveyed. He wore a similar, completely black mask.

"As things were, I had to scram before I was discovered! It's a good thing I was wearing the fake face that old geezer came up with. Now even if they wanted to, they won't discover a single trace." The man sighed in disappointment.

"No, you did well. A man that can even injure the Master is someone you are absolutely no match for. I'll convey this information and apply for your reward."The face in the Com-ball rea.s.sured.

"That is all I could ask for. As usual, I will wait at the usual place for further instructions, then." The man sighed.

"Roger. Signing out." The Com-ball became white once more, like a brilliant pearl.

The figure sighed, then sat back in his seat as he tossed a cloth over the thing.

"Blast. They left me out of the loop again. Did the original stop memory-looping because he was injured?" The spirit clone sighed as it returned to the location its host usually frequented. Now was certainly a time to be extremely cautious so as not to rouse suspicion.

-----

Chelsea dragged Liam out with her again, pretending not to notice that they had an interested tag-along.

"Aren't we going to wait up for-" Liam began to ask, having already notice the tailing figure.

"Oh, kids always like to do stuff like this." Chelsea chuckled. "We'll discover him soon enough as things are. It's better than letting him run off elsewhere and get into trouble."

"...Will it be more business like yesterday?" Liam asked. They had gone throughout the city advertising the king slimes to those who hadn't known about it, yet sorely needed healing.

"Nope!" Chelsea replied.

"...Then, what ARE we doing?" Liam asked.

"Sightseeing!" Chelsea laughed.

"What sights have we not seen?" Liam asked, naively.

Chelsea chuckled. "You'll see."

And, once more, Liam was dragged off by Chelsea, a curious Gerard tailing them from behind.

-----------

Christian rolled his eyes at Jasmine and glanced over at Keith.

"Tell me once again why we let the hero go off with another kingdom's n.o.bility without a companion, a guard, or even his own weapon?" He asked, in a voice oozing with sarcasm.

"Well, first off, unless you can strong-arm your way through a crowd of dwarven metal workers who've forged their bodies in the residual heat of volcanic flame, you're unlikely to reach the weapon. Second, Ayva has been nothing but helpful for us, so being suspicious about her character now could be seen as an insult. Thirdly, And most importantly, if we all scatter, then the hero will be hard put to find us if and when he needs our help." Keith smirked as he downed his third pint of ale.

"And, fourth....dwarven ale is good stuff. and it's much cheaper here than back in the kingdom. might as well get as much under your belt as possible-BRAAAP!" He let out a hearty belch.

Christian snorted. "I do believe I recall cutting your alcohol allowance for....was it a week?"

"Erk! Your Highnes-I mean, Young Master, you wouldn't do that, surely? You were joking earlier, right?" Keith asked, cold sweat starting to form on his forehead and the back of his hand.

"Who knows." Christian sniffed petulantly as he looked out the window with a bored expression. "Any idea of what that 'choklat'stuff Robin was talking about will taste like?"

"Do you think it'll taste like tea?" Jasmine asked.

"It's quite the bitter nut. Perhaps he'll make alcohol with it?" Keith surmised.

"No, he said he'll let us eat it, so it's definitely going to be food. I was speaking about the flavor." Jaamine denied.

"As for me, anything Robin makes will surely be tasty!" A voice broke in from the side. The two royals and the babysitter turned to see Fairy Elise.

"You're still here? Weren't you gonna scram once we arrived here?" Jasmine asked. The contract had only bound her temporarily to the party for a certain time.

"I was, but I decided against it!" Elise landed on the table. "It has nothing to do with the fact that the jungle is full of giant spiders, snakes, and creepy crawlies that can fly. I-I'm not scared of t-those. I was simply interested in trying out this 'chocolate' thing you were talking about."

Jasmine laughed. Elise was an open book to her.

"So you're really not scared, huh." She asked with a twinkle in her eyes.

"No, I'm not!" Elise affirmed, puffing her small chest out. "It might be smelly here, but at least there's good food!" The people sitting at the table laughed at her display.

"What are you laughing at?" Elise stomped her tiny feet in frustration.

---------

A figure walked down a dark hallway. The calm tamp of boots echoing at a measured pace. Finally, it grew close to the lit room at the end of the hallway.

The boots paused for just a moment at the flickering edge of the light streaming out from the doorway. Then they continued into the light as the figure stood in the doorway. It looked towards the dwarf who was sitting in a large chair, swirling wine in a goblet.

"Ye took yer time coming here. I was expecting ye to arrive much earlier." The dwarf pointed out. "If someone were being murdered, ye'd have arrived much too late, Hero Robin."

Robin stayed in the doorway, leaning up against the side, in a slightly roguish fas.h.i.+on. "It's a very good thing no one was murdered, yet, then." She agreed. "You hid the entrance quite well. It took me a while to find it, Mister Nightsteel-oh, excuse me, I mean Thorn. I must say, for a brother of Throm, you don't look very similar."

"We're half-brothers." Thorn growled. "I was tha elder of us two." He scowled into his goblet before downing the wine in it. "But, I am quite curious, right now. You didn't bring sister-in-law, or yer weapon with ye. Could it be that ye came here merely to talk?"

"You could say that. Currently, Ayva is unaware of this location, but I doubt it'll be for long. I want his name." Robin got to the point.

"Whose name?"

"The one behind all this."

"That would be me." Thorn smirked.

"It could not be you." Robin denied.

"Why not?"

"Because, one, you are paralyzed from the waist down. Two, you haven't travelled anywhere by carriage. And, three, you hosted a strange merchant in your home around the time of the outbreak."

"The other two, I can understand, but how did you know I was paralyzed?" Thorn asked.