Return to Riledo

When we eventually get back to Riledo, it is already on the late side, but we decide to take our group straight to Mr. Enzo. Lilith is the first to leave our group, declaring that she needs to report to the royal guard. She also says that she is not interested in any of the reward we’ll be getting from Mr. Enzo. The second person to part from us is Amelia. She says she is tired and wants to return to the guild but I feel she just doesn’t want to be confronted with Kaze. I am not sure if Enzo and Kase live in the same mansion, or if he is even there if they do, but I can see why Amelia would not want to take the risk.

When we arrive at Enzo’s mansion and we inform the maids to our presence, it doesn’t take long for Enzo to show up. I don’t think I will ever forget the expression of happiness and surprise he has on his face. Every time we pull another book out of our bags of holding, he takes hold of it and says the title out loud. It was almost like he was a child receiving his birthday gifts.

“My goodness. I thought those books might have been lost forever.” Mr. Enzo says. “I was already thinking of organizing a party to go there and collect them, but look at all of you fulfilling this quest before I even write out the request. You kids have really saved me a lot of money, Darx and Mia. I knew supporting you in your early days would be been a good investment.

“Exactly.” Mia tells Enzo. “I told my friends here just how generous and reliable you were when it comes to quests. It would only make sense for you to write out a quest to deliver your precious books to you. So, we figured, why not be the first to get in on this scoop.”

She is obviously hinting at Enzo for a reward, which Enzo is quick to catch up on. “As a show of my appreciation, I will offer the lot of you 20 golden coins for your efforts.”

All of our ears perked up at hearing this, but none more obvious then all of our beast-kind friends.

“Thank you for your gratitude, Enzo.” Mia continues. “And before you send out a quest to pick up the rest of your books from Merton, do remember us and that we have already provided you with quality service.”

Mr. Enzo pays the money to Kiara, who then proceeds to divide the money amongst everyone equally. As she is busy with this, Enzo continues talking to me and says, “Merton was truly blessed for having people like you and Mia. Kaze went there too, you know? He and a beast tamer from his guild got onto some griffins and flew over there and he didn’t even bother to bring back 1 book. Not even 1. Can you believe it?”

I see, so Kase really did go to Merton. I was wondering if he had, but now I have confirmation.

“So, last week, I told your mother. ‘Ilene’, I said …” But as I listen to him, a catch a few choice words and I just have to interrupt him.

“Last week?” I ask. “You spoke to her last week?”

At first, Enzo is a bit confused at my question, but then he realizes why I am asking.

“Ah, that’s right.” Enzo says. “It is one week from here to Merton and another week back. Well, like I said, Kase was using some friend’s griffins to fly over there, so he got there much faster. He discovered your mother in one of the villages that had yet to be overrun. Such a brave fighter Ilene is. Staying on the frontlines regardless how grim the situation looks.”

Ok, so my mother was not hurt in the initial invasion. She managed to get out of Merton just fine.

“So, then Kase was sent out to go and find out what was coordinating the monsters and some other adventurers went with him. Your mother volunteered to go to of course. I bet she wanted to take Merton back as quickly as she could.” Enzo continues. “Well, I heard from Kase that they defeated the source behind it together. He didn’t want to say what it was, though. Anyways, he and Ilene then went to Merton and later they took the griffins back over here. Your mother then insisted to check on me and see if I and the other villagers were alright. There are a few that got out alright, but I’m afraid most of them got caught by the monsters. Like Amelia’s parents. Oh, that poor girl. I sure hope she’s alright.”

I had already discovered my mom went to Merton. I remember smelling her scent on some blankets in the mansion. But some other scent as well. I guess that was Kase’s? Why was both their scents on the blanket? Fuck. I don’t think my mother would be into him. She is not that kind of woman. But my mind is already coming up with ideas of what it would look like if she was. Dammit, I have to push those idea’s out of my mind.

“So, my mom’s alright?” I ask.

“Oh, Ilene is fine.” Enzo answers. “I offered her a room to stay the night, but she said she already had a friend offer a place. You don’t have to worry about your mother. I heard Alice has joined the Dark Dragons again. Maybe she knows more about Ilene and the friend she’s staying at.”

I take a deep breath and sigh. Thank goodness. I finally have confirmation that my mother is safe. What Craig said about the griffin marks in the village was true. Mom really did leave the village by griffin. That is why her trail suddenly ended.

Having finished our business with Mr. Enzo, Mia and her group split off and head to their guild while me and my friends head over to the Dark Dragons. As we walk, Kiara holds out a pouch and says kept got 3 golden coins aside. 1 for Amelia, another 1 for Cal and the last 1 for Rachel. This way, they to each get their reward.

Once at the Dark Dragon guildhall, we head straight towards the great hall. There is barely anyone there. Just a few servants and Amelia and Alice are at one of the tables. They quickly wave us over and Alice gives all of us a hug.

“Thank you all for going out there.” She says with a warm smile. “I heard from Amelia that there was no one left to save. That’s so horrible. You put all that effort in there. But at least you helped to get rid of the monsters and even reclaimed a village. Effort like that will go far. Be sure not to forget about the quest the queen sent out. You still have a quest reward to pick up from that.”

“Aye, we’ll do that.” Ryul says. “But right now, I would like to have something to eat. It has been over 6 hours since we’ve last had a meal.”

The rest of us agree with him and we get the servants to send us some food over. We talk with Alice about our trip and the trolls we took out. Also about Merton having been pretty much deserted and how odd it was no bodies remained. That is when Alice reaffirms Enzo’s statement that my mom has indeed been in Riledo.

“She came here to find you, but I had to tell her that you had already left for Merton to find her.” Alice explains. “She decided to write a letter and leave it with me for when you came back. Here you go.”

Alice then hands me a letter. I quickly open it and instantly recognize my mother’s handwriting.

“Hey Darx,

Sorry for worrying you. And thank you so much for coming to my rescue. I really appreciate the gesture. Even if I ended up getting saved by someone else, it still means a lot to me that you decided to put in the effort to come and save me.

I heard from Helena about your performance in the tournament. My goodness, you are an A rank now? That is the best reward you could have gotten! So much better than any prize money. You have an even higher rank then you poor old mother. I am so proud of you. And the ways some of your duels have gone. I heard the one against Monica was a real nailbiter. And the duel against Url was rigged. Such a scam. I feel like walking right up to Oblivion and challenging him myself and show him how a real adventurer fights.

Anyways, if you made it all the way to Merton, then you will have seen for yourself that it is all gone. The mansion, the smithy, the inn, … perhaps one day we can go back and rebuild, but even then, it will never be the same again. We would have to find people to join us. People who are different from the ones we remember. And with war with the demons being so likely in the near future, people will want to stick to the cities, where they are safe.

I will be staying in the city as well for a while. I don’t know for how long yet. I will see what happens the next few days. I will not be staying at the Dark Dragons. Alice probably told you she rejoined, if she hasn’t, she will tell you soon enough. And I am happy for her. The guild is a safe place for her little girl to grow up. I am not quite sure about Alice going on quests again, though. Imagine that one day she doesn’t come back from an adventure. I at least couldn’t put you through that. I hope Alice plays it safe and only takes the easy quests.

I too thought about rejoining the Dark Dragons. With you being old enough to take care of yourself, I figure it might be time for me to come out of retirement. But as I walked through the Dark Dragon guildhall, I just couldn’t help being reminded of your father and well … I can’t do it. The Dark Dragon guild simply holds too many beautiful memories of a wonderful man that I will never see again. If I really am to go back to being an adventurer, it would have to be a different guild.

So yeah, take care my dear. I will be looking around for a new guild to join. But I will show up to the Dark dragon guild soon enough to have a chat with you. It will feel so good to see you again. Oh, and you will have to introduce me to that Kiara I’ve been hearing about. She seems like an interesting girl. So yeah, see you soon.”

Having read this letter, the last of my worries disappear completely. My mother is alive and safe and is already moving on with life. She has even promised to meet me in the near future again. Oh god. That means I will have to introduce Kiara to her. Oh noooo. How do I do that? How much do I tell her? Do I say Kiara and I have been fucking? And what about Amelia? How do I tell my mom that 2 girls have agreed to share me? Oh, goddess. Now I suddenly dream seeing my mom again.

“Feeling better now, Darx?” Alice asks.

“Yeah.” I say, hiding my fear of having to introduce both my girlfriends to mom. “Knowing that my other is safe puts me very much at ease.”

“Sweet, then now would be a good time for me to ask you about this prophecy I’ve been hearing about.” Alice continues.

I blink 2 times at her and ask, “Prophecy? What prophecy?”

With a big smile and a lot of motions with her hands Alice starts recitingµ, for all at the table to hear, what sounds like an ancient text she has read.

“One day, when humanity stands alone and the faith in Imris is at an all-time low, a man will arise and save us all. Conceived by Imris and placed inside the womb of a virgin by divine magic, he shall be recognized by eyes of crimson. He will come from humble beginnings but shall rise through the ranks until one day, he alone shall stand against the demons and shall win or fall based on the worship of the people.”

At first I thought Alice was just being silly, but when she got to the part of ‘recognized by eyes of crimson’ I started to worry this prophecy might be about me. And when she is done, all heads at the table turn to me, like they are expecting me to say something.

“That sounded like some weird amateur prophecy written by someone who has never written anything before.” I reply. Then I mockingly say, “I have read better prophecies in fictional stories.”

“Yeah, I don’t think it’s real either.” Alice says. “But this one has been making the rounds, recently. Priests and nuns are all over the street, proselytizing on the corners of the streets, and I think they are talking about you.”

“Wow, Darx. You’re going to be our savior now?” Ryul asks.

“I remember a time when we had to save him.” Leona pipes in.

“You won’t forget about us after you save the world, right?” Shiala says mockingly.

“You never told me the goddess was your mother.” Sophie says.

All I can do is place both my hands on my face and groan loudly, “Nooooo, I don’t want to be anyone’s messiah. I just wanna be an adventurer.”

After some more jokes at my expense, Alice eventually gets tired and decided to head to her room. So do Ryul and Shalia, as well as Leona and Merlara. Sophie and Ari decide to head to the guildhall’s walls and do some stargazing. I ask Kiara and Amelia what they want to do. Kiara says that she has something she wants to discuss with the both of us, so we head to our room.