Chương 34: Danger is our Business

The hotel Alexandra was residing in was clearly high end. The facade was all marble and gold, and the large garden in front of the entrance was decorated with a myriad of plants and colorful flowers. The inside looked even more luxurious. Three low-ranking mana users looked quite out of place in the fancy lobby, and the concierge who stopped them as soon as they walked through the door visibly scrunched his nose. Evan faced him with composure.

"Evan Randall, Oliver Detreyo, and Luca Kamanoa. We're here to visit Alexandra Tyodadi." The man whipped out one of those stone tablets. He read something on it with squinted eyes and a sour expression.

"Evan Randall and Oliver Detreyo are indeed names on the list of allowed visitors, but your companion will have to wait outside. He's not on the list." Evan was about to argue with him when the door behind them flew open and a disgruntled-looking Alex stomped in. The concierge's whole demeanor changed on a dime. He bowed his head.

"Welcome back, madam." Alex only glanced at him before her eyes found Oliver and Evan.

"Hey boys. Good to see you." Her tone was chipper, but to Evan's ears it sounded forced. She was clearly upset about something.

"We wanted to get your advice on some topics. Do you have time to talk?" Evan asked. She took a long breath.

"We definitely need to talk. Let's go to my room." They tried to follow her, but the concierge stopped Luca again.

"This young man here is not on the guest list. He'll have to wait outside." Alex rolled her eyes.

"No, he won't. Put him on the list."

"But madam—""Put his name down, Neville," Alex said impatiently. She turned to Luca.

"What's your name?"

"Luca Kamanoa," he said, cheeks flushing. Ten seconds in and he already looked very smitten with the red-haired monster hunter. Alex either didn't notice his flustered reaction or didn't care. She was a very beautiful woman, and powerful and rich on top. She probably had men drooling over her where ever she showed.

"Luca Kamanoa. Put that on your silly list, Neville. Now let's go upstairs." They left the dismayed-looking concierge behind, and Alex led them into a magic-driven elevator that took them to the fifth floor and then to a room at the end of a hallway. As soon as they walked through the door, Evan realized it wasn't just a room, it was a whole apartment with several rooms, each one more luxurious than the last. He couldn't help but stare at all the riches on display.

Watching high-rankers bid insane prices for crystals and gems was one thing, but seeing Alex's wealth displayed in a more traditional way, a way Evan was used to from Earth, drove home the point again. Mana users were making bank. At least if they didn't get themselves killed before reaching the more lucrative ranks. Alex carelessly kicked her leather boots into a corner and sank down into a fluffy satin armchair. She looked like a volcano ready to erupt.

Evan was reasonably sure their unannounced visit wasn't the cause, so something else had ruined her mood.

"Is everything alright?" he asked carefully, sitting down in one of the other armchairs arranged around a marble coffee table with several expensive looking crystal liquor bottles on top. She let out a frustrated huff.

"Remember how we talked about how I was going to inform the Guardian Guild about the strange disappearances we've seen on our way here?" Both Oliver and Evan nodded. Luca kept in the background, doing his best not to look star-struck and failing completely.

"Your visit to the Guardian Guild didn't go well?" Evan asked. He had been thinking about the missing villagers, but knowing the problem was handled by more qualified people had put their fate to the back of his mind. He'd just been too busy to think much about the case.

"That's an understatement." Alex angrily threw her hands in the air.

"They recently had a change of leadership, and the new guy is a disaster. It's like his personal mission is to push all competent members out and replace them with his bootlicking cronies."

"So they're not going to do anything to look into the kidnappings?" Oliver asked, a look of concern on his face. Of course Evan wanted to find out what happened to all those villagers too, but for Oliver this was a personal issue. It was the region he grew up in, and the disappearances had happened close to Silvercreek. Who knew if his hometown wasn't next on the list? Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

"They completely brushed me off!" Alex complained. She leaned forward, grabbed a liquor bottle from the table, flicked the crystal cork away and drank the amber liquid right from the bottle. Oliver looked alarmed now. He shifted in his seat nervously.

"But we need to find those villagers! They might still be alive. They need help. And what if it happens again? What if whoever did this takes more people?"

"That's exactly what I told them, but they didn't listen to me." Luca's eyes went wide.

"But you're rank 11? They can't just ignore you. No one ignores a rank 11 mana user!" Alex took another big gulp from her bottle.

"That's sweet, but the guild is full of high-rankers, darling. I'm just one of many, and I'm not even a member of that guild. They have no reason to listen to me, unless someone is doing me a personal favor."

"So what now?" Evan asked.

"I'll take matters into my own hands after all," she said, voice firm.

"I'm good friends with a Guardian with tracking skills. I already asked him for help, and he's willing to accompany me back to the Rainwilds. It's not the same as a proper team of Guardians, but it's better than nothing." Oliver sat up straighter.

"I want in. I want to go too!"

"Me too," Evan said quickly.

"We should all go. Strength in numbers, right?" Luca nodded urgently, signaling his agreement to join the expedition. Alex hesitated. She looked at all three of them for a little longer than Evan could bear without floundering under her gaze.

"I love your enthusiasm, but I'm not sure that's a good idea, boys. You're only rank 3. Your new friend over there is still a rank 1."

"I'm really close to ranking up!" Luca protested.

"Even so. You're weak and inexperienced, and this could turn out to be a very dangerous situation. There was a reason I didn't try to find the culprit while we were still there. We're talking about the abduction or murder of dozens of people. Whoever did this might be very powerful."

"I don't care about danger," Oliver said.

"Danger is our business, right, Evan?" Evan nodded, albeit a little less passionately than Oliver. If even Alex was worried about the situation, then the culprit they were looking for was completely out of their league. But hanging back in Stormhaven and killing low-level monsters didn't feel right either. Not if a real quest awaited them out there.

"It would be good for us to gain experience," Evan said, "and we promise we won't get in your way."

"We'll do everything you say," Luca promised. Alex made a thoughtful face.

"Fine," she said eventually.

"You can tag along. But if you cause more trouble than you're worth, I won't hesitate to send you back to Stormhaven. Understood?" All three nodded dutifully.

"We'll leave in two days. Get your things in order here. We meet in front of this hotel at daybreak the day after tomorrow." They left the fancy hotel with a lot to talk about. Luca, despite his enthusiastic agreement to join the mission, looked worried.

"I've never been to the Rainwilds," he admitted.

"How is it?"

"Beautiful," Oliver explained.

"The nature is breathtaking and the people are friendly. Right, Evan?"

"It's a very nice place," Evan said, even though he didn't have much to compare it to in this world. Luca made a dismissive hand gesture.

"Yeah, sure, nice people, but what about the monsters? Are there a lot of strong monsters?"

"Not really. Not as long as you stay away from the Celestial Ruins. And the Old Forest, of course."

"The what?" Evan had spent almost two weeks in the region, traveling past a dozen villages, but this was the first time he'd heard of the Old Forest.

"The Old Forest," Oliver repeated.

"The name is a little misleading, it's not just a single forest. You'll find them all over the continent. They're… well, forests, but with very high mana. Trees are huge and monsters are strong."

"And the Forest Folk live there," Luca added, tone ominous.

"Who are they?" Evan asked.

"They live in the Old Forest," Luca said flatly.

"Yeah, I gathered that much."

"They have this whole thing with nature going on. They don't want to join the rest of society and instead live as one with nature or something. Living off what the forest provides, living in tree houses. That kind of stuff. They're all mana users, some pretty high ranking, but they don't use magical objects like showers or fridges. Not sure why, never talked to one personally."

"They're famously secluded," Oliver explained.

"I've never talked to one either, even though the Old Forest is only a day's travel away from Silvercreek." Evan considered their words.

"Magical tree dwellers who live as one with nature. Are you talking about… elves?" Both burst out laughing. Oliver gave Evan a clap on the back, still giggling.

"No, Evan. Elves aren't real. They only exist in the stories you tell children." After Luca had managed to stifle his laughter, he looked at Evan, puzzled.

"How come you don't know this stuff? I thought the Old Forest existed everywhere on the continent."

"I'm not from the continent," Evan said quickly. Soon he would tell Luca the whole truth, but not right now, not in the middle of a busy street.

"I'm from very far away."

"Very, very far away," Oliver confirmed, winking at Evan. Luca caught the gesture.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean? Where are you from, Evan?"

"Uh…" Oliver came to his aid.

"That's a long story. We'll tell you later, okay? But it's a good thing you brought the topic up. Evan, if we leave the day after tomorrow, we really should go visit the Academy tomorrow, so you can talk to someone about your… journey." Luca frowned at the word Academy, his whole body language tensing up.

"You two can go without me, right? I'll have some stuff to do before we leave. Some really urgent stuff." Evan wasn't surprised Luca wasn't keen on returning to the Academy grounds so soon after failing the admission test, but he felt some internal resistance too. He was starting to settle into his new life, he was starting to make long-term plans, and to his own surprise he felt a spark of fear ignite in his chest when he thought about talking to someone about traveling back to his own world.

What if the Academy scholars told him traveling back was actually very easy and he could return right away? How would that make him feel? The longer he stayed in this new magical world, the less inclined he felt to return to his old life. To double shifts and electricity bills and getting up early to prepare his father's meds and staying up late so he could meet some friend Leah wanted him to meet that he couldn't care less about.

On the other hand, the prospect of talking to someone who knew what had happened to him, how he'd ended up here and why, would give him a lot of peace of mind, and that person was most likely at the Academy, at least according to Agatha.

"Alright, let's go tomorrow then. We have enough money for the ferry left, right?" Oliver shrugged.

"Sure. How expensive can it be?"