The next morning, it started to rain.
-
Petra woke up with a long yawn.
She scuttled out of bed by climbing out of the mountain of pillows and blankets that drowned her, then went to change. Petra changed out of her nightgown and into her mages robe, then used the second-floor bathroom to take a long bath, fix her hair, and brush her teeth.
After greeting a few girls, she tiptoed past the sleeping Poya, who didn't seem to have a set bed, and walked downstairs to see how the 'business' was doing.
On her way down, she passed by the two dwarven sisters.
They were running down the hall, clearly in a hurry.
Judging from the books that they were carrying, they were on their way to Elli's morning class on Runes.
Petra rubbed her sleepy little eyes and smiled.
-
After working the front desk for a few hours, Petra got bored and decided to go play in the garden.
Upstairs, she met with the Alchemist and the three Green Elves to discuss how to manage the garden.
It was worth mentioning that after seeing the garden, all of the girls understood why they had to go through such a painful process to quickly build their poison resistance.
Petra and the Cockatiel Beastmen sat opposite to each other, overlooking a cauldron. Petra gave her some tips about alchemy, and as time slowly passed, this 'two-star' Alchemist that Petra had casually bought began to realize that her new master seemed to be a little psychotic.
Both Medicine Masters and Poison Masters were considered Alchemists, but she found that Petra was an anomaly. If a normal Alchemist was a calm soul who patiently refined pills through meditation and a long period of focus, then Petra was like a lunatic, mixing an explosive with a pair of unguarded hands.
The fact that it didn't explode was one thing, but the fact that it succeeded was another.
Was this Alchemy?
How was this not just witchcraft!?
Crazy!
She felt that everything she knew had been degraded to the level of just smashing a rock onto another rock. As she listened, a whole new world slowly opened to her. The three Green Elves had long lost their position in the conversation, realizing that it was too advanced for them.
You would never be able to guess just by looking at Petra's childish stature, but she was a real genius.
After Petra was finished with the Alchemy lesson, she went on to give the Green Elves some tips on how to manage the garden.
These three elves were all beautiful, but she noticed that they started to change after yesterday's training. Their green hair had started to turn purple from the roots, and their eyes flickered with flashes of purple in the center of their pupils.
Soon, they wouldn't be able to be called 'Green Elves' anymore.
Petra tilted her head, wondering if it was normal for a green elf to transform into something like a purple elf after being exposed to a lot of poison.
She didn't know.
If she remembered, she would just ask teacher Levy later.
After Petra was done in the garden, she continued to play around for the rest of the day.
* * *
Later that night, after the shop had closed and the staff was asleep, the Tower Spider suddenly received a visitor.
From upstairs, Petra suddenly heard a loud thud.
Drawn by her curiosity, she crawled over to the second-floor stairs and looked down. From the top of the stairs, Petra poked out her head and looked at what was happening.
Behind her came Poya, Levy, and Rose.
Poya clung to Petra, Rose was annoyed at being woken up, and Levy rubbed her chin, suddenly interested in something.
Aside from the owl girl, who loved to stay up late like a professional Neet, all the others were asleep.
The first floor was empty, with only a few flickers of magic light illuminating the room. In the middle of the floor lay a young girl, seemingly unconscious. She had rushed through the front door and rudely collapsed on the ground. Upon closer inspection, she looked exhausted, weak, and like she had just escaped from something.
Petra whipped out her stick.
Little Green walked down the stairs.
Before this brat could do some poking, Levy clawed her by the head and lifted her up.
After passing the wriggling Petra to Rose, Levy walked over to the unconscious girl.
She crouched down to check.
"Hmm, she looks exhausted?" Levy mumbled.
She looked back at Petra and asked, "What do you think, do you want to keep her?"
Petra tilted her head and stopped struggling.
After a moment, she shrugged. "Why not!"
Rose snorted from behind.
"She's clearly being chased, you just want to cause trouble, right?" She spat, dissatisfied with this little intruder and her nighttime escapade.
Petra looked over her shoulder and met the cat girl's gaze.
Her little face looked very serious when she nodded. "Yes!"
Rose felt her eyelid twitch.
Petra pointed at the unconscious girl and commanded in a very adult-like voice. "Take her up!"
Poya detached from Petra's leg, dropped to the ground with a little thud, then skipped over. She grabbed the unconscious girl by the leg and dragged her up the stairs in an extremely violent display of a complete disregard for human life.
The girls followed the mushroom baby up the stairs.
-
A few minutes later.
Bang!
The door to the first floor was blasted open.
A heavy black boot stepped into the dark tavern, his metal armour ringing as he stirred. Five men, each wearing thick iron armor, entered the room. On the chest plates of these five men was an insignia of four castles positioned in a cross, the north of which was outlined in gold.
This was the Solarin Castle's Crest.
Their footsteps were like thunder, waking up the entire building.
The leader spat, "Light up the room!"
One of the knights cast a simple spell, illuminating the room with a small ball of fire.
The leader looked around.
He signaled with his hand, commanding the others to investigate. He turned to the stairs, frowning. "Go find someone!"
The man beside him moved, marching towards the second floor with heavy steps.
Boom!
There was a sudden flash of light, and the knight who was ascending the stairs was thrown back.
On the stairs, Nebula appeared.
"How dare you!" One man growled, pointing his sword.
Nebula ignored him and turned her attention towards the leader. Her face was indifferent, almost like she found this situation nothing more than a simple annoyance. "Who are you people and what do you want?"
Her voice was cold yet impatient.
The leader narrowed his eyes.
He could feel a strong sense of danger, but he couldn't tell where it came from.
He raised his hand.
"Stand down!"
The leader stepped forward and tried his best to make a genial smile. It seemed like he wanted to try to take a more diplomatic approach first. "I apologize for the intrusion, but we believe that a very dangerous fugitive has escaped and hidden within this building."
He knocked on his chest.
"We are knights of the Solarin Castle, and I ask that you cooperate with our investigation."
Petra, who had been hiding in the dark, rolled her eyes.
Nebula spoke in a cold voice. "The pursuit of your fugitive doesn't excuse your behavior." Her eyes moved to the broken door.
The leading knight frowned.
"Miss, please understand. We are unable to return without this fugitive. She has offended many people and has quite a large bounty on her head. If you don't cooperate, then you'll leave us no- ""-There is no such person here, leave!" Nebula didn't even let him finish.
The man's eyes darkened.
"That girl is a suspect involved in the death of the Castle Lord's son. We believe that she may have been exposed to a very dangerous form of corruption, and harboring her is no different than protecting the murderer, therefore..."
He drew his blade, its silver surface flickering with spiritual light. Runes carved in blessed silver were filled with sharp spiritual energy that clung tightly to its edge, ready to attack at any moment.
"Don't blame me for being rude!"
His roar was followed by a wave of violent spiritual pressure.
The five men drew their swords.
Nebula closed her mouth, but Levy, who appeared behind her, laughed. "If you attack, you'll die! I don't want to clean up! Please leave, please leave!"
The leader grunted, readying himself to attack. "This is your last chance-" "Leave!"
"Tsk, have it your way!"
"Hay! Wa wa wa wait! Don't mess up my house!"
Petra jumped down from the top of the stairs.
She landed with a thud, continuing to stomp on the floor like a child. She would have to clean this up, not Levy! What a joke!
When she appeared, there was a sudden pause.
The five men stopped, each looking at her with widened eyes.
"C-Captain, look! Isn't that...?" The man's voice was shaky and unsure.
"That's the girl from the report!" Yelled another.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I recognise her too!"
"What should we do?"
"Bring her back?"
"Can we?"
"We have a perfect cause, there won't be a problem!"
"Then go!"
Nebula frowned.
"Are you done?"
Petra stood in the middle of the room like an Idiot, awaiting her wannabe kidnappers.
"What?" She just tilted her head cutely.
"Get her!"
"Go!"
"Don't hurt her!"
Petra jumped, what was going on??
Whoosh!
"Ahhh!"
Petra: "Eh eh eh!?"
"Damn it, get her!"
"She's too fast!"
Petra: "Who are you people!"
Boom!
Wah!
Shit!
A comical chase unfolded.
-
The next morning, the unnamed girl fluttered awake. With an awkward shuffle, she found her body tightly bound with hemp rope, completely unable to move.
After a moment of 'uhhhhhh...'
She immediately panicked!
She struggled against the rope, unable to escape. Her thrashing caused her bindings to tighten, and after a point, she was unable to continue.
Now struggling to breathe, she looked around with a quick snap of the neck.
"Hello!"
"Anyone!"
"Help!"
There was no response.
She gritted her teeth.
Time passed.
A little later, Poya trotted in.
When the unnamed girl saw Poya, she immediately looked upon her as if she had found a saviour.
"You! What do you want to do to me!!"
Poya: "..."
"What! Damn it! Who are you! Do you know who I am! How dare you treat me like this!"
Poya: "..."
"Let me go, let me go, let me go!"
"I-If you don't, I'll I'll ill, I'll tell my daddy!"
"Help! Heeelp! I've been kidnapped! Help!"
Poya: "..."
"You! Who are you!"
"Why are you doing this to me?! Boohoo!"
"I demand to know!"
She took a deep breath, then...
"Whrrerrrreeeeeyyy!"
She let out an earthshaking screech.
Poya: "..."
In the other room.
Petra: "..."
Nebula: "..."
Levy: "..."
Petra couldn't take it anymore. She ran into the room and...
Smack!
Smack!
Smack!
Petra whacked the girl.
"Ahh! Damn it! That hurts! Stop stop stop!"
Petra continued to whack her. "Quiet! Who are you and why are those people chasing you? Annoying girl! Loud girl! Bad bad bad! Bad girl!"
"Ah ah ah, Ah ahah! W-what! What people! Wait, what? They found me! You have to let me go, it'll be too late if they find me!" She immediately panicked.
Petra really wanted to poison this annoying girl to death.
"It's done, just speak!"
"No, you don't understand, damn, those people are knights from Solarin Castle! They'll kill you!"
"Oh~"
"Oh? Oh! You don't understand!" She squirmed around even more violently, like a caterpillar about to be hunted.
"They're dead."
The girl's eyes widened. "What! How, why!"
"They were too noisy."
"What? You're crazy! What will you do if the Solarin Castle finds out!"
"Should we silence you then?" Petra narrowed her eyes.
The unnamed girl shrank her shoulders. "N-no."
Petra poked her with a stick. "Then, who are you?"
The unnamed girl puffed out her cheeks. "My name is Yuna, Yuna! I'm the young lady of the Blackstone Mining Company!"
"Who's your daddy?"
"He's..."
She didn't finish.
"Why were you being chased?"
Yuna: "..."
"Why were you being chased?"
Yuna: "..."
"Why… were… you… being… chased…?"
Yuna: "..."
Petra narrowed her eyes.
"Ok, take her to the 'Twisting room'."
Yuna shook.
She didn't like how this cute little girl said 'Twisting'. "Wah, w-whats the twisting room?"
She was Ignored by Petra.
"What's the twisting room!"
She was dragged away...
"What's the twisting roooooooom!!"
"No no no!"
"Ahhh, help! Murder! Murder!"
"Heeeeelp meeeeeee!!"
-
20 minutes later.
Yuna sat obediently in a seiza.
"Yes, that's right, they wanted the location of the dark stone mine. My family has been guarding it for generations, and it was recently discovered by a passing noble."
"Ah, yes, that's right, my father escaped to the south."
"Yes yes, here, on the map, it's all yours."
"Ah ha, sure, here you go, all the information."
"Me? No no, I'll go and hide in Sevensen."
-
After Yuna kindly told Petra everything that she knew, Petra decided to let her go.
The moment she obtained her freedom, she immediately bolted as fast as she could into the horizon.
The girls were left alone to discuss.
Mell turned to Nebula.
"Do you think what she said can be trusted?"
Nebula hummed, then nodded. "She should be telling the truth, but I don't know if it's already been discovered by the Solarin Castle. If the noble was greedy, then he would want to hide it, but…"
"Is there really a Dark Stone mine? Isn't that a big deal?" Wind asked.
Mell nodded. "It matches what those guys said."
"There is, I can smell it on her," Levy added.
Rose was left in the back, confused. "What's a dark stone mine?"
Mell shook her head and looked at Nebula.
Nebula explained. "A dark stone mine is like a Spirit Stone Mine, but instead of being neutral in its nature, it's filled with the Darkness Element."
Rose and Mell nodded.
Nebula continued. "For other elements, this isn't a problem, but the darkness element has corruptive properties. The surrounding environment might mutate or spawn monsters."
Petra popped in, her little fists rose into the air. "But it's a good thing for us! I'm a Dark Element Cultivator! This Dark stone mine is a treasure for me! I read that if I enter the second stage of cultivation, I can fly on a sword like those white boys!"
Rose tilted her head. 'White Boys?'
Although Rose didn't understand, Nebula chuckled.
"It's both a treasure and a curse. If Yuna's family was guarding it, now that they've been chased away, I'm afraid that it's only a matter of time until it's discovered."
Petra nodded heavily.
She never thought that she would drool over some rocks, but she suddenly found herself doing it..
After their talk, they went back to sleep.
* * *
The next day, the rain finally stopped.
After the trouble with Yuna, the rest of the journey was relatively smooth. For the next few days, Petra switched between travel and business.
After a few days of driving, they took a short stop at a small village along the way.
This place was sparsely populated, but they were still standing strong. They were one of the few villages that survived the ice demon attacks without the help of outside forces.
After choosing to stay here for the night, Petra discovered a few small groups of adventurers working with the local villagers to clean up some ice demons that had been spotted in the area.
After that night, they continued their journey for another five days.
During this time, they passed many travellers.
They encountered monsters and treasures, and at one point, Petra even realised that most of the people traveling towards Sevensen were guardsmen in disguise from the Solarin Castle, looking for Yuna.
Petra threw this to the back of her mind.
After that, they finished the last leg of the journey.
Not long after, they arrived at the Solarin Castle.