As we traveled through the hard Rocky surface, a lot of familiar faces greeted us.
Uncle Jon, Klein, Jay and lot of people whom I know about.
Although the eastern gates entrance was an abomination the inner parts looked quite fine.
There was a bit of loss in power, as only the central slums now has electricity, or whatever tiny bit we get.
Although the cities and other places are powered by mana, this place doesn't have such amenities.
Now's not the time for this topic, so let's shift back.
As I strode my horse I could finally see the inn. The place where I grew up. It was still as same as before.
The wooden building looking the most grandeur than the rest, at the same time haunted.
The smell of fresh air and the stench of blood, brought a sense of nostalgia within me.
I took a deep breath in and felt the cold breeze hit my face subtly.
"Home feels the best no matter what",
"Hahahahah, that's soo true....",
"It's good to be back",
"Mm",
I got down from my horse and tied him near the grass, letting the poor guy graze.
"Roy, looks like you've had fun",
"Aah, Dad; you're damn right I did",
"Hahahah, i like the spirit kid, hope you remember what your old man told you",
"Yeah, dad, let's go in, I have a lot to report.",
Me and my father talked a bit more until we were greeted by the same old bar along with multiple people laughing and clattering their beer jugs.
"Aah, Roy is back. Hahahah, look at you, manly brat.hahahah",
"Aah, THUD, Welcome back kiddo",
"So still a crybaby?? Mwahh mwahh",
"Hahahaha, now that you mention it, he sure was a crybaby wasn't he. Hahahahaha",
"Oii who are you calling crybaby you bald eagle. Make sure you return all that you owe us first. I'm sure you haven't returned back anything in the 8 months I've gone",
"....",
"Hahaha, look at that eagle. You haven't returned it after all. Hahahaha, ant eater",
"Shut up you bratty fish.",
"You shut up, raccon",
"Aah wanna fight tiger",
"Bring it on Lion",
(Now u know from where bro gets his comebacks from. Or whatever he believes it is.)
Me and the innies (inn frnds-innies) kept bickering all of morning.
The warm rays of the sun was engulfed by our murky laughs.
After eating few pancakes I quickly changed myself into something simple and head towards the second floor.
I gestured Alice and the others to follow me. As I head inside the room, the once dark coloured walls were now replaced by something dim.
The grey tinge on all the walls made the room a bit freaky.
The centre of the room had a small tea stand table and there was a U shaped sofa surrounding it.
I could see my dad, Jon, Klein, Nara, Jay and a few others sitting.
"Dad, where's Anna. She didn't appear outside nor is she inside.",
"She's out for a bit concerning something that I am now about to talk"
He had a serious look on his face which conveyed the urgency of the situation.
"Roy, I think Nara already let you in on this but there's a mole sniffing around. I had initial doubts regarding this situation but I didn't want to believe it. Or maybe I just turned a blind eye to it, thinking it was safe. Either way, I'm now completely aware and trying my best to locate the leak.",
"Leak...What exactly did we loose from the leak??",
"We can loose this place Roy. If the Neandth folks get a hand on this property we will loose the right to stay here, that is something that i cannot allow no matter what.",
"What exactly are you talking about dad. What makes you think that we would loose this place?? What do they hold against us??",
"Proof, they hold proof. Well they know about the proof. Proof of something bad. Proof of something I've been trying to cover for years",
"Trying to cover up?? What are you-",
"Roy, just know this for now, if we loose we literally loose, there's nothing else left for us. So right now we have to stop those bastards. I won't get into details of it right now. You will know when the time comes. Certain things are better experienced than said. Now tell me your report",
That's a bit suspicious. But I had no choice but to oblige as he was right.
I explained our side of the story about everything including the new guards chasing me and my pet wolf.
I left out the Zarark and Vlenera part but rest all I kept them straight.
Lot of questions, LOT OF them were sizzling my head but now was not the time. Now was not the right moment. I had to suppress my curiosity and focus on the current predicament.
"New guards you say. Guacemole huh. Klein did report me this. ...hjg...", my father mumbled something not audible enough.
"Dad, I have to ask you this but how exactly did the eastern gate fall so easily when both of those guards were soo strong. I need to know whom we're dealing with??",
"....",
"Sigh, Roy, there is no one named Guacemole in the whole of slums, let alone here. I don't exactly know anyone with that name either. I don't know what you say but that's the key to this hellhole of a situation", Klein explained.
'There's no one by the name guacemole you say. Hmm, I am sure I heard right. Was it a code name or something. Something is off. If he was an enemy, he wouldn't casually chat with the previous shift members would he??'
I was broken from my deep thought by Jack's sudden question.
"Where is Keith and the other guard.??", he questioned.
That's right a valid question. If nobody exists in that name and we know what we saw then there's only one plausible explanation for this-
"They're dead",
'Yup, I thought so. There was no other way for this situation to exist. If they are dead then that would mean those guacemole and Zwekeep bastards are indeed an enemy. But I don't exactly understand the situation at that time',
"Are you sure you never hired any new guards to watch over the gates. Or just guards on general??", Jack followed up.
"No we did not. Jack there's hardly enough finance for us, do you think we would go out of line to hire new guards??",
"Klein, slow down. Jack what exactly happened. It seems like you and Roy have seen the same thing??", my father asked.
I took a glance at Jack and his eyes said the same thing as mine.
This was senseless.
The four of them were clearly chatting with each other on friendly terms. The fact is they even talked about how the next shift was coming and how they could go on a coffee break as such.
Was it hypnosis??
The puzzle was not fitting togeather by any means.
The situation was way too scattered.
'Think Roy, Think. Everything has a solution. Where did I miss??',
They were wearing cloaks around their head so there's no way I can identify them by their looks.
BUT, I still remember their voice. They were chatting something.
I don't know why that guy hasn't chased me back yet, if he truly is an enemy he should've traced me back to the cave easily. That means somethings stopping him. Stopping him from loving beyond a given area.
Snap,
'OK good. This is progress. Slowly, step by step'
"I think I have an idea but this has a very less chance of being successful",
"Don't worry, I have something too", Jack said with a glint in his eyes.
Looks like we've got ourselves plan A and a B.