"The emperor?" Aric was a little shocked but curious.
"Let's go talk somewhere more private about this," suggested Tristan.
"What could the emperor want this time?" thought Aric.
They went into an alley. Tristan ensured that there were no people around and started talking. "The emperor's message is..."
Suddenly Kail interfered. "Wait, should I be hearing this?"
Tristan's gaze turned more serious. "This is top secret, and you shouldn't tell anyone. You, Kail, are an exception because of your companionship with the hero."
"My lips are sealed!" Kail replied. "You can continue talking now, sorry for interfering."
Tristan explained that in a certain area in the Demon Forest, a lot of people were disappearing. The emperor sent knights and hired high-rank adventurers to see what was going on. The people he sent were all A and S rank, but none of them returned. It's been 10 days since this started happening, and the emperor didn't know what to do. Then I was given the opportunity to do the hero trial and become a hero. The emperor decided what mission to give me for my hero trial and started telling me about the disappearances. Then he said, "I know this might be too hard of a mission for you, so I'll send the current hero Aric with you to help. It'll be a great opportunity for you two to get to know each other more before you become a hero, since each hero is required to travel together with each other."
"Is that really true? I thought all heroes chose to travel together. I didn't know you were forced to," Kail was shocked.
"Well, if we're going to defeat the Demon Lord, we need to use all our strength, and to do that we need to work together. If we don't travel together, we can't learn to work together as a team," Aric replied.
"Yes, guess you have a point there," Kail smiled.
"We interfered again, sorry," Aric apologized. "Continue."
"Right, and after that I decided to search for you, Sir Aric. I heard rumors you were here and came as fast as possible," continued Tristan. "Ah, and about your companion—since this is my hero trial, no one besides you, Hero, can help me achieve it, so Sir Kail can't come."
"Okay," nodded Kail. "I kinda expected that."
"So when should we go?" Aric asked.
"The emperor said he will wait five more days, unless someone returns from the disappearing area," Tristan replied. "If no one does, the emperor will send me a letter and we will go right after that. In the time being, I'll be staying in Verdian."
"Oh, why don't you stay in the same inn as us?" asked Kail. "That way you can contact us easily if the emperor sends the letter."
"Ehm! He is a noble, he can't stay in a cheap inn like that!" whispered Aric to Kail.
"He will probably stay in the Sylvanthe family mansion," Aric thought.
"Great idea!" said Tristan. "I'd like my identity to stay hidden as well, so please don't tell anyone."
"Oh, okay then..." said Aric awkwardly.
"Lead the way!" said Tristan.
Aric took one look at him and knew Tristan had never hidden his identity.
"Well... first, if you want to hide your identity, Lord Tristan, you should cover your family emblem so no one recognizes you, and maybe wear a hood or something to cover your eyes," suggested Aric.
"Yes," Kail agreed. "Even I recognized you, even though I don't know much about nobles."
Tristan put a cloth around himself to hide the crest and eyes that Aric had with him. Then they went on their way to the inn.
On their way there, they found Viorel and Cedric.
"Aric, Kail," Viorel waved at them gently.
"Hello there, Viorel," both of them said.
"And who is this guy? A new friend of yours?" asked Viorel.
"Ah, this is Tri..." Kail stopped mid-sentence, remembering that Tristan wanted to keep his identity a secret.
"Tristian," continued Aric. "He is a friend of Kail's."
"Hello, nice to meet you, Tristian," Viorel greeted him.
Tristan bowed. "It's an honor to meet you too, Lady Viorel."
"No need to be polite. A friend of Aric and Kail is my friend as well," said Viorel with a smile.
"By the way, Viorel, what are you doing here?"
"I wanted to check how the town was doing. It seems to be doing well."
"Yes, most of the buildings will be finished rebuilding by tomorrow," said Aric.
"And the guild," added Kail. "We'll be able to take quests again."
"How are things going in your house now?"
"I've got a new instructor and have basically forgotten about the incident and Renna..." Viorel was still a bit sad. "But I'm feeling way better now!" Viorel smiled.
"Haha, love the energy," said Kail.
"Anyway, see you later, Viorel. We just got back from the Demon Forest and we are tired. We'll go to the inn for now," said Aric.
"Okay, bye."
Cedric just nodded as goodbye. He seemed quite tired, so he didn't talk.
After that, they arrived at the inn.
Aric called the inn owner. "Hey, do you have any other free rooms? We have another guy looking for a room."
"Well of course we do," replied the owner of the inn.
They got a room for Tristan, and luckily it was close to Aric and Kail's room.
"Finally, we can rest now," said Kail, entering the room.
"See you tomorrow, Lord Tristan," said Aric before entering the room as well.