"Are you...are you a goddess?"
Elanore raised her eyebrow at the man in front of her. Is there something wrong with his head? Though, she answered plainly.
"Yes."
Mathew's face flashed with surprise, but it was the healer woman behind him whose actions were more surprising.
The healer jabbed Mathew with her staff. "You are being rude to our savior!"
"Ow," Mathew groaned and glared at Marine. "Do you realize how much I have been through already? I almost died!"
Elanore pointed down at the helpless man while looking to the others. "Is this your leader?"
They all nodded.
The vampire burst into a fit of laughter. "Man, that was quite a performance! You really ought to be applauded for your…"
Naela elbowed Ella in the arm. "Don't pay any mind to the mistress. She is...socially awkward."
Mathew let out a sigh of relief. "I was worried for a second. Where did both of you come from?" He looked at Naela's tail after standing up, and then he looked at Elanore's pink hair and purple eyes. "Are you really a goddess?"
Naela clicked her tongue. "No, I think the mistress was just playing a scheme."
"I wasn't playing a scheme. This loot is rightfully mine, and I thought it would be easier to collect if…"
"So it was a scheme! Mistress, I can't allow you to behave this way now."
"Huh?" Ella slumped her shoulders. "How come? Before you were all about flying over walls and doing strange things in cities, but now you are wanting to advocate social norms?"
Naela crossed her arms, pouted, and looked away. "Mistress, you are the one who said such things mattered in the first place."
The other warrior, Gregory, interjected. "Never mind all of that. We don't mind if you take what's yours anyway. For starters, our friend would be dead if not for you."
Elanore grinned and put away her staff. She reached onto the ground and picked up the zombie's halberd. Loot obtained! Let's see what kind of item this one is...[Inspect]!
[Epic: Zuldoor's Halberd - Bounded Halberd of Kazaldoor's faithful knight. When channeling magic, this item becomes coated in spectral flames of Kazaldoor's Hold. ]
Ooh, for a little zombie man, this one is not bad. Though, I thought it was some kind of spectral weapon at first. He seemed to summon it…
The vampire looked towards all of the other items on the ground. "I don't really care about any of those things. You can take them as you please."
It was at that moment that the merchant in charge stepped from his carriage. He was an older man with grey intermingling his brown hair, and he wore white robes. Though, his most distinguishing features were the whiskers on his cheeks. Not only that, he had cat ears, and behind him a thin cat tail swayed.
The man grinned and bowed. "Nice to meet you, savior. I am Kiran, and these are the body guards I hired. May I have your name?"
Elanore waved him off. "There is no need to be formal. It's Elanore, and this is Naela."
Kiran placed a thoughtful hand to his grey-stubbled chin. "Elanore...Yes, that is a good name. As for the matter of the items, allow me to take care of them."
The cat man took a small lock box out of his robes, and he pointed it towards the items on the ground. A blue mist shot out of the keyhole and covered each one of the items, and then they disappeared.
Elanore performed her [Inspect] on Kiran's lock box.
[Epic: Small Lock Box of Holding - A lock box that's able to store a modest amount of gold and items. ]
I see, so it's kind of like my inventory. Come to think of it...I had items like this in the game. I wonder if my newly acquired enchanting book goes over this?
Kiran put the lock box back in his robes. "Elanore, if you are heading the same way, would you be willing to travel inside of my carriage."
The vampire looked towards the carriage and finally noticed the oddities at the front. There were no horses pulling it. Instead, there were four more dinosaur creatures to add to the prehistoric animals she'd seen. Each of them stood on two legs, and they had rounded midsections with long necks, reminding her of the ostriches she'd seen at zoos. Only these ones were much bigger, easily dwarfing the familiar animals.
Race: [Draft Gallimimus]
Age: 12
Sex: Female
Level: 10
Health: 2,100
Stamina: 4,789
Mana: 62
Before Elanore could ruminate on the creatures, Kiran flashed her some gold coins. "Of course, there will be gold involved if you decide to come."
///
Like any self-respecting MMO player, Ella found herself in the back of a carriage when offered gold. After all, this is a side quest!
Mathew shook his head and sighed. "We just have the worst luck…"
Elanore raised an eyebrow. "How so? Your life was saved, and now you get to live."
Gregory frowned at the vampire. "We were saved by a vampire of all people. I don't even know how you can walk around in the sunlight. Doesn't your goddess forbid such things? Moreover…"
"Quiet," Marine said, "don't look a gift Galli in the mouth. The only thing that matters is we are living now to tell the tale."
Elanore shrugged. "Vampires, cats, and humans, it really doesn't matter. More importantly, what was that all about? Why were zombies coming out of the ground?"
"The Fall Contingency," Mathew said.
The vampire looked around at the others, and they simply nodded. Only her wyvern shared her same look of confusion. Thanks! That clears everything up! Not!
"What the hell is a Fall Contingency. You say that like I am supposed to know."
Gregory crossed his arms and glared at the vampire. "Of course you wouldn't know. You're not from around here, are you?"
"Well yeah, that's kind of obvious. Instead of berating the person that saved your life, maybe try to learn some diplomacy."
The warrior sneered. "Even if a devil saves someone, it's still a devil."
"That's enough!" Marine shouted. "Synnaria has no qualms with vampires." She looked towards Elanore. "Tell me, do you drink the blood of mortals?"
Elanore shook her head.
"Then all is well." Marine sighed. "As for the Fall Contingency...It's a yearly event around here. It's been a mystery ever since I've been alive. No one is sure what started it, but it's believed to be the curse of a mad witch. You heard the name Kazaldoor, right?"
"That's right," Mathew said, "what was that? I've never heard of a talking zombie, let alone Kazadoor."
The priestess frowned. "It's Kazaldoor, you midwit. This is why I told you to start reading books. Anyway...Kazaldoor is a name I've heard before, but I can't put my finger on it. The Fall Contingency has happened here every year, and each time, lives are lost. Perhaps this Kazaldoor has something to do with it?"
Elanore grinned, and she felt excitement building through her body. It's a true quest!
"Mistress? Are you thinking of something strange again?"
"No way, it's perfectly normal for a seasoned gamer to get excited."
"As I thought," the wyvern said, "the delusions are returning!"