End Online: Volume 3 (18 page)

“Please, Rix. It is late
and we all need sleep. How about we discuss it in the morning?”

The innkeeper calmly nods
his head as he agrees to put it off until the morning.

“W-why didn’t you say
anything?” Shai’en asks nervously as I return to the group with our room keys.

“There isn’t any rush, is
there?” I respond calmly, smiling sincerely underneath my hood. “Let us sleep
for the rest of the night and come back here in the morning.”

I hand over one of the
keys to Shai’en and Shai’lan, while the second one goes to Mason and Matrix. I
explain where the rooms are at the same time as handing over the keys, more so
for the benefit of the elves rather than the brothers. The elves possibly have
never stayed in a human settlement before so I assumed they may not be exactly
sure where to go.

With our discussion at its
end, we all head up to our separate rooms for the night.

Before I climb into my
bed, I look over at Fen, who is currently standing on the balcony. She has
propped her head on her hands while leaning forward and resting her elbows on
the balcony railing. A few gentle breezes of cool night air pass by her,
causing the hem of her red halter dress and her hair to gently drift back at
forth.

‘I wonder if I should
have had Shai’lan here and have Fen stay with Shai’en. That way, I know those
two elves won’t try to disappear in the middle of the night, and I won’t have
to deal with this wolf.’

I think to myself about
the various things I could have done differently as the system assist slowly
causes me to fall into a slumber.

***************************************************

As I open my eyes to the
morning sun shining through the balcony doors, my body registers an incredibly
familiar feeling.

I look down and see a
slightly ruffled head of white hair positioned next to my shoulder. Below that
is a slender and exposed nape, almost opaline in appearance. She is even worse
this morning in comparison to yesterday, with half of her body practically on
top of me.

My heart starts racing as
she stirs lightly, her body quivering for a moment before once more returning
to stillness. Looking down at the girl, I do somewhat feel affection towards
her, just not the type to be considered ‘romantic’. The very thought itself
causes me to throw up a wall of morals in my mind.

Fen is just an NPC. Indeed
a highly advanced program, but none the less, still a product of program code.
Besides, isn’t she technically a wolf?

Trying to slip my way out
of bed, Fen makes a light “ahhn” sounding yawn before suddenly chomping down
onto my shoulder. Sinking her teeth deep into the skin sends an unnaturally
acute pain to my body, causing me to cry out in agony.

“Cut it out!” I don’t
yell, yet speak in a reasonably loud and overbearing voice to the wolf girl
while sending a hard chop down into her head with the side of my hand. The blow
causes her to loosen her teeth from around my shoulder at the same time as I
slip away from her grip and her teeth.

The girl in front of me
stares at me with wide open eyes, a mischievous grin permeating her face.

‘You were awake this
entire time?!’ 
I cry in my mind.

“Please Fen, you need to
stop doing that.” I say to her in resignation.

“Stop…what?” She arches
her eyebrows while responding in a voice as clear as a clean cut crystal.

“Stop sneaking into my
bed. Honestly, you never give up.”

Her eyes dull slightly
while looking at me. In my mind, I cannot help but imagine wolf ears on her head
drooping down and a menacing aura emanating from her.

“I m-mean, it isn’t that I
don’t like it.” I say with a little fear in my voice, “I just think it is not a
good thing to do.”

She doesn’t seem to get
any happier, but at least she doesn’t seem to be too grumpy.

Five minutes later, I lead
the pouting wolf girl downstairs where I plan to meet up with everyone else.
The others are currently standing around one of the barrels, happily chatting
away to each other without the slightest nervousness about them.

I arrive at the spot with
Fen in tail and give my morning greetings to everyone. Shai’en looks at me with
a conflict showing in her eyes. Eventually, she speaks up.

“Shai’lan, go with this
man for a moment.”

I nod my head and look
down at the young child. He hesitates for a moment, but shortly resigns himself
to following me through the few players scattered around and over to the
innkeeper.

“Good morning, Rix. I am
here to bring you the boy who your daughter was secretly meeting.” I say while
pointing down to the little child

“Hoohhh?” He makes
breathing in air seem incredibly intimidating as he leans over the counter to
bring his face closer to the child. “So, you are the one who has been dragging
my very own daughter away from me? Do you think you deserve her affection and
love? Huh?”

“T-t-that’s not what
i-i-it was.” Shai’lan takes a step backwards, stammering his words before the
innkeepers menacing glare.

“I think you and me are
going to be having a 
very
 long talk about this shortly. If you
think I will let you have my daughter, you had better think again!”

Rix, raising his voice,
attracted the gazes of more than a few players throughout the inn. He even went
to continue pressing the terrified boy when suddenly a loud metallic clang
sounds throughout the inn,

His eyes rolling back up
in his head, Rix silently passes out and slumps lifelessly over the counter.
Standing over Rix’s now unconscious body, is his wife, with a rather large wok
in one hand.

“I am terribly sorry for
that.” She says without a hint of remorse for her husband, “I usually don’t
show myself out front, just this man is making too much noise. Will all of you
accompany me out back to the kitchen for a moment?”

Not just Shai’lan and I,
but the rest of the party all silently follow behind her like docile hostages,
fearing her brutality. We arrive in the kitchen where she stops and turns
around.

“Now that we are out of
prying eyes and that noisy husband of mine has quietened down. You must be the
young boy that my daughter showed some interest in.”

She looks Shai’lan up and
down, occasionally nodding to herself as if in agreement.

“I’m sorry,” Shai’en says
as she walks over and joins the conversation after seeing how this was going to
end, “My son cannot have this kind of relationship with an ordinary person.”

“Why?” the innkeepers wife
lowers her voice calmy, “Is it because you are elves?”

Not just the mother and
son, but even I am greatly shocked by her words, not sure what to in return.

“What, you think I
wouldn’t notice another one of my kin? Allow me to introduce myself. My name is
Zusa’jan, a former elf.” She laughs in a dry voice while lifting her hair away
from her ears.

Surely enough, the
innkeepers wife has elvish ears. Except, they are short and have nasty scars
from where they were chopped off.

“Y-your ears! And your
h-hair!” Shai’en stutters is shock, simply pointing at the Zusa’jan.

“Well. elvish ears stick
out too much to be able to fit in with the humans. As for my hair, it’s dyed.”

It is incredibly strange,
she doesn’t have any of the grace of the elves, nor does she have a smooth,
pleasant voice. Everything about her spoke of a middle aged, overweight woman.

“Hang on,” I raise my hand
as a strange thought comes to my mind, “Then your daughter. Wouldn’t that
mean?”

“Yes, she is technically
half elf and half human. It is half the reason why my husband here is so
overprotective of her. Fortunately, being a half blood she was born with a
human appearance.”

“I don’t know quite what
to say.” I shake my head, feeling like a massive bomb shell had just been
dropped on me.

“Please, think nothing of
it. I just hope you will not go telling others of my heritage.” I feel death
approaching as she raises the large frying pan in her hand. She only moves it a
fraction, yet the intent is clear as day.

“O-of course not,”

“Good. Now, you have
caused a few problems,  but I know that you do mean well.” Zusa’jan sighs
audibly, “I apologize for any inconveniences my husband has put you through.
Allow me to give you a proper reward for your efforts.”

A feeling of exaltation
spreads throughout my body. I have finally gained some fame, even if it is with
the persona of ‘Man in the hood’, it is still a step forward. With the repair
of infamy gained by completing the ‘Follow my daughter’ quest, it means I have
actually gained a total of forty fame, bringing my infamy down to one hundred
and fifty.

I am concerned about the
gained intimacy with the elves. It is definitely related to fame and infamy,
meaning that once I remove the hood, I will no longer have the benefit. I pause
for a while as I contemplate my options.

With an internal sigh, I
decide to reveal my true identity. The title I have offers nothing more than
hiding some of my stats from analysis skills anyway.

“Mrs. Zusa’jan,” I say
while pulling my hood off of my head, “It is a pleasure to meet you, I am
Lost.”

“I see, I see.” She nods
her head with a curt laugh.

‘I guess it is true
when they say that nothing travels faster than the word of mouth. It has only
been a few seconds and the entire continent knows it.’

I laugh in my mind, I am
already aware that this is just a game mechanic. It doesn’t rely on the speed
of pigeons and rumours for every NPC to become aware of my identity.

“Zusa’jan,” Shai’en deeply
bows her head towards the innkeeper’s wife, “We are going on a dangerous
mission soon. Please… I, Shai’en, plead you. Can you take care of my Shai’lan
while I am gone?!”

Shai’en keeps her head
bowed, dreading what the response will be. I am personally surprised that she
has simply decided to come with us.

“Raise your head,
Shai’en.” The Zusa’jan says pleasantly. “Of course I will look after him.
However, if you do go, you must come back. This is your responsibility as a
mother.”

Shai’en nods in acceptance
while thanking the innkeeper’s wife with her most sincere feelings. At the same
time, a notification appears in front of me. It informs me that the quest has
been updated and that if Shai’en is to die, the quest will have been failed. At
the same time, she automatically appears in the party window as a ‘companion’.

‘Great, isn’t that
just what I need. Not only is this going to be some impossibly hard quest to
reclaim the elvish capital, but now we also must escort and protect one person
while doing so. Nothing less from a legendary quest.’

“I won’t let you down!”
Shai’en says to me with dedication.

‘What can someone as
weak as you possibly do!’

Bidding our farewells, we
all leave the inn and split up to prepare for the quest. I am sure Mason is going
to stock up on arrows, potions and any other necessities. Matrix follows behind
him obediently to stock up on his own supplies with Mason.

The NPCs have no
preparation needed. One of them uses magic and leeches off me for health
recovery, while the other is to stay back and be protected. As they have
nothing to do, they follow me as I head out to stock up on my supplies.

With Fen wrapping her arms
around one of mine, and Shai’en sticking unnecessarily close to me on the other
side, I receive double the jealous stares as I normally would. Ignoring the
surrounding hatred being directed at me, I open my player menu while walking.