Two days later, I was sitting on my bed using [Scribe] when I decided it was time for a break. Liz was still helping Mira, so I took the opportunity to begin planning what to do next. Not knowing this country well, I opted to go to the guild to get some more insight on where we could travel next since I was rather eager to get a change in scenery.

As I made my way to the guild, I noticed Hanna outside the guild hall.

“Luna!” Hanna called out. “I was just on my way to see you.”

“Oh? Do you need something from me?” I asked, noticing the brisk pace she walked toward me.

“A message asking for you arrived from the capital.”

“A message?” I replied. “From who?”

“The guildmaster in the capital. It was an urgent matter, so I was sent to look for you.”

“I see,” I pondered. “Do you know what it’s about?”

“I don’t know. It was labeled as confidential. Could you go see Chloe? She’s in her office.”

“I guess so,” I answered. “I was on my way to the guild anyway.”

I went into the guild and Hanna told me to head on up to Chloe’s office.

 

After arriving at the guildmaster’s office, Chloe told me to enter.

“Hello, I was told you had gotten a message concerning me?” I asked while I took a seat on the couch.

“Yes, Grahl requested your presence in an urgent matter,” Chloe said, picking up two letters.

“And what is this urgent matter?”

“I’m not sure,” Chloe replied. “It just said it concerned ‘the incident’.”

“The incident?” I frowned. “Is he hoping my curiosity would make me accept?”

“Not at all,” she replied, showing a slight smirk. “The messages sent with our magitech devices could possibly be intercepted, so more sensitive information is usually kept vague.”

“I see,” I murmured. “I can think of a few topics that could be interpreted as ‘the incident’. I guess I won’t find out without going.”

Chloe looked at me with judging eyes. “Just how much trouble did you cause in the capital?”

“That’s rude,” I chuckled. “I will have you know I was on my best behaviour.”

I did get involved in an incident or two, but honestly, that was my best. It’s not my fault people behave like idiots.

“Really?” Chloe replied, looking skeptical. “Well, either way, it would be great if you could go. How long does it take for you to go there? I assume those wings of yours are faster than a horse, considering your feat when you first arrived.”

“How long, huh…” I said, starting to grin. “Ten minutes.”

“Ten minutes?!” Chloe blurted out, her eyes wide from hearing my answer.

“Yes, ten minutes,” I replied with a smug grin.

“Are you pulling my leg?” Chloe asked with a frown. “No matter how fast you are, the capital is still very far away.”

“Of course not,” I replied, my smug grin growing wider. “Did I forget to mention that I can teleport?”

Chloe leaned back, rubbing her forehead. “There is just one absurd thing after another with you.”

“That’s an odd way to compliment someone,” I smirked.

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” Chloe sighed. “Now I feel less guilty about asking you to go back to the capital so soon after coming back.”

“You actually felt guilty? How considerate,” I chuckled. “I guess I should get going then.”

“Ah, before that,” Chloe interrupted me just as I was about to get up. “I had something else, as well.”

“More chores?” I frowned. “Let’s hear it.”

“First, could you bring these two letters with you?” Chloe asked, holding up the letters in her hand. They had two different wax seals. “Just deliver them to Grahl.”

“That sounds easy enough,” I said, taking the letters and putting them away. “You said first, I assume there is more?”

“This can wait until you get back, but I would like for you to look for someone.”

“That sounds like a hassle.”

“I doubt it would be much trouble since you can teleport long distances,” she smirked.

You prideful idiot just had to go and brag, didn’t you?

“There are limitations to teleporting. I can’t just go anywhere.”

“Is that so?” Chloe replied, glancing at the map on the wall. “Do you remember the other adventurers I talked about? That took one of the requests?”

“I remember you mentioning them. What about them?”

“I would like for you to look for them,” she said, standing up and walking over to the map. “They were sent to find a certain herb usually found in a swamp up north.”

“I can’t teleport there,” I replied, looking at the area she pointed at.

“Hmm,” she pondered. “How long would it take you to get there then?”

I looked at the map, measuring the distance to the swamp compared to the capital. “Assuming the map is scaled correctly, maybe an hour or so?”

“Could you go look for them when you come back then?”

“Why do you want me to look for them?”

“The request they took had a deadline, and that was yesterday.”

“So they are a day late?” I said, raising an eyebrow. “And you already want to send someone to look for them? What are you, their mom?”

“That pair of adventurers are dependable people,” she frowned. “It’s not like them to be late.”

What’s with the emphasis on dependable? I have been nothing but helpful, so it can’t have anything to do with me.

“Sometimes things happen that make people late. I’m not going to fly all the way out there just to miss them while they come back,” I replied, tapping my chin. “I’ll consider it if they aren't back tomorrow.”

“I will hold you to that,” Chloe smiled. “That’s all I had to discuss.”

“I’ll get going then,” I said, getting up from my seat. “Could you give Liz a message? She should be in the training area.”

“Okay, what’s the message.”

“Tell her I went to the capital. And to bring me home.”

“Bring you home?” Chloe asked, raising an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” I smirked before using [Translocation] to teleport to the telenode outside the capital.

 

Upon arriving at the capital, I opted to keep [Erase Presence] on and landed right in front of the adventurers guild.

I would rather not let people know I’m here.

I followed a party of adventurers and snuck inside, making my way up to the third floor. I noticed that there were two people in the guildmaster’s office and decided to wait outside.

After a few minutes, the door opened, and a man wearing the staff uniform left his office. I waited until the man had left before canceling my spell and knocking on the door.

“Luna? You sure got here fast,” Grahl said as I entered his office.

“You said it was urgent,” I shrugged.

“Thank you for coming,” he said, motioning for me to sit down. “There have been some developments.”

“Oh? Which incident are we talking about?” I asked, taking a seat on the couch.

“It’s this one,” he replied, taking out a vial and putting it on his desk.

“Did you figure out how it’s made?” I asked, eyeing the vial.

“Not exactly,” he frowned, putting an identical vial next to it. “We came upon more of it while investigating missing adventurers.”

“I see… so it’s no longer an isolated incident,” I muttered. “So, what do you need me for?”

“We rescued one adventurer, but she is not in good condition,” Grahl said, looking bitterly at the vials. “Do you know how to cure whatever ails her? Nothing we have tried works.”

“Well, I do know, but…” I stopped, wondering what to do.

I guess I’ll help.

“Give her this,” I said, pulling out a vial from my [Inventory] before getting up and putting the vial on his desk. “That should fix her.”

“What is it?” Grahl asked, taking the vial and trying to use [Identify] to no avail.

“Does it matter?”

“I guess not, but…” Grahl said, putting down the vial. “Are you sure this will help?”

“It should. It worked on another victim.”

“Hmm…” Grahl pondered before looking at me. “One unknown substance to negate another, huh…”

“Are you accusing me of something?” I said, glaring at him.

“Of course not,” he chuckled. “Merely a humorous observation. Is there no way to make you tell me what it is?”

“I see no reason why you have to know,” I shrugged.

“How about sating my curiosity?” Grahl grinned. “I have seen a lot of things during my years of adventuring, which makes me even more curious about things I haven’t seen before.”

I looked at Grahl, who looked like a curious child, and just sighed. “Fine.”

Grahl grinned, and I felt as if his curious stare could pierce a hole in me.

“It’s Elyxire,” I said, watching Grahl’s eyes widen. “And before you ask; No, I won’t tell you how it’s made. It’s not something humans can make. And I suggest you don’t tell anyone else about it.”

Grahl stared at the vial for a moment before composing himself. “I guess that’s for the best. People would kill for something like this. Are you sure you can just give away something so valuable?”

“I don’t mind,” I shrugged. “As long as you don’t tell anyone. If people would start hounding me to get some you will find yourself having to rebuild the guild hall,” I said with a sinister grin.

“I won’t speak of this. It would only invite trouble,” Grahl assured me. “It might be a problem if people ask how we managed to cure her, though… or if we find more victims.”

“That sounds like problems the guildmaster of the adventurers guild will have to solve,” I smiled. “I did my part.”

“I guess so,” he muttered. “Thank you for this. I will give it to her personally.”

“Good. Found out anything else?”

“Nothing major. After interrogating one of the kidnappers, we found out they got their shipment from Kaydossa, but they didn’t know from whom,” he said bitterly. “And… we also found out that they had already sent away one girl. Considering how long ago it was, I doubt we will find her.”

“I guess it’s expected since we don’t know how long this has been going on.”

“It’s a failure on our part. If you hadn’t brought this to me, I doubt we would have uncovered this group,” he said, clearly annoyed with himself.

“I wouldn’t beat yourself up for it. Adventurers are responsible for their own lives,” I shrugged. “You can’t babysit everyone.”

“I guess you’re right,” Grahl muttered. “It still pains me thinking about it.”

“How very human of you,” I smirked, taking out the letters Chloe gave me. “Chloe asked me to give you these.”

Grahl took the letters and flipped them over, revealing the wax seals. “One from Chloe and another from Marquess Riese?”

I sat back down while Grahl reviewed Chloe’s letter. After reading it, he leaned back in his chair and frowned.

“This is information she could have sent earlier,” he muttered.

“Anything wrong?” I asked, curious about what the letter was about.

“It’s about events you should know very well, considering you had a part in all of them.”

“Can you be more specific?”

“The magitech device found in the dungeon she had requested help with, as well as the bandit attack on Marquess Riese’s daughter,” he said. “The drug is also mentioned. It says you resolved all of them.”

“Didn’t anyone tell Chloe not to kiss and tell,” I muttered.

“Could you tell me more about them? Just in case Chloe missed something.”

“I guess,” I replied and gave Grahl a recap of what had happened when I first came to Baruda. During my monologue, I noticed that Liz used her necklace.

“Thank you. That clears a few things up,” Grahl said, glancing at the other letter. “The letter from Marquess Riese probably contains the same information.”

“Chloe did mention discussing it with him before I came to the capital the first time.”

“I will have to go to the castle with this personally,” he muttered. “If all of this is the doing of those bastards in Kaydossa, then we will have to act.”

“Such harsh language,” I smirked. “I thought you were on neutral terms with them.”

“For now,” he frowned. “They have waged war against us twice during my lifetime and once against Troadis. I doubt they would try anything now that we are allied with Troadis since that would open them up to a war on two fronts, though.”

“I hope so. I had planned to visit Troadis soon, and I would prefer not to walk into a battlefield.”

“You’re leaving the country?”

“I want to see more of the world,” I smirked. “Why? Would you miss me?”

“Of course,” he grinned. “Someone of your ability is good to have around.”

“So you only care about my strength?” I asked, grabbing my chest. “And here I thought we were friends.”

“I’m honored you think so,” he chuckled. “Not everyone can say they are friends with a dragon.”

“I trust you won’t tell anyone that you are,” I grinned.

“Of course,” he chuckled. “By the way, about the letter from the Bluhelt family…”

“What about it?”

“Can you take it now? If they found out you came to the capital, it would be a pain to deal with.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” I assured him.

“Someone might have recognised you when you came here, especially after what happened before you left,” he explained. “You caused quite a stir. Rumors about the girl who wreaked havoc in the guild and almost killed Orzuz in a flash went wild.”

“No one saw me come here,” I smirked, casting [Erase Presence].

“Eh? Wha-” Grahl mumbled, looking around the room with wide eyes until I reappeared in front of his desk, causing him to jump back in his chair.

“See?” I grinned. “Nothing to worry about.”

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” he muttered. “To think that you could hide like that.”

“It would be bothersome if people saw me flying around, so I made that.”

“Interesting… and dangerous,” he said, rubbing his chin.

“Dangerous?” I asked.

“Any spy’s ability to hide pales in comparison to yours. The things you could do are terrifying to think of.”

“All the more reason to keep it to yourself then,” I smirked. “I don’t use it to cause too much mischief.”

“Just a little bit of mischief then?” Grahl laughed.

“Well, sometimes you have to have some fun.”

“Of course,” he smirked. “I heard about what you did to Saria over at the dismantling area.”

“Did you know?” I chuckled. “I’m sad that I couldn’t see her reaction.”

“She scowled at anyone that dared mention it for days,” Grahl said, hiding a big grin. “We sure have some brave employees here.”

“Glad I could provide some entertainment,” I said, looking at the window. “I should get going so you can go and do your job.”

“I guess so,” he muttered, sighing heavily. “After delivering the potion and visiting the castle, I will probably have to have a meeting with the staff about this, as if I wasn’t busy enough.”

“If Saria heard that, she would probably say you’re busy because you skip out on work,” I smirked. “I will take my leave then.”

“I’ll send a message if something pops up,” Grahl said, standing up to leave.

I waved goodbye and teleported back to Baruda.