RotDG Chapter 78: Time To Hunt

It was finally time.

As soon as Myrla woke up, she threw her blanket into the air, before hopping off her bed and rushing to get changed. By the time her blanket fell back onto the ground, she was already out of the room, racing through the halls of the College of Luminosity.

She didn’t have a roommate— her family had paid for an individual boarding room for her, here in the Holy Academy. Only those who couldn’t afford the upgrade had roommates. But if she did have a roommate, they’d be complaining about all the commotion she was causing so early in the morning on one of their only few rest days.

But Myrla Arthus was not going to take today to rest, even if it was the weekend. Because it was finally time for her to go hunting with Eli and learn the truth about what happened with Sonia.

She  couldn’t contain her excitement. She was practically bouncing on her feet when she met the younger boy waiting for her at the gates of Lux. He nodded at her, but she grabbed him before he could even speak and dragged him straight through the gates and into the inner city of Albus. A few folks watched the two children as they made their way towards the outer city without any supervision.

But Myrla ignored their staring. She didn’t care what anyone thought. All that mattered was that she was finally going to get some answers… and maybe finally catch up to her rival…

***

When we exited the gates of Albus, I finally managed to pry Myrla’s hands off me after convincing her that I wasn’t going to run off on my own.

“You’re not going to make any more excuses, alright?” she said as she placed her hands on her hips. “I’m getting tired of waiting, so you better explain everything.”

“Yeah, yeah, I promise…” I said as I sighed, trailing after her.

Once the both of us were far enough away from the city, we began to head off-road, delving deeper into the dense forest nearby. It was still relatively early in the morning. But that would benefit us, since most monsters in the area would very likely have not eaten yet and be very hungry— which meant they would attack us when they saw us.

And that was exactly what we wanted. We were hunting for the monsters in the area, hoping to kill them so that we would level up and grow stronger. 

But why were we doing this? Well, that was the lie I had told Myrla to explain why I was out here a week or so ago, when I had just been trying to speak to Vorth in private. I told her that the reason why I was so much stronger than I should be… was because I was leveling extremely quickly by hunting monsters while using my healing magic to stay alive. 

And when she heard this, she made me promise I would bring her out with me the next time I went. 

The lie worked as I had intended. Well, it wasn’t technically a lie. The principles of everything I said were true— I just wasn’t actually doing it myself. It was simply a useful distraction to get Myrla to not ask anymore questions.

Unfortunately for me, shortly after that event, the both of us had a little run-in with Sonia and a few thugs which ended up becoming an entire incident that involved an Inquisitor and the Artifacts of Death. I had kept Myrla in the dark about pretty much the entire thing, but she wasn’t going to stop pestering me until I explained everything I learned to her. 

And that was what she wanted from me right now. 

When we were far enough away from the main road and deep enough into the forest where nobody was within earshot, Myrla turned to me and crossed her arms.

“So…” she said as she gave me an expectant look.

“So?” I repeated after her, playing coy.

Myrla glared at me and stepped forward. “You know what I want— don’t pretend you forgot.”

“Alright, relax. I’m just joking.” I chuckled as I raised my hands placatingly.

The young girl harrumphed, but didn’t say another word. Instead, she just waited silently for my explanation. I took in a deep breath as I closed my eyes.

Over the last week, I had pondered over what kind of a story I should weave for Myrla. There were a thousand different lies I could have told her. But each one would have been too complicated to keep up with. Especially if she ever asked Sonia any questions.

So after a week of deliberation, I had made my decision on what to tell the young girl.

I was just going to tell her the truth.

“You see, Myrla…” I said as I met her gaze. “The truth is that Sonia was being hunted by those thugs for the Artifacts of Death she had in her possession.”

And Myrla’s eyes crossed when she heard that. “...what?”

“Yep, I was pretty surprised myself.” I shook my head, before continuing casually. “I didn’t think she’d have such illegal items on her— and when she told me she stole them from the Holy Academy too? My jaw dropped, I’m telling you.”

“She… what?!” Myrla exclaimed as her eyes practically bulged out of their sockets.

I nodded in agreement. “That’s exactly my reaction!”

Myrla stumbled back as she rubbed her temples. It took her a moment to process this, before she sat down on a large rock.

“Gracious Goddess, you’re being serious, aren’t you?” she said, swaying where she sat. 

“Very serious,” I replied simply.

I pretty much expected this reaction from the young girl. But this was the best option for me. She had already shown herself to be capable of keeping a secret for me in the past, and She closed her eyes and breathed in and out slowly for a few moments, trying to calm herself down. When she did, she looked back up towards me and rose to her feet.

“But what did Sonia want to do with those Artifacts of Death? And where are they now?” Myrla asked with a frown.

“Sonia just wanted some information about her father— but those thugs betrayed her,” I explained with a shrug. “I told her I’d get her the information she wanted, in exchange for giving me the Artifacts of Death.”

“Wait, you have them on you?” Myrla gaped at me.

And I nodded as I pretended to reach into the Bag of Holding I had on me. But instead, when my hand was out of view, I summoned the Lesser Death Dagger and the strange mirror I had acquired just the other day into my palm.

“Yeah, right here,” I said as I produced the pair of items.

I decided to keep the boots and my other dagger hidden, since there was no point in showing the young girl everything, even if I wasn’t intending to tell her the truth.

Well, at the very least, the same so-called truth that I told Sonia.

Myrla immediately backed away and fell onto the ground, making a face in revulsion. “W-w-w-hat? Why would you do that?!”

She pointed at me as she sputtered. I hid the Artifacts of Death, before making them vanish back into my Dimensional Storage Unit as I spoke dismissively.

“Because I was hoping to study them— to learn about their origins. That’s why.”

It was the very same excuse I had told Sonia. And, well, there was an element of truth to them. But I also wasn’t going to shy away from using them if I ever needed them in a battle as the Bloodied Blade.

“That’s insane!” Myrla said as she finally got back up to her feet. She waved her arms wildly in the air. “If anyone finds out about this, you’ll get in trouble!”

“As long as you don’t tell anyone about it, I won’t get in trouble,” I countered simply. “And you won’t tell anyone about it, right?”

I raised my brow at her, giving her an expectant look. She hesitated and bit her lower lip.

“That’s…” she trailed off, averting her gaze.

I sighed, feigning disappointment. “Oh, that’s a shame. I thought we were friends…”

“No!” Myrla protested as her gaze snapped back towards me. “I just—”

“I mean, it makes sense. Since you see us as rivals, I guess it will benefit you by getting rid of me. And here I thought you’d have at least tried to win fair and square.” I shook my head as I looked away from the young girl, wearing a dejected face.

Myrla placed a hand on her chest. “I’m not that kind of a person, Eli!”

Gritting her teeth, she lowered her head as I peered at her. Her hands balled into fists as she spoke insistently.

“My father may be, but I hate him and his stupid politics— I’m really not!”

“So are you going to tell anyone about this?” I asked, cocking a brow at her.

“N-no!” she started, before catching herself. She steeled herself as she met my gaze. This time, she spoke with a lot more determination in her voice. “Absolutely not.”

“Are you sure?” I gave her a dubious look.

But Myrla nodded as she stepped forward. “Let the Death God strike me down where I stand if I am lying— I swear I will not tell a single soul about what you told me here today.”

Even if she was just giving me her word, I knew she could be trusted. She had already helped lie for me before, and while this was a significantly bigger lie for her to keep, I also saw the look in her eyes. It told me that she could be trusted.

I had dealt with many folks from many walks of life in my past life. There were many instances when I had been tricked— betrayed by those close to me. But I had learned from those experiences, and now it was no longer so easy to deceive me.

And considering that Myrla was barely a teen… well, if she somehow had tricked me, I would be very surprised.

Besides, it was not like I was telling her I was the Death God or anything.

It was a significant secret, but it was not something that would have gotten me executed and killed. There was a very valid explanation for my actions that could get me off with a relatively light slap on the wrist if I was ever exposed.

Especially with the help of Archdeacon Emmett and my friends at the Luna Gez Sect…

If Myrla decided to expose me, I would be fine. Not that that was going to happen.

“Alright, good,” I said as I drew back. I clapped my hands together and started deeper into the forest. “Now that we got that over with, let’s start hunting some monsters.”

Myrla blinked, before she hurried after me. “Oh, right, I forgot that was why we were here.”

And the two of us made our way through the forest as the sun continued to rise overhead. The further we went from Albus, the more dangerous it was going to get. After all, monsters often kept away from such large cities, unless they amassed in a large enough number.

But for a city as large as Albus, even monster hordes would be foolish to try attacking it. Perhaps if there were a monster tide, they might try it…

However, I had studied up on the fauna in the surrounding area, and I knew that adventurers were regularly sent out to keep the monster population low and bring down any powerful monsters to protect the visitors who regularly came and went from the city. So I knew that not only were a majority of the monsters Bronze Rank threats, but the most dangerous ones were Gold Ranks, and they were far and few in-between.

Which meant there wasn’t going to be anything here that was too much for the both of us at Silver to handle…

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