Ball of Nothing

Chapter 553 - News From Monoman

Zero returned to the wood elf village late at night. Truen was about to fetch the doctor personally if he didn’t appear within the next fifteen minutes. Torran couldn’t stop Truen from leaving but he did his best to reassure the archer that his ’lover’ would be fine.

Apart from the usual worry, Truen had urgent reasons to find Zero. The doctor wasn’t answering his i-communicator and didn’t accept party calls from him. There wasn’t any way for Truen to inform the leader of half Moon Village that an urgent problem has arisen.

"You’re finally back!" Truen breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Zero and Bob. The dragon was snuggled into Zero’s hair around his neck, acting like a scaly scarf and Zero grinned. He stopped by Torran’s tent to empty his purchases.

Truen allowed his friend to give Torran all the tools these wood elves needed for the farm and tossed them some condiments so that they didn’t have to eat plain roasts. There were also cooking tools such as pots and stoves among the pottery. Zero also bought some fabric and sewing materials so that these poor elves could replace the rags on their bodies.

Torran was immensely grateful for the items he received but Zero simply told him that it was a small price to pay for information.

Truen waited for Torran to leave with the goods before he pulled Zero to their room and erected a sound barrier.

"Zero, I received a message from Monoman. You need to settle the things here quickly and head over to Lycantopia."

Zero wasn’t expecting such seriousness and wondered what happened. Truen explained that Monoman and Jermine’s family were currently trapped in Lycantopia and forced to participate in a war against Indra Seagloo.

"Did they mention why King Gaon would suddenly hold the country hostage? Surely they have enough manpower for their army, right? Is Queen Leah that scary?"

Truen frowned. "She’s not scary but she isn’t someone you want to mess with especially if you’re not a creature that lives underwater. Queen Leah may not be able to create too much havoc on land but she rules the seas and that’s where some of the problems come from. Those who travel by sea are either dead or forced to remain stuck on land. Not many people would choose to risk travelling through the lawless zones just to get to the other side of the world. In fact, it would normally be impossible for people to reach the other side of the world so quickly. It could take months on land cutting through the mountains and rough terrains while it only takes weeks by sea."

Zero understood the concept of travelling and trading. He learnt a thing or two about it with Mammon and Coux. However, that still wouldn’t explain King Gaon’s actions. Why would he ban travelling altogether? Shouldn’t Lycantopia be opening the land trade borders to gather better war supplies and weapons?

"I see. Are they safe?" Zero asked and read Monoman’s message.

Truen didn’t reply. He hoped they would be alright. Monoman was strong enough but the archer didn’t know if having just a small team from New Moon Village would be enough to protect Jermine’s entire village. Monoman was strong but he wasn’t almighty. There were many things out of his control even if the man was a powerful combatant.

"I understand," Zero frowned. "Jermine and Monoman come first. We will send word that we’ve arrived in Altear so that King Sharo can meet us earlier and grant us access to see the Weeping Willow. If I cannot resolve the matter in a week, I will rush to Lycantopia first then return and complete my mission here."

Truen agreed. A week wasn’t too long but for Monoman and Jermine whose safety they couldn’t guarantee, it felt like too much of a delay.

"Bob," Zero called out to the sleepy dragon, tickling him on the head.

"Yes, master?" the Eternal Dragon yawned.

"I need your help. Monoman and Jermine are currently trapped in Lycantopia. Please fly ahead and use stealth to infiltrate the country and meet up with them. We need more information about the situation there to know if we have to set out from here at once."

Immediately, Bob was sober. He agreed and didn’t take long to prepare for his trip. The flight from Altear to Lycantopia would take a few hours if Bob was flying his fastest and Zero was counting on him to bring back news.

Once the dragon took off, Truen and Zero decided to unpack and take a bath. "I won’t be sleeping tonight," Zero told Truen who hummed.

"We can take turns to stay up," the wood elf offered but Zero shook his head.

"Bob will be using the party call function. You should sleep, I will meditate. Oh, I will draft the letter informing King Sharo of our early arrival. Can you help me read through it to see if it is alright before I send it?"

Truen agreed. Zero was getting better at these things and the archer didn’t have much to input. With Truen’s approval, Zero sealed the letter and used the royal seal to stamp on the hot wax. A pigeon was summoned and Zero told it to deliver the message directly to King Brice. Truen didn’t know where Zero found the messenger pigeon and the doctor smirked.

"The perks of taming magic. It’s a wild pigeon that I formed a temporary contract with. Once it delivers the letter, it will be a free bird again."

As Truen tucked himself in, he told Zero about what he and Torran discovered.

"The elves guarding the borders of the lake are all elite elves. It doesn’t matter if it was combat, strategy or magic, these elves excel in every area. Torran couldn’t find an opening and I tried using stealth magic on a clone. It was taken down immediately. Any birds that fly past the barrier were also shot down. I didn’t try bypassing them underground but I have a feeling it wouldn’t be possible either. At least, not for me."

Zero nodded. He expected as much. The champions of the fighting tournament and a defender of that title thirty times in a row would only mean that those royal guards were overqualified for the job. Zero didn’t expect anything less from King Sharo and his crazy obsession with perfection.