The Chief had asked Gazef and Neph to wait outside for a moment, and rushed back in. Through the walls, the two men could hear him shouting for her to come out of her hiding place. At this note, Gazef and Neph looked at each other with a look that was hard to describe. It was a mix of "thank goodness" and "she's smart to hide", somewhere along the lines of worry for her fate. The eyes of the two men lightened as they heard her crying to her husband and her thanks to the Gods, for keeping her safe.
"Me too, my dear." They could hear. A strange sense of satisfaction came over the Warrior In White and the Kingdom's Strongest. They also heard him ask her to make tea, and what seemed to be the grinding of furniture on the ground as the Chief prepared his room for the two guests. Seeing this they knew they would wait a while. The lips of two men parted, but Neph was the first to speak.
"So how did you recognize that mythical beast? And what did you call it?" Neph asked.
"It's called The Wise King Of The Forest, a monster said to be centuries old." Gazef paused, in his eyes Neph could see some nostalgia of better times.
"As for how I recognized it, I've encountered it before. In my younger days, I've spent time lost in soul searching. Born a commoner, I did not know what direction to take my life. I did not want to complexity and machinations of becoming a noble through hard work, and all the strings and chains that bind when one does become one. And thus, I chose the sword. I travelled around the kingdom, and dueled against many who would accept. Eventually, I started travelling around, helping fending off bandits in frontier villages like the one I was born in. That led me down the path of the mercenary." Gazef paused.
There was a commotion inside the house. Seemed like someone had dropped a cup made of wood or so, and was frantically washing it off with more water.
"I met the beast when I heard stories of it from my mercenary bands. Thus, when no one else could beat me, I traveled to it, reasoning that a beast called The Wise King Of The Forest would be a challenge. It was when, after days of searching within that forest, the Forest Of Tob, that it encountered me while I was sword swinging for practice. It seemed to be on the hunt for food or so...
"What are you doing in my domain? That you are?" The beast spoke to Gazef.
"I was looking for you." Gazef responded. At this, the beast launched an attack with its tail, the viper on the end of it readying to inject Gazef with the ends of his life.
Leaping to the side, Gazef held his sword broadside out in such an angle that the tail barely grazed him.
"Exceptional defense, that it is. For that, I commend you. If you leave, I will not give chase, that I do promise." The beast spoke, this time in a more friendly tone.
"Perhaps. But I came in search of strength. Will you not duel with me for a bit?" Gazef interjected.
"Oh? A challenge? But if I go all out you might die, that you might."
"Humor me." Gazef responded.
It is at this, that man and beast lunged towards each other. Gazef received numerous scratch marks, and almost received a fatal wound if it were not for his heightened senses in a life or death situation. The beast itself, perhaps it was going easy on Gazef, only used it tail attack, and its claws to defend.
"Martial Art: [Cleaving Blow]!" Gazef shouted. This attack was blocked by the hard scales of the beast's tail.
"Tough as steel!" Gazef yelled, his eyes wide in surprise.
"You are fairly good, that you are." The beast spoke. There was no malice. It was more of respect. A recognition of strength. Before Gazef could speak again, it spoke.
"But I think this is as far as you go. You are slowing down, and through this battle, I've come to respect you. As such, I do not want to kill you, that I do not." It spoke.
This compassion shocked Gazef. This mythical beast that was said to slaughter men, to him, did fit the title of The Wise King Of The Forest. Gazef dropped his guard, and let his sword down to his sides. The beast, lowered its tail to the ground, its fur lowered from a standing position. It seemed to relax as well.
"I thank you, for your generosity in indulging my selfish request." Gazef said this and bowed deeply. The beast merely nodded, then turned the way it came. Seeing this, Gazef also turned the way he came, and exited the forest with a respect for things not of human nature.
Perhaps it was that respect, that allowed Gazef to not be constantly on guard against Neph, even though he did wear a mask. And the two Angels who accompanied this man.
"I see, that's quite the story, my friend." Neph spoke. At the mention of friend, Gazef seemed to smile.
The door opened, and the Chief spoke out to the both of them.
"I apologize for the wait. Please forgive me!" The Chief spoke in a panicked manner and bowed.
"It's quite alright"
"You're ok"
These two reassurrance were spoken in unison from the two waiting men. The Chief relaxed a little and spoke.
"T-then please, come in!" He was still quite nervous after all.
Gazef headed in first. Then, before Neph could step through the threshold of the doors, the twins landed behind him.
""Lord Neph?"" They asked.
"I'll be fine, it's just a conversation. You two can wait out here for a bit." Neph said while turning to them. He pat them both on the head, and that seemed to reassure the two, then turned back and walked inside.
Inside, there seemed to be a round table with seats for four. Gazef, the Village Chief, and his wife semed to already be seated. Neph pulled out the remaining seat next to Gazef. There was a short silence, before the village chief stood up and bowed to the two men sitting opposite him.
"From the bottom of our hearts, all the people in this village, I thank you Gazef Stronof-sama and Nephilentines-sama for aiding us!" He kept his bowing posture as he yelled this. His wife seemed imitate this action as well, albeit a bit slower due to her age.
Stunned, Neph turned to Gazef, who was already looking at him. Neph nodded, and Gazef spoke.
"It's quite alright, I am merely doing my job as the Kingdom's Warrior Captain. And I am also thankful to Nephilentines-sama as well, it is by chance of fate that he would save us from a monster we cannot defeat." Gazef spoke this, and also bowed to Neph.
"I... Uh, it's quite alright. Please, be seated." At this, the three others in the room resumed their seats.
"Also, there is no need to use –sama for me. Both of you are my seniors, it makes me uncomfortable." Neph said. He took off his mask and placed it on the table. The eyes of the three people in the room lit up as they beheld their saviour's face. It was a handsome face, albeit with features stopping just before they can be described as "sharp". He had a visage of a twenty three year old, and it is at that they understood what he meant by him saying they were his seniors.
"Just Neph will be fine for me, Nephilentines is a long name after all." Neph spoke, raising his onyx black eyes from the mask he placed down to look at the eyes of the three.
"But! To refer to our hero Neph-sama in such a rude way, we can not stand unceremony after all you've done for us!" The Chief stood up again. His wife pulled his arms to sit down a couple of times before he finally stood back down.
"It's alright. I insist." Neph said, this time he felt the Chief finally giving up.
To cut the silence that resulted in the room afterwards, Neph asked a question.
"How many casualties were there?"
"There was less than expected. We still have approximately three fourths of the village left alive, thanks to the Warrior Captain's efforts in coming here. I am deeply thankful to say there were no casualties to the children or those not quite yet adults. Thank you, Neph-dono." The Village Chief said, this time almost tearing up.
"There were also much less losses to my men as well, I still have approximately sixty percent of my forces. I had expected us to be completely wiped out. Like the Village Chief, I, from the depths of my heart, offer you my greatest thanks for the healing your Angels provided, Neph-dono." Gazef spoke to Neph, after spending a bit moving his restored arm around.
"Well, I do not expect my services to be unpaid." Neph said coldly. There was a wry smile on Gazef and the Chief's face.
"Well, we can pay you most of the village's savings if we pooled them." The Chief spoke.
"I'll also throw in a large sum, for saving the lives of so many people." Gazef added.
"Well, it's quite alright. I do not ask for much, just what you are willing to pay without hurting yourselves or completely become incapable with debt." Neph responded.
It'll be weird of me to kill these people that I saved from Angels by taxing them to death.
"But-"
"I also don't know how much currency is worth here. I apologize for my incompetence." He added.
"What?! Could it be that Neph-dono is not from around these countries?" The Village Chief asked, he and Gazef seemed surprised as well.
"How could this be? Neph-dono? You wield such mighty powers yet do not know a single thing of the current world." Gazef also questioned.
"I am from a far away land. So far in fact, that you can say one can travel their whole life without even coming close to seeing it. I fell asleep upon next to a pond with the twins Verdandi and Diyandi, and woke up transported here. Thus, I have no idea where I am, or what to do." Neph spoke the truth. The Chief and Gazef seemed to be quite stunned. Their eyes were in disbelief as to how something so unnatural could occur to someone who wielded so much power.
"Could it be that you are from the lands where the Eight Greed Kings and the Six Gods originated from?" Gazef asked. Neph looked at him confused, and Gazef was even more surprised.
"Who are they?"
"They are said to be beings of immense power, and controlled the world centuries ago. First came the Six Gods, and then the Eight Greed Kings." The Chief spoke, recalling as much as he can. Gazef and the Chief still had a perplexed look on their face, but rationaling Neph's power out as a Greed King or God seemed to calm them down.
Interesting. Perhaps there are other players here as well, but from their speech, it seemed like they aren't here anymore. I'll still need to be careful, but now I at least have room to work with. I'll have to investigate further.
Neph reach his hand into a pocket dimension, and picked out a single gold coin. This coin was a coin from after the Valkyrie's Downfall update. Neph did not have the old coins, as they had spent it all on creating the Gemini Twins, and as such, only possess the coins which had a woman's face on one side, and a emblem of the YGGDRASIL tree on the other. However, having only one type of coin did not mean Neph had a limited supply of it. After the Gemini Twins and the Skyaezaeir duo were geared out, the gold just stockpiled. The lack of a guild base also saved them immensely on expenses. Neph placed the gold coin on the table.
"This is!" The Chief exclaimed. He seemed to hesitate to pick it up. He looked at Neph and Neph merely nodded. Then, the old man tenderly picked up the coin to examine it.
Now that I look at him closer, he's quite old. I would say he's double Gazef's age actually. His wife also seems to be around the same age. From the looks of their hands and their skin, they seemed to be farmers for most of their lives.
"Neph-dono, is that a coin from where you are from?" Gazef asked.
"Yes, but I am not sure if it has any worth here..." He replied to Gazef.
"Well,"
Gazef motioned for the Village Chief to let him see the coin.
"It looks to be about double the thickness of a normal gold coin around here,"
He moved his hands up and down.
"Feels like double the weight as well." Gazef finished his inspection.
"The artwork on it is extremely intricate, seemingly created by years of craft, that alone would increase it's value. If what Gazef-sama says is true, then that coin, is worth 2 normal gold coins in pure weight. The artwork would probably increase it to five or six." The Village Chief added to the inspection.
"I see." Neph responded, his voice a bit quiet. The Chief put the coin back down on the table in front of Neph carefully, as to not damage it or incur Neph's wrath. Neph, on the other hand, simply picked it back up and chucked it back into the pocket dimension of his inventory.
So it appears I am worth approximately six times at the most of what I currently am. That's a gigantic number.
The room seem to fall a bit silent. Neph was in deep thoughts.
"Neph-dono, if you were wondering, those that attacked this village, the magic casters, are from the Slane Theocracy. They had been using illusion magic to disguise themselves as soldiers of the Baharuth Empire before you arrived to attempt to deceive me and my men. It was fortunate that I made it in time before there were major losses." Gazef spoke. This interrupted Neph's thoughts.
"I take it the Baharuth Empire and... Your Kingdom aren't allies?" Neph said. Gazef seemed to have a face that said "just as I expected".
"Yes. We, the Re-Estize Kingdom, engage in an annual war with the Baharuth Empire every year's end. The Slane Theocracy is a unaffiliated party, thought the Kingdom did have some relations of the alliance kind with them in the past, but that is long gone now. Them doing this is probably just their way of provoking the two nations to destroy each other." Neph could see Gazef cluthing his fist as he said this.
"I want to change the Kingdom. I want to make it better. Currently, it's being worn down by the Baharuth Empire. A few more wars and we will not be able to support ourselves. Mustering up soldiers is also costing us dearly in farmhands. That's why I've been sent around to try and protect these farming villages. We've lost so much." Gazef said bitterly.
"I apologize for the ramblings. You can probably tell I'm passionate about the country."
"No. I understand the beliefs and faith in one's home. It's perfectly alright. If a situation is dire, I'll lend you my help if you would like." Neph said. It's not all that different from what people in his old world would say or believe.
"You would do that!?" Gazef unexpectedly shouted. He also stood up, but he realized this a few seconds later and resumed sitting.
"I would like to hire you, if possible, Neph-dono..."
"I don't like being bound by strict contracts."
"I see..."
Oh man. I think I went a bit too harsh on that.
He looked around for a sheet of paper, and found one on Gazef.
"May I have a piece of that parchment?"
Gazef handed Neph a small scroll he had. It didn't seem to be important, as Gazef was easily willing to give it up. As Neph held it, he placed a hand over the center of the parchment, and then, a sigil appeared on the paper. It was a two sided sigil, one resembling an ornate wing of sorts, the other, something that if one looked close enough, would almost resemble a skull. After it finished materializing on the paper, Neph handed it back to Gazef.
"If you're ever in need of help, burn this. It will establish a connection to me, allowing you to speak to me, no matter the distance."
Gazef's eyes widened.
"Neph-dono! I-I thank you!" Gazef bowed deeply.
"There is, however, one condition." Neph spoke. He could see that the man who had felt thankfulness from the bottom of his heart listen intently.
"Keep us a secret. My power, and the two Angels outside. Limit information as possible. I don't want to attract too much attention. You can tell your King, I assume you serve one, but I would wish you not to."
Gazef seemed conflicted, but he inevitably caved and nodded.
"Gazef-sama!" Someone from out of breath shouted. Moments later, a the door opened to a loud bang. It was a soldier. He had the same sorts of equipment as Gazef's group, but Neph could see it was a new face around here.
"There has been a summons for you, Gazef-sama! This is an order from the King." The staggering man said. He hurriedly over to Gazef and presented a scroll. Reading through it, Gazef nodded and stood up.
"I have been summoned by the King, Neph-dono. Please forgive me, I must leave at once." Gazef bowed.
"It's quite alright." Neph reached out his hand. Seeing this, Gazef took it. They shook hands as the new soldier who delivered the letter look on in bewilderment.
Moments later, Gazef and his troops left under the falling sun in formation. The skies setting to a beautiful indigo, and the little lights on the horizons speckled all through out the atmosphere in a cascade of stars.
"Neph-dono, I believe the people are finish gathering the bodies for the funeral." The Village Chief spoke.
Oh! That's right! They did suffer losses. I wonder if they'll be okay?
"I understand. I'll come back in the morning, as I still have a few questions." Neph said.
He walked out the door and signaled for the twins.
"Thank you for everything you've done for us today, Neph-dono!" The Village Chief shouted.
Walking away, Neph merely raised a hand to acknowledge the Chief before setting off with the two Angels he had company. Their destination: the very same pond that they appeared in this world in.