Chapter 19

"I want nothing to do with Melromarc or anyone that's part of the royal family." Mercury growled. "My friend has been put through too much shit because of them."

"I am aware of this and so is the Queen." the woman said. "I've been ordered not to get in your way if you wish to continue on your path. Once you pass me, you'll enter the neighboring country to Melromarc."

"Great. Then get out of my way." Mercury growled.

The woman shook her head. "First, I must inform you."

"Inform me of what?" Mercury asked.

"The Queen of Melromarc will be returning soon." the woman replied. "She wishes to have a conference with you and the Shield Hero."

"Why?"

"It is not my place to question the Queen. Only to serve." the woman said. "Her intentions aren't to harm either of you. That much I know."

"Real reassuring." Mercury narrowed his eyes. "Not interested." he turned around to climb onto the carriage.

The woman bowed her head. "I understand your reluctance. But it's in your best interest to hear what the Queen has to say when she returns. It involves you and the Shield Hero." looking back at the woman, she was suddenly gone along with the weapon she had laid on the ground.

"My best interest." Mercury repeated. "The hell do you know?"

Thinking about the woman's words, Mercury clenched his fists before punching the side of the wagon. "Damnit!"

"What's wrong?" Daenerys asked.

"We have to go back to Melromarc." he said through gritted teeth. "God DAMNIT!" he punched the carriage again. "Damnit, damnit, DAMNIT!" placing his head against the carriage, Mercury sighed. "It wouldn't matter if we made it to Siltvelt. Once the next wave hits, we'd be right back in Melromarc. We'd have to spend even more time getting back to Siltvelt. Fuck!"

Sighing, Mercury unhooked Daenerys.

"What're you doing?" she asked.

"We've wasted too much time." Mercury replied. "We can't waste more time walking back."

"You mean-?"

"We're flying back." Mercury said.

Minutes later

Sitting on Daenerys' back, with Makoto clinging to Mercury, Daenerys launched into the sky. Soaring through the clouds, Mercury wasn't as scared as he was when he first flew with Daenerys. In fact, his anger quickly faded, replaced by euphoria. He loved the feeling of flying.

As for Makoto, her eyes were clenched shut, her hands gripping Mercury's clothing with her face buried in his back.

Letting out a bit if laughter, Daenerys heard Mercury.

An hour later

It wasn't long before Daenerys saw the capital of Melromarc far below them. Heading down, Daenerys placed her feet on solid ground.

Feeling their "ride" come to an end, Makoto quickly hopped off Daenerys. Laughing at Makoto, Mercury walked up behind her. "C'mon, it wasn't that bad."

Makoto responded by slapping Mercury's arm. Laughing, it was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Mercury? That you?" looking back, Itsuki stood a few feet away. "That is you."

"Itsuki." Mercury said, his joy quickly fading. Itsuki's party stood behind him.

"How've you been?" Itsuki asked. "It's been a while since we last spoke."

"That's cuz we haven't spoken." Mercury told him.

"Why don't we chat a while?" Itsuki asked. "I just got back from a quest, and it seems you did as-"

"Not interested." Mercury cut him off.

As he went to walk by Itsuki and his party, a memory flashed through his mind of when Itsuki and Ren stood up for Naofumi after his duel with Motoyasu. Because of this, Mercury rubbed the back of his neck.

"Fine." he sighed. "But I won't stick around long so make it quick."

"Aren't you bossy?" Itsuki said jokingly. "C'mon. I know a good place with decent food and quests."

"Lead the way."

Following Itsuki to a neat little tavern, the two, along with their parties, walked inside. Sitting at a table in the back, Mercury crossed his arms.

"What'd you want to talk about?"

"Right to the point, huh?" Itsuki smirked. "Alright. I mainly wanted to know about your dagger."

Mercury pulled out his weapon. "What about it? It's just like your bow or Ren's sword."

"That's not true." Itsuki replied. "You see, you weren't there for it, but me, Ren, Naofumi and Motoyasu were talking the first night we were in this world. You decided to head off to bed, and we figured Naofumi would fill you in."

"Fill me in?"

"You see, me, Ren and Motoyasu all played games similar to this world." Itsuki explained. "In each game there were only four classes to choose from. Shield. Spear. Bow. And sword. Which makes me wonder, why are you here with a dagger? It doesn't exactly add up."

Mercury shrugged. "If you want information about my dagger, I hope you're willing to compensate."

Itsuki chuckled. "Alright. What would you like for the info?"

"A hundred silver and ten gold." Mercury crossed his arms.

Itsuki gawked at the amount. "That's way too much!"

"You just said that the dagger shouldn't exist." Mercury said. "Something that shouldn't exist like this would be rather expensive, wouldn't you agree?"

Itsuki, after taking a moment to think it over, closed his eyes as he shrugged. "You make a valid point, Mercury." Reaching into his bag, Itsuki handed over the requested coin. "A hundred silver and ten gold."

"Thanks." Mercury pocketed the coin. "What do you wanna know?"

"What can your dagger do?"

"Well, rather recently, I unlocked a time related skill tree."

"Time related?" Itsuki repeated.

"Yeah. I can sense when something is about to happen. Slow down time. Recall past events. And speed myself up for a flurry of attacks." Mercury told him.

"Must be a dagger skill tree exclusive." Itsuki said. "I haven't found anything like that, and I've unlocked quite a few skill trees."

"I can also teleport to my dagger if I activate a certain skill then throw it." Mercury said. "Most of my other abilities are rather basic. Like igniting my blade in fire, ice, etc."

"Still, it sounds like your dagger holds quite a few skills that the rest of us don't have." Itsuki said.

Mercury leaned back. "That's about everything." Mercury said.

"I gave you a lot of coin for that?!" Itsuki growled. "That was-"

"I believe in fair trade." Mercury said. "Once I learn more about my weapon, I won't charge you again for any intel you'll want to know. Just find me and I'll answer any questions on your mind."

Itsuki sat back. "Alright."

"We have a deal then." Mercury stood up. "See ya around, Itsuki."

End of chapter 19