“Here’s the letter... wait, where did she go?”
When he was handing it to her, the skinny figure of Lala was suddenly gone from where she was standing. They looked around and found no trace of her. The trio started to feel creeped out, crowded up with each other.
“Di...did she just disappear?” Wisana asked with a terror look on his face.
“The hell am I supposed to know?” Manoch replied, feeling the cold sweat all over his face.
“B... but she was just standing right here. I only blinked once, and she was gone.” Maysa added.
“I am here!!!”
ARRRRRRRRHG!!!
Suddenly, Lala just popped up from behind the counter, making the three cowards scream out at the top of their lungs at the sa ti. Especially Manoch, who was screeching in a manner that cast doubts on his manhood.
“Why are you screaming? I told you I was not a ghost!” Lala yelled. Her pale face was a little bit crooked with annoyance, making her even scarier.
“Then why are you blinking here and there like one?!” Maysa snapped.
“Please don’t do this again. I almost had a heart attack,” Wisana said, panting.
“Looks like a ghost and acts like a ghost, too. This girl, I swear,” Manoch let out the complaint continuously, even though he was still scared.
Getting all those complaints from them, the ghost girl grinned widely, shifting her weight from side to side like she was embarrassed and honored by their comnts. Seeing her being like that, the trio just looked at each other awkwardly.
“What are you guys doing here again?” Lala repeated with her typical voice.
“I’m here to request a change of my class.
Wisana replied as he was handing her the quest letter. Lala took it and read through it in such a strange manner, pinching the paper with her index finger and her thumb while holding it up high. She tilted her head as the pair of her red eyes looked through the letters speedily, giving the others goosebumps.
“Mister Wisana, right?” she asked.
“Y... yes.”
After his confirmation, Lala dashed straight at the man, making him cry out a ‘Hey!’ as he drew a few steps backward. But her long hands stopped him, locking him at his place.
He knew that Lala was going to scan him, but heck! It was still creepy to be stared at from this close!
Then she leaned in closer to study everything on his face, breathing the icy-cold breath on him, leaving him with goosebumps.
“It has confird that you really are player Wisanaaa.”
After finishing the horror scan, she got back behind the counter again. Then she tossed Wisana’s quest letter in her inventory window.
“But I have to apologize. Right now, our master is not at the office. He is on a business trip sowhere.”
The drawling voice of Lala made the three catch each other’s eyes for the tenth ti that day.
Eventually, Maysa asked.
“Well, so he can’t take the exam right now?” She pointed at Wisana.
“Do not worryyy. It is my duty to take care of the class quests while the master is away. Please wait a mont while I am preparing the quest’s details and the tools for youuu.”
She said smilingly in a polite manner. Then she looked at the back of the office and clapped a couple of tis.
“Leonard, could you bring the class quest tools? Please stop slacking off.”
Her command drew every pair of eyes to her along with the sa question that popped up in their minds: Besides this ghost girl, there’s also another weirdo here?
“Please hurry up, Leonard. Our guests are waiting.”
“I’m coming.”
A few seconds later, there was a reply coming from the back of the office. Then there was the clanging sound of so tal bumping against each other and a loud stomp of so heavy footsteps, echoing through the hallway as soone was coming closer.
A tall figure appeared, and to be specific, he was so tall that he had to lower his body down so he could get through the door which was at least two ters high. Moreover, the guy was not a human being, but a strange monster with a long muzzle like a dog’s. He had drooping ears, brown skin and so hard muscle underneath his tank top, and a pair of long pants.
“These are all you asked for, Miss Lala.”
He spoke in an unusually deep voice as he was placing a set of tools on the counter, which were three shovels, a storm lantern, and a map.
“These are the tools we lend you for the quuuest,” Lala said.
“Shovels and a lantern. What do you want us to do?” Wisana asked.
Lala spread the map out. Then she pointed her finger at a town icon with the word Aeneas under it.
“This is Aeneas towwwn,” Lala said, drawing her long finger on the map and stopping at another point. “And this is Creveir. It’s the only land around Aeneas that can distill earth ground into level 4 Earth Gemstoneee.”
“Level 4 Earth Gemstone?” Wisana repeated in confusion.
“That is riiiight.”
Lala affird before she took a gem out of her inventory, it was transparent amber. At its core, there appeared an orange fireball, sparkling inside.
“That’s a very high-rank earth gem,” Maysa comnted, sounding a bit surprised.
“Yes, it isss.” Lala snarled a creepy smile again. “I would like Mister Wisana to go to Creveir, and dig up one of these gems for . If you can bring it back here, I will approve your class changing request imdiately.”
Wisana raised his eyebrows before glancing at his friends.
“That’s all?” He asked.
“That is all. Oh, another thing.” Lala acted like she just realized. “Your friends can help you, too, if they’d like. I do not mind. And for the deadline, I will give you ti until sunrise at 6 o’clock in the mooorning. Do you understand?”
“Yeah, I do.”
----------------
After they finished business at the office, the trio then walked back to their carriage that stopped around the entrance gate.
It could be seen on their expressions that they were still confused and creeped out as they were grabbing on the shovels tightly. When he thought back about what was happening there, Wisana could not help but get goosebumps. As well as Manoch, who did not say anything, but still felt a shiver down his spine. Maysa just could not get over the image of the ghost-like NPC and the huge dog-like monster waving and wishing them good luck on the quest. She felt sick in her stomach just thinking about their creepy faces.
But they had figured out now why there were no other players walking by the office.
Because that place did not look any different from a haunted house, damn it!
“W... well, I think we should hurry to Creveir first.”
Maysa was the first to break the silence, even though she was still shocked by what happened earlier. But right now, the most important thing to do was to complete the quest.
“That’s right.” Wisana agreed.
When the next plan was all set, everyone walked straight to the birds that were enjoying eating the pile of pink leaves in a wooden quick-made fold.
“We should ride the birds there. They’re faster just to carry us than the whole carriage. Also, it’ll be more flexible this way.”
“Okay, and, do you know how to ride the birds, May?”
Wisana asked, and Maysa gave them a confident smile right away.
“Of course not.”
“Eh...?” the boys exclaid at the sa ti.
“Well, there’s no need to be surprised. I’m so tiny, I can just cling along with you, Wisana.” She said before she glanced at the other guy who was bullied the whole trip. “What about you, Ae? Do you know how to ride?”
“Geez, don’t look down on a rchant too much, young lady. I can do anything.”
“Okay, hope your skills are as big as your talk.”
Maysa said before she spread out and held up the map from Lala in front of them.
“From the distance between these two points on the map, I think it probably takes twenty minutes to get there.” Maysa looked at the ti on her hologram screen, "Right now, it’s 9 p.m. There’s still plenty of ti before sunrise, but we should hurry anyway. Just in case sothing doesn’t go as planned.
“Um, got it.”
Maysa took a quick while to download the map on her database before she sent it to her friends’ AIs. While Manoch walked out to pull the huge birds from the fold, one with yellow feathers and the other one was white.
“Bro, you should take the yellow one, it looks more tad.”
He suggested as he handed the reins to Wisana, making the one who had to ride a bird for the first ti gulp down nervously.
“It’s okay. Don’t be scared. The trick is easy, just don’t pull on its feathers. It doesn’t like that. And try not to say sothing rude to it, because it can understand us, or it might disobey you.”
“Got it.”
Wisana said, voice shaking.
Damn it. He had never even ridden a horse, and now he had to ride a big bird!
“Okay, you get on it first. I’ll hold the bird still for you.”
Hearing that, Wisana did not hesitate to put the saddle in place before stepping on the stirrup, climbing on this huge bird. But before he could finally sit on it, there was a big struggle for him, too.
“It’s not as hard as I thought,” he said with a smile.
“Told ya it isn’t,” Manoch said before he looked down at Maysa. “Need so help?”
“No. I can get on it myself. Leave alone.”
The little one said overconfidently before she got ready to do so by jumping and clinging to Wisana leg without any help from so nerve-wrecker rchant here. Her confidence made the observer chuckle before he boldly held her up without her permission.
“KYAAA!! Damn you, Ae. put down! How dare you touch !” The small voice screeched so loudly.
“Stop wiggling! Or, I’ll drop your short body. Also, stop screaming, you’re scaring the birds.”
“Jerk. Let go!!”
Maysa did not stop wiggling, making the one who was carrying her shake his head as he was handing her to Wisana.
“And you don’t act up when it’s Na who carries you, huh? You damn fractious horse.”
“You and Wisana aren’t the sa. Getting carried by you is like getting my dignity crushed into pieces and stepping on ten tis. So, keep in mind, don’t you dare carry again!”
She snapped before she got her chin up, turning her face away. Wisana laughed while he was making so room for her to sit comfortably.
“Who would want to carry a girl like you.”
“What?!”
“Nothing.”
After they had enough bickering, Manoch was the first to retreat. The tall figure got on the other bird, getting ready to go quietly, not saying anything more.
And Wisana was trying his best to hold in a laugh.
How these two fought just reminded him of his best friends.
Nuch and Tun bickered anywhere and anyti when they t, too.
It looked like they were so close, these two.
“What are you smiling about, Wisana?!”
Maysa scolded, but he just shrugged at that.
“Nothing.” He denied, deadpan.
“Damn it. Why are these guys such a pain.”
The girl muttered under her breath. While the said guys were trying not to burst out with a laugh as they ca up with the sa idea in their minds that Maysa in this scale was such moody.
“Then, let’s go. Our next stop is Creveir!”
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