This Hero is Sleeping!

A business that always involved the risk of death needed proper study and planning to avid said death. And Cladue was always meticulous about that part.

An hour went into the others bringing over the materials that he wanted. From accounts of the other adventurers about the elves to ancient texts and modern ones alike.

Most of them were filled with reports from other adventurers, but any other book that featured anything about elves was brought along.

And then, after placing them all on a desk with a wide map slayed atop it, the group got into doing what they did best, studying.

"Oh hey, sixteen times fifty five is eight hundred and eighty. How did you even get twenty eight?"

"Um, meth?"

Claude\'s forehead twitched from the downright haunting conversation that Elric and Tiana made but did not say anything.

Calm. He had to be calm.

Yes.

"And that\'s how you solve trigonometry."

"Thank you, that was so easy."

"HOW!?" Claude screamed.

"Shush, keep it down young man you\'re in a library."

"I am fucking not."

Claude snapped.

"You were lying, weren\'t you? You could always do the math, couldn\'t you?"

"No, I am bad at meth."

"It\'s math."

Tiana grinned.

Claude scowled.

The bitch was messing with him.

She smiled and turned back to the books, and so did the rest.

As she sat, instead of kicking her legs, Tiana only twiddled her toes and hummed.

Even when Elric bothered her, she didn\'t go beyond a comeback or two.

It was a strange look on a person he thought was more of a goblin than an elf, but Claude kept that to himself.

He scoured through some more books and then pulled up a chalk placed on the table, making a small marking on the map over the mountains in the deepest ranges of the Silvanus peaks.

The place was where their targets were last seen and where elves were rumored to live.

Many adventurer accounts spoke at length of it.

"Honestly, these books state that the country was formed with the aid of elves and that they still occupy the highest point of p[power in the kingdom of Silvanus."

Erika spoke up, pointing at a small paragraph from the codex she held.

"It pretty much confirms that elves exist."

Tiana\'s mouth fell open.

"And I didn\'t?" she asked.

Erika covered her lips in a gasp.

"I counted you as a goblin before an elf."

"Also," Tiana spoke out again. "Aren\'t there elves in other countries too?"

Erika nodded.

"Right, I\'ve met one before."

Tiana\'s jaw dropped open.

"Is this… how you always feel?"

"Alright young lady," Claude spoke up. "Out with it."

"What?" Tiana asked. "Me?"

Erika followed up with a nod.

"You would have long since continued the joke. Don\'t act like you have some slightest semblance of rationality in those three brain cells of yours."

Tiana puffed her cheeks.

"That\'s not true. Ruler ruler, tell them."

"Zzz…"

Elric had long gone to sleep.

"Oh…"

"No back up now missy," Claude said once more, his arms crossed.

"You sound like her dad."

"Anyone who wants to hit on her will be shot."

"Now you\'re an american dad?"

"Call me Stan."

Elric\'s lack was made up for well.

Tiana, not understanding a bit of their humor was only left tilting her head to the side while Erika laughed a little.

"Alright, Tiana. What is it? We didn\'t ask you about the place because you didn\'t seem to want to talk about it."

"That and I doubt you could tell us anything useful."

"Zzz…"

"Ehehe…" Tiana scratched the back of her head and looked down.

"I am sorry," she said. "I didn\'t mean to hide anything but…"

"Do you not want to take on the quest?" Claude asked.

"No… it\'s not like that."

Tiana shook her head.

"You remember I told you about two guys?"

Claude and Erika nodded.

She had mentioned being offered some limited edition chocolate and \'playing along\' with the offerers who were obviously here to kidnap.

"They may… be these guys… may be…"

"Oh damn."

"Oh damn…"

Claude and Erika\'s eyes widened.

"D-did you do something to them?"

"Were their ears bleeding from your babbling?"

"Rude much? It was nothing like that…"

Tiana lowered her head once more and clenched her fists.

"It\'s just that…"

"That? What is this, Indian Soap Opera? Can you get to the point or should I start zooming in on you from ten angles?"

Elric raised his thumb, still in his zzzs.

Claude had made an Elric-approved joke for the first time since they left the Mystic Forest.

"Sorry. Well, I did kinda hit them in the middle of the forest… at a place where tigers are known to frequent."

The other two leaned back.

"Tigers may have eaten them up, huh?"

"Maybe…?"

"That would be troublesome no doubt no doubt.

"Right?"

"Well then, let\'s accept this quest!"

"Huh? Why?"

"We go to tiger dump, carry their corpse back, and get all the money!"

\'That is horrible! I love it!"

"Of course you do."

Claude then grabbed Elric and pushed him down his chair, making him fall to the ground. The sleeping hero woke up right then and there and coughed.

***

The old elf picked out another rag just like the previous one and dapped it on the corners of his eyes.

"I get teary just thinking of how scared she must be. What if she is taken up by humans? It would be the very worst."

"O-oh…"

"Puuuun."

"Thank you for consolation, uh…?" The old elf was stunned at Bagpipe. "What\'s your deal?"

"Puuun."

"Fair enough."

The two nodded, and the old elf got back to dabbing his eyes.

"I apologize. I hope you can help us find that sweet child. She didn\'t even have any parents, oh, everyone in the village is so grey without her."

"Do not worry, old man," Marcus spoke. "We\'ll help you get her."

"Thank you… thank you…"

"What is her name?"

The light of the lamp flickered once more.

The shadow of the old elf grew wider until the entire wall behind was covered by him.

"Tiana," he said.

"Got it. Tiana, we\'ll get here in a jiffy."

So, we\'ll be keeping them here with us, I hope you don\'t mind."

"Not at all!"

The idiot trio gave a thumbs up and the robed duo were abandoned in the house of the elf village chief in one go.

"I will also be sending a search [party from the village, so I hope it helps.?

"Of course, it will!"

The village chief smiled and talked them forward. Having accepted an all-new quest from the village chief, the trio now went ahead and left the village under the guidance of the elf that had brought them along.

"What now?"

"He did praise us… those guys need us."

"OPuuuun!"

"Totally, Lord Leres will never abandon a person in need. Keep your watchful gaze on our, Lord Leres!"

"Lord Leres! For Lord Leres!"

"Puuuuhnn!"

"Well, where is he anyway?"

"Good question."

"Puuun…"

***

Lord Leres the LlftllotLll was now on his way out of the place inside the forest of the elves, and when he said out, he meant out out.

He was getting the fuck out of here.

What the heck was wrong with that altar he had seen on the grounds below? Excuse me? Elf rights?

It must be the fish.

He was certain.

The fish must have orchestrated this entire play for him to get spooked and to throw him out of his element or whatever. Yup, fish.

Definitely.

Paranoia filled Leres\' back as he thought of the now as well.

Maybe/

Maybe the spirits were double agents?

Fish hires?

"Are any of you fresh hires?"

"Hahaha!"

"Hihihi!"

They only giggled.

It was all just a mere play to them. The fleetingness of human life was nothing but a joke for these spirits.

It was like he was an ant to their human.

Lord Leres promised then and there to never be rude to ants. Little did the spirits know that the lord himself was a man destined for greatness amongst greatness. He was the definition of great.

There was nothing he couldn\'t do.

And getting a revolution wasn\'t one of those nothings.

"Damn, your fish—Ahk!"

A thud sounded as Leres collided with someone else.

It was a boy with red hair.

And behind him.

Was a jawdropping beauty.

A strange urge to eat fishcakes filled his mouth, but he had had a bad experience with a fish cake that had almost made him blind.

"Dude, stand up. I am sorry, but you bumped into me here."

"I-it is Alright."

Lord Leres stood up and sighed.

"This place… is dangerous… you should turn back."

"Big words, what\'s your name?"

"I… am Leres."

The other parties\' eyes widened.

He knew his name!

Leres asked back.

"What is yours?"

"I am called Claude. Pleasure."