Chapter 254: The Royal Artifacts (1/2)

”Who gave you this task?!” Aiden repeated the question, looking at Drake with a faint glow emitting from his eyes. His tone, whilst wasn't aggressive, it was no longer friendly either. It carried a coldness that was unlike what the silver-haired adventurous prince was subjected to before.

”I…” Under the scrutinizing and cold gaze of Aiden, Drake found it much harder to form his thoughts into words. Closing his eyes for a brief moment, he collected himself, and after regaining a bit of his lost composure, he continued.

”I am not sure who was the original requestor. It was a special quest posted in the guild's office at the capital. After registering Scarlet and passing her test, we confirmed the objectives with the officers and then accepted it.” He explained.

”What were the objectives?” Aiden asked. He was surprised to hear that Scarlet was also aware of the mission but did not speak about it at all when they freed her. Still, the possibility of both of them being sent to the same quest concerned him, making him shelve this thought for the time being.

Although it was not impossible to have two quests with similar objectives, and it was not impossible to accept multiple teams for the same one in cases of culling and gathering-type assignments, for special tasks such as what he and Sarah accepted that shouldn't be happening. Not to mention that this was an assignment given to them directly from Sarah's mother, who seemed to be powerful enough to be considered among the highest-ranking officials in the guild even if she was not officially a member, it was a type of assignment that should be only available for one single, high-ranking team at a time.

”The quest required to investigate the reason behind the increased orc and goblin sightings and check if it has any relation to the newly emerged 'Horde'. If it is, then we are to find more information about the true reason and plans behind that arrival to the outskirts of the Kingdom.” Drake answered truthfully.

”I see…” Aiden responded, heaving a sigh, letting the faint glow in his eyes fade out. The quest indeed was similar but not exactly the same. It seems that the threat of these monstrous humanoid creatures made the officials nervous not just in Higrove, the closest to them, but even to the capital's branch as well.

In a much calmer, relaxed tone, and with his usual friendly smile on his green, primal goblin face, he continued.

”That's good, me and my team have similar objectives, that we got from Higrove.”

Then, he reached out with his right palm.

”What do you say if we team up and work together then? We want the same, and it would go faster for the both of us if we're to work together.”

Drake didn't really need to think much about the offer, he knew exactly how powerful this boy was. Matching Aiden's gaze with his own, determined look, he accepted the boy's offered hand and shook it.

”Sure, I would really like that!”

Then turning around and shifting his attention to the brute, long-haired orc standing behind his friend as a stoic, silent guardian, he asked with a quizzical look on his face.

”What is the deal with him then? Can he really be trusted? Aren't you afraid, he will betray us?”

Shaking his head, Aiden responded to his questions with a chuckle.

”Don't worry about him. Roas is faithful and will never betray me or us. He is not just a powerful warrior but one gifted with magic as well.”

Seeing his silver-haired friend still wasn't convinced, Aiden simply let out a smug smile, not willing to elaborate any further. Turning around, he focused on the opened metal door in front of them.

”Anyway, we should leave and resume our mission. We need to be faster than this, as this building is huge, and our objective is on the higher floors.” Shifting his gaze downwards briefly, he only whispered his last thoughts. ”Not to mention, I have to investigate the lower reaches as well…”

Although he couldn't understand what Aiden was muttering under his breath, Drake did catch his brief glance and change of expression as he cast his sight downwards. He found it strange but knowing the boy well enough by now, he didn't inquire further, instead, he stretched his limbs.

After finishing his exercise and refreshing himself just enough to leave this godforsaken room, he suddenly revealed a similar-looking talisman on his neck that wasn't visible before. What was surprising that not even Aiden's [Dark Sense] or the system seemed to notice before. The talisman had a similar circular shape to what Lily had, but with a dark-blue ball-shaped gemstone etched in its middle, serving as its core.