Chapter 159: Dawn’s plan
Ren looked bored inside the carriage as it moved through the path. He looked out the window with no particular emotion in his eyes.
"You do not seem interested in travelling," Lia said.
"This journey takes multiple days, and I have to sit inside this carriage. I could fly us in moments," he complained and then stretched a bit. "I understand why we cannot do that, but still."
"Master Ren, you should keep yourself busy somehow," Ezra suggested.
"Yeah," he replied while still staring outside.
’I have not checked my stats in quite a bit. System, show me.’
[Name: Ren Crimson Jr]
[Race: Primordial Dragon (Sealed)]
[Level 3]
[Exp: 1000/15000]
[Strength: 680]
[Speed: 684]
[Stamina: 684]
’Oh? I’ve grown quite a bit.’
[Yes, you have, though compared to before, it is slow.]
’Oh? You are finally awake to give opinions? Thought you abandoned me.’
[It would be the other way around.]
’Tch, sorry, been busy a lot.’
[Understood. I have a tip for you, Host. Speed up.]
The system said that and then went back to being silent. Ren was not sure why it had said that, but he knew that the system would not simply do this for no reason.
’Speed up. Is this about the current quest? Am I moving too slow?
I have been trying to handle the situation as best as possible to ensure I do not slip up, but it seems that’s slowing me down.’
He made up his mind to speed this up. He already knew the person that was doing this, and now all that remained was actually bringing her down.
The journey continued like this without issue. At the end of the day, they stopped at a clearing, and a fire was made. Food was cooked, and everyone ate under the moonlight, especially Ren.
He ate like he had not eaten for days. Meat, soup, potatoes, everything that was available. When it was done, he leaned back against a rock and patted his stomach.
He sat there alone until an elf suddenly came and sat down beside him.
"Oh, elf, what’s up?" Ren asked.
"It’s Dawn. My name is Dawn," the elf said.
"Dawn, alright, Dawn, what’s up?"
Dawn went silent for a moment. He looked at the ground for a few seconds and then at the flames.
"Your organization, you called it the Primordial Crimsons, right?" he asked.
"Yeah, you wanna join?"
"No, not that. I need your help," he said and then looked at Ren. "I’m sure you wonder why an elf is living here in the human kingdom as a mercenary?"
"Oh yeah, it was quite intriguing to see, but I didn’t think much about it. You could be rejected by your tribe, be a dark elf, or have committed some sort of heinous crime," Ren said.
Dawn went silent for a moment. He took a deep breath and then spoke. "I was branded a criminal. My tribe believed that I had something to do with the death of many of my tribesmen and the missing of others.
"They found me there with blood on my hands, and that was it. They banished me because they were not able to find any proof that I did it."
"But someone had to take the fall, to ensure that whatever happened was not investigated further," Ren said as he played with the sand on the floor. "You believe what happened is deeper than shown, and some of your tribe might know the truth.
"Now you want to uncover who did this, find out who took who, and..."
"Find my sister, and find my sister. She was taken as well, and I want to find her more than anything. I have been searching, and I have managed to gather some leads, but most have failed to lead anywhere good.
"I want to hire your organization. I want you to help me find them and uncover the truth, and if you do, I’ll give this to you," he said and then pulled out a glowing round fruit.
Ren looked at the fruit. It was bursting with an immense amount of mana.
"This is a fruit from the World Tree at the center of the elf capital. I stole it from my tribe before I left. I did not know what I would need to use it for, but this is the opportunity."
Ren looked at it, the World Tree. He could already tell what that was and how important this fruit must be.
[Quest Update: Save Dawn’s sister]
[Reward: 10,000 EXP, Artefact Blueprint, Ancient Map, Summoning Token.]
[Penalty: All stats cut by fifty percent]
[Time frame: 1 year]
’I’m getting a time frame now? Well, I guess I can help, so I’ll accept the quest,’ Ren thought. He accepted it without an issue, then he looked at Dawn.
"I’ll help you. My organization will help to the best of its ability."
Dawn heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that. He had feared that Ren would say no or have other engagements, so hearing him agree to it gave him a lot of hope.
"So what about the whole serving the count thing?" Ren asked.
"Yeah, that. I have to keep up this mercenary persona, and that means I have to ensure that the count stays alive. Aside from that, it seems the count has access to some information that I might actually need, so beyond the money, I want to stay loyal to him so that I can access all that information."
"Fair reason, but the count is a pretty smart man. Are you sure he does not suspect?"
"I’m sure he does. He must know I have my own motives, but that does not matter. As long as I show up and act as I am meant to act, his trust is bound to rise, and when it does, I’ll take advantage of it.
"I do not plan to hurt him, and as long as he is not part of the people that took my family, I’ll not have to," Dawn explained.