They entered Puzzle City's Gate quite easily, it was expected, they were in the Henituse's Golden Turtle Carriage, someone would be quite stupid not to let them in. They were currently following Deputy Butler Hans to the inn, while Adara, Cale, the kittens, and Choi Han were still in the Carriage. They invited Choi Han into the carriage because they were bored.
On and Hong were staring out the window, remarking on passersby and how the City was different. "It is smaller than Rain City," On spoke, only slightly disappointed.
"Right. Small," Hong agreed, looking around.
Adara looked with them. "It is," she muttered, but her mind was somewhere else.
Cale had similar thoughts, which he voiced. "It won't follow us into the city, right?"
Adara shrugged. "I've studied dragons, but it never said anything about them following a lifeform under them."
Choi Han had reported that the Black Dragon would follow them from a distance. He would occasionally come close by in the early mornings to drop the food off, but then he would run away.
"Isn't it cute?" Choi Han smiled brightly. "The dragon seems like a little kid that hasn't lost its innocence, even after living such a terrible life."
Adara smiled in amusement. Despite what they had warned him not to do, it seemed that Choi Han was underestimating the little Black Dragon. If he saw the dragon blow a mountain away, she thought, remembering what was supposed to originally happen. Then he would not be describing the dragon as cute. Maybe because she was only Half Dark Elf, but her race's tendency to worship dragons wasn't strong. Of course, that was also due to the fact she never met another Dark Elf, so she never got influenced by common Dark Elf ideals. But she found that Dragons were a superior lifeform, and accepted it, she found no need to worship them. Only to give them enough respect that they don't smite her. Though she did not understand why he was doing this, sure they saved him, but why would he follow them?
She expected he would go far away from Viscount Tolz and Marquis Stan's Territories to create his own lair and develop his strength. In addition, she and Cale hoped that once the Black Dragon grew strong enough it would destroy both respective noble's estates before the war broke out on the Continent. It would benefit both the Henituses and the Thornwins, and keep the peace in both of their territories for a longer period of time.
The kittens approached them, tapping their thighs with their paws. It seemed as though they had seen something out of the ordinary outside, and wanted to ask about it.
"Each house has a rock tower in front of it," On said. "Like you said a few days ago." She looked at Adara.
"Very, very weird," Hong added.
Cale only responded casually. "This is the City of Rock Towers."
"It would have been a better name than Puzzle City," Adara remarked. "Rock Tower City," she muttered. "Makes more sense too, I see no puzzles anywhere."
Puzzle City was famous for two reasons. The first being the aftermath of the second. It was famous for its Ancient Ruins that had a lot of rock towers from Ancient Times and for the fact that every single house had small rock towers in front of them. The people in Puzzle City have a small groove outside of their windows so they could stack a rock tower on top of it. Except, it wasn't really a rock tower, it had less than ten rocks, but every single one was in different shapes based on the personality of the homeowners, she guessed.
The second reason was that this city was disowned by the gods. What did you do, she thought, staring at the houses they passed, to make a god abandon you? Even the books could not tell me. Nor did Cale know, she knew. There wasn't much information in the novel about Puzzle City. But she read a bunch about the history after successfully translating the ancient text, but there was never anything about why the god abandoned them. She read many books speculating as to why but they never gave an answer supported by evidence. She has her own theory too.
The carriage stopped and they climbed out. The luxurious inn they were going to be staying at also had a rock tower in front of it.
"Will we be staying here?" Cale asked as they followed behind the inn owner. Adara was looking around as they walked to their room. She had On in her arms while Hans had Hong in his arms.
Hans quickly responded, he seemed to be very excited. Adara thought it was because Hong had let him carry him. "Yes sir. We have reserved two days for Choi Han-nim, and have agreed to pay for the rest of the group depending on how long we end up staying here." Ron, who was following behind them, flinched at Hans's words, Adara noted. But he continued on walking, the magic box in his hands. And Hans only continued to speak. "We arrived right before the Rock Tower Festival season, so the room was not that expensive."
She knew quite a bit about the Rock Tower Festival too, it was a shame that they could not stay until next week to see it.
Cale started mumbling, almost as if he wasn't thinking about it. "It's not like there are a lot of rocks here, but the rock towers are quite interesting. Very odd."
Adara was about to open her mouth when Hans beat her to it. "I know the reason for that." Adara and Cale both looked towards Hans. Upon seeing their attention on him, he cleared his throat. "There is a sad yet thought-provoking story that has been passed down through the ages."
Cale made a face. "Stop right now if it is going to be long."
Adara snorted. They were in their room now, the inn owner stepping out of the room as soon as Cale and Adara entered the room. They were sitting on the couch while the kittens were climbing all over Adara. Hong was on her shoulder, while On was in her arms.
Hans, having probably determined that the story would not be very long, continued with his story. "This story, well, this legend, is about something that happened in Ancient Times."
While Adara already knew the story, Cale grew interested when Hans mentioned the Ancient Times. "Ancient Times?" he repeated.
Hans nodded. "Yes. Ancient Times."
"Go on."
The kittens were wagging their tails as they looked at Hans, they were interested in the story. Ron only silently poured two cups of lemon tea before handing them to Adara and Cale. They took it without a word.
Hans cleared his throat again. "Well, this city supposedly fell out of the grace of a god in the past."
Cale's eyebrows raised. "This is my first time hearing about it."
Hans gave him a nervous smile. "That is because Young Master has not studied history. I think it is your first time hearing this legend too, Young Mistress."
Adara raised an eyebrow. Was he suggesting that she did not know the history of Puzzle City? "You seem to enjoy talking back these days. Where did you even hear that?"
Hans's face pulled in a slight frown. There were rumours all around that Young Mistress Adara had never studied, he did not know if they were true or not, but he believed them to be. But what was she saying now? But before Hans could ask, Ron spoke up.
"The Young Mistress studied a lot when she was younger," he said. "She knows the history of the whole Western Continent, every single Kingdom and Empire, including every detail about the Ancient Times. And possibly the Eastern Continent."
Adara sent him a look. "Don't be silly," she said. Hans thought she would deny what Ron had said, after all, it was unlike her very much. "There are barely any books on the Eastern Continent available in the Roan Kingdom. The Empire is rumoured to have a lot, but they would not care to share them with me," she added.
Hans's jaw dropped a bit, but he quickly gathered his expression. "Ah, so, Young Mistress, you already know the legend?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I studied the Ancient Times a lot when I was younger, they interested me greatly. But Cale doesn't know the story, and I'm sure he'd like to hear it," she said with a look at Cale.
Hans took the gesture as confirmation that they wanted to hear the story. "Of course, it is only natural for a great butler to inform their master about things that the master does not know." Cale looked at him as if he dared him to continue speaking. Hans paid no attention and continued to talk. "I do not know why this city fell out of the grace of a god, Young Mistress?" He was asking if she knew.
She shook her head. "There is no record of a reason."
Hans only continued on with his story. "However, that is apparently when some of the people in this city started to gather together to build rock towers. It seemed to have been an act of worship to reach out to the god that had abandoned them."
"Did it work?" Cale wondered.
"No," Hans responded sternly.
"The god did not listen to them," Adara muttered, twisting her rings.
Hans nodded. "As Young Mistress says, none of the prayers went through. That is why the present-day Puzzle City does not have a single temple."
"There's no reason for me to worship a god who has abandoned me, is that it?"
Hans smiled brightly. "Ding, ding, ding! Our Young Master is truly smart and does not need to study at all."
Cale glared at Hans. "You want to get punched?"
Hans paled slightly, turning to look away from Cale and Adara and instead to a faraway mountain. He cleared his throat again. "Anyways, they have rock towers instead of temples. The rock towers represent a promise that the people made after all of that. It was a promise between the people, as well as a promise with themselves."
"What kind of promise?" Cale asked.
"A human who has had their wish granted will destroy their rock tower."
Cale smiled his classic smile. "What an interesting city."
Hans beamed. "Isn't it? Since they were abandoned by their god, they needed to achieve everything with their own strength. The act of destroying their rock tower represents 'overcoming the odds.'"
Adara always wanted to destroy a rock tower, but she had never made one since she could not think of a wish.
"The rock towers are not created to seek help from a god," Cale realised.
"It is more a way to represent their own determination," Adara added.
Cale thought this story was interesting. "I guess it wasn't the god granting their wish in the end."
Hans nodded. "Yes, you are both right. Although it is sad that they were abandoned, this story also gives people a lot of hope. However, I would like to know the reason the god abandoned them."
Adara took a sip of her lemon tea. "I have a theory on that." Cale, Hans and Ron all turned to look at Adara. Seeing their eyes, she continued. "There was no god."
"What?" Hans asked, his voice trailing off.
Adara shrugged. "There isn't any evidence that the god even existed, it created no miracles for the people, nor did anything in particular to prove its existence. There is, again, no record of the reason it left. And while, for example, the Lake of God's Tears in the Paerun Kingdom, was also abandoned by a god. There is a recorded reason why the god left— that the humans were too greedy and touched something they shouldn't have— while we don't know what they shouldn't have touched, the dried-up Lake is proof that it was once there. So my theory is that there was never a god in Puzzle City."
Hans smiled at her. "That is a very interesting theory, Young Mistress! It just might be true."
But Adara wasn't listening to him, she was staring at the kittens in her lap. She didn't know when they had moved to her lap, but they were showing their teeth and their vicious golden pupils were glaring at Hans. On was tapping her paw on her thigh, and Hong was thumping his tail on her thigh. "Hans, look down."
"Excuse me?" he asked. His eyes moved to where Adara was looking at. He gasped, his eyes opening widely.
"Looks like the kittens are angry," Cale remarked, a sly smile tugging on his lips.
"Aigoo," Hans said, leaning down at the kittens. "Why are our kitten-nims so angry? Should I go bring you some more jerky?"
Adara smiled in sick amusement. She remembered what the kittens had said earlier. They said that Hans had said that if you make a wish at a rock tower, it will become true. Hans, not knowing that they were Beast People, only assumed they were angry because they were hungry. They were, in fact, angry because Hans had lied to them about the rock towers.
He frowned seeing the kittens did not change expression. "Aigoo," he repeated. "Our precious kitten-nims. I will go get some delicious snacks for you!" He looked up at the two. "Young Master and Mistress, may I go get something for them?"
"You can stay out as well," Cale commented.
Hans paid him no mind. "I will be back really quickly." He made sure everything he brought for Cale and Adara was neatly organised, before heading out.
Cale turned to Ron. "Ron, you can go rest as well."
Ron approached the couch they were sitting on, smiling. What's he going to say now? Adara thought, annoyed. "Will Choi Han-nim be leaving in two days?"
Adara nodded, suspicious. "Yes."
Cale started smiling. "Why? You don't want to send him away? Do you want to go with him?"
Ron smiled wider. "Why would I leave you behind and go somewhere else, Young Master? I like being next to you. I especially like being next to the both of you." Adara raised an eyebrow, she could tell he wanted to say more. "It is just that it is disappointing that Choi Han-nim will not be going with us all the way to the Capital. I will need to speak with him as much as possible before he leaves. Beacrox will probably be sad to see him go."
Adara was surprised. Maybe it will work? She honestly never really paid much attention to the three, but it sounds like they are getting along. She downed the rest of her lemon tea. "Well, you can see each other again in the Capital." Maybe then you will decide to go with him. The three of you— well, five of you considering Crown Princess Rosalyn and Lock— can leave this Kingdom of Boulders, and go destroy an Archduke and a palace to relieve Rosalyn of her duty. Doesn't that sound wonderful?
Almost as if hearing her thoughts, Ron started to smile wider. "I look forward to when we are all together with Choi Han-nim in the Capital. This old man's wish is that everybody arrives there safely."
Adara knew that he was only pretending to be the ever-nice butler, but something did not feel right. But she ignored it, it did not matter, Ron would not hurt her so there was no need to hyper-fixate on every small detail.
The kittens, who were still on her lap, snorted as they looked at Ron. On and Hong both found it amusing yet annoying that Ron kept trying to teach them assassination skills that they already knew about. And he tried ever so hard to make sure it was behind Adara and Cale's backs. It was funny.
Cale nodded, also not used to those types of words coming from the old assassin's mouth. "You can leave now."
Ron left without another word.
The kittens started venting the second he left. "Hans is a liar!" On grumbled.
"I trusted that butler!" Hong said, dramatically rolling on his back with a paw on his forehead.
Adara snorted, turning her head to look out the window. Cale was looking out of the window too, they were looking in the direction of a cave in the corner of Puzzle City. That cave, was where the incomplete rock tower and the Vitality of the Heart were, there should be a small house near that cave. 150, Adara thought. That's a long time to live. The owner of the Ancient Power left the Vitality of the Heart after naturally dying from old age. The deceased person thought his power was a curse.
Cale turned to Adara, the same line of thoughts on his mind. "How long will you live?"
Adara, understanding the question, shrugged. "I have no idea. There are barely any mentions of Half-Dark Elves, so I genuinely don't know how long I will live. But long, that I know."
Cale let out a hum. "And you are truly 18?"
She snorted. "Silly question. Of course, I am 18. It would have been difficult to hide my age since even the stupid notice the passage of time."
Cale agreed with that.
"Hans is walking towards us," Adara murmured. "I think he has a lot of jerky."
Cale nodded. They both looked away from the window and got up, synchronising again. Adara straightened her slightly wrinkled clothes. She had been wearing more and more noble-looking clothes, most of them matching Cale's. And her jewellery had also significantly decreased, she only wore 2 rings on each finger, with two bracelets too, and two necklaces, one of which was her sun pendant. They walked to the door, and opened it. Hans, as she said, was right in front of the door with his arms full of jerky.
Cale and Adara spoke in unison, the kittens rubbing their heads on their legs. "Let's go see the rock towers." The kittens' ears started to twitch when they heard that, momentarily pausing their head rubbing and instead staring up at Adara and Cale with excitement.
"It will be just us three and Choi Han," Adara said. "Oh, and On and Hong. We're going sightseeing." The Rock Tower Ruins, she thought. Once we're there, we'll be able to tell if Young Master Taylor and Priestess Cage are really here. They also wanted to simply see the Ancient Rock Towers.
The human who died at the old age of 150, had wanted to finish a rock tower in a Wind-Gathering Cave, right in the centre of the hurricane. He had never completed it, because every time it was close to finishing, he destroyed it. But not because his wish had been granted. Adara wondered briefly what his wish was, but then found she didn't quite care. He repeatedly built it and destroyed it over and over again, until he died one day after stacking it about halfway.
To get the Ancient Power, you needed to complete the rock tower the ancient old man never finished. They weren't sure if the both of them could get this Ancient Power too, but if they both could do it, they were going to make it pretty.
Time passed, and Cale, Adara, the two kittens, Choi Han, and Hans arrived at the Rock Tower Ruins. They were only at the entrance, but they had arrived. Cale was wearing a hat— using the excuse that he did not like the sunlight— to hide his bright red hair, but Adara did not have anything to hide her skin with, so she only stood behind Hans and Choi Han. Which was just enough, since Choi Han was taller than her, and Hans was a bit shorter.
Adara and Cale were able to find the people they had suspicions of. Taylor Stan and Cale were really here. She and Cale were both stealthily watching them, but the two missed their gaze.
A bit further away, was a casually dressed man and woman. The woman was pushing the wheelchair the woman was in, and heading towards the exit of the Ruins.
The man, Taylor, turned to look at the woman. The Rock Tower Ruins were quite unimpressive. "Why did you want to come here today?"
The woman, Cage huffed, an annoyed expression on her face. "I don't know if it is a message from the Lord or just complete bullshit, but I've been having the same dream for a couple of days. In every single dream, he says that I need to come here." Cage, a Priestess of the Church of the God of Death, was able to hear the words of the God of Death in her sleep. Since sleep was the closest to death. "My dream said that our future benefactors will show up if we came to the Ruins. He also said something about how even the Lord cannot know how the benefactors will act, other than the fact that they will be coming to the Ruins today."
Taylor pulled a face. "There's even a person that the Lord cannot predict?"
Cage shrugged. "Who knows? And it's two people this time, one of which he was very fond of apparently. Though he wouldn't tell me who they were or even their names!" She rolled her eyes again. "Half of the things the Lord says are bullshit. Complete bullshit."
The eldest son of Marquis Stan's Family, Taylor Stan chuckled lightly. "Bullshit? It is the word of the Lord. Plus, wasn't it a secret that you can hear messages from the Lord?"
Cage made an off-hand gesture. "It's not like there are any priests in Puzzle City. And who cares about the word of the Lord? Does it feed us? No. We feed ourselves." Adara, who was listening in on their conversation disguised a laugh as a cough. Cale sent her a look, and she felt a slight chillness on her head, as if someone had hit her on the head. No wonder I offered to show them the Translated Ancient Text, they're funny. "How can there be benefactors for people like us? Absolutely bogus." She blinked, changing the subject. "I'm hungry. Let's go eat."
Taylor looked at Cage with a serious expression. "Cage, I suddenly feel like drinking beer."
Cage responded back with an equally serious expression. "Really? I'm craving smoked pork."
Taylor pointed to the exit of the Ruins as he spoke with a solemn voice. "What a wonderful combination." He broke into a grin. "Let's go. Push! It'll be my treat."
Cage smiled back at him with a wider grin. "Aigoo, your treat? This priestess will do her best to escort you there."
They started laughing, as she pushed him out of the disappointing Ruins. But as they walked out, Cage's head turned to a group of four people almost on reflex. One of them was a butler seemingly, maybe the other one was a knight? Cage could not really tell. But the other two were nobles, that was plain to see. They were both beautiful, with high-quality clothes that matched each other. The man had a hat on so she could not see his hair, but he looked as pretty as his partner with his pale skin and symmetrical face. The woman had a couple pieces of jewellery that glistened in the sun, she was playing with the silver kitten that was on the ground. Her hair was jet black, curly and long. A Southerner? she thought pushing her friend out of the Ruins. No, she's definitely a noble. Her interest peaked as she thought about the only noble who had the skin of a Southerner. Adara Thornwin. She smiled inwardly, they had recently stayed in the Thornwin Estate, it was Young Mistress Adara's books that had led them here. I hope we will have an opportunity to thank her.
Unaware that Cage was looking at them, Adara got up from her position on the ground and leaned into Cale, amused. "I like them," she said in a low tone. Hans heard that she was speaking, but could not make out the words she was saying, but seeing as she seemed amused it could not have been anything bad.
Cale could not hear their conversation, but Adara could. So he trusted that they had said something to amuse the Half-Dark Elf. "But we need to avoid them," he said, in a lower tone.
The corners of her lips turned down. "Shame." But a chilly hand was caressing her head, so she only hoped they would meet the two in a more fortunate situation.
~~~
[F̶u̶n̶ Fact]: While she pretends to be 'harmless' by drinking all the time and talking a lot, she still excludes this terrifying aura— that she does not know about— which makes people uncomfortable. The dumber and less experienced they are, the less they think about it. But if they're smart and experienced, like Choi Han, they realise that she's not exactly harmless. But, for example, the Knight that was guarding the Black Dragon in Chapter 16, felt the aura, compared it to the very same person who had cut off his arm, but saw no correlation between the two. He was scared of her, but couldn't fathom why once he left the inn. Fortunately, her brother is both dumb and has tried to kill a ten-year-old with a kitchen knife and failed so we can safely say he's also not that experienced.