Earth’s Doom Starts with… Me?

Chapter 101: The crest (1)

"Hmm, something's weird..." I muttered to myself while I crouched and fumbled over the pile of shields that were stacked inside the armory. Should I bring a shield, too? Or would it be a bother to carry one? Hmm...

"What's weird, little cub? Aren't you the weird one for muttering to yourself?" General Zhang who was also crouching beside me giggled while he rearranged the pile of shields that I had just ruined.

"The elf king. The news about his brother's death should've reached him by now," I sighed and turned my body to face him, "so then, why isn't he looking for us now? Doesn't he want his crest?"

"Who knows what's going on in his head. By the way, where did you put the heart?" General Zhang inquired.

"Oh, here, inside my bag." I answered as I took my backpack off and opened the zipper juuuuust small enough for my hand to go in without leaving any opening.

After making sure I pretended to rummage the content for a bit as if I was trying to grab the heart among all other things, I opened my inventory and took it out, before finally slipping it outside of the bag.

"Here you go," I grabbed his hand and placed the still heart on top of his palm, "hey, your palm is kinda cold. You okay?"

I instinctively rubbed his hand with mine to warm up his hand, since I was so used to do that during my time in the army, especially during winter or somewhere damp. People used to drop dead from hypothermia from time to time, or some of them would lose a toe or two, so we were always looking out for each other, and helped each other to get a bit more warmth.

"Hoooo~?" His brows raised and surprised, followed by an amused hum and a sneaky grin, "hey, little cub, my chest is also cold~"

"Oh god, what's wrong with your head!?" I frantically pushed him away and walked in the opposite direction while hiding my flushed face. Why. Would he. Say that. Even in this time!? He was too chill!

"Ahahahahha! Just kidding, just kidding~" He laughed a bit wayyyy too hard, that general Emilio came to check on us.

"What are you guys doing?" He frowned.

"I'm just picking some armor that might be useful, and he's just being a slippery eel as usual. Don't mind us. Definitely nothing weird happening here." I answered while keeping my head low by pretending like the ground was very interesting to watch, just so he wouldn't see my flushed face.

"Yeah, I'm just being a cold and freezing eel." General Zhang answered with a muffled laugh while holding his stomach.

"General Emilio, aren't you guys kinda similar to, like, the law upholder in the town?" I asked since I wasn't sure if they knew the word police or not, "can I please have a restraining order for him?"

"What's that?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Nevermind. Was stupid of me to hope." I sighed and scratched my head in defeat.

"Anyway, I've been meaning to ask..." General Zhang suddenly stopped laughing.

"What is it now? I swear if you ask something weird again..." I glared at him in annoyance.

"How can this heart still be in the exact same condition as when we fetch it out of that prince's chest? It's been almost a day since that time, hasn't it?" He questioned while he lifted the pinkish heart for us to see.

...Oh, no.

"See? How can this still be a bit pinkish? I mean, it changed color a to a reddish shade after that little mini-movie thing you went through," he continued, "even then, it's still pretty pink for a thing that should've run out of blood. And wet."

Oh, hell no.

"...True. How come?" General Emilio walked closer and crouched beside the white-haired eel to inspect the heart, before nodding, "peculiar, indeed."

I totally forgot to check if items didn't age or change once stored inside my inventory! Ack! What was supposed to be a useful feature was now bringing me a lot of headaches!

"I think the crest has something to do with that? There's still a lot we don't know about that thing, after all." I placed a finger on my chin and made a serious face, as if I was contributing to analyzing the phenomenon.

"True." General Zhang suddenly giggled, which creeped me out a bit.

"You think so?" General Emilio glanced over at general Zhang with a puzzled face.

"Yep, yep. Absolutely. I never miss." The latter winked and gave the former a thumbs-up.

"... If you say so," general Emilio closed his eyes and stood up, before heading back towards the armory entrance, "then I'm going back to patrol the area."

"Have fun keeping the orcs at bay, porcupine~" General Zhang waved his hand happily until we couldn't see general Emilio anymore.

After we finished our 'discussion' with the orcs, we came to an agreement, although one-sided, that we would keep the orcs at bay inside the bedroom, except for their leader who we allowed to be kept in the clinic alongside 3 of his guards.

General Emilio volunteered to be on the lookout for the orcs, while Jeanne was taking care of Firiell in the clinic, and Luke rested inside me because he got bored and wanted to roll on the bed inside my rent-free mana room or something.

While this eel, this dang eel had decided to follow me around everywhere as I looted and explored this place. What did he want from me?

"So little cub, why did you lie?" General Zhang's sudden question made me tense up.

"How could I lie when I wasn't sure what happened, myself?" I tried to answer as if I was in the same clueless boat as them. Not too defensive and all-knowing, but not too ignorant, either.

"Ahahha! I would've believed that lie if you had told me before I mentioned it first," he grinned, "there's no way you didn't notice that when you handed the heart to me."

I flinched a bit and gulped in nervousness.

"Sooo, why didn't you mention it, little cub? Or should I ask, what are you hiding from us?" He crawled over to me and took my chin into his hand, lifting it a bit so our eyes would meet.

"I..."

"Hmm?"

"I don't need to tell you."

Ack, those words just kinda slipped out of my mouth without thinking.

"Eh, I mean..." I nervously looked away and towards the floor, as if I was a kid who got caught eating candy right before having lunch.

As I peeked from the corner of my eyes, I could see him raising his eyebrows a bit as his eyes widened. Was he angry at me for saying that?

"That's true."

"What?" I looked up when I felt a gentle pat on my head.

"You don't have to tell me, and you don't have to tell anybody," he patted me while giving me a surprisingly calm smile, "you don't have to do what anybody says. Good."

... Huh, he was surprisingly respectful about that.

"I can wait until you want to tell me yourself," he grinned mischievously, "doesn't mean I'm not curious~"

"... It's not something bad for our group." I explained with a sigh. I understand why they would be suspicious of me, but I didn't want to spill everything about me, yet. It hadn't even been a year since I met them, so why should I? Well, that eel did do me a favour by convincing general Emilio that it was nothing, so I got that going for me, which was nice.

"Hmm~ You sure are full of surprises, little cub~ I'll take my time and enjoy uncovering you." He chuckled like a little boy while giving me a sharp stare which made my cheeks feel warm again.

I immediately crawled backwards and released my chin from his grip, creating a considerable distance between us.

"I--"

"You two. Come. The kid's awake."

Right as I was opening my mouth, general Emilio appeared like a ghost from the entrance.

"You spooked me. Geez." I sighed and stood up to straighten my jacket. While doing so, I made sure to pick up a small, light shield and a sharp dagger. I was going to give this to Firiell. The shields and weapons here wouldn't be of much use for me, but Firiell could do well with a little bit of extra equipment.

"You're easily spooked." General Emilio replied concisely and immediately turned around, disappearing from our sight again.

Well, might as well follow him.

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When the three of us entered the clinic, I noticed that it was already much cleaner than when we left it. And by cleaner, I meant no more limp orc bodies scattered on the ground.

"Hey, it's kinda nice here. What happened?" I remarked as I observed my surrounding.

The clinic was still pretty dimly lit, just like the other areas here. Pretty much expected since we were underground. But at least, the beds and the furniture were now arranged neatly and even the bedsheets were all made. On the furthest bed laid the orc king, with his 3 guards playing cards beside his bed. And as for our Firiell, she was laying in one of the beds in the middle, with Jeanne sitting next to her, grabbing her hand.

"I told the orcs to get to work. I don't like messy places." General Emilio replied with a flat expression.

Ah, so he was the reason why.

"Oh, you're here," Jeanne greeted us, but instead of smiling, her face looked worried sick, "she's awake, but she's weak."

"Mmm..." Firiell whimpered as she squinted her eyes to see us.

"That's alright, don't overexert yourself," I sat beside Jeanne and stroked Firiell's head, "we just need to ask a few questions, but if you still feel unwell, you can rest more." After all, I still needed you alive for something.

"I'm okay..." She smiled weakly and adjusted her position so she was now half-sitting up.

"Are you sure?" Jeanne questioned once again, just to make sure she was ready.

"Yes... I'm sorry for running off on my own," she started, "I can explain..."

Now, what should we start with?