Chapter 148: Turtle Forest (1)
A peculiar group breezed through the main roads of The Warmonger Empire's lands.
A royal carriage making its appearance on the roads gathered attention as it usually would. This time, however, many commoners' and players' eyes were stolen by a giant bear running beside the carriage on his four legs.
He could keep up with the horses' speed and even take over them!
People usually didn't know that even from Earth, bears could be faster than horses!
It was such an incredible sight that players and people took some time to notice two people saddling the bear.
It was a little girl and a young man! One of them definitely looked like a player despite wearing casual clothes. The little girl was so adorable that it was difficult to tell whether she came from the real world or was a resident.
That said, having the entire bear's back for themselves was one of the fantasies players around those areas wanted to achieve.
Their jealousies compelled them to gossip about Jake and Elizabeth.
"They must be going to the House Of Bow… I wonder if something big is going to happen over there?" a player thought aloud as he stared at the royal carriage.
"That dude might be Archer, who stole the legendary boss. He must have received the attention of the royal bow branch," his friend replied.
"Meh, he's in for a surprise, isn't he?" the player sighed and looked back at the man riding the bear. The territory he was in already belonged to The House Of Bow. It was the least popular land in The Warmonger Empire because of less lucrative quests and Asta Bow Household's decline.
Players only loved to come here because the small numbers of players there meant that there were a lot of monsters to be killed. Given time and respite, those monsters could reproduce so fast and get so strong that their common grades could evolve into unique or even rare!
It'd not be weird for an epic monster to appear here, too!
Various monsters also cultivated many different kinds of resources, so it was an excellent spot to sightsee and wander around.
The House Of Bow, at times, handed in more lucrative quests to clear monsters close to their cities and houses.
In conclusion, being here wasn't bad when the conditions were right.
"Surprise?" the player's friend said. "Asta Bow branch may be in a slump, but their old methods and skills might be OP for archers. There are rumors that the Archer who stole the legendary boss has at least a rare class, so if it's really him, he will benefit!"
The only reason those guys heard about Archer was that many players teased them about trying to become another one upon entering The House Of Bow's territories.
It was done in the presence of other Asta Houses to increase their friendship with them.
As a side note, OP means overpowered in games' slang!
"True. Well, not like anyone can become an archer. Any normal archer will lose against any other normal class. So this guy might become Grin Grid that's only recalled when she does something to other guilds or residents." The player came to the conclusion.
At this point, Jake was no longer on the horizon.
-
"Stop your bear, Elizabeth," Minerva said.
The horses howled.
Elizabeth's bear grunted.
These beasts halted their run upon hearing Minerva's voice. They were intelligent enough to understand that she was the boss here, and Elizabeth's bear also understood when his master could not go against her wishes.
Sio stopped before Elizabeth had given him a command.
The little one and Jake hopped off his back.
He sat down on his rear and enjoyed the break. Elizabeth also passed him a glass of water, from which Sio drank like a human would. It must have been Elizabeth's influence!
Minerva left the carriage.
She walked to the front of it and smiled as there was a group she had been expecting to see.
"You couldn't wait for us at your home, Alice?" Minerva asked.
Alice was Minerva's best friend and Viktor's grandmother. She was also the previous family head of the Asta Bow branch! This grand persona had left her house early and strolled the main road until she could see the group she had been waiting for.
Standing in light black chemise and with her hands joined at its helm, Alice smiled at everyone staring at her and gave a low curtsy before turning her eyes to Minerva.
"It's so rare to have visitors such as Little Elizabeth and Mr. Archer. I baked many cookies and had nothing else to do at home to keep me busy, so I went for a walk!" Alice brightly grinned as she clapped her hands. "Could we use your carriage?"
"You don't have to ask," Minerva replied with a soft, genuine smile that perhaps only Alice could induce in her.
While Alice's maids boarded the carriage first(only because Alice ordered them to), Alice walked to Elizabeth and ruffled her hair. She also offered the cookies, which Elizabeth ate like a little squirrel.
At last, the grandma and Jake exchanged glances.
Jake spoke first, "It's an honor to meet you, Mrs. Alice. I'm Archer. I've not been much in this world yet, and I don't want my archery to be influenced by others much, so I stayed away from learning about your skills and past as an archer."
The truth was that Viktor didn't even bother talking about his grandma. But Jake was also honest. Otherwise, he would have already seen a lot of Viktor and a certain someone's archery!
Jake added, "But I'm sure you're a great archer."
"There's no need to be so stiff and formal, Mr. Archer. I'm sure you're not addressing Minerva per The Imperial Mage Orb," Alice smiled.
"Uh, yes… it comes out naturally… somewhat," Jake slowly replied, recalling that Mary had received a slap and was told to call Minerva per this title. He forgot about it!
He thought he was respectful enough, but he was in a very different world with a different setting!
He should have called Minerva and Alice by their titles!
'It's like calling Professor in college!' Jake mentally caught his head.
"If it's natural for you to address elders this way, I don't mind being Mrs. Alice. I'd love to have no honorifics between us as I look at you like a grandson. Would that be fine with you?" Alice asked.
Jake nodded.
Alice happily clapped her hands. "I'm so glad, Archer! The official speech and language are so tiring and vexatious! I don't like honorifics as well!"
'That's so much like Viktor! But he doesn't like it for a different reason,' Jake thought.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth nodded as she gnawed on her cookies. She wholeheartedly agreed that royal becoming was annoying! She liked Alice more and more!
Minerva was slightly shaking her head with a smile behind them.
"You believe that I'm a great archer… why? Alice asked. "Have you said those words to cajole me?"
Jake looked into the grandma's eyes as everyone turned to him.
He smiled and shook his head.
"No. I believe that you're a great archer."
"Why?"