After his conversation with Isla, Arthur headed back to the village as he was thinking about what he heard. For some reason, he wasn’t as hesitant about doing this as he expected himself to be.
He found himself quite comfortable with the idea of cooperating with Isla and her group even if it was only for a short period of time.
In reality, deep down, he felt quite happy that someone saw that much value in him. After living so long with no actual expectations from anyone, this was a completely new experience for him that he feared at first. The main trouble Arthur feared was lacking what it takes to actually stand next to great figures or important people.
‘Call it low self-esteem or whatever. I believe that is what helped me survive for so long. I have a weird ego that only shows up when I’m being disrespected. When I’m alone, I lose all of that for some reason.’ He laughed to himself.
It was a very weird mix that even he didn’t understand yet he was able to live with it as much as he could.
Stepping inside the village, Arthur stopped for a moment to look around him. “Well, what should I do now? I wasn’t expecting to leave this soon.” Rubbing the back of his head, Arthur tried to go through what he planned to do previously before this sudden change of plans.
His initial idea was to simply continue exploring the rest of the forest and hunt monsters. Perhaps he could also come across something new in the forest that nobody discovered yet. He wanted to make more money so that he wouldn’t find himself in a pinch in the future.
But, now that his time was cut short, he can only do the essential things. ‘I need to buy supplies, potions, and food that can boost my stats in case we don’t come across any.’ As he was remembering what he had to do, Arthur’s eyes suddenly widened as he recalled something far more important that almost slipped out of his mind.
“Oh, wait! Scratch all of that. There is something I need to prioritize now.” He muttered as he quickly turned toward one particular direction and started walking in a hurry.
In a few minutes, he reached his destination. Looking at the sign, he smiled. “I haven’t been here in a few days.”
Arthur then walked inside as the doorbell rang. The interior was the same as a few days before. Nothing changed and nothing seemed out of place. The place didn’t have any new customers either.
‘It’s weird that nobody discovered this place yet. I expected them to find it very soon.’ He mused as he looked around him. With how good this shop was, Arthur was certain it would’ve been extremely popular amongst players. Yet, the reality was very different.
Players were only buying new abilities from the main shops in the heart of the village. This one was still as abandoned as ever. However, he didn’t find that to be a problem as he liked the quiet atmosphere of this place.
“Meow!!”
At that moment, Arthur heard a loud noise coming from the other side of the place. Looking there, Arthur saw the same weird creature that welcomed him the first time he arrived there. The cat-like alien stared at him with what seemed to be an angry glare as it opened its mouth wide, showing its sharp fangs.
“Meow!!”
“… H-Hey big guy. I’m sorry for intruding.” Arthur spoke in a soft tone, trying not to anger the cat any further.
“Meow!!” However, his words didn’t seem to calm the situation at all as the cat suddenly jumped down from the table and glared daggers at him while moving forward slowly.
‘This little shit is about to attack me, isn’t he?’ Arthur clenched his teeth as he stepped back slightly. “Come on, man. I did nothing. I’m just here to meet your owner.” Arthur said with a frown.
“Meow!!”
“I’m not your enemy. Just relax, ok?”
But, the cat ignored his pleas to stop this and suddenly rushed toward him with an angry growl. Embark on a quest with freewebnovel
However, at that moment, someone spoke from somewhere.
“Ragdoll! Didn’t I say not to attack any new custom-” Emerging from the other room was none other than Nina. “Oh, Arthur? Welcome!”
The cat immediately stopped its charge and looked at Arthur for a moment. Then, it did something that Arthur couldn’t believe.
“Tsk…”
‘Wait, did this cat just click his tongue?! He just did! You little rascal!!’ Arthur almost snapped when he saw the little cat look down on him so condescendingly. But, he quickly took a deep breath and tried to keep his composure. ‘Relax, Arthur. It’s just a weird cat.
His name is Ragdoll for god’s sake. I can’t really be angry.’
Shaking his head, he finally turned to look at Nina. “Hey, Nina, been a few days.”
“Did you finally miss me and decided to visit?” She asked with a playful smile as she approached him.
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I did.” He replied jokingly as he shook her hand. “Well, actually, that’s not the full reason why I’m back.”
“Hm? Do you wish to buy another scroll?” She asked as she tilted her head to the side.
“No, actually, I’m here because your grandfather told me to pay you a visit before leaving the village.”
Nina’s eyes widened slightly. “Oh, you’re already leaving?”
“Yes. I’m leaving tomorrow morning. He told me to come here before leaving since he wanted to ask something from me.” He said.
Arthur still didn’t know what that request was and why Nina’s grandfather wanted him to wait till right before leaving to tell him.
As he contemplated that, he didn’t notice the subtle change in Nina’s face, as if she had realized something. Then, she quickly returned to normal as if nothing happened.
“Well, he is luckily here. Do you want me to bring him?”
“If you can,” Arthur replied.
“Ok, wait a moment.”
Then, Nina turned around and left through the backdoor. Then, for the next several minutes, it was completely quiet. Arthur waited patiently for Nina and her grandfather to return but it was taking a considerably long time.
‘Is he busy or something?’ Walking around the place aimlessly, Arthur felt confused as to why it was taking that long. ‘Or maybe he changed his mind?’
He didn’t know the answer and he was starting to grow a little uneasy. After all, he feared that he might miss something really good. A secret quest is a very rare thing in normal games and could be even rarer in Divinity Online since NPCs here are far more realistic than other NPCs.
‘I don’t think you can even call them NPCs anymore. I’m dealing with people.’ He shrugged.
At that moment, the door to the room opened and Nina walked in along with Miro. The old man had the same stoic expression on his face that Arthur was now familiar with. However, Arthur noticed that also had a weirdly serious look on her face that he had never seen before.
She looked quite… perturbed for one reason or another.
“You’re back, child,” Miro said as he sat down on the chair and sighed. “I didn’t expect you to come back so soon.”
“… What can I say? I like working fast.” Arthur replied with a small smile to which the old man simply nodded. Then, he took a moment of silence as if he was gathering his thoughts.
Arthur waited for the man to talk as whatever he was thinking about must’ve been so heavy that he had to actually consider every word he was about to say. A few moments later, he opened his mouth again.
“Let me ask you one question beforehand, child.”
“What question?”
“Do you believe in fate?” He asked as he looked at Arthur seriously.
The boy blinked a few times. “Fate?”
“Yes, do you believe in the predestined?”
“… Uh, I cannot say I fully believe in it, no,” Arthur replied. The answer wasn’t really 100% honest as Arthur had never really thought about it before. His life was miserably from the moment it began so if fate was indeed a thing, then it must’ve hated Arthur personally.
“But, I think there is always something beyond what I or anyone else can perceive, so it could be possible that something is predestined to happen.”
Miro took a moment to absorb everything Arthur said as he nodded. “That’s… good enough.” He muttered as he finally stood up and slowly walked around the table. Stopping in front of Arthur, he did something that Arthur didn’t expect at all.
He slowly sat on his knees and put his hands on his thighs before he bowed slightly. “I want to ask one thing from you, child… We need your help.” He said in a calm tone as he kept his head down. “Please.” He added at the end.