Under the Oak Tree

Chapter 67 – Slowly Settling In (1)

As she turned her stiff head, she saw Ruth squatting under a tree carefully scraping the moss between its roots. Soon after, he grabbed his sack and stood up.

“My clothes and armor are stained so black, I wonder if I should change the name to Knights of Hume (Black) Dragon instead of Rem (White) Dragon,” he said with a sour face.

“Mr. Ruth!”

Yurixion, visibly glad to see him, ran towards him.

“What are you doing here?”

“I am making reagents at Lady Calypse’s request, to revive the trees in the garden,” said he as he lifted up a sack. Fixing his gaze upon her, he continued. “It seems you were recounting the fierce battle you went through during your journey.”

Max literally flushed from head to toe. She had been caught bluffing, red-handed, and out of all the people, by the very one who saw her vomit and pass out. All she wished was to turn into dust and disappear.<center></center>

However, the mood of her audience wasn’t affected at the slightest. The boys shook with excitement, not noticing her embarrassment at all.

“Yes! She was telling us how Lord Calypse slayed ten giant ogres in a blink of an eye.”

“Ten giant ogres you say….”

As each word drawled, Max’s heart pounded tenfold with anxiety. She wondered if she should cut her losses and just get out of here on the pretext of having something urgent at hand. Her eyes darted eyes around like a prey looking to escape.

Like Ruth didn’t know what she was thinking! He cast her a sly smile and while sounding completely natural, he said, “You only got that far? There was also a battle in the mountains.”

“A battle in the mountains?!” Yurixion exclaimed.

“We were crossing the Anatorium Mountain when we ran into a pack of werewolves. How… how many were there in total? Mrs. Calypse? My memory is a bit blurry off late…”<center></center>

“I- I also don’t….”

“Understandable, I mean there were so many that it was tough to count. The whole mountain was covered with their dark fur, so it probably seemed like someone had put a carpet over the mountain.”

“There were that many werewolves on the Anatorium Mountain…?” Yurixion cried in astonishment.

Max was sweating profusely, as she was unable to agree or deny what Ruth said.

With a gentle smile, the wizard continued. “How about you tell them the story of what happened that day in detail Mrs. Calypse?”

The boys’ gazes, suffused with anticipation, flew towards her. Max’s face was red-hot, she didn’t have nerves thick enough to make up a story in front of someone who was actually there when it all happened. Perhaps taking pity at her current state, Ruth extended her a helping hand.

“We can’t just take up our lady’s time like that as she is very busy.”

“Y-yeah… I-I’m a bi-bit busy..”

She didn’t even blink before grabbing on to the helping hand.

However, did she think she’d be let off so easily? Ruth stopped her again…

“Oh, come to think of it, I have news for you, Madam. I was so focused on your story that I almost forgot to tell you.

“Ne-news…?”

She carefully looked back at him, suspicious, wondering if this was another one of the wizard’s pranks. But when she noticed him holding a small unfolded sheet of parchment for her to see, she relaxed just a tad.

“This is a telegram that Lord Calypse sent to my tower through the palace’s sorcery device. He said he is going to leave for Anatol as soon as the ceremony ends. It would take around fifteen days at most…. No, considering the knights’ mobility, they should arrive in ten.”

Upon the unexpected news, Max instantly forgot about her embarrassment and beamed. She skipped to him and promptly took a look at the parchment, saw the date of departure and a summary of the route.

Ruth shook his head and let out a deep sigh as if he was helpless.

“Seems like he’s really just going to swing by and then return.”

“Wha-what’s wro-wrong with tha-that?”

“There’s nothing wrong with it, but… he might as well reclaim the king’s graces while he’s there, you know?”

“Sir Ruth, I am sure Sir Calypse is worried about our town’s safety. A colossal amount of werewolves had appeared near our land; how could he not be worried?” Yurixion passionately defended Riftan.

As the conversation streamed in a direction she disliked, Max became noticeably nervous and hastily wrapped up the conversation.

“An-anyways… tha-thanks for te-telling m-me. We-well I sho-should sta-start he-heading to th- the sm-smithy, I ha-have some bu-business the-there…”

“Oh, I know very well that you are a busy lady, Madam.”

Max walked away, leaving Ruth and his sarcastic tone behind. Her footsteps were so light that it surprised herself. She wanted to hum but held it back as she was aware of the boys following her.