“Oh!” Myfirstmission.
“You did an excellent job,” he starts, his voice distorted. “But I could not help but wonder. How did you do it so quickly?”
“Huh?”
“Many have tried before you and all of them have failed. How did you succeed?”
I frown. “It was a bit troublesome indeed. There was a sentient forest guarding it, but I managed to bypass it.”
“How?”
I scratch the back of my head. How? That’s a good question and one I don’t have an answer for either. Somehow, the forest decided to let me through. But I don’t think this answer would satisfy him.
“A few tricks here and there until I created an opening,” I lie. “Then it was very easy to enter inside the mausoleum.”
“Tricks?” He echoes. “I would be curious to see some of thosetricks,” he says, his disbelief evident.
“It was the spur of the moment. I couldn’t tell you exactly how everything occurred. It was weeks ago, too,” I reply.
He makes an annoyed sound.
“Why would a book guarded so well in the first place?” I add jokingly.
“That is not for you to know,” he fires back, his voice grave.
“Of course, those were the terms of the deal,” I grumble. “If that is all?—”
“You are seeking the Raffia and the Wilka. Do you plan on going to the Horan Forest?”
His question surprises me. “I don’t think so. Didn’t you hear what everyone said? Going there seems like a death sentence.”
“Perhaps.” He pauses. “I have a map of the forest should it interest you.”
My eyes widen. As much as I’d love to ask more about it, the mere fact that he’s telling me this in a private meeting rather than mentioning it in front of everyone makes me rather suspicious of his motives.
“I don’t have?—”
“I do not require payment,” he cuts me off, anticipating my refusal.
“What doyouwant then?” I narrow my eyes.
“There is another creature endemic to Horan Forest. It is called a baiqingo. I will give you this map and in exchange, I would like any information you might get on it; any clue.”
“And if I don’t find any?”
He shrugs. “The baiqingo’s existence has not been confirmed; there are only legends about it. If you do not find any clues, then perhaps it exists only in those legends.”
“I find it hard to believe you would be giving me that map for free basically,” I add. Something isn’t right about this entire interaction. Yet what scares me the most isn’t the suspicious nature of this gentleman’s offer, but the fact that my desire to cleanse my meridians is far greater than any red flags.
He chuckles. “Is it for free? Not really. There are very few people willing to go to Horan Forest, and out of everyone who’s gone there, none have made it back. If you do go and disappear, then I do not lose anything. If you go and come back—regardless of whether you have a clue or not—I gain everything I need.”
Again. Cryptic. I don’t trust a word he says. But on the off chance that his map could help me, then…
“All right. You have yourself a deal.”
The terms are signed and the map is deposited in my proto-realm.
Then he’s gone.
