Chapter 69. Confrontation

I could hear steps coming towards me, at first it was slow, then he started to gain some pace and then a hand was on my shoulder.

"Trader, I'm talking with you!"

With great force, he turned me towards him, and we were face to face once again.

He had tired eyes, a firm grip, and the aura of someone you'll follow without question.

Looks like he went through a lot as well, I wasn't the only one that suffered.

"Hi Bobby, it's been a while since we last talked."

Involuntarily I made a small smile. I was scared to confront him, but I was also happy to see him once again.

"Hi? Is that all you have to say!? I've seen you die with my own two eyes, and after two months of that nightmare you only say hi?"

I didn't know how to respond to that, but luckily I did not have to say anything, he just went and hugged me with all his might.

I felt the force through the golden armor.

"I don't know how you're still alive, but I'm glad you're back. Don't ever do that again!"

He let me go and I could finally breathe.

I could even see some water forming around his eyes, mine didn't have that problem, and you can trust my word for that, you don't have to ask anyone else.

Finally, he looked beside me to see Merry who was confused about the interaction that just happened.

"Sorry for such a sight, I didn't see you there."

He tried to bring back his authority aura but a little too late for that.

"Merry, this is the first friend I made here Bobby, we've been through a lot together. Bobby this is Merry the recently summoned hero by the system."

Bobby froze, looked at Merry then at me, and gave a big sigh.

"You never cease to amaze me Trader, you go with a bang and when I met you again you found the most searched person in the world."

I felt good seeing Bobby's funny reactions once more, but his expression was weird, he had a hopeful expression while looking at Merry.

What happened for him to look at her like that?

"Hero! It's great to finally see you, the Zombie Lord gave us a lot of trouble recently and we lost hope on what to do. But with you here we can finally fight back!"

The more he talked the more excited he was. What happened that even Bobby is looking for the hero?

"Uhh, I'll try my best but I'm still in my training phase so don't expect too much of me."

"Training phase?"

He looked confused at me, so I had to give him the explanation since I'm sure I'll do a better job.

"Remember how I'm not from this place originally and very different then anyone else?"

"It's pretty hard to forget even if I want to."

"Well, she is in the exact situation as me, with the exception that she doesn't have the same knowledge as me."

He looked even more confused and then turned around to think about what I just said.

After a few good minutes, he turned around with a more calmer face.

"I'll usually be disappointed if it was just that, but I've seen what Trader was capable of doing even without the knowledge. So I think this deal is better, we theoretically have two heroes."

Well, that's one way to look at it.

"So how's the Demon Lord, is he that powerful?"

Merry asked after she got some courage to speak up.

"Demon Lord? I guess you could call it that, and indeed he is very powerful. He has control over an army of 1.000 zombies and already got a noble house besides a few villages."

That actually surprised me, this is way scarier than I imagined, I can't even phantom how scarier it must be for the common villager.

Merry looked at me in case I knew something, but unfortunately, I could only shake my head.

"I don't know if I'm ready to fight with him yet, but I'm willing to learn and try."

Bobby just awkwardly laughed at the statement.

"I guess it's better than nothing."

"Oh Bobby, why is everyone here so busy, they told me you made a contract with them?"

"Yes, I'm sorry that I had to involve them, but things are already bad in the Overworld, even if I made a short summary of the Lord's power. Let me tell you from the beginning what happened."

He proceeded to tell me about the Zombie Lord, about how he destroys villages in the name of the Void, how no zombies under him can burn under the sun, and how he can make smart zombies if he wishes to. And finally how they tried to trap him in a town only to fail and everyone died.

"After we sent some people with invisible potions to look at what happened, we found a smart zombie that told us what happened. What's worse, he told us that the Zombie Lord would concentrate on the villages first before attacking the capital. We already started to evacuate people, but not everyone was willing to abandon their homes. And what's even worse, nobody will accept my village. So I had to make a deal with the Princess, I'll use the pigling's help to craft the armor and tools while she won't take them as slaves, only as a contractor."

Things were ugly, if Zombie Lord was that powerful, I can only think as a moded mob, and they're usually not easy to take down.

Maybe there are some modded weapons as well?

But I haven't seen or read about anything similar, so I don't know if it even exists.

I looked at Bobby with pity, I was ashamed that he went through all of that while I was building my base without a care in the world.

If I was there maybe I could've helped somehow.

Unfortunately, now he is risking the lives of the piglins, but if he trusts the princess that much, I'll trust his decision as well.

"Why did you two come to the Nether?"

"I just finished my training session for Enchantments, now I'm looking for Undying to have some combat lessons."

"What level are you on the Enchantment skill?"

"Level 5"

"5?! In such a short time? Trader, I didn't know you had so many resources to spare."

"It's more of her own learning skill than my resources to spare. Plus she wanted this so I taught her the best I could."

"It's still impressive. Hero Merry, if you're looking for a combat teacher, you can come to the castle and learn."

She looked at me for guidance, but I could only lift my shoulders. It's her decision on what to choose, if she wants to learn from her friend Undying she can try asking her, if she wants to learn different kinds of weapons styles she can take Bobby's help.

"I think I'll take you on that offer, after all I'm seeing here, I can only guess how busy she would be."

"Glad to hear that, Trader you're coming as well right? Froggy will be more than happy to see you."

This is complicated, Bobby now stays at the castle, and I have really bad memories with the royal family.

Sure, I trust Bobby's word when it comes to my safety, but he answers to the princess, not the king. And I don't want to be in another situation where people want to use me or put me in uncomfortable scenarios.

This is what I've promised myself, after all, to get my skill levels higher so I won't be limited anymore.

But at the same time I can't let Merry and Bobby deal with the problem alone, Merry is not ready yet while Bobby is trying his best already.

"I'll meet with Froggy but I don't want to be at the castle, somewhere outside and preferably where nobody knows my name."

"That's understandable. You're supposed to be dead after all, if Elizabeth sees you again she'll have some questions that I think you're not comfortable answering."

"Thank you for understanding. Here's what we'll do, we'll go to the town where the Zombie Lord stays so I can see if we can use something against him, then you'll get back to the castle through the portal in the Nether, and we'll be going to the capital on foot. Once there I'll give a signal and Froggy will 'accidentally' recognize the hero and invite her to the castle."

"That's... Way more complicated than I would've thought but it's also more plausible for others to believe it. But before we go let me talk with the Princes about my 'extended' stay, I'll also get some potions for this journey, we will need it."

We both nodded in understanding, Bobby went back to the fortress with lifted spirits while me and Merry went to visit Undying and Blue.

I knocked on the red door.

"Come in Trader!"

How did she know it was me?

I opened the door and saw Blue looking over a book that had drawings of different crafting recipes and Undying hitting her hammer over the crafting table.

"Did you finish the reunion with Bobby?"

"Yeah, it went way better the I expected, how's the new work going?"

"It's going pretty well, Bobby was sure well get a good deal and wouldn't be scammed. Plus my experience with the mining system in the Overworld helped."

"Glad to help the tribe I sponsor."

I even smirked at my last remark, which didn't get any reaction from the others.

"Trader, I think Blue Flame wants to tell you something."

Undying suddenly changed the subject, and I looked at Blue who seemed to be really interested in the recipe of a furnace.

"I said, BLUE FLAME WHAT'S TO TELL YOU SOMETHING!"

All of us trembled at the loud voice as Blue finally looked me in the eyes.

"... Sorry..."

"Did you say something?"

"I'm sorry for what happened at the skeleton fortress!"

Skeleton fortress?

Come to think of it, I haven't seen him since the last incident where I fought with the withered skeleton, it's truly been a long time.

"Don't worry Blue, we all made the decision collectively, it's everyone fault if were blaming someone."

He breathed out a sigh of relief and looked at Undying who nodded in appreciation at his action.

"He was being a baby and tried to avoid you, afraid you'll be mad at him."

Oh boy it's been a long time since then, I almost forgot about it as well, I didn't even consider it to be his fault for this.

"I understand, don't worry I wasn't upset at you Blue, I'm glad you're doing well."

We sat down and talked about what happened in the past few weeks. I was surprised by her reaction when I showed my concerns about this trade with the outsiders.

"I can understand your concerns Trader, but we're strong-willed people, well rather die than be slaves under anyone. And we can't grow as a tribe if we don't strive for better, sure we've had bad interactions with some of them. But we had our revenge, it's better to grow our forces and be prepared in the case were are taken advantage of once again, then isolate from the world hoping it won't bother us."

She was truly a great leader, not afraid to take risks and ready to be the first one to step into the new world. I truly admired this about her.

We talked some more after this, merry asked if they could have a spare, and Undying didn't say no to that.

I think they're developing a great friendship, which makes me glad.

As the two left the building, me and Blue were the only one left.

"Hey Trader, what do you think about Undying?"

Blue was the first one to brake the silence.

"She's a great leader, though too easily to sacrifice herself if she thinks it's needed."

He started to laugh at my comment.

"Yeah, I wish she had a little more self-preservation. But you wouldn't see her as a love interest no?"

Suddenly I could see his eyes glowing ready to hear my response.

A love interest?

I never thought about that, I mean it's pretty hard for me to think about falling in love with a woman all made of squares. She's a beauty I won't lie, and has a great advantage over the villagers with a big nose.

But I can't see her as more of a friend. And even that it's on shaky grounds.

"I don't see her that way."

Tension left his body, a smile appeared on his face as he sat back in his chair relaxing.

"I'm glad to hear that, you see I actually lo-"

*Boom

The door was abruptly opened and an energetic teenager hoglin entered the room.

"Seriously Hog Chop?! Can't you wake up normally for once without destroying something in my house? Hey wait, don't break that!"

He quickly got up and ran to catch the wild pig, it was an entertaining show to watch.