Chapter 52. Bet

After they had calmed down,Rey asked where they were heading and Alaric explained everything that he had told Aurora. He also told him that they were going out for a mission together. Rey looked at Alaric through the corner of his eyes.

"That's my man," Rey said patting Alaric's shoulder. Alaric rubbed his nose. Aurora was still not able to figure out everything. Boy talks really were not wasy to understand especially being a princess who was always sheltered from the world.

The two seemed to enjoy being mysterious before Aurora who only shook her head and snorted at them. Having their company was beneficial for she was now able to understand some of their talks and she always called them shameless.

It was not always right to have some talks in the midst of girls. Especially innocent girls like her. They were slowly corroding her mind and soon they were not going to be able to hide anything from her.

The only thing she wondered was how twelve year olds knew such things. As early as when she had joined them, these talks sometimes prevailed for hours between them speaking in parables and riddles.

After inquiring they would raise their nose high and scratch their beardless chin and laugh mischievously like wise old geezers. Though she took long to understand the bull point after pondering about it for long, she almost beat the two up.

As the only girl in the group, they would oftenly let her beat them up when they wronged her. It was nice to have such special treatment from them.

"I hijacked Alaric's mission, mind to clash in too?" Aurora asked after discarding the thoughts.

She felt that her IQ was below 100. When they were talking nonstop of dirty things and did not need to pause to think, she took almost ten minutes to understand and by the time, the joke would already have lost its flavor.

"I dare not take a mission until I get to the Master Plane," Rey said as a matter of factly. It was not that he was in need of the points... He had techniques which were top tier from him father. The techniques in the library were also not so much worth his hard gained points.

Once again Rey protested about the loss of the points. He really had been close. He felt his anger build up but he forced it down. It was this same anger that cost him the 400 poonts. The more he thought,the more he got angry and the more he convinced himself to calm down.

Alaric was glad that Rey had chosen not to join. But to mask his joy, he had to make fun of him.

"Thank heavens. A coward like you who could not even fulfil a small mission would only slow us down. It also would be troublesome to share the hard earned points with a person who made no contributions," Alaric spoke and Aurora giggled.

Rey though did not. He felt his lips twitch and realized Alaric's purpose. He could not lose that easily.

"You think that those poisonous words could affect me? I made up my mind and no one can convince me," Rey said in triumph as he stood up.

He could not tolerate Alaric. At the moment, his anger had still not died down. Alaric knew this and he was trying his best to get on his nerves which would be a success if he did not escape.

After the Rey left, Alaric stood first and headed to the path that led to the main streed road. Aurora was besides him. Their first step in finding the hedgehog was by going to where it was reported to have been spotted first. It was quite far and very deep inside the city.

It was a hotel waitress who had seen it when she had gone to throw some trash. Alaric and Aurora reached the hotel. Casper Hotel. After entering and asking around, a waitress came to their service. Alaric was not well versed with etiquette but Aurora awas.

"Few momths ago someone reported a beast roaming in these sides of the city. We have undertaken the mission and we would like to ask to have a talk with the manager on the updates," Aurora said with a humble tone.

The waitress dressed in a black skirt and white blouse smiled at the request. She led the two to a table and left when they were settled. They lady placed a white tray with colourful flower patterns on the table and walked to the stairs.

After a while, she came down following a man not tall than Aurora with white hair and beards. He was also using a black walking stick but only a rookie would think that it was a walking stick. It probably was sword but it could also turn out to be a spear. It was not always good to make rash judgement.

The old man had almost a square face. Wearing a white suit and black leather shoes, the man stepped down the stairs as he had a moustache that made him appear like a con man. As he reached the last step, he took the waitress's hand as she led him to them.

The only missing thing on his face was some glasses and he would look like a tycoon. His shoes pointed at the ceiling and his fret spread at slight angle outwards as he walked. He reached them and they stood to greet him.

Alaric offered his hand at the man but the man knocked it away with clear disdain. All this time, his eyes had been fixated on Aurora. He offered his hand to Aurora and she raised her hand to shake his.

Her hand was raised half way when Alaric intertwined their fingers and pulled her hand back as she stared daggers at him. The man laughed like he had just heard a joke. He could only curse in his mind to keep an image since he was infront of the girl he had wanted to add to his underage harem.

"We are here for a mission reported about a hedgehog. We are here to confirm the deatails," Alaric said directly and Aurora stared at him again. She could tell thay the man was already in Alaric's bad books from their first exchange.

"Do not be so confident kid, the mission has been there for the past six months. Just don't get cocky because you got the mission. No one has ever completed this mission," the man said and Alaric laughed lightly.

"The mission was waiting for its owner so he could complete it," Alaric said. The old man looked at Alaric as if he was staring at a clown.

"Don't get cocky yet, all of you young cocky bastards come here and say the same words. I did not know that the academy has fallen this low," the man sneered.

The truth was that for the past six months, almost twenty people had attempted it. Many ended up with injuries while others just gave up. One who almost made it found out something but he died before he could say it.

One could wonder how just one beast could easily kill someone of the same stage. The guy who was killed was a sixth stage. It was shocking though.

"We are not going to promise to complete the mission..." Aurora spoke but Alaric tightened his grip and spoke.

"Wanna make a bet old man?" Alaric said in a condescending tone and looked at the man mysteriously.

" Ha brat!" The man man laughed scratching his moustache. "I love this kid. What do I have in for it?"

"If we fail to fulfil the mission we can work for your hotel for the next three months, but if we win, we would like the VIP ticket of this hotel and its branches," Alaric said solemnly.

Casper hotel was a major hotel with branches in almost every city. When the man heard Alaric's proposal, he could not help but laugh. There was no better punishment for arrogant brats than having them work for free.

He was not even considering of losing the bet. This mission had been out there for a long time since he had reported it and also someone of a higher stage failed to kill it.

"Sure brat. I am going to enjoy torturing you in this hotel," the man readily agreed and they shook hands.

Alaric knew that he could win and the man would try to reject the agreement. There was only one way for the man to keep his word. That was by signing a contract.

"Shaking hands is not going to seal the deal. I want to sign a contract. There are many people here to witness it," a big mischievous smile was plastered on his lips as he spoke these words. The man readily agreed and told the waitress to bring a paper and ink.

After climbing the stairs, two minutes later, she came down. The two wrote the terms and added precautions. "In case of breach of contract, one will have to pay double," the terms were fair and each signed with their names.

"How long do you think you can take to complete the mission?" The old man asked.

"I can take as long as I want. Even a day could be but that was not included in the contract," Alaric dismissed the topic. He was not that strong to get cocky yet.

He could have to use all he had to manage to kill a fifth stage. Only his speed could help but who knew what element the hedgehog had affinity to? Maybe it was also a wind or lightning affiliated beast. Then, his speed would be utterly useless.

He was making a gamble here and he was sure that no matter how long, he was going to finish the mission.

"Now that it is settled, we are going to take our leave. See you later when I finish the mission," Alaric said and headed out as he waved at the man.

"Take care of your girlfriend, I did not think that you could bring her in a dangerous mission as this one," the man said as he thought of something else.

" Hey girl, I have an empty room upstairs. The mission is dangerous and I don't think that this boyfriend of yours can manage to protect you. I can promise to give you happy moments than your boyfriend does," the man said confidently scratching his moustache. No girl would dare reject his offer. Even the waitress was his though she was 17.

The two who were almost at the door stopped. It was actually Alaric who stopped first. Aurora had blushed twice when the man said that Alaric was her boyfirend and when he called her his girlfriend. Alaric was more than annoyed as he sent a cold glare at the man causing the man to release his moastache and stand straight like a cadet.