Chapter 16: The Jona Brothers

Drake's eyes darted to Sherine the moment the door opened. "What happened to her?"

"She was feeling dizzy."

"Is that why you were angry at Eric?"

"Yup."

Drake decided not to pursue Zephyr for calling him all the way. He walked past Zephyr and grabbed the only wooden chair in the room.

"I heard Xander invited you and your fiancée to his guild."

"He is after Sherine. I'm just an afterthought," Zephyr muttered as he plopped on the bed and took Sherine's hand. "You're better."

"Um…" Sherine nodded.

The affectionate couple brought a smile to Drake's face. "I love your decision to delay Xander's offer. Xander's friendly nature is merely for show. He is a manipulative jackass no better than the fanatics of Eros' cult."

Drake despised Xander—the emotion was written all over his face.

He was sick of letting Xander run amok in his town. Sick of scum like Xander exploiting his sister for their own interests. And he couldn't leave this goddamn town because of his stubborn sister.

"I thought as much."

"Don't join Xander's guild," Drake said with a sigh. "Altissia City is the home of numerous guilds. Their pockets may not be as deep as Xander but they won't use you like a meat shield."

Zephyr committed the city name to his memory. "I'll go there when I'm decently strong. On that front, do you know where I can find monsters between Level 10 and 20?"

Taking down a level 15 monster wasn't impossible for him. Level 20 might be a big leap. A couple of them would spell the end of him.

Drake raised the tip of his fedora and gave him a sharply meaningful glance. The ambition to grow strong was prevalent in the youth. Drake had seen many like Zephyr come and go in this drawn out war against the Brood Queen and her obnoxious Wicked Counts.

"E-rank to D-rank monsters wander the treacherous grounds of the red zone. A piece of advice, don't go there before you reach Level 25."

Drake hoped his advice stopped them from jumping into the open maws of a beast.

"D-rank?" Zephyr muttered. Monsters also had ranks. He had to find the corresponding levels of these ranks. "I'll stick to the safer areas then."

"One more question. Did you slaughter the fools inhabiting the caves in the yellow zone?"

The fools vanished around the time this young man scythe wielder and his companion with anti-magic constitution showed up.

"We killed a lot of them then she burned their corpses. I don't know if it was in the yellow zone."

"That solves the mystery."

Drake smiled to be free from two headaches—the weekly sweep of the yellow zone with his soldiers and the mysterious disappearance of the fools. "You can get the guide to the Great Forest from the Hunters Society. They also got a lengthy guidebook for low-rank hunters. My advice, get them as soon as possible."

Zephyr found the Hunter Society to be awfully similar to your typical adventurer guilds. Joining the Hunter Society might be helpful as long as they didn't put restrictions on him.

"I should get going," Drake said, extending his hand with a grin. "A handshake, friend?"

"Of course Sir Drake."

Drake's goal was to stop Xander from exploiting him and Sherine. He didn't show any ulterior motives, instead offering them useful advice.

'He could be a nice guy.'

Drake left after wishing Sherine well. Zephyr rested his head on her legs. He couldn't go hunting or go outside without her. A lap pillow on her voluptuous thighs would keep him entertained.

"You can go," Sherine said as though she could read his mind. "I'll be fine here."

"Are you sure?"

Sherine nodded enthusiastically. He reluctantly left her lap and checked her temperature again just in case.

"You seem fine… Tell your father to call me if anything is wrong. Got it?"

"Take care out there." Sherine pulled up the blanket, covering half of her face. "Bye…"

Her concerned whispers came out as a housewife seeing off her husband. Both of them had the same feeling, the woman blushed while the man remained calm.

"I'll check out the town." Zephyr took one last look at her before he closed the door and roughly rubbed his cheeks. "What the fuck am I imagining?"

Honestly, he wouldn't mind having her as his wife. His only problem was Riven, her overprotective father. The former trap might erase him if he heard about it.

'We're far from reaching that level.'

As he descended the stairs, two men at the dining table caught his attention. They had muscular builds, beards that hung in tight braids from their chins down to their chests, and noses that were an unnatural shade of red. Their hair was tousled, and their clothes were made of animal hide and fur. He figured he had found the dwarves of this world.

And they were waving their hands at him.

Zephyr put his scythe on his shoulder. "Do you gentlemen need anything?"

"We're Jona Brothers. Guildmaster Xander sent us to protect you and your fiancée."

"Your scythe is interesting, lad. Wanna sell it for five silver?"

Zypher's mood sank. This protection was just a cover to monitor him and stop him from escaping. "I don't need your protection. Get lost."

The Jona Brothers looked at each other, wide-eyed.

"What ticked him off?"

"He must stupid. We're the Jona Brothers."

"The hounds of the Ferocious Wolves guild."

"We're Wolf-rank hunter—"

The Jona brothers froze as a black scythe cut through the air and sliced a big chunk of their joint seat.

"I said GET LOST."

Zephyr's eyes glowed with a cold light that chilled the air as his rage revealed a hint of his divine aura. The Jona Brothers stared in shock, mouths agape and bodies frozen in fear. An oppressive pressure filled the spacious first floor of the inn, flooding it with an icy chill.

"H-He doesn't need our protection."

"Y-Yeah."

The brothers scurried out of the inn.

Zephyr rubbed his forehead. He disliked causing trouble and standing out. But this matter was out of his limits. He despised the idea of some strangers monitoring all his actions from dusk till dawn.

He turned to the inn lady, who stared at him with a gaping mouth. "I'll pay for this."

"N-No, I have a spare seat in the basement. You don't have to pay anything!"

"If you insist."

He grabbed his scythe and left the inn, whistling cheerfully as if he hadn't terrorized two Wolf-rank hunters.