Chapter 19 Chelna

"What?" Puniz asked in an annoyed tone.

"Oh nothing, I'm just here to offer you some friendly advice." 

Tommy replied while showing his professional smile.

"And that is?" Puniz asked.

"Stay away from Jue." Tommy said calmly.

"What are you, her protector?" Puniz asked in an annoyed tone.

"No I'm not, I just don't want the hassle of finding a new inn when you do something stupid."

Tommy replied before turning around and returning to Rizi.

"So?" Rizi asked.

"Guess we will find out in the next few days." 

Tommy replied as he watched Puniz enter the bar before ordering a drink and taking his usual spot in the dark corner.

"Though from the looks of it he won't take my advice." 

Tommy added before sipping his drink.

Rizi nodded in agreement before sipping hers.

"So what did your friend say?" Tommy asked.

"Let's wait and see." Rizi replied before adding.

"She will either come or she won't."

"I see." Tommy said.

The two continued to enjoy their drinks when someone else Tommy recognised suddenly entered the bar.

(Hooo, it looks like she decided to take the deal.)

The naked girl Tommy had met earlier in the day looked around before spotting Tommy.

However when she saw he was sitting with someone else she frowned before going to sit at the bar and order a drink.

"Excuse me for a minute, I have business to discuss with someone." 

Tommy said to Rizi who nodded with a curious look on her face.

Tommy got up and moved towards the bar before taking a seat next to the naked girl.

"Tommy, you need another drink?" 

Jue suddenly said as she appeared in front of him on the other side of the bar.

"Yeah, another ale, please." Tommy replied.

"No probs." Jue said with a smile.

She quickly and expertly poured him an ale before placing it in front of him while saying.

"On the house as thanks for earlier."

Tommy nodded before saying.

"Thanks."

Jue smiled and gave him a wink before going to serve someone else.

Tommy took a swig of his ale before asking his mug in a low voice.

"Since you're here I'm assuming you chose option one."

The naked girl replied in an equally low voice to her own mug.

"I did."

As she finished speaking she slipped a piece of paper to him before saying.

"You already know what I want and this is my offer."

"Make sure to destroy it once you have read it."

After she finished speaking, she drained her mug of ale before leaving the inn.

((Interesting.))

(Agreed.)

Tommy pocketed (Item Boxed) the piece of paper before calling to Jue.

"Hey Jue, another ale for Rizi."

Jue turned to him with a pout before asking.

"What about me?"

"Are you allowed to drink while working?" Tommy asked with a chuckle.

"Hmph."

Was the only respose he got before she poured him another ale and placed it in front of him.

"Thanks."

Tommy said before taking both ales back to his and Rizi's table.

"Here." Tommy said, passing the ale to Rizi.

Thanks." Rizi said with a smile before saying.

"Your business didn't last very long."

 "Seems they were in a rush and needed to rearrange it for another time." Tommy replied casually.

"I see." Rizi replied.

They both talked randomly as they waited to see if Rizi's 'friend' would turn up or not.

Tommy took the opportunity to surreptitiously ask questions about this world so that he could learn more about it.

Though he took care to only ask ones that wouldn't make Rizi suspicious, there was no way to stop her getting slightly suspicious.

As they were on their fourth ale someone suddenly approached their table before asking politely.

"May I join you?"

Tommy and Rizi both turned to look at the new arrival and while Tommy showed curiosity, Rizi showed surprise when she saw who it was.

The individual was wearing a long traveling cloak while keeping the hood up to hide their identity though it was possible to tell they were female from the voice.

"Of course, you don't mind right?" Rizi replied before asking Tommy.

"Of course not." Tommy replied.

"Thank you," 

The woman said, before sitting down while leaving the cloak on.

Tommy raised an eyebrow slightly when he saw how the woman moved as she sat down.

Out of curiosity Tommy decided to inspect the individual.

While he respected a person wanting to keep their anonymity, he wasn't gentlemanly enough to let them when it might risk his life.

[Chelna Rosk]

[Race: Human]

[Gender: Female]

[Age: 29]

[Condition: Healthy]

[Mana Quality: Pinnacle]

[Occupation: First Princess of the Rosk Royal Family]

((Oh shit a princess, now thats good breeding material.))

Tommy gave a surprised look before masking it a second later.

If either of the women noticed they did not say anything.

"I'm assuming it was Kele who informed you how to arrange a meeting?" Chelna suddenly asked.

"Yes, she once told me that if I ever found myself in danger when she wasn't around I should contact you and recite the pass phrase." Rizi replied.

"I see, and this is?" Chelna asked.

However, before Rizi could order Tue arrived and asked.

"What are you having?" 

"Errr." Chelna responded unsure how to reply.

"Todays special and the best wine the house has to offer." Tommy suddenly said, surprising the three women.

"Sure." Tue replied curiously before heading away to collect the order.

"Thank you." Chelna replied.

"You're most welcome." Tommy replied before saying.

"As you were asking before, my name is Tommy Smith."

"Tommy Smith? That's an unusual name." 

Chelna replied before she realized she knew that name and stood up suddenly while backing away.

The sudden move of the cloaked individual caught everyone's attention and they all turned to stare at them curiously.

"Forgive me but I'm afraid I just remembered something urgent I need to do, please excuse me." Chelna said in a slightly panicked tone before turning and leaving.

The crowd curiously watched the individual leave before returning to their own conversations and drinks.

"Rizi would you mind, it seems she knows about what happened earlier." 

Rizi nodded before getting up and pursuing Celna.

***

Rizi hurried out of the Forest Inn and looked around before she spotted a cloaked figure hurrying along the street.

Rizi gave chase as she called out.

"Please wait, you have the wrong idea."

However Chelna did not stop and instead increased her speed.

"Shit."

Rizi cursed as she knew she would never be able to catch the princess who was a lightning user.

She pulled out the communication orb and channeled magic into it before it started to glow.

***

In the Guild Masters office of the Adventurer's Guild Kele was sitting at her desk rummaging through papers when she noticed the large communication orb on her desk start to glow.

She frowned when she saw this thinking it was the guild headquarters calling with more questions.

Ever since she reported the incident with Tommy to the grandmaster earlier the guild headquarters had not stopped contacting her to ask followup questions.

She had spent three hours answering questions he had asked her directly and now the investigators stationed at the guild headquarters wouldn't stop contacting her with more questions.

As she studied the magic signature the communication orb was receiving she discovered it was not the guild headquarters but the communication orb she gave to Rizi.

She channeled magic into the communication orb and once it turned blue asked.

"Rizi what's wrong? You were supposed to wait for me to contact you."

"I know, I'm sorry, Kele, but this is an emergency." Rizi responded quickly.

"What happened?" Kele asked with concern.

"No time, I need you to contact princess Chelna and ask her to stop running away." Rizi replied in an urgent tone.

Kele gave a bewildered look at the communication orb before asking.

"Why would Chelna run away from you?"

"Not from me, from Tommy." Rizi replied.

"What?" Kele asked in shock.

"Kele please, it's urgent and I promise to explain everything after." Rizi begged.

"Fine but I want a proper explanation." Kele replied before ending the communication.

After the orb stopped glowing she once again channeled her mana into the communication orb while focussing on Chelna."

***

Chelna ran for her life.

"Stupid stupid, why did you fall for such an obvious trick Chelna, you're so stupid."

As she ran she kept reprimanding herself.

She knew the one called Rizi was chasing after her but she did not stop as it was apparent she was in league with that murderer.

She was in the throne room with her father earlier when he received the report about how a man named Tommy Smith had killed ten men in the Adventurer's Guild including vice guild master Grotsk.

The man had then somehow been able to escape from the guild even with all the guards present.

The strangest and most frightening part of the report was that the man carried some sort of black weapon that after making a loud noise killed someone.

The only evidence of the death was a small hole in their body and some strange metal casing found where the murderer had been standing.

The dead bodies were being investigated to see if they could provide any further clues, however that would need until morning to complete.

The king had ordered every member of the royal family to remain in the castle until further notice as the murderer was still on the loose.

Chelna was happy to obey initially, however after Rizi contacted her with the pass phrase and mentioned about helping her with her personal project she found she could not resist temptation.

She had spent years on this project and was still no closer to finding a way to make it happen.

As she continued to run down the street Chelna felt a magical fluctuation emanate from her communication orb.