The smith is not there

Xiao Lan was his future now, the one he would have to serve till the day he died or the other freed him. But he was not home.

The home was nowhere for him, maybe it never was and it never will be anymore.

"Wow, they sure have guts to ignore young princess here" Detective Song whistled as he saw the empty junction in front of him.

The village had not been hospitable, not even to Xiao Lan, who was famed to be from the royal family. In the eyes of the local noble families, anything lower than the king was not worth their effort.

Of course, no one came out and said this directly to their faces but the intention had been the same. Their excuses were paper thin and easy to as no one harvested this time of the year.

Maybe they saw the letter and Xiao Lan's age which led them to dismiss him as an ignorant party. They had likely thought that he was easy prey they could ignore. In this way, they could spit on the faces of the royal family while still having an excuse to maintain their position.

Plus, since Xiao Lan, or rather, Xiao Fei was a small kid, his words could be easily diffused in the court. No one expected a kid to argue in front of the adults after all.

'If only they knew the truth.' But detective Song knew it could not be said out loud or there would be complications for everyone.

Still, it was a nice thought to indulge in for his amusement.

"I should send a letter home for their negligence toward the crown. Royal mother would show them" Xiao Lan felt insulted and he did not know why. He never had such a problem with being ignored before.

The last time he had felt like this had been when he had actually been thirteen and Fu Hua had to comfort him.

"There, it's alright. Do not let it get to you. It is because of the magic that you are feeling all this" there was a small pat on Xiao Lan's head which felt nice. He wanted to lean in further toward that comfort before he realised who it had been.

"I don't need you to tell me this" Xiao Lan tried to make his sound come out as a grown but all it came out was his sulking voice.

How humiliating. Not only had Fu Hua read his moods but had also gone ahead to humiliate him using this knowledge. No matter how good it had felt, it was nothing more than a show on the other's part.

"And there he is, our grumpy king" Fu Hua teased back, not letting the rejection get to him. Xiao Lan cursed his magic which conveyed his warn and comfort feelings back at the other. It had not been his intention at all.

"Anyway, we should start asking around now. It should not take us long to find the smith. He is famous after all" Detective Song made a good point and everyone agreed to carry out that task first.

Despite their initial brush-off with the locals, they were more than willing to cooperate. Especially when detective Song decided to throw more than a few coins their way. It was clear what drove these people forward.

"I do not like this" of course Xiao Lan did not like this situation, finding it dishonourable of these people to take advantage of others' desperation but there was no other choice here to make. They were in a bind.

"Don't look at them then. You can focus on me if you want to?" Fu Hau suggested and Xiao Lan found that it was not any better than focusing on the locals.

Fu Hua still had his bandage peaking at his neck and the other parts peaking out of his cloak. There was a large expanse of skin covered by the yellowish-white cloth which was the bandages covered in healing ointment.

"We have a location now" Detective Song, thankfully, did not keep them waiting for long. He retired with an address and the party made their way through the town.

Unlike the previous towns, this one had better management and overall hygiene. Most people were also middle-class and poverty was at a low rise. One had to wonder how this came about to be but they would only know the answer if they head the shadows.

Xiao Lan was not someone who could do that but Fu Hua had thrived in those shadows once.

He did not have to make much of an effort to sharpen his senses even without his magic and he heard the hushed conversations passing their words from mouth to ear, not to be heard by anyone else.

And the thighs he heard, made his skin crawl. It was bad, the situation as well as how it was encouraged. They were killing off their poor to maintain the city's condition.

Actually, the condition he could hear was to either become a slave or get killed and the former was much preferred over the latter.

It made Fu Hua sick to hear it but those were the harsh realities they had to face now.

Thankfully, Xiao Lan looked unaware of the filth that was this town's elite class and he wished the other never would have to.

Xiao Lan had a purity to him which he had retained. Fu Hua had fought to keep it inside the other, was still fighting this world for him.

His eyes caught a flash of red as they passed the next ally and Fu Hua gave the barest of bows to pay his respect. A brave soul had fallen to never see the light of the day.

The party walked through the clean streets, one that had been paved on the skeletons of many to finally reach their destination.

The workshop was small but clean. It spoke of hard work and hours one had put into it and had made it finally thrive.

There was a moment inside which meant the owner was there. Hopefully, they will get what they want soon as the time would not wait for anyone to tick.

"Customers? Twice in a single day? It is rare" someone muttered, his young voice reaching the party's ears before he straightened himself, "How can I help you?"

The one who addressed them was not a kid but not an adult either. He fell somewhere in the grey areas of adolescence which made it difficult to place him in the right position.

"Is your master in? We require his expertise" Detective Song decided to take the lead since he looked the most well respected out of them.

The kid gave him a brief look before his eyes calculated him for all he's worth. There was a brief period of silence that followed before the kid decided that detective Song was not worth it.

"Master is not in here right now. Please come back at a later date" the kid turned them away, just like that.

It had been funny if the situation had not been this dire but as things stood, they could not let this matter simply go.

"No, you do not understand. We absolutely need his help or the whole kingdom would be in trouble" Detective Song tried again but the kid refused to bulge at all.

"No means no. now please excuse me" the kid tried to leave and Fu Hua made a small gesture toward Xiao Lan who understood it.

He did not look happy but he decided to comply with the other over this matter and handed him a small seal.

Then Fu Hua finally stepped forward and extended the seal toward the teen.

"We are the messengers of the royal family. We need your master's presence ASAP" the teen looked a little startled, questioning if he should believe those three or not.

It was clear that the kid was still green around the edges and did not know what he should believe in but he finally decided on his next decision.

"Fine. I believe you but the situation still does not change. Master had been gone for a few days now, called in by the noble family that rules us all. I'm afraid for him but I can't do anything. After all, I'm just a kid" the teen finally relieved, his voice wet.

"Don't worry kid. You give us the information we need and we will do the rest" how it will happen, no one knew but they will make it work somehow.

The kid looked grateful, his eyes filled with a small laugh once again. He looked hopefully at them so they had to do their best to maintain that hope that had been placed in them.