Chapter 191: [191] Acting?

Rain pelted the ground with an intensity that had not been seen in Eden for the past couple of weeks.

The weather had always been unstable with no clear seasons. A snowstorm could come out of nowhere, there could be a period of drought, and the flowers seemed to bloom whenever they wished...

This was incredibly bad for business!

"Tch!"

Rodolph, a humble carriage driver, stood underneath a shade with his beasts, watching the shimmering drops come down from the ashen skies.

It was as though someone had split a hole in the heavens. The rain was unrelenting, and soon, rivers of water began to run past, slipping into the drainage and gushing away.

The weather was cold, far too cold for his liking...

He lit an herbal tie and placed it between his teeth, allowing the warm smoke to slip into his lungs before he exhaled it, slowly, feeling the burn as it came out.

Two more puffs and he tossed the tie into the rain, watching the water carry it along. Any more and it would be bad for his health. He had promised a certain lady he would quit...

"Am I really going to sit here all day?" Rodolph hissed. His beasts were more than capable of braving even the toughest storms, and he had spent so much money recently to upgrade his carriage.

Perhaps it had been a bad idea? Who was crazy enough to move through this rain searching for a carriage?

He closed his eyes and smirked. "Perhaps a madman, a very mad man..." At this point, Rodolph wished the heavens would send him one.

Well, as long as he had gold...

A cold gust blew past him and Rodolph slowly opened his eyes. There was a figure approaching him from the storm. He closed his eyes once more. He must have imagined it...

He opened his eyes and then immediately jolted as he laid eyes on them. They were getting closer!

"My goodness! Someone actually came through this storm?!"

The rain had turned the road misty, so he could not see the person quite well, but once they got close enough, Rodolph was finally able to have a proper look.

They were in fact two people. A skeleton dressed up in a black cloak, carrying a harpy on his back. Both of them were drenched all the way down to their underwear.

Once they got under the shade, the harpy weakly raised her hand victoriously and said in a quivering voice,

"I- I w-won! Ehehehe—Ehehe— ACHOOO!"

"Are you still babbling about that? I told you we needed to get out of the storm but you refused! Now look at what you have caused!" The skeleton hissed at her.

The harpy frowned, her arms still clutched tightly around his neck. "Y-you are... just... sour because you lost! ACHOOO!"

Her face was blushed pink from the cold, and her orange hair was clumped to her face.

As Rodolph watched the two people bicker like children, he felt an inkling that he had met them somewhere in the past. He searched his memory, only for his eyes to widen a second later.

"Y-you guys!" He staggered back. "Why you of all people?" Sure, he had asked God to send him a madman with gold, but this was too much!

Rodolph had been patronised by them twice now, and each time they had always taken him to dangerous destinations.

That alone would not have been a problem, but there was a rumour flying around about a certain mad skeleton...

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Ark turned his attention to the man.

"No! Absolutely not! There is no way in hell I am taking you anywhere!"

"Huh?" Ark and Olivia stared at him, confused.

"I’ve heard all about you. They say you are crazy enough to challenge mythril ranks and win! That you slayed a Demon once without breaking a sweat, that you shoved a man down a fifty-story building! And even bewitched one of the fables with dark, black magic!"

Rodolph’s beasts neighed behind him, agreeing with his statement.

He had been a carriage driver for more than ten years. In that time, he had developed a strong intuition.

And right now, that intuition was screaming at him. The two of them, they were bad news! If he went with them, they were sure to cause him trouble!

Ark and Olivia glanced at each other before they turned their attention back to him.

"Isn’t that unreasonable?" Ark asked calmly. His eyes slowly swept across the stable.

"I mean, you are open for business, are you not? Despite the rain, you seemed to be praying for customers just before I arrived. And yet you reject me..."

His voice trailed off, only for his next words to come out in a much darker tone.

"Is it because I am a skeleton?"

"What?"

"Tsk tsk tsk..." Ark’s blue orbs burned brightly as his finger slid on the wall by his side.

"I find that a little... racist. Are you a racist, my dear carriage man?"

And just like that, Ark played the skeleton card. One of the most effective ways to get his way in Eden!

He had read up on it on a forum just that morning. It was a popular technique among slimes, tumbleweeds and skeletons such as himself.

"What are you talking about?"

Rodolph frowned. "If anything, it is your bad reputation that has caused this. I have never been racist all my life. I even have a slime friend!"

Even if he felt afraid of harbouring a skeleton, could anyone really blame him? Their seniors, Liches, were fond of kidnapping young women to try out new dark spells!

"Everyone already knows how you guys get!" He suddenly blurted out.

"Oh? You guys?" Ark could not believe his ears.

Rodolph paled.

Of course, Ark knew that he was not a racist. But there was no way in hell he was going back into that rain because this guy felt queasy!

It was hard to find someone with beasts suited for a storm. It was even harder to find someone who would agree to take them to the specific place they were going.

"You will take us there," Ark said with finality. "Help us out and I will forget this little... issue."

Swish!

Rodolph pulled out a dagger as quickly as he could, the weapon glinting in the faint light. He waved it in a threatening manner, standing his ground.

"Like hell I will! Get out, both of you!" Rodolph valued his life much more than social acceptance!

Ark and Olivia stared at the small pocket knife, then suddenly burst out into laughter.

??

"Why are you laughing? What is so funny—?!"

Tap!

Rodolph’s entire body froze as he felt a cold, armoured hand grip his shoulder tightly. He slowly turned around. What he saw was a chest plate with his frightened reflection on it.

His face was as pale as a ghost, and despite the cold, he was drenched in sweat.

He lifted his gaze, only to lock eyes with an undead knight, a giant that towered over him. The knight stood like a sentinel, his fiery silver eyes staring down at him with malice.

Rodolph gulped.

Even his beasts had gone quiet, retreating to the very end of the stable.

"Ahahaha..." Rodolph scratched his head. "I’ll get the carriage prepared in five minutes! Would you like some hot chocolate while you wait? The rider’s association sells the best hot chocolate in the region!"

Olivia had gotten so cold that she had grown tired of talking. She was acting like a bird that had been let out in the rain.

It was ironic, considering that she was the one who insisted on finishing the race, just so she could make a point.

"Shoko shoko shoko!" she whispered in his ear hole, all while Ark nodded.

"I see..."

He turned to Rodolph. "Get us two..."

Olivia drew closer to his ear hole once more. "Shoko shoko..."

"No, three, no, four cups of hot chocolate, rye bread and a hot towel!"

Olivia nodded.

"Be quick," Ark continued. "Death may have taught my friend over there many things, but patience was certainly not one of them..."

Without waiting another second, Rodolph picked up his umbrella and sprinted into the rain.

"What if he runs away?" Olivia asked, clinging to him as though he was a heater.

"He won’t." Ark stared in the direction he had gone, then he turned back to the stable and pointed at the animals that stuck to the very end.

"If he tries it, we’ll cook one of those wild beasts over there." He cocked his head to the side. "Or maybe I’ll sacrifice them?"

"Damn." Olivia stared at him with a nervous smile on her face. "You’re really good at this, aren’t you? I never knew you were so good at acting as a villain!"

Ark turned his head to glance at her.

"...Acting?"