Chapter 62 - A Good Deal

It didn’t take long for him to get an answer. Arthur was ready to attack and kill Chris if he turned down the offer, which seemed like the most likely outcome.

However, the opposite happened. Despite all the hate they seemed to have for him, they accepted the offer.

"Both of them agreed right away," Chris replied. "They’re eager to finally get a decent quest..."

Their situation really was total shit. They were willing to do anything to get good quests with solid rewards, even becoming spies for a neighboring kingdom they were at war with.

’Desperate times call for desperate measures.’

Arthur held out his hand to him.

"I wasn’t lying when I talked about the rewards. But I want to see you help and be useful. How about you come back with me to the elven settlement and we talk to the elves? They’ll want to hear everything you know."

Chris shook his hand. "And just like that, I’m the first traitor spy of my kingdom. Should I be proud of that..."

The 2 of them went back to where Thalindra was. She had been waiting for them to finish talking.

"He’s going to help us," Arthur said. "He has good info on the soldiers, and having a mage with ranged attacks during the fight could be useful."

Thalindra trusted what Arthur said a lot more after seeing him easily handle the players and the soldiers, not to mention his successful infiltration of the camp.

’He’s more skilled than I thought,’ Thalindra thought.

The 3 of them headed back toward the elven settlement together. While Arthur and Thalindra could easily leap from tree to tree, Chris wasn’t nearly as agile. Their speed took a major hit.

Arthur grabbed Chris and hoisted him onto his shoulders. It was a hilarious sight since the 2 of them weren’t that different in body size, but Arthur had a much higher Strength stat thanks to the extra 30 points from his dragon bloodline.

"Hey, hey, what is this? Are you going to carry me like a princess?" Chris complained.

He wasn’t the only one complaining. Yuki was hiding in Arthur’s cloak and felt it right away when Chris ended up on Arthur’s shoulders.

"Who is this bastard?" Yuki complained. "I was sleeping after fighting so hard."

Chris couldn’t understand anything Yuki was saying, but he got startled as soon as he saw that snake moving near him.

"So that’s what used that ice attack during the fight! What kind of creature is that? How do you have a pet snake?"

"Don’t ask too many questions," Arthur replied. "Just don’t move around too much. We have to reach the elven settlement fast."

In the end, Chris accepted his fate and stayed quiet while Arthur carried him, jumping from tree to tree. His speed was barely affected by carrying him, which just showed that his Strength points really made a difference.

As soon as they arrived at the elven settlement, all the elves drew their weapons, since they didn’t know who was coming.

"Cinder is back," Len shouted for everyone to hear. "Everything is fine."

Len was the captain of all the elven squads. The head general, so to speak. But as soon as he saw Chris there, he frowned.

Point Blank, who had been anxiously waiting for Arthur’s return, was also confused.

"Who’s that?" she said in a low voice.

Arthur walked up to Len to talk.

"I need to talk to you and Imra. Can you set up a meeting?"

Len nodded and took action. It didn’t take long for him to arrange a meeting in a private place. It was inside Imra’s residence, the exact same place Arthur had visited before.

Inside were only Arthur, Point Blank, Chris, Imra, Len, and Orin, since he was the one who had gone scouting with Arthur.

Thalindra wanted to join the meeting too, but they didn’t let her in. Even though she was competent, she was just an ordinary soldier, and they apparently didn’t want her inside.

"This guy here is a Chosen One from the invading kingdom," Arthur explained. "He’s here with 2 other Chosen Ones. I already talked to them, and I managed to convince them to become spies for the Aldora Kingdom. Do you agree with this?"

Imra, sitting at the head of the table, rested her chin on both hands, looking thoughtful.

"Honestly, the Aldora Kingdom has never tried to invade us. Meanwhile, the Rashk Kingdom has already done things we didn’t like, and now they’ve put an army at our doorstep," Imra said, her voice clear enough for everyone to hear. "In that case, I’m more inclined to help the Aldora Kingdom."

"But I won’t take part in the war openly. I just want to deal with the soldiers here, and if they try anything against us again, I hope Ray and the Aldora Kingdom as a whole can lend a hand and help us."

Imra barely cared if the Aldora Kingdom was going to use Chris, Vans, and Divine as spies. The only thing she wanted was for the soldiers trying to invade the forest to be wiped out, and for peace to return to the elven forest. That was her wish.

Arthur nodded. "Now let’s hear what he has to say, and judge if it’s good enough or not."

Chris started sharing everything he knew. The exact number of soldiers, the plans the Rashk Kingdom captain had made, and even the expected date of the attack. He didn’t cut any details, trying to be useful just like Arthur had asked him to.

Imra, Len, and Orin listened closely, doing their best to remember every detail. Every single detail mattered in a situation like that.

"The attack is tomorrow..." Imra said. "Cinder, do you think you can fly the Pegasus back to Snow Pine and bring some reinforcements? It doesn’t need to be a lot, just a few would be enough."

Len frowned. Even though Imra was the supreme leader of the elven settlement, he was the one who made most decisions regarding combat and settlement defense.

"If soldiers from the Aldora Kingdom show up here, it might look like we’ve chosen a side, and we’d lose our neutral position in the war. Do you really think that’s a good idea?"

Imra bit her lip and lightly tapped the table.

"You have a point. Damn it. But what do we do? With only this many people, we won’t be able to win, even if we set up an ambush."

Arthur already had a plan forming in his mind. In fact, this was a great opportunity to get some benefits for himself.

"Imra, I have an idea, but I don’t know if you’ll like it or not," he said.

Imra waved her hand. "Go on. Tell me what you’re thinking."

He cleared his throat first and gathered his thoughts before speaking.

"I know you have an issue with a dungeon, a dungeon deep in the forest near here. If I get some Chosen Ones to help in the fight, could you keep that dungeon a secret for now, and let only me, or whoever I allow, enter it for the next 2 weeks? What do you think?"

With the fame he had, Arthur could easily rally a small army of Chosen Ones to fight by his side. These Chosen Ones weren’t part of Aldora’s army, so it wouldn’t cause a major political issue for the elves.

But with all those players there, knowing the forest’s location, Arthur was worried they might discover the dungeon too early and end up messing with his loot. He definitely didn’t want that.

Imra looked at him warily again.

"How you know about that, I have no idea, but the idea sounds good. If you bring together a bunch of Chosen Ones, I don’t think it’ll look like we picked a side in the war. What do you think, Commander Len?"

Len nodded. "The idea is very good, and it’s our best chance. But are you sure you can rally a small army to help us?"

Arthur smiled.

"Leave it to me. But do we have a deal? I get full control of the dungeon for at least 14 days?" he asked again.

Imra sighed and gave in.

"Yes, I agree to those terms. We won’t mention anything about the dungeon to any Chosen One, and we’ll keep the area guarded and sealed so none of them can wander in by mistake. Sound good to you?"

"Sounds great."

Arthur, Point Blank, and Chris climbed onto the Pegasus and flew back to Snow Pine. They had a mission to gather a small army of players using the fame of the player Cinder...