Nateaser: Reborn As My Love Interest

Dio - Ch. 78

I woke up under the blue sky.

The sun nearly poked my remaining eye out, and I needed time to recognize my surroundings. Where did I pass out, and how? I didn't have that much to drink, no headache either. My armor and gear were still intact, nothing was stolen. I found myself in a cozy alleyway in the coastal city of Lansum. What was the name again? I could hear some annoying seagulls scream, and faint voices from the marketplace nearby.

I didn't remember a thing. We barely started when the bard strummed his lute, and it was all blank after that. I couldn't see him anywhere, but Bastion and Fang peacefully snored near me. Their gear was all right too. I found the bag of holding, and while it was hard to tell at a glance if the contents were still there, it didn't seem like we were robbed.

"No, don't worry, I'm not that stupid." I heard a familiar voice all of a sudden. The bard from yesterday slowly walked towards us. He wasn't in a hurry, approaching casually, but once my right eye adjusted to the morning light, I realized, his legs were shaking. "Yes, sure, I might not recognize the Thirteenth Champion immediately, but now that I did, I wouldn't want to piss him off. Let's pretend that nothing happened."

Fang sat up without a warning, unsheathing both of his blades. He made the human recoil, but Hakim kept walking towards us after raising his empty hands. Bastion was still fast asleep though.

"What did you try to pull on us, Hakim?" I asked him, still looking for what could have been missing. He just shook his head.

"I didn't take anything, I told you." He claimed, not too convincing at this point. "Well, fine. I did, but I put everything back at least."

"What made you change your mind?" Fang raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me it was all because you realized who we were."

"I found your mounts," Hakim confessed, and I could guess the rest. "T-they were kind enough to show me, what would happen, if I pissed you off, so I just wanted to let you know, it was my mistake."

I don't know what the Nightmares made him hallucinate, and if it had anything to do with reality, but I liked those abyssal monsters more and more. They were worth losing an eye for. Still, I was surprised that after all this, he'd return to us with his legs still shaking.

"I appreciate your honesty, bard." I started, standing up to face him properly. "So what are you playing at now? You could have run away."

"This might sound suspicious, but I'd like you to take me, and maybe a place in the Twelve Champions?" Hakim proposed, and I had a good laugh. Did he not realize, that he was a human? Besides, one thing didn't let me be at ease. He found our pack animals, fine. He might also put two plus two together, and figured out who Fang was, but...

"How did you know, that I'm the Thirteenth Champion?" I asked curiously. From what he told us yesterday, I had a suspicion, that Exagus left me out of his chronicles. Even if he didn't name his alleged successor in his book, why wasn't he addressing his request to Fang?

"It was easy to guess. Fang Silberwulf is legendary, and there is a huge ogre here." The bard shrugged. I was still waiting for his explanation though." You don't seem to be a spell caster and don't take it the wrong way, but your kind aren't known for their battle prowess either."

I couldn't find a flaw in his logic. If that was enough for him to realize, I was their strategist, the bard must have had his wits about him.

"Exagus did mention a goblin chief of staff in the Demon Lord's army, so I just connected the dots. Captain Dioneras." He finished, bowing his head. I rewarded him with a few claps. Still, to join us?

"Why would I want to take you with us though?" I asked, doubting if that was a good idea. "And how do I know if we can trust you after this? It's not that you didn't try to rob us, you just realized you were messing with the wrong people. What if you changed your mind?"