10. Players

Another stone came under the wheels of the carriage, shaking Bao and the elf who sat in it. He willingly accepted the offer to join them on their trip towards the capital of a kingdom called Kaston since he only planned to save them to reach a city, in the first place. Earlier in the morning, during breakfast, Elincia told him how she had been summoned by the king to break his son's curse leading her to this place where she stumbled upon him.

As soon as she mentioned the curse, a voice popped up in his head again, stating that a new quest has been initiated.

"Shall we continue our talk about players from yesterday?" Elincia asked.

"Of course madam, what are these players you mentioned yesterday?"

"From your reaction yesterday I thought that you would know at least that much."

"My conclusion of yesterdays events is that we probably don't have the same understanding of what players are and since you are the much wiser one of the both of us, I would like to hear your definition first."

"I don't mind if you share your understanding afterwards."

He nodded.

"Three years ago humans with exceptional powers suddenly appeared throughout Nelenia, they called themselves players, and while some of them helped the normal population others caused havoc throughout the lands, sowing nothing but chaos with the power they wielded. I think it was about two years ago when they all suddenly disappeared without leaving a trace of their whereabouts. Since then we continued to call humans with such exceptional powers, players, and every time one appears whole wars break out to either kill them or to gain them as subordinates. That's why I said I am to be trusted. But now I'm curious to hear about your meaning of 'players'."

Bao's confusion was literally printed on his face. By calculating the time difference between the ingame world and the real world, it would be more or less two years ago, that VR became illegal which would explain the disappearance of the players, but how was that even possible? There was no VRMMORPG, in the classic sense at that time and for sure not one with the name Nelenia.

"What is going on?"His thoughts slipped out of his mouth.

"Sorry?"

"Ah, no excuse my rudeness madam I was just lost in thoughts. To me players are..."

The words remained stuck in his neck, what should he say? There was no way a simple NPC would understand the concept of a real player and that they are nothing more than zeroes and ones but what if he said something close to the truth? After thinking about it for a brief moment his curiosity suppressed what would have been the logical decision to make.

"I thought that they are something like people who get transported to Nelenia from another world."

"That... That's incredible! So you are from another world?! That would explain your lack of common sense. So the disappearance of those players was them finding a way to their original world, now everything comes together." A big smile showed on her face as she made his story even more believable through her conclusions.

The rest of the way the elf took it upon herself to question him about his original world which he more or less answered truthfully. In return, she taught him the common knowledge of this world like currency, politics, magic and everything else she could beat into his head during this short period of time. When they finally arrived at the city gates his head was exhausted from the information overload and he doubted that everything taught to him remained in his head.

Since they were officially invited by the king, they could skip the control, passing directly through the gates into the city where they halted right in front of a private mansion, it was Elincia's. To say it was big would have been an understatement, considering the size five to ten eight families could have lived there. Not that he was surprised, it made perfect sense that such an esteemed person would have enough money and titles to buy such residence.

"Make yourself at home, I still want to know more about your world after I come back."

"You have done more than enough for me madam, I don't want to burden you any further."

"But you don't have enough money for a stay, right? Besides this place is too big for me anyway." A smirk showed on her face, she got him good this time.

"So be it. I appreciate the offer, madam."

Bao rubbed his butt after hopping down the carriage, a rough ride for someone with barely any muscles and fat.

"My servants have already prepared a room, bath and new clothes for you, so I want to see you freshly dressed up when I come back."

He made a small curtsey.

She winked out of the window as the horses' hoofs sounded clapped over the paved street, leaving him alone in front of the entrance. Two maids and two butlers awaited him and did exactly what Elincia said, they gave him some new formal looking clothes and showed him where the bath was. He couldn't help but feel estranged in such an environment with people responding to every demand and all those expensive luxury goods placed around the house. When he finally laid down on the bed in one of the many guestrooms, his tension flew away making his eyelids heavier until he fell asleep.