904: We Need A Better Mount

We Need A Better Mount

They looked at Mag and Amy, wondering why they had remained so calm when their lives had been in grave danger.0

"We'll stay here," answered Mag. "There might be more fun stuff to see.The Gray Temple guys should be here any minute now, so we should be safe here."

"Yeah! I want to see more fun stuff!" Amy said, clapping her hands.

Sivir looked at Mag like he was crazy. No one in their right mind would want to stay here after what had happened.

Mag had a point, though. Right now, no place was safer than this crime scene, which would be swarming with Gray Temple personnel soon enough. Sivir nodded. "What do you want to do with the golden scale deer?"

The Rose Mercenary Squad had suffered a great loss—Evan was dead and Eva had gone crazy. The deer might be able to fetch enough money for her to hire a magic caster and a healer.

Mag looked at the dead animal which had been scared to death. "I'll take its horns."

Sivir nodded. She walked over to the deer, crouched down, and slipped her dagger free of its sheath. One slash, and the two golden horns about 30 centimeters long came right off. She handed them to Mag. "I'll bring half the money to your restaurant."

Mag nodded. "Thanks." He liked it when people would take care of business for him. He put the horns in his bag.

Sivir turned to her men. "The Gray Temple will want to ask questions. Monkey, you come with me. We'll get Eva back. The rest of you stay here. There are still elf hunters out there, I think. Do everything you can to help the Gray Temple catch them."

They nodded.

Monkey picked up the deer, and then they made their way back to their carriage.

"Bye, Big Sister Leather Shorts," Amy said, waving her little hand.

Sivir waved back. "Bye, Amy."

"No need for all of us to stay here," Mag said. "We'll go up the cliffs. The view is much better there. Bye, guys."

"Given the fact that we survived this together, can you give us a discount when we go eating in your restaurant?' Dennis asked, smiling.

Mag shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't. But you can come over to my house on my rest day, and I'll cook something for you."

"Great!"

"Count me in!"

"You're one hell of a guy, Mag!"

They laughed, putting behind the horror that they had just experienced.

…

Mag ran into Brandli when he carried Amy to the top of the cliff. "Mag, Amy, what are you doing here?"

"We're here for some ingredients. We partnered up with the Rose Mercenary Squad, and then a bunch of lunatics jumped out of nowhere, trying to kill us! Can you believe that? Luckily, a griffin came and saved us. I honestly don't know if we're lucky or unlucky."

Amy nodded. "It was a big flying lion."

"I see," Brandli replied. He and his men had bumped into the leader of the Rose Mercenary Squad, but because she had had to get Eva looked at, they hadn't asked her too many questions. Besides, there were other members of the Rose Mercenary Squad waiting in the basin. "Are you all right? Are you hurt?" he asked with concern.

Mag shook his head. "Thanks to the griffin, we're unharmed." Then he touched Amy's head. "But Amy hasn't recovered from her shock yet, so we want to go home. You'll find several members of the Rose Mercenary Squad in the basin. I'm sure they will provide you the answers to the questions you may have."

Amy pressed her head against Mag's chest, acting shocked. "I want to go home, Father."

"i'm glad that you're okay." Nobody knew what Krassu and Urien would do if anything had happened to Amy. It made Brandli's heart ache to see Amy so unhappy. "I'll have some of my men see you home. Don't come out here again. It's too dangerous, especially for Amy."

"No need. You need your men more than I do. Many people are coming here. We should be safe. The horse will take us back," Mag said, pointing.

Brandli hesitated a moment. He did need his men to track down all the elf hunters. "All right. Travel safe."

Mag nodded. "We will. You should be careful too. A demon escaped into one of the caves down there."

Brandli's eyes lit up. "We'll catch and question him." With that, he moved quickly towards the basin with his men.

"Why did you lie to them, Father?" Amy asked in Mag's arms, looking up at him with a confused look.

"Because we're going to save the world." Mag lifted Amy onto the horse and then swung up into the saddle. He glanced back at the basin, put his heels into his horse, and broke into a gallop, racing down a small road.

"Save the world? Like, fighting baddies?" She sounded very interested.

"Yes, they're very bad, and we're going to teach them a lesson."

The horse passed through a dry river valley. They didn't see anyone along the way. They went west and finally stopped at the top of a cliff.

Amy looked around. "Where are the baddies?"

"First, we need a better mount." Mag looked up at the sky.

The purple-striped griffin dived down with a howl.

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