Numbers x Casket-Chapter 27: Eight-Legged Creature

Efraim went back to where Lindsay and Celine were; the event was still ongoing, but most of the mages had already left the Magic Tower.

Upon coming closer, Lindsay approached and checked his body, searching for any kinds of spells or wounds that the Grand Lord might have inflicted, but she found nothing.

"You really don't trust your father, do you?" Efraim uttered with a smile.

"Even a slightest bit, I don't," Lindsay exclaimed, her eyebrows knitted while her cheeks puffed out.

The appraiser couldn't help but smile upon seeing how cute her expression was. Meanwhile, Celine, who was standing a short distance away from them, rolled her eyes in disgust; she saw their interactions as quite irritating in her sight.

Then she walked towards them, in between to be exact, and pushed the two apart before giving Efraim a wink. She left without saying a thing, leaving the appraiser dumbfounded and the other woman fuming in anger.

"What was that for?" Lindsay asked, hostility hidden beneath her words.

However, Celine didn't reply and just sauntered towards the tower's exit.

"You two seem pretty close," Efraim blurted out of nowhere, which caused Lindsay to shift her gaze to him.

"Pardon?" she uttered, one of her eyebrows slightly raised in confusion.

"Nothing," Efraim replied, shaking his head while his lips curled into an unusual smile.

Then, a few moments later, when they were busy looking at each other, someone walked towards their direction, and a familiar face caught their attention.

"Captain!" Efraim exclaimed.

His eyes gleamed in delight upon seeing the old man.

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"You really chased after her," Zed stated and gave the appraiser a teasing smile.

"You look good in a suit," Efraim replied, ignoring the old man's remark.

Zed let out a laugh after the appraiser changed the flow of the conversation. Then, without wasting any more time, he pulled something out from his pocket and extended his hand, though his palm was closed, making sure that the item behind was hidden in complete.

"Maybe it's better if you'll be the one giving this," he said; his voice had a tinge of excitement.

Efraim knitted his eyebrows, contemplating the old man's sudden action, but upon noticing a thread-like cord dangling from his fist, he realized what he wanted. Thus, he grabbed his hand and transferred the item to his palm, careful for it not to be exposed.

"Hey! What's that?" Lindsay chimed in, curious about the men's actions.

She looked at both of them; her eyes darted back and forth, waiting for a reply.

"What's that?" she repeated a few seconds after not receiving a response.

"Nothing!" Efraim and the old man answered in harmony, and their laughter followed while their eyes were staring at Lindsay's puzzled expression.

. . . . .

Midnight came in a blink, and the ball ended with drunkards scattered lying on the floor. Mages on night duty tried to wake them up, but the effects of alcohol made them sleep like a log.

Efraim went straight to the tavern's inn after parting ways with Lindsay and Captain Zed. The events that happened left a huge toll on his mind and body, making him fall asleep the moment his skin touched the soft fabric of the bed.

Several hours had passed, and sunlight crept over the horizon; its not-so-scorching rays woke the young appraiser from his deep slumber. Efraim's eyes twitched before a yawn escaped from his mouth.

Then, he stood up and prepared himself for a brand new day.

With half of his mind still daydreaming, he went down the stairs and sat in one of the tavern's empty seats. Like usual, chitchats loomed over the entire place; equators with their different set of tales occupied the appraiser's ears.

'I still want to sleep,' Efraim thought and yawned once again.

He placed his elbow on top of the table and used his hand to support his head, preventing it from falling. He listened to the murmurs of the people, hoping for something that would interest him; however, all their talks were about the broken engagement and the newest pillar. He felt his ears already bleeding from those topics.

Thus, after finishing his meal, he stood up and was about to leave when he heard something unusual from the table on his right.

"That's definitely a relic of the past!" exclaimed a man; excitement was written all over his face.

Based on his leather armor and the large sword strapped on his back, he was a warrior.

"Sssshh, Daniel! Keep your mouth shut! I don't want to attract unwanted attention," the man in front of him whispered, his voice barely audible.

A long staff rested on the empty seat beside him.

"Sorry! I just got excited," the man named Daniel murmured in silence.

Efraim returned back to his seat and ordered another cup of coffee as he eavesdropped further in the two people's conversation. In fact, he was thinking about how to unlock the monarchs' other abilities; after all, he had his doubts that the Ironclad Brawler's arm wasn't enough to put Zack in his rightful place.

"Michael, we need to form a small party to investigate those ruins," Daniel added with an excited tone.

"How many people do we need, and when will we go?" Michael replied.

His friend kept his silence for a few seconds, pondering. Then he raised his hand with his thumb and forefinger clenching.

"Three is enough; we just need to find one person fit for the job," he stated.

"Isn't that too dangerous for that number?" Michael replied with a question; hesitation was present in his eyes.

After all, exploring ruins always came with a price; traps and unknown kinds of beasts lurking could be found inside them, but despite the fact that these places claimed a lot of lives, people still wanted to go and try their luck in finding something with deep value.

Thus, the guild set a standard when venturing to these sites. A party should be consisted of five individuals minimum. For everyone's safety, a healer or a mage with healing capabilities must be included in the lineup along with warriors who could tank damage and protect the mage from sudden assault.

An archer or a pathfinder was required as well so that the group wouldn't be trapped if there were mazes or labyrinths present in the ruins.

"No, that's enough. You've been there, and the place was only filled with spiders, am I right?" Daniel insisted and asked.

Then, upon seeing Michael nod, he spoke once again.

"We just need a pathfinder, and we're off to go," he added.

Meanwhile, the appraiser took a sip of his coffee while listening on the two equators, making sure that he didn't miss a single detail from their conversation.

'I wonder how they're still alive with that kind of mentality,' Efraim thought.

At first, he wanted to stand up and volunteer himself as the third member; however, he wasn't an archer or a pathfinder, so he chose to remain silent.

Then, he glanced at the two individuals and checked how many strings they had and the numbers on top of their heads as well.

Both of them had figures written in blue, and Daniel had one thin line circling around his heart while the mage had two.

"Not bad," Efraim uttered and took another sip of coffee.

Afterwards, he waited for them to head out and followed their footsteps from a distance, careful not to be seen. Then, a few hours later, they managed to find a pathfinder perfect for the job.

A man around their age as well, clad in a brown leather armor, while a wooden flute with a metallic pointed tip was strapped on his waist.

Without wasting any more time, the three of them, along with the appraiser hiding from a distance, went outside the capital and marched towards the location of the ruins.

. . . . .

Silk-like threads scattered, wrapped over the destroyed walls and buildings, while a foul and nauseating stench coming from rotten corpses lingered in the air.

The three people gasped as they strode towards the ruins. Their hands were holding their respective weapons while their eyes were focused on the massive webs clinging and glistening above them.

"Maybe we should head back and forget about those relics," Michael uttered, his heart beating loud and heavy in his every step.

"Chill, dude. They're just spiders," Daniel replied, his lips curling upward.

Though there was a little bit of fear hidden behind his smile.

"But the web's size is way bigger now, unlike before," Michael stated while hugging his staff.

"You're—" Daniel was about to say something, but his words were cut off when a thread thick as a rope coiled around his body, petrifying him in place.

Then after, an eight-legged creature crawled on the web and dragged the cocoon upward. The two people stared at the monster above, and the mage began to question his memory while the pathfinder opened his mouth in disbelief.

"Were you messing with me earlier? That one is not a fucking spider!" he exclaimed.

Aside from its legs hanging across the web, it had no other resemblance to a spider. The upper part of its body had a humanoid shape while it had giant pincers as its arms, and an elongated tail similar to a scorpion was attached to its back.

With several pairs of hungry-looking eyes, the creature stared at the food trapped inside its domain.

. . . . .