Chapter 7: Isekai Life & Private Meeting

Following the servant, Katriana and I wove our way around serving girls and chattering guests eating dinner. He lead us to the back of the inn, where there were private dining rooms for more exclusive and richer guests. He opened one of the doors for us, holding it so we could duck into the intimate space.

A glowing fireplace lit the small room, which was dominated by a round table. Around the table were three other people- a pretty, silver-haired elf woman in white robes, a dwarf in brown with a big, bright red mohawk, and an older man in finely tailored silver and green clothing.

The servant brushed by me to stand next to the man. “May I present my lord, Ricard Parett, and his lifelong companions, Abbess Mariska of the Starlit Order and Lord Gogol the Giant-Slayer.”

The elf gave us a serene nod. The dwarf gave a brief grunt and went back to tearing apart the whole chicken he was in the middle of devouring. Only the human stood and greeted us with open arms.

“Welcome, welcome! Although I suppose it’s not my room to welcome you to. All the same, I am glad you accepted my invitation. Ignore my servant, I’m no real lord. Please just call me Ricard. I am something of a vagabond and adventurer, you see.”

There was an awkward silence, and I eventually realized that Katriana was keeping quiet because I was the one the servant specifically asked for.

“Uh, right. I’m Theodore, and this is my sister Katriana. We’re adventurers, although we’re just starting out.”

Ugh, why am I so lame?

“Of course, of course, just the adventurers I need. You see, I’m in town for the tournament- one last hurrah for me with the old party before I settle down to run my vineyard and enjoy my time with my wife and children. However, during our travels, a very important item belonging to me went missing, and unfortunately, I am booked with appearances at parties and visiting old friends all the way up to the beginning of the tournament.

“What I’d like out of you and your sister, is to journey back into the mountain pass we traversed to get here, and find this item. Find it and bring it back to me, and you will be suitably rewarded.”

I gave him a skeptical look. “What kind of a reward?”

Ricard barked another laugh. “Straight to the point, eh? Well, my boy, I can offer you one hundred gold pieces if you find and return the item to me. It’s extremely important that I have it back before the tournament begins in three day’s time.”

Hmm, it must be a pretty important item, then, if he’s offering that much.

“Alright, we can do that,” I replied, “What can you tell me about the item, and where you last saw it?”

“It’s a magical ring, fit for a man’s hand. I’m sure, as a magic-user, you can detect it’s presence.”

I couldn’t, but I held my tongue. Without that gold, Katriana and I had one more night’s stay in the inn between us.

“I know I had it on my person before going to sleep the previous night. It had gotten dark on us before we could make it to Tresens, and rather than risk the descent with only lantern-light for me and my footman here, we chose to camp in the pass. When I awoke, the ring was gone.”

“A thief of some kind took it, then? It’s hard to imagine a cat burglar in a mountain pass.”

This time the elf spoke up. “We were not foolish enough to rest without posting guards,” she said with some amount of disdain, which I guess I earned because of course they’d post a guard, being seasoned adventurers. “However, I believe I had sighted a pictsy following for some of the previous day. It may have invisibly snuck into our camp at night.”

The difference in pronunciation wasn’t lost on me. I tried to “remember” what I already knew about pictsies, but I could come up with nothing other than they’re flying, mischievous humanoid creatures of some kind.

The elf sighed, noting my puzzlement. “A pictsy is a small, mischievous type of fae creature. They can go invisible at will, usually know a bit of magic, and some can even inflict a kind of insanity. They’re about one or two feet high, and have wings like a butterfly’s or insect’s, although some of them lack wings and have strong legs like a cricket.”

I nodded. At-will invisibility will make this difficult, but we don’t need to kill the thing, just get the ring back.

“Alright, we’ll return your ring by evening on the third day. You can trust us.”

We had a few more questions from there, concerning where they saw the pictsy and where they had camped for the night, but once we had the directions firmly in our minds, we departed the private room.

“Do you really think we can handle this on our own?” Katriana asked, once we were back in the noisy common room.

“Probably. At least I think so,” I replied, “A ring is very large for such a small creature. Imagine having a wheel made of a heavy metal like gold in your backpack ... you couldn’t move it very far all at once. I’d imagine the pictsy stashed the ring nearby where it was stolen as a prank, or that it has a lair in the area.”

“So, then, we’re not really looking for the pictsy, but the pictsy’s cache or lair. Got it. Still,” she said, chewing her lip, “I can’t help but feel something is up.”

“What do you mean?”

“Did you notice the dwarf and the elf? Every time the ring was mentioned, they’d share a glance, and the elf lady was rolling her eyes sometimes.”

No, I hadn’t noticed that.

“Well, I doubt that they’re playing a trick just to be cruel.”

“I feel the same way, but still...” Katriana sighed, “I think we might need help.”