The next morning, Caesar woke up in a great mood, while Joe, in contrast, awoke in a rather surly state. His dwarven face was scrunched up, and the bags under his eyes showcased the fact that he didn"t acquire enough sleep.
Of course, Caesar"s teasing last night didn"t help very much. However, Joe still appreciated his company, whether it was good or not. "Caesar, I need some more money… I spent all of the coins you gave me."
Caesar glanced at Joe with the corner of his eyes while he dressed. He was busy b.u.t.toning up his shirt as he replied, "haven"t you already learned your lesson, you silly dwarf? The amount of money I gave you should"ve been enough to buy a small house."
Before Joe could even react, Caesar continued, "I don"t know where you went, but wherever it was, they swindled your money!" he said with a chuckle. He didn"t want Joe to blame himself, so it would be much more beneficial to make him dislike the shady businesses.
And as Caesar expected, Joe stroked his beard with squinted eyes, "those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds lied to me?" Joe growled, "it wasn"t my fault, they cheated me, yes, I see now, it"s all coming together!"
Joe grumbled incoherently, and Caesar didn"t bother explaining anything else to him. Instead, he continued clothing himself and stretched his limbs. It would take another few days until the royal wedding occurred, so there was not much to do besides relax.
"I"ll be gone tonight," Caesar added, "I have some more important business to attend to, and before you ask, I cannot take you along."
Joe nodded his head and didn"t pry much more into it. He was aware of his best friends personality, so he knew that it was a momentous occasion. He sat on the nearby chair and played with a deck of cards as Caesar finally finished dressing.
Caesar threw a few golden coins toward the table where Joe was seated at and walked out of the room after, "that should be enough for three meals and some ale, don"t spend it irresponsibly," he said sternly without waiting for Joe"s reply.
The door closed behind Caesar and left Joe in the room with an awkward expression. He pinched a few of the coins and smiled faintly before setting them back on the table. Instead of buying food, he decided to go back to sleep.
…
Caesar felt slightly refreshed today. Thus, he decided to scope out the meeting area. On the off-chance that it was, indeed, an ambush, he figured it would be best to prepare beforehand. Whether it was marking escape routes or making sure that no one else was present, it would surely come in handy tonight.
With this in mind, he subtly moved into a nearby alley and put on a large, black robe. He pulled the hood over his face and started making his way to the rendezvous point. He wanted to make sure that no one in the inn was suspicous—so that it would be harder to discern his true ident.i.ty.
This was also the main reason why he decided to go without Joe. His appearance was far too eye-catching, and not many dwarves were present in Limbo kingdom. It would be an extremely easy task to find a particular dwarf, especially one that has recently arrived in the nation.
Caesar trusted n.o.body and soon arrived at the abandoned chapel. Moss and Vines painted the cracked walls and intertwined with each other. A crooked and half-burnt cross was resting on top of the building, threatening to fall at any given moment.
A few knocked over pillars were lying on the ground with all sorts of rather crude graffiti. A few overgrown plants fluttered within the wind and Caesar couldn"t help but squint his eyes. The entire area looked like a war-zone; he was quite intrigued as to what transpired here.
To the right of the abandoned chapel, a small cat was lying on the ground. Its fur was ruffled, and the smell of urine and feces wafted about. It was on the verge of death and was lacking both food and water, as its bones were nearly popping out of its body.
Caesar scrutinized the small cat for a few moments before surveying the nearby terrain. The chapel was surrounded by abandoned buildings, overgrown gra.s.s, and was decently far away from the populace. It was the perfect place for illegal transactions, or perhaps, even silencing someone.
Caesar inwardly marked the most efficient paths of escape and made sure that no one else was nearby. The area was unusually quiet and desolate, a stark contrast in comparison to the other parts of Limbo kingdom. Just like slums in his hometown, every nation possessed their bottom.
Once he made sure the area was relatively safe, he returned to where the small cat resided. It had a stream-lined face, raven black fur, pink paws, and a cute nose. Its eye-lids painfully fluttered up and down as it observed Caesar standing over it.
Caesar couldn"t help but praise the felines beautiful and piercing green eyes, thus, he crouched down and observed it even closer. His expression was somewhat placid as he confirmed the young girl"s gender.
It purred cutely as Caesar stroked its fur as if it had already accepted his touch. It didn"t bicker in the slightest. Instead, it fully submitted and sprawled out on the ground, using its paw to play with Caesar"s slender hands.
A small smile formed on Caesar"s lips as he picked up the cat and placed it in a nearby building, away from the chapel. He gave the pretty cat some of the food and water that was stashed inside of his storage ring and returned to the chapel.
He placed the strange mask on top of his face and sat down on the roof. He decided that he would give the cat to Elizabeth as a present. It would be a waste just to leave it to die; it was far too beautiful for that.
Thinking to here, the sun slowly went down, and darkness encroached. The moon and stars came out, faintly irradiating the surroundings. It made the abandoned chapel glimmer gracefully, and a few foot-steps could finally be heard from afar.
Caesar perked up his eyes and glanced to the right, where a group of three cloaked figures approached. They possessed a decent amount of mana and were not to be trifled with. However, Caesar was no ordinary individual.
He smiled behind the mask and greeted them with a wave of his hands, "it"s a pleasure to meet you."