Ball of Nothing

Something didn't look right. When Zero and Truen finally arrived at the capital of Rocket Mountain, they were stunned to see dwarves looking like skin and bones. Horrified, Zero asked around if there was a famine or league going on. The dwarves at Little Stone Town appeared fine so he couldn't understand how such a horrible thing could happen to the capital.

"You must be new," the fruit stall grandmother sighed. "We're not having a famine or a plague but you can say that disaster has befallen Rocket Mountain."

Concerned, Zero requested more information and Truen gave the old lady some coins as a token of their sincerity.

The old lady looked around cautiously before lowering her voice.

"It's the princess. She's fallen for the Fae King and the King who favours his only daughter has ordered that all dwarves in the capital must show their sincerity and support for the princess' efforts and diet alongside her. Every week the princess tries a new diet and everyone follows it so as to motivate her to lose more weight and become the Fae King's ideal kind of lover. Initially, it wasn't that terrible and we were only made to exercise more and drink less. However as time went by, the princess' dieting became more extreme. It has only been six months since the start of this nonsense but already people have fallen ill and died so many of us are thinking of leaving the capital. My husband and I are leaving the capital next week because we cannot live on just an apple in the morning, a cabbage for lunch and a small chicken wing for dinner while running five miles. That's the diet plan for next week."

Zero thanked the old lady and gave her a look of pity. Still, as a doctor, he couldn't turn a blind eye to those who were suffering. truen gave Zero a warning look when the doctor wanted to pull out some pills. Zero quickly stopped what he was about to do and left after he remembered the rules he agreed on. He couldn't do it for free.

The duo was given strange stares mostly because they were elves. Elves and dwarves didn't get along but nobody knew what to think of elves with dark skin so the dwarves remained cautious but not hostile. Zero was grateful that Truen wasn't a fair-skinned elf from the Great Altear Forest. It would have been impossible to negotiate at all.

The inn that Truen found was located near the castle. It was a reputable inn that was popular among travellers. Zero found himself watching a great spectacle when the innkeeper demanded two gold per night for a room when they saw Truen. The doctor didn't think it was too much of an issue. They had enough gold to spare but Truen wasn't happy about it.

"Is this your usual rate to all your customers?" the archer growled. Zero could tell that he was very close to putting an arrow through the innkeeper's skull.

The innkeeper was the only dwarf who didn't look thin and anorexic like the other dwarves he saw earlier. Perhaps not everybody was following the princess' diet in the capital. He had to ask for more details later.

The innkeeper was a buffy swarf slightly taller than others but still shorter than Zero by half a head. He leaned on the wooden counter top with a sneer.

"No, but it's a price for hateful long-ears like yourself. If you have a problem you can get out of my inn and sleep elsewhere."

Truen was seeing red. If he was still an adventurer without Zero, he would have pulled out a dagger and cut off some fingers to make talking easier. Unfortunately, Zero would only ew them back together again and apologise before paying the unreasonable innkeeper the two gold coins for the stay and a few extra coins to apologise for the inconvenience. The wood elf restrained himself and took deep breaths to calm himself down.

Zero peeked from behind Truen and walked over to the arrogant innkeeper. "I'm sorry about that. My brother has a short temper. I believe there must be some kind of misunderstanding. We're not elves from Altear, we have no feud with the dwarves. Why are you discriminating against us because of our appearance?"

The innkeeper paused when he heard a young girl's voice. Moreover, the girl was claiming to not be an elf from Altear. Unlike her brother, the lady appeared to be more reasonable to talk to and didn't have any arrogance that those long-ears possessed. She was humble, had good manners and was intelligent. The innkeeper scrutinised Zero from head to toe and frowned.

"What are you doing here in Rocket Mountain if you're not from Altear to cause trouble? Also, aren't you a little too young to be travelling even if you're with your brother? He looks like a twig that will bend over and snap easily."

Zero smiled charmingly and many men who were watching the show blushed. Even the innkeeper wasn't entirely unaffected.

"We've been travelling for a long time so we don't stay at any one place for long. My brother and I passed by Magnus Hilda and we have some errands in Rocket Mountain. Here, this is a letter of recommendation from Queen Rosalind to verify our identities. We're here to look for a master sculptor and definitely not here to cause trouble."

The innkeeper was stunned when he heard that the two elves he was rude to are envoys from Magnus Hilda. He fell out of his chair and apologised profusely for his earlier treatment. Many of the guests lingering around the inn's lobby were equally stunned. Nobody heard from the giants for years ever since they were infected by the plague so many of them were curious to know what the situation was like.

"I humbly apologise! You were right, miss. I shouldn't have been too hasty to judge. Please forgive me for not treating the envoys from Magnus Hilda with more respect. The room will be on me for the rest of your stay until you have completed your errands. May I know if the giants are alright? Is the plague still putting them into a coma?"

Truen's anger simmered when he saw how easily Zero dealt with the troublesome situation. Not only was Zero able to smoothen out the tension and clarify the misunderstanding. He was able to buy their trust and respect on top of securing their accommodation at no cost. Such a move can only be done by the master and Truen didn't know what Zero had to go through to learn such tricks. He must have suffered greatly during the two years that they were training.

Zero smiled. "The giants are fine for now, they are slowly recovering. My brother and I have seen it with our eyes. However, to fully recover and prevent future plague, we need the help of a master craftsman."

The innkeeper nodded. "That's good news... the giants have been great friends of ours but it sucks that there was nothing we could do for them in their time of need. Why don't I show both of you your room for the night and we can discuss the other things later?"

Zero agreed and followed as the innkeeper led the way upstairs. The moment they disappeared from sight, the guests in the inn's lobby started to chatter excitedly. There were envoys from Magnus Hilda staying at the inn. Something big was going to happen in Rocket Mountain.