Ball of Nothing

King Gregory's Tomb was humble but also awe-inspiring. Hua Tuo once told Zero that the masters of great ancient China had magnificent tombs where their concubines and wives were buried with them upon death to signify the end of an era. The grander a tomb, the greater a ruler's life accomplishments.

The gnome king might have died a miserly death and all that remained on him were bones, literally. Adorned by the armour he wore while he was still alive, his skeleton was sitting upon his throne in an imposing manner as if daring the enemies to try and take Gnaway from him.

Zero took a look at the once-mighty king and bowed as a sign of respect, Truen and Jermine following his lead.

The king wore chain armour made from mithril adorned with gold trimmings. On his hands, he wore leather gloves that were half rotting but his grip on the machinery mounted in front of his throne didn't loosen even in death. The machinery was pointing upwards and based on the trajectory, Truen could deduce that he could shoot enemies from outside the city walls from his throne room.

"This must be the Gatling Gun," Zero said after a thorough inspection.

From the mithril helmet of the king, a red phoenix suddenly appeared. The flames were wild and untameable but they didn't feel hot. Truen and Zero were calm even in the presence of a legendary bird and that confused Raju.

"Come on out," Zero told the mastermind behind the phoenix illusion. Then, with a smirk, he added, "Raju."

Pouting now that his fun was over, the djinn called the illusion away and materialised himself.

"How did you know? Also, congratulations on passing the final trial."

Zero laughed. "It was a little too easy," the doctor admitted. "All the trials were made to find yourself a suitable candidate who could be trusted to be both honest and capable. You want this Phoenix's Pearl on King Gregory's necklace to be given to Goddess Isis?"

Jermine couldn't see what Zero was talking about but Truen noticed that there was a very bright red gem on King Gregory's necklace. He thought that it was a large ruby at first. How did Zero know that it was the red phoenix's pearl they were looking for?

In a rare moment of celebrating the use of his intelligence, Zero explained that his true objective wasn't just to clear the trials.

"The Red Phoenix's Pearl was a product of alchemy and magic but it is an incomplete product. The legend written on the wall was only the tip of the iceberg and it was written by you after King Gregory passed away. The only person who could possibly still be around was the djinn that allied with the gnomes. According to my knowledge of djinns, they cannot roam freely and have to be bound to an artefact upon contract. The artefact that you're trapped in is no other than that Phoenix's Pearl that King Gregory is wearing. You actually don't really care about anything else, you just want to be free from this artefact which is why you asked for adventurers to offer the artefact to Isis. If the owner changed, you would be free from your duties. In fact, the story about the Phoenix's Pearl might not be entirely true. I went through the library and looked at the blueprints for the gnomes' inventions and found something really interesting."

Zero pulled out one of the blueprints that he was talking about. Truen squinted and didn't understand the writing but there was one thing he understood. The design of that red stone on King Gregory's necklace matched the schematic.

"The Red Phoenix Pearl isn't a time gate device. It's actually a timer that runs consistently on a loop. King Gregory wore it as an amulet to count down his days till death. The fact that you were bound to this device powers it forever so there really isn't a need to send this to Isis. In other words, you're being used as a power source for a luxury clock and you want out. Did I miss anything?"

Jermine's jaw fell. Gnaway's owner was just a selfish djinn who wanted someone to free him so he set up all those dangerous trials just to trick someone into doing it? How cruel!

Speechless, Raju tried to hide back into the necklace but he was one step too slow. Truen fired an arrow that created a huge pagoda prison, trapping the poor djinn.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" the djinn apologised and begged for forgiveness. Truen wasn't too forgiving and notched another arrow. Zero was very calm but Jermine panicked. Was he going to allow murder right before his eyes? Jermine couldn't believe it.

The arrow whistled and landed squarely on Raju's chest and he squeezed his eyes shut. However, he didn't feel any pain.

Slowly, Raju opened his eyes again and Jermine blinked. What kind of arrow was that? What did Truen do?

"He's all yours for interrogation," Truen told Zero. "The spell lasts for a whole day so take your time. Jermine and I will prepare lunch or dismantle some beetle corpses. Also, we're going to loot this place after lunch."

"Ok!" Zero agreed happily. He didn't know what type of spell Truen used but the pagoda looked like a very steady prison. This time, he will get the answers he wanted.

Truen led Jermine away who looked very worried.

"Will Zero be ok?"

The archer smiled. "Better than ok. If anything, I pity that djinn. When someone catches Zero's interest, he wouldn't let them go until he satisfied his craving for knowledge and luckily, that djinn knows a lot of things. I can expect to hear about the gnomes' whereabouts and maybe even the desert poppy if we are lucky. For now, let's loot the city. It might be ruined but there can still be hidden treasures."

Jermine nodded. She still couldn't get used to how these people thought but she was getting the hang of it. For a doctor who cleared out an entire dungeon alone and an elf who was more deadly than the adventurers who bought her as a slave, Jermine decided to disregard common sense and go with the flow. It was usually easier this way.

"So, what do you want for lunch?"

Jermine didn't really know. "Anything that you have. I don't remember all the names of food that Zero mentioned but everything tastes good. I didn't know that Zero was such a good cook on top of being a good doctor and a great adventurer."

Truen snorted. "He might be able to cook well but what we ate was definitely not his doing. They came from the royal kitchen of the giants. We just stored it away in the bag because they gave us too much. How does Lasagne sound? Are you a pasta fan?"

Jermine didn't know what that was but nodded. Truen prepared the meal quickly and the mole girl asked, "What sort of treasure will we be looking for later?"

The archer passed her a plate with her food. It smelled delicious!

"Not sure," Truen admitted. "However, we're definitely looking for gnome technology. All those metal golems? We're storing them away in Zero's inventory. I share some inventory space with him so it should fit. If it doesn't fit, Mii and Wii will make some space. Any gadgets that work, blueprints, drawings and the likes of it can be taken as well. Half Moon Village has a team of researchers who might find it handy. Oh, that Gatling Gun thing? We want to take it too. It's good for fortifying the wall defence in case of an attack again."

Jermine ate and listened to Truen describe Half Moon Village. Although it sounded like a crazy place, she thought that the people there were generally warm and welcoming.

"Truen... once I find my family, can I bring them over to live in your village? We will work for our food and if my younger siblings cannot, I will work on their behalf."

Truen blinked. "I'm not against it but you should ask Zero. He's the village head and he calls the shots. Half Moon village might be a bad idea for you but if all things go well and Monoman brings his people by the time we are finished with Derby Desert, you can live with them in New Moon Village. The air on Endow Hill is too full of mana, your body might not be able to take it. New Moon Village settles a little further from Endow Hill so it might be better there."

Jermine knew about New Moon Village and nodded. She had some doubts about the location because she overheard that the village's purpose was for trading between Half Moon Village to Deadman Town and other kingdoms. It would be sandwiched between Endow Hill, Derby Desert and Smargdas Kingdom - the land of humans who kidnapped her and sold her as a slave.

"I understand."

Truen nodded. "Finish quickly, we have a lot of work to do before Zero is done. This city is big, there should be many treasures. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity so don't miss anything. And if you like something, you can keep it."

Motivated, Jermine finished quickly and followed Truen to seek for Gnaway treasures.