Voyage Of The Villainess

The three threaded behind the dog. Hyun Jae was in the front while Malaya and Oliver were following behind her. They were walking deeper and deeper through the woods. While the dog was stopping from time to time to check if they were still following him. As they keep walking there are some insects who crawled to them.

\'It\'s itchy,\' Malaya thought as she scratched her toes, which some insects attach to it. 

Malaya noticed Hyun Jae\'s crestfallen expression as she walked.

"Are you okay, Hyun Jae?" 

"I\'m alright." Hyun Jae just smiled as a response to her then walked ahead. Since Malaya couldn\'t get nearer to the dog, she walked slowly behind again with Oliver and sighed inwardly.

"Hey, how do you get here?" Malaya whispered, "I mean how did you get to the ship without anyone noticing?"

"I have my own ways," Oliver replied. "And there is someone who noticed me. He is just not talkative to tell anyone. It is really to my advantage. However, you don\'t have to worry about anything since he is not the one who let me in."

At the mention of not being talkative, Malaya had one person in mind. 

"Hah," Malaya released a sigh. "Now, tell me, did you follow us because of her? I thought that you were planning to usurp the throne once again."

"I changed my mind." Oliver said. "And besides, you told me before that I should keep her safe always."

\'Change your mind? He was saying it like he was just changing clothes.\'

"And you broke that, by shooting her with an arrow." Malaya said with sarcasm. "It almost got her killed if not for my amazing tricks, care, and potions."

"That is quite hurtful, Malaya, and I can\'t believe that until now you still carry that boastful energy," Oliver said as he touched his heart as if he was stabbed by something there. "I have learned my lessons and I will do everything in my power to make up for it."

"The truth always hurt." Malaya said as she rolled her eyes. "You know it won\'t be easy to fix the cracks you create. With our contract, I know that you will not be able to hurt Hyun Jae again. And seriously as much as possible, I don\'t want you to get closer to her since you hurt her before."

"You are really brutally honest," said Oliver as he looked faraway. "If words could kill, I will be dead by now. But like I said, people always change and become a better person once they learn from their mistakes."

"Do you really think that I\'ll believe in you that easily? Prove it through your actions not through your words. You are still a dangerous person for her so if I were you as of now, you must distance yourself from her. Besides, I know that you know that she feels uncomfortable when you are near her. So I hope you take that as a sign.."

"Why are you so mean to me?"

"Do you wanna know why? That is my way of comforting people."

\'Comforting?\' Oliver wanted to strangle Malaya in his mind. But she was right, everything she said was right so he deserved all of this. \'Why am I so foolish back then?\'

"However, it is not for me to decide whether she will forgive you or give you a chance once again," Malaya said. "Well, if she gives you a chance, I really have nothing to say since it is her choice to make.  That was her free will and I totally respect whatever her decision was. However..." She stopped walking which made Oliver stop walking as well, waiting for her next words. "If you hurt her again in any form. I\'ll make sure that you will not be seen again as the face of the world." Malaya said with a sickly sweet smile that made Oliver shiver inside. "Keep that in mind, Oliver."

"I will keep your words in mind," Oliver said with an equal smile. But somehow his eyes held relief which Malaya didn\'t ask what it was for. Or she didn\'t want to know what that meant.

"Arf! Arf!"

Their conversation was cut off when they heard the bark of the dog.

"I think this is where he wants us to come?" Hyun Jae said. Her voice was as sweet and soft as ever.

A small one-story house that was made of wood. It almost looked like one strong blow of air and it would be whisked away. The dog barked a few more times before it rushed inside the house. 

"Wait!" Hyun Jae followed after the dog, and Malaya and Oliver without any delay followed after her.

"Hyun Jae! Don\'t run off like that?!" Malaya screamed as she reached the inside of the house. Surprisingly it was neat, despite the shabby facade it had outside. There was nothing inside the room aside from vases that contained more herbs And the scent of strong herbal medicines was flowing in the air. There was also one wooden bed where sheets were neatly covered.

"Ark!" Hyun Jae screamed looking for the dog. 

\'Ark? That must be the name of the dog from his collar.\' Malaya also started looking around.

They heard the barking of the dog. He came behind from the shelf as if telling us to look behind.

"Just stay here. I will take a look at it." Oliver said. But Malaya and Hyun Jae ignored him and just followed behind him. 

\'Tss\' he can\'t do anything about it but to let the two ladies follow her. However, to their surprise, the back of the shelf was quite spacey and there was a door behind it. Malaya tore a fire talisman to light the place.

And soon as she did that, Hyun Jae ran once again inside. There was a man, who was skinny and had tattered clothes lying on the ground.

Without further delay, Hyun Jae started casting healing magic, not checking whether the man was alive or not. Well, she was quite right with what she did. Since the man was already at the brink of death and if she was a minute late, he would die already.

With the light coming from Hyun Jae\'s healing magic, Malaya observed the whole place and to her surprise, there were tons of human skeletons reeking of black magic. These were all preserved skeletons of malice.

"This room.."

"Reeking with dark magic." Oliver continued Malaya\'s words. 

"You seem rather calm." Malaya said as she continued to watch Hyun Jae.

"Might you as well." Oliver said in return. "Are you not going to stop Hyun Jae? The man she is healing might be a dangerous person."

"She will not budge to save a person as long as there is life within them." Malaya glanced at the man Hyun Jae was healing. "And only to that man, we could find more information about this place."

"You\'re quite calculative." Oliver grinned.

"You are really saying that to me, of all people?" Malaya said as she started heading out. "Continue to look after them, I\'ll prepare some meals for us. If Hyun Jae finished her healing, she would be extremely tired."

***

After almost half an hour, Hyun Jae collapsed with the excessive use of her healing magic. Malaya and Oliver placed her on the bed while the man was left inside the hidden room and at the same time tied his hands and feet. His mouth was also gagged.

The man slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw were two pairs of glistening eyes, one blue and one golden, looking at him with malice.

"So now that you are already awake. I just want to inform you that we save your life, black mage." Malaya said with a sinister smile on her lips.

At the mention of the dark mage, the man started struggling thinking that two people were enemies.

"Mmm..." He tried to remove the ropes tied to him.

"Can you make your energy light for just a moment? You sound like you will kill him." Oliver said, though there was an equal grin on his face. "Let\'s be a little nicer to him or he might think that we are his enemies."

"I\'m nicer to him. And what\'s the point of killing him when we save his life." Malaya said. 

"You\'re the one scaring him."

"Your energy speaks differently." Oliver protested.

"Alright, fine! Anyway, enough of that." Malaya glanced back at the man who are still trying to remove the ropes tied to him.  "Let\'s get to the point now."

"Listen to this, Mr. Dark Mage, we found you with your dog, who asked for our help to save you. But we don\'t do things for free." She clasped both her hands. "In exchange for saving you, please tell us everything you know about this place."

\'My other crew might also be somewhere in this place. It is better to have more information on this unknown island. So it will be easy for us how to navigate to this place.\'\'

"And when I say everything.. About the whole world also. You got it?"