"Let's go to the basement, Brother Zero."
I looked at that kid standing there with a bright smile on his face. Crimson red hair along with deep black eyes which kept analysing my whole body from top to bottom. Though I knew who he was, I still asked anyway,
"Are you Maxwell Leeway?"
I had a bit of a questioning gaze and he, at my query, smiled at me with a bright expression before speaking with slight impatience,"that is correct, brother. I am Maxwell Leeway, pleasure to meet you. Now, can we please go to the basement?"
He looked like he wanted to go to that place as fast as he could, however,"Why don't we talk a little first?" I asked with a smile as I took out a certain delicacy I had bought in Bryxton. It was more or less like a cake that is quite difficult to get your hands on even if you have all the money in the world…
"NO! We must get there as early as possible," He looked at me as if trying his best to contain his anger and I smiled at him as I slightly tilted my head before inquiring,"why is that so?"
He looked at me with a slightly complicated expression before speaking,"Because… because… cous will die if we don't do as he says…" he has a slightly teary expression. If he had the power, maybe he could have dragged me out of here, but maybe whoever asked Maxwell to get me to the basement, most probably that aged man, must have asked him to be careful with me or something.
"Bernette?" I asked with a little bit of curiosity and he nodded at me with a half teary expression as his eyes urged me to move and I sighed a bit before thinking,' Oh you poor soul… looks like you were about to do something that was going to be your family's downfall or something…'
"Tell me little Max, why do you think I am here currently sitting in this room, and in this castle?" I asked him and he answered me with a slightly proud face,"to help me find the cure for my sister!"
With his 'I know it all' smugness, he looked at me and I made a 'surprised' expression before speaking,"Wow, you really know it, huh?! That's amazing! Can you tell me how I am supposed to help you with my skill set?"
He looked at my surprised expression before smiling proudly, moving closer to me and climbing up the bed, getting to my eye level and then speaking as he touched my chest,"Your skills that allows you to be strong even without using mana, is going to help us in getting through a very dangerous place and then we will obtain the key to Avalon, where Dolos is waiting for us."
I smiled at that naive kid with awe before making a horror-stricken face as I asked,"But I am scared of dangerous places… are you sure I will survive this? I don't like painful things."
He looked at my face with a slightly sympathetic face before speaking,"don't worry; I understand now why you didn't want to go to the basement this early. To tell the truth, my elder brother, even I am scared of that place. But don't worry, Dolos will surely have a way out of this situation."
I was happy that I got promoted from brother to elder brother, but still this Dolos guy… he is probably that aged man, isn't he? Or could he be a different guy altogether… more things to take care of?
"To be honest, Dolos doesn't talk with me as much… Can you tell me what he said to you?" I asked, making an awkward face and Maxwell observed me with a piercing gaze before he sighed as he muttered,'well I know I look good, but Dolos shouldn't play favouritism. It's about cous after all,' and then sighed again before speaking,
"He said that if I want to save my sister, I will have to bring my sister to him because he is entrapped somewhere in the artefact present in my sister's room. He also said that the key to opening the artefact is hidden somewhere in the deepest chamber of the basement."
I pondered over his words before asking again,"and what did he say about poor old me?"
"He told me that a strong person with the ability to survive in the deepest parts of the dungeon has arrived in the castle and, Dolos and him have made a deal so he, that is you, is going to help me now," Little Maxwell told me with a pondering expression as if trying to recall each and every detail he can.
'Well… if Dolos is asking me to go to the basement to fetch the key… he probably doesn't have any idea about my past… after all, if he knew about my past he wouldn't have gone through such a tedious process…' I think as I begin to question the whole scenario more and more…
To be honest, I could see the loopholes in this whole theory, the more I think about it. Still, I can't ignore the fact that everything I think isn't necessarily correct, so let's discuss this with Amon before arriving at any form of conclusion.
Even if I were to rack my head, it will probably take a lot of time to come up with a definite plan.
"And I am pretty much sure we don't have time here at all, do we?" I speak as I deliberate over things and Maxwell nods at me.
"Yes, time is something, we lack a lot and we must hurry as much as we can, elder brother Zero."
"How did you know my name? Did Dolos tell you about me?" I asked again, and he looked at me, then shook his head as if pitying my stupidity before speaking,"Oh, dear older brother. When I heard that a person had entered the castle who could save my cousin, I searched for them and pestered my mother about it over and over, until she told me your name."
His expression told me that I should have guessed it a long time ago.
'Well... sorry for not being smart enough,' I thought as I shook my head apologetically before looking at Maxwell and asking again,"May I know how much time we have exactly?"
Hearing my question, he began pondering before speaking,"About a month or two? We can start by going to the basement one step at a time to make you get accustomed to it, maybe? That's how it is, so I don't know if it will work for you or not…" he kept gazing at me as he spoke, maybe analysing how long it would take me to get used to the dangers lurking inside the basement.
"Can we start it after a week, maybe? While I did come here for Dolos, there is one other thing which I need to do here… Though, I really am sorry but I can't tell you anything about it," I spoke in a humble yet apologetic voice and he smiled at me and patted my head saying,
"Don't worry, brother. All men have their secrets. You can come to me if you feel like you have no one to talk to."
After that, he jumped off the bed and began walking to the door as he spoke,"It is time for milk or else mother will get angry. Before I go, brother, did you get everything correctly?" I observed his serious face and smiled as I answered him,
"Sir yes Sir!"
He chuckled loudly at that before walking out and shutting the door behind him.
-Bam!
Then the atmosphere began changing and a familiar screen, along with another familiar face, came in front of me.
'About time. I had started to get worried something might have happened,' I thought as I looked at the smiling face of Elle in front of me.
"That was good… oh my god! He was so cute, I wish I could hug him!!! Damn boy, I didn't think I could get so jealous of you!" She spoke up as she wiped her tears of joy before coming closer to me. I smiled at her before I looked at the old man standing at a distance from me and spoke,
"I know you must have something really urgent.. And I promise that I will do my best to get you what you want but… can you give me some time to talk with them? It is kind of important for me."
It was my heartfelt request to that old guy, who probably had brought me to this dimension this time. I don't know, if I get pushed out now, when will I get the next chance to discuss this…
"It's okay, young one. I understand the complexity of your situation. Please feel free to take your time," he spoke with a smile on his face. From the look on his face, I knew he had a lot to tell, but the maturity in his voice and his body language told me that he could wait a little.
I then turn to Amon and speak in a serious tone as,
"Did you see everything, or should I tell you about it?"
I wasn't sure about this one. Particularly to me being brought to another dimension where I couldn't control myself… and unfortunately…
[No. There were many pieces missing. Tell me everything about it.]
I sighed before starting to narrate everything that happened from the time I arrived in this castle and slowly got to this point where I am talking to Amon and hearing my story Elle had an expression that kind of made her eyes widen as she almost asked,'when did that happen? Or something like that happened?'
Still, it wasn't as shocking as this…
[Zero… I think it's time, I tell you what I need you to do.]
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