The Great Thief

“Hmph. If I didn’t understand things, I’d think you were mocking me, mortal. Actually, what you say is reasonable. Maybe you can give it a try. Like you said, you’re still confining yourself.”

“Ok, I’ll have the courage to presumptuously ask, how can I get the Arconite Buoy?” Lu Li asked, without the strength to rebut.

“Give this account book to my old friend in Tanaris. His name is Narain Soothfancy and he is an extremely demented, but great technician. He should be able to understand this. There is no need to thank me, really, this is something I should do…”

“Good luck,” Lu Li said, giving his farewell wishes before leaving.

“Lemme have a look at what this damn thing is.”

With a whack, it hit Lu Li’s face. The account book that Azuregos had given him ended up falling into the dust.

“But Azuregos, the blue dragon, said you should be able to understand it,” Lu Li protested.

“That guy,” the dwarf technician Narain sighed, shaking his head. “I am surely gifted in

languages, but with Draconic, I can’t understand a single word!”

“With all due respect, are you really good friends with him?” Lu Li asked with a sympathetic face.

“I know what you mean, sir. You’re saying I must have a really big heart to be friends with such a dragon and not turn him into a mechanical animal,” Narain said with regret. “I actually had this idea all along. Why else do you think I would choose to be friends with him?”

“I hope you’ll be able to fulfill your wish,” Lu Li said happily.

“Haha, let’s have a look at this magic account book. Azuregos knows for a fact that I don’t know Draconic, but why did he write this in Draconic?” Narain muttered, rubbing his hands.

A different race, and a different identity, yet they both hated Azuregos all the same. This common ground led these two to become good friends quickly.

“Is there anything else we can do?”

The blue dragon would spawn again in three days. Going back to ask would simply waste too much time.

“It’s not that there’s nothing we can do. Great engineering can solve all problems. If you want to translate this, all I need to do is put on my divining glasses. Unfortunately, not long ago, my best friend – no, my former best friend Stewvul – fought me to the ground, then took them away!”

“Um, your majesty’s friend, is really…something else.” That was all Lu Li could say.

“He’s not my friend anymore. I’ll emphasise it again – he was my former best friend,” Narain said fiercely. “With the help of my trusty crystal ball, I’ve found him now. He’s either at Greymane’s Wall in Silverpine Forest, or he’s teleporting around in the Outland. The Burning Legion is running amok over there. You need to track him down then bring my glasses back.”

“No problem at all, but I’ll ask something while I’m at it. Do you have a way to send me to the Outland?” Lu Li asked.

“Um, there’s really no way to do this. I have some things, but they are in the testing stage,” Nerain said apologetically. Before the Outland was opened up, players evidently had no way to step into this area.

“That really is a shame,” Lu Li sighed.

They couldn’t go to the Outland, but at least they could wait around and try their luck at Silverpine Forest. Lu Li sent people out, and they quickly found this dwarf lying down in a box. Putting himself into a chest and locking himself up was a talent.

“Hello, Stewvul, if I’m not mistaken,” Lu Li greeted him in a gentlemanly manner. “I come bringing Nerain’s greetings.”

“No, there’s no way that he could’ve found me, I thought I lost him in the Outland. I won’t go back again, no, definitely not. I won’t be his friend and all-round slave,” Stewvul cried. His whole body was curled up in the box, and he was squawking like an ostrich.

“Buddy, I think there might be a bit of a misunderstanding, I’m not here to grab you back at all. I’m just here to find Nasrain’s divining glasses,” Lu Li said.

“You only want his divining glasses? Sure, this isn’t a problem. Give me a minute…huh? How come they’re not there…”

Stewvul looked everywhere but couldn’t find the divining glasses. Then after a while, he explained apologetically, “I have some bad news here, and some even worse news. The bad news is that I’ve lost the glasses, and the even worse news is, I lost them in the Molten Core last week. Yes, you heard right – the Molten Core. This is evidently not something I can help with. Goodbye, then.”

“Hey, I’m not letting you off that easily. Do you still remember where you dropped that thing?” Lu Li asked as he grabbed him by the collar.

“Ok, ok, I’ll go along with you, but don’t tell Narain I’m here,” Stewvul begged.

Although it was just Lu Li himself completing the quest, all of Ruling Sword was behind him. He could easily assemble a powerful team for the Molten Core.

Without spending too much time, Lu Li found the lost pair of divining glasses from Lucifron’s body.

“Don’t tell Narain about my whereabouts, please.”

It looked like his time of being enslaved as Narain’s best friend was something he simply couldn’t bear to return to. He would rather drift around in the wilderness than to go back.

“He’s a geomancer, you know that. With this, I can only wish you good luck,” Lu Li said, his hands tied.

“…” The poor dwarf had simply already lost hope.

“Oh, you found my glasses. Let me see if they are damaged.”

After Narain finished checking them, he asked, “What about Stewvul? Where is he? Why didn’t you bring him back.”

“He looked like he wasn’t happy at all to be treated as your slave,” Lu Li said.

“No, elf, I treated him as a brother, but he unexpectedly turned against me, then stole my glasses away,” Narain said, filled with anger. “If there’s a principle that you need to understand, it’s this – never get into my business. There’s no way you can understand the things I do. For example, do you know what is? Apparently not. This is why I’m responsible for the whole thing, and Stewvul can only run errands.”

“Yes, sir, I get what you mean,” Lu Li immediately said, changing his attitude. “If you need it, sir, I’ll get people to rake him up straight away and leave him on your bed.”

“Sure, if you want to continue, then I need a 500 pound chicken,” Narain said, very satisfied with Lu Li’s repentant attitude.

500 pounds!? Could it still be a chicken if it was 500 pounds?