The Stargazing Witch & The Dungeon Planet
Side Chapter Metous 12: So, I Have An Idea

Side Chapter Metous 12: So, I Have An Idea

“Next time, remind me to not listen to your plans…” Lila complained as she shot a bolt of lightning down the street of the degraded town. 

“Fuck. It was a good idea at the time.” With a mana rifle in hand that he barely understood how to use, he fired blindly at the thugs that came from the opposite direction.

Magic skills lit up the sky and the duo of Lila and Tyell were running like their lives depended on it.

It was the far end of a small city, a few hours out from the city they lived in.

The ground shook as metal spikes erupted out of the earth, striking multiple groups of people.

It was a skirmish. Multiple groups were here for similar reasons, to obtain the artefact that was supposed to be traded off. 

Was it stupid for two individuals to try and seek in and steal the artefact for themselves? Likely.

But that was the situation Lila and Tyell found themselves in.

A week before it happened.

Tyell declared, “I have a plan.”

“I don’t like the sound of that,” replied Lila.

The two of them were standing in the backyard of the Stella family home, cooking food on the barbeque. It was an impromptu suggestion by Mella before she went to school about having a barbeque. The family hadn’t used their old device in years, mostly due to their father's passing. Chris loved doing activities outside with the family, so he would set up the barque and cook with the family; on the other hand, Tella preferred cooking inside the house.

Ceella had been gone for a month, and currently, there was no word on when she would be returning. 

“Ceella is in danger.” 

“I know that...” Lila bit her lip, nearly causing it to bleed. “But you know there is nothing we can do. Nina made us listen to that recording for that reason.” 

It took a while for Lila to come to an explanation of why Nina allowed them to listen in on the recording. She understood it couldn’t be a nefarious reason, but it still hurt hearing about the troubles Ceella was going through. Then it hit her. Nina wanted them to know there was nothing they could do. It was cruel in a way, but simply there was nothing either of them could do wasn’t going to stop them. 

If Tyell didn’t have the recording in the first place, Lila was sure he would’ve tried to follow Ceella went she left for the last time. The unknown maximum capability of his movement skills was a risk to any security transport that Ceella was headed on.  

After his Vocation became adjusted, the unique skills he gained were powerful and were something Nina had taken notice of and took precautions for. 

Nina’s goal was to keep the family safe, which included from their own actions. 

Lila knew Nina had a better understanding of what happened when Vocations upgraded. In Lila’s own experience with [Lightning Mage] becoming [Lightning Hand], she understood the power increase was massive, and Tyell’s new Vocation concentrated all the extra power on movement abilities. 

“Tyell, there is nothing we can do.” 

“Correct, there is nothing we can do at the moment.” 

“Stop with the bullshit.” Lila was beginning to get angry. “We can’t do anything. Even the best healer in the universe was unable to heal Ceella’s injuries. We know nothing about Soul wounds, so whatever plan you are thinking of, it is not going to work.” 

Lila was quiet, respectful, and slightly shy when it came to her relationship with the Stella family and the average day-to-day activities. However, the one who could consistently push her buttons was Tyell. Whether it was due to their similar age, or shared experiences.  

“And to remind you of the basic fact, if you have forgotten this very simple fact, Ceella has already left, likely the planet and as she likes to say, by the bloody beautiful stars, who knows where.” 

The barbeque sizzled. The onion and steak popped and wanted to flip. 

“You don’t have to deny my idea out the gate.” He didn’t turn to look at Lila yet, but his legs were ever so slightly shaking. “Are you sure you don’t want to hear me out?” 

Lila let out a long sigh. “Okay, fine, tell me your plan, you must be bringing it up for a reason.” 

“I have been looking into the black-market dealings through my old contacts.” 

“You are not making this sound appealing already.” 

“...” 

“...” 

“...” 

“...Sigh, go on.” 

“Okay, while we don’t know the cause or solution to Ceella’s injuries. We do know that a large supply of mana can counteract it.”  

“I'm surprised someone like you managed to get into a position to still be able to get information like that after you left that behind.” Lila dug into him for even looking back into that side of things.  

“The industry of it is quite young in Metous, so doing a good job comes with some perks.” 

Lila took a step closer and glared at Tyell. “And? Why should I not tell everyone about you diving back into a criminal mess.” Her heart was filled with anger and worry, she couldn’t allow for Tyell to get hurt. 

“I am not; I am simply listening to it.” 

She closed her eyes, shook her head, took a deep breath and a step back, before spinning around to face Tyell again. “Fuck's sake, continue for the time being.” 

“You are sounding like Ceella.” 

“I will take that as a compliment, but be careful, I will inform Aunty Ceella of this.” 

“If I don’t have a good reason for this.” 

“No, I will inform her. She might be the only person to properly smack you for this.” 

Tyell flinched at that.  “To be honest, my goal was to find one of those wish-granting artefacts.” 

Lila questioned, “Aren’t those things fake?” 

“Weren’t you in an organisation whose whole stick was collecting powerful artefacts? You should know the validity of such things better than me.” 

As he spoke. Tyell’s worry only increased. He was scared of so many things. Losing his life, losing his family, getting hurt, wasting the life Elly saved, Lila telling others and denying helping, but the thing at the moment he feared most of all was never seeing Ceella again. That was what kept him moving forward—to not face the possibility of saying goodbye to another. 

“Sigh... talking to you alone is a pain.” 

“Can’t agree more,” Tyell replied. “But as you likely guessed, I couldn’t find a wish granter. However, I was able to find an important artefact that was being moved around. A mana recovery dungeon artefact of the highest order.” 

“And how has this artefact ended up in the hands of common criminals, not to mention, not been stolen by anyone, especially by Dominous Hood.” 

“That I don’t know, but I am confident about the information.” 

“...” Lila wasn’t excited about the information; there were too many issues with it. “Okay, why haven’t you simply told Nina about it?” 

Tyell asked, “Have you been able to contact her?” 

Lila’s silence to his question was enough of an answer. 

Nina hadn’t visited Tella or the family in two weeks. Her going silent wasn’t strange, there were multiple periods of time when that had happened. She was an extremely busy person outside of what her calm tea parties led the Stella family to believe, but the fact there was no reply to a serious question sent by Tyell was a concern. 

“You think something has happened to her as well?” 

“I... don’t think she is dead. Learning more about her and her operation, she is likely fine, but she might be very busy or in a combat zone somewhere helping people.” Tyell stated. “However, the fact she is not here is a concern for me, as this might be the perfect item to cure Ceella’s issue.” 

“Alleviate.” 

“...Yes... alleviate.” Tyell sighed, “But this could be what she needs.” 

“Sure? So what? Why are you telling me this?” Lila asked, but deep down she knew what Tyell wanted. 

“I want you to help me steal it.” 

“And your life in the process?” 

Tyell gripped his fist. “No.”  

“Because this sounds insane.” 

“That’s why I want your help.” 

“It will take more than a potential solution to make me jump in trouble again.” 

“This might be the only way for Ceella to make it.” 

“I doubt that. She went on a journey for a reason; she likely had a destination in mind that could be the solution to her problems.” 

“And if she fails? Or the solution is not good enough?” 

“Why are you so sure it is not going to work out? Ceella has got this; be positive about her success.” 

Tyell declared with his heart, “Because I don’t want to lose someone I care about again.” 

Smoke started to rise as the meat began to burn. 

“...” 

“...” 

“Let’s... focus on the cooking for now.” Said Lila. 

“Yeah...” 

Mella would be home soon; this wasn’t a conversation either wanted to have around her.