“Hasho, are you sure your village is this way?” Benji asked hesitantly.

  “Of course, I’m sure!” Hasho said with confidence.

  “But…You always say that. It’s been weeks,” Sahra said with a sigh.

  “That’s the way you have to take,” Hasho said, “How could anything be so easy to find?”

  Benji looked at Sarah, and they both shook their heads.

  “Wait, there it is!” Hasho said with a jubilant expression as he pointed behind them.

  Benji turned to look but didn’t see anything. It wasn’t long before a roaring laughter sounded behind him.

  “Hahaha. I can’t believe you fell for it. I tricked you!” Hasho exclaimed.

  This damn kid…

  Benji turned to look at Lomin, and he could see annoyance even on the patient faelin’s face.

  “Can you stop with that!” Rufus roared, veins starting to show on his face.

  “Haha, it’s not my fault you are so easy to trick. Not even a five-year-old would fall for that in my village,” Hasho said, “Anyway, let’s continue. I’m going to be a hero when I return with you guys. You are so easy to trick!”

  If there was anything they had learned over the past weeks since they encountered this teenager, it was that he loved to play tricks. It was strange at first, then it became a little annoying. Now, it was almost to the point where they couldn’t take it anymore.

  “Just…lead the way,” Benji sighed.

  “Of course, of course,” Hasho said, “It’s not far now.”

  As Hasho turned away and started leading the way again, Rufus walked up to Benji and asked in a low voice, “Benji, are you sure we should keep following this brat? Maybe it’s better to turn around.”

  “I admit he seems a little strange,” Benji said with a nod, “But he still seems like a good kid. And the reason we visited the Kuwa Mountains was to adventure and learn of its secrets. He says he’s the first one to ever leave the village, so it has to be a special place. I admit that I’m very curious, and would love to take a look. And I doubt we would be in any danger.”

  “I suppose I’m curious too,” Rufus said, “And I doubt Lomin is willing to give up on a potentially good story.”

  “That’s true,” Benji said with a smile, “Besides, I would feel a little bad leaving Hasho to wander home on his own. I really have no idea how he made it so far without being a mage.”

  “He’s extremely lucky,” Rufus said, “We have only had to fight once since we met him. Maybe this is an area beasts tend to stay away from?”

  “Maybe,” Benji nodded, “It would explain how he doesn’t know about mana cores. There is no way for a village to survive without mages unless it's in an area without beasts.”

  The group continued walking. By this point, Benji had given up hope of reaching Hasho’s village anytime soon. They had been traveling for two weeks already, and Hasho always said they were close to the village.

  Fortunately, Benji and the rest didn’t have to wait for much longer, as they saw wooden walls in front of them two days later. The village was placed in a valley, pressed between two mountainsides.

  “Here it is!” Hasho exclaimed.

  “It is quite well hidden,” Benji commented, “Have there been other outsiders here before?”

  “I don’t know,” Hasho said with a shrug, “But there should have been, otherwise there wouldn’t be people knowing Quemerian.”

  “That makes sense,” Benji nodded. He knew that there were a lot of places in the Kuwa Mountains that didn’t have contact with the rest of Shiora. But that didn’t mean no one had ever discovered them. The people of Shiora had been exploring the surrounding areas for over a thousand years, after all. So even if they were very deep into the Kuwa Mountains, Benji doubted their group was the first to discover the village.

  The wooden gate didn’t have anyone guarding it, and Hasho simply pushed the gate open and entered the village. Benji and the rest followed behind him.

  “Everyone! I’m back!” Hasho called out. He spoke in Shiorin this time, but Benji had studied the language intensely in preparation for their journey to the Kuwa Mountains, so he could understand what they were saying.

  “Hasho? You’re not dead?” a young man asked as he approached the group.

  “How could I die?” Hasho questioned.

  “But you went outside the village,” The young man said.

  “Haha!” Hasho laughed, “Reso, don’t you get it? You’ve been tricked.”

  “Impossible,” The young man named Reso said, shaking his head.

  “Then how do you explain I’ve been able to return alive? There is no danger outside at all. Those old fellas just tell everyone that to trick us!” Hasho explained.

  “That…I don’t believe you,” Reso said.

  “I’m the only one with a brain in this village,” Hasho sighed, “It was such an obvious trick. How could the outside be so dangerous? Well, it doesn’t matter. You’ll soon realize the truth.” Hasho turned to Benji and gestured for him and the others to follow him, “Come, I’ll show you that thing I promised. I may be a trickster, but I don’t go back on my word.”

  “Alright,” Benji nodded. One of the reasons Benji and the others were willing to follow Hasho was because he told them that there was an amazing treasure in the village. While they were extremely doubtful, based on Hasho’s previous actions, it was very likely to be a lie, but they still held some hope that it would turn out to be true.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Benji and his team followed Hasho. They soon entered deeper into the village and started seeing people moving about, quite a few of them looked at them curiously. Many who recognized Hasho also approached him to talk. The conversations were just repeats of the one he had with Reso earlier.

  “Just follow me to the Wheel, and you’ll know the truth of it!” Hasho finally yelled out angrily when the tenth person in a row refused to believe that the outside wasn’t dangerous.

  “We won’t fall for that, Hasho. You’re just trying to trick us. It’s not that easy,” A young woman said.

  “Then don’t come,” Hasho said and continued walking through the village.

  After a while, an eight-year-old girl in dirty and torn clothes approached the group, but she didn’t walk up to Hasho, but Benji.

  “Mister, do you have anything to eat? I haven’t eaten for days,” The girl asked with a pitiable expression.

  I guess this scene occurs even in this distant village.

  Benji didn’t hesitate and pulled out some of the rations they had with them and gave it to the girl.

  “Here you go,” Benji said with a smile, “If it’s not enough, you can come back for more later.”

  The girl accepted the food with a bright smile and started laughing, “Haha! You fell for it! I’m not hungry at all.”

  Benji’s face turned gloomy.

  “Seriously, how gullible are you?” Hasho turned around and asked, “She’s the daughter of one of the village elders. How could she have to beg for food?”

  “I realize how Hasho turned out the way he is,” Rufus said in a low voice.

  “Is everyone in the village like this?” Sahra questioned.

  “Let’s keep in mind to treat everyone like Hasho,” Rufus said, “I don’t want to be surrounded by a bunch of con men who think of us as gullible idiots.”

  Everyone nodded their head in agreement.

  After around fifteen minutes of walking, the group reached a seemingly deserted part of the village. There were no buildings around, only a few trees and boulders. It was like they had left the village.

  At least twenty people were following behind them. Even if everyone contradicted Hasho on the way, there were still a few people who were too curious about Hasho’s words to stay away.

  Eventually, they arrived at a small glade, and the view in front of them made Benji and his friends come to a halt and stare in amazement.

  “What is that?” Rufus asked.

  “It’s not ordinary,” Lomin said in a solemn voice.

  In the middle of the glade was a large wheel. It was halfway buried in the ground and reached at least 50 feet into the air. It looked like it was made from ordinary stone, but the feeling it gave off made them all refuse to believe that there was anything ordinary about it.

  It feels so…powerful.

  “Hasho, what is that thing?” Benji asked.

  “It’s the Wheel,” Hasho answered like he was looking at an idiot.

  “What-” Benji was about to ask more, but Hasho ignored him and walked up to the giant wheel.

  The crowd of people turned quiet as they watched Hasho approach the wheel and place his hand in the center of it.

  Suddenly, a wind blew. But it was no ordinary wind. It didn’t affect the leaves on the trees or the blades of grass on the ground. It was like it was blowing yet not blowing. It was a feeling that Benji had never experienced before.

  “Do you guys also feel it?” Rufus asked in a serious voice.

  Everyone nodded, and Sahra said, “I feel that something is happening to me, but I don’t know what.”

  “Hahaha!” Hasho roared out in laughter as the strange wind stopped blowing, “All those people I’ve tricked, this journey was worth it. I’m going to be the greatest trickster in the world!”

  “Hasho, how did you do that?” A middle-aged man asked excitedly.

  “I’m telling you, the people outside are extremely easy to fool. Not only is there no danger outside, it’s full of gullible people who believe every single thing you say.”

  “You’re tricking us!” The middle-aged man exclaimed, “Everyone knows that heading outside is the greatest trick there is. No one has fallen for that for ages. You’re just upset that you fell for it when you headed outside, and now you’re trying to trick us.”

  “Believe what you want,” Hasho said with a shrug, a brilliant smile adorning his face. He walked up to Benji, Sahra, Lomin, and Rufus. “Don’t worry, I’ll teach you all how to trick people. It’s the least I can do.”

  “Are you trying to trick us again?” Rufus asked carefully.

  Hasho looked at him in surprise, “You actually didn’t fall for it? Haha, I guess you’re learning. I need to head out again and find other people to trick.”

  Rufus looked at Benji and said, “I say we get the hell out of here.”

  “Agreed,” Sahra nodded

  “I’ll come with you,” Hasho said with a smile, “Wait for a while, and I’ll gather a few friends. They all laughed and called me crazy when I left. I’d like to see what they say now.”

  “Hasho, what is that wheel?” Benji asked, “What did it do to us?”

  “The Wheel is the Wheel,” Hasho said like it was an obvious thing, “Since you’ve been fooled, you naturally have to pay the price. And since I’m the one who fooled you, I naturally get the reward.”

  “What kind of price did we pay?” Benji asked hesitantly.

  Hasho put his hand on his chin and pondered how he should explain it, “I don’t know all the details. But basically, my words carry more weight now, and it will be easier to trick people. And your words carry less weight.”

  “Our words will carry less weight?” Rufus asked.

  “That’s right,” Hasho nodded.

  Rufus exchanged glances with Benji and the other two.

  “Should we…” Sahra said hesitantly.

  “Alright,” Benji said with determination, “We’ll go with you and trick some people.”

  His teammates looked at him in surprise.

  “What? Don’t you want to figure out what happened to us? It’s only tricking a few people. We can compensate them in some way afterward,” Benji reasoned.

  “You’re right. I refuse to suffer a loss. Whatever we lost, we’ll get back tenfold,” Rufus said.

  “That’s the spirit,” Hasho said with a nod, “You have been outside for a long time, so we’ll follow you when we go out.”

  “Alright,” Benji agreed. They would need Hasho’s help to get to the wheel later anyway.

  “I really hope we run into Adion somehow. I’d love to see his face when he realizes he’s been tricked by us,” Sahra said with a grin.

  “Maybe this isn’t a good idea, after all,” Benji said with slight apprehension. He knew his girlfriend well, and she easily got swept into these kinds of things.

  “What are you talking about?” Sahra questioned, “Stop thinking so much. Let’s go trick some people!”

  Sahra laughed as she walked away.

  Yeah. This is definitely a bad idea.