“So there are classes that might be able to reconstruct what happened here just based on the remains, is that what you’re saying?” asked Esperanza with some urgency after Ani reminded her of a possibility that could happen after they had left. The prospect of someone being able to show what had happened at the monastery in detail was most definitely something Esperanza had no desire in allowing to happen.

“To some extent, yes. Some of our hunters in Agur-Bas had a similar skill that allowed them to retrace things from markings and things like droppings. I once saw one create such a scene in order to track a particularly wily pack of weasels that got too close to our place, recreating the creature’s image and following it back to its lair,” explained Ani more elaborately. “If a hunter could do that, it would not surprise me if the Kingdom has people who specialize in doing such things. It would be a great boon for investigating crimes and the like.”

“Are there ways to mess with such skills? To make them see less, or at least fail to get the details?” Esperanza queried. She was naturally concerned about keeping the nature of her group a secret, as it was rather telltale for humans to be working together with demons. Only people who hadn’t fallen under the usurper gods’ sway would even consider doing that at all. “Anything at all we could work with?”

“Well, I cannot be completely certain with such hypothetical classes since I have no experience with them, but with our hunter, the fresher and more complete the source he tracked, the better the result. A freshly killed corpse gives the best results,” said Ani after some thought. “Based on that, I would assume that incomplete remains that had been left out for longer would give worse results by nature.”

“Hmm… This place is pretty secluded, but even if we left them alone, someone would come and check when they notice the people here failing to show up to get supplies like they usually do,” noted Esperanza as she silently calculated in her mind. “Given the travel distance, it would probably go unnoticed for a couple of weeks? Probably not enough time for the bodies to rot properly to render them unusable to such skills.”

“Anywhere from less than a week to a month or more, I’d say, depends on the frequency at which they descend the mountain for supplies,” said Ani in affirmation. Esperanza had heard that the monastery’s people would regularly get supplies from the nearest towns and villages from her interrogation, but she had not asked about their schedule at that time. It felt a little superfluous to manifest a soul just to ask that now.

“I’ve decided. Have everyone gather the corpses up and stuff them into the building. Tell those who were watching out for escapees to bring theirs over as well,” said Esperanza after she thought for a while. If the time factor couldn’t be relied on, then she’d just damage the remains until even people with skills like what Ani described couldn’t get any decent information out of them. “Oh, get those corpses from further inside the complex and stack them up as well. Don’t want to accidentally miss one by leaving them lying deeper in.”

“As you wish, Exalted One,” replied Ani as she turned and gave the command. Everyone started to work right away and dragged the corpses into the monastery complex, while a couple of Ani’s people went deeper in to fish out the ones taken down during Esperanza and Ani’s rampage inside. Several others went out to collect the dead bodies of the escapees taken down by those who stayed outside as sentries.

“Iryl, can you help me out a bit? Follow me,” Esperanza called out and beckoned. Iryl came over as asked with a puzzled look on her face, then the two of them went into the complex, to an area that Iryl soon realized was likely a kitchen of some sort. “Help me look for oil or grease of some sort. They ought to have some for cooking.”

The two of them rummaged through the kitchen for a while before Iryl finally found a large earthen jar full of oil, which Esperanza then directly lifted and carried back out. By the time they walked back out of the monastery complex, the corpses had mostly been gathered inside the large chamber nearest the entrance, since it was the closest place with enough space to stuff the bodies in.

While the others stuffed the last few corpses in the chamber, Esperanza and Iryl went to work and doused everything with the oil. The corpses, the furniture, even the rooms themselves were all doused quite thoroughly, and they even took care to make paths leading deeper into the monastery. From there Esperanza’s decision was obvious.

She simply planned to burn it all and leave nothing for others to work with.

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Esperanza had also taken the time to browse the Monastery’s library and took away all the books she felt might be of use, like the ones that concerned history and other books that might help polish their knowledge of the kingdom. She left the religious ones behind, though, as after a quick glance she could already tell that they were heavy on propaganda and indoctrination, and thus weren’t worth her time, much less space in her [Soul Storage].

As such she left them behind and even tore some up, spreading the sheets all over to act as kindling for the fire to catch on when the time comes. The books were made of some sort of crude paper, probably something made from processed bark or the like, rather than from wood pulp. Due to its nature, they were naturally highly flammable, and served perfectly for the purpose she had in mind.

Got to start the fire properly to make sure it would burn everything, after all.

Sure, the fire that resulted would likely be visible from the nearby towns and villages, and that would prompt them to check on the situation much sooner, but on the other hand, all that would be left would be ashes by the time they got to the monastery. She considered it an acceptable trade-off, all considered. The bodies of third tier people might be more resistant to fire than normal, but in such a mass cremation chamber, the heat would build up until even they turned to ashes as well.

As the saying went, when there was nobody left alive to testify about what happened, it counted as having done things stealthily as well. The people who investigated the crime scene later would naturally realize that whatever happened was likely done by others, given how all the bodies were neatly stacked in one room and care was taken to ensure that the whole monastery burned down, but even then they would be short on clues either way, because everything would have burned to ashes long ago by then.

Once everyone was done setting things up, Esperanza picked up a torch and casually threw it at a puddle of oil they left on purpose at the monastery’s entrance. From there, the fire spread rapidly along the volatile fluid’s path, where it caught on to anything and everything flammable in its path. The group stayed and observed until the fire spread further into the monastery, and only left when the whole complex had been set ablaze, burning brightly in the darkening evening.

As she watched the blaze devour the monastery – and the bodies inside – Esperanza had to admit that there was a rather surreal beauty to the sight. She sort of understood why some people were so mesmerized by the beauty of the flames to the point that they would commit arson just to witness more of it, even if she could not sympathize with such people herself. Understanding did not mean agreement, after all.

Given the size of the blaze in the dark, it was inevitable that any nearby town or city to the south of the mountain range would notice it. Within a few days, people would arrive and investigate the incident, though by then there should be nothing left but ashes and dust. With a shake of her head, Esperanza finally turned away from the mesmerizing sight and beckoned for the others to follow her.

They headed further west from the monastery, keeping their route away from inhabited areas for the most part since any stranger might be looked at with suspicion so close to such an incident. Fortunately the human Kingdom was sparsely inhabited for its size, and other than the times where they had to cross the main roads, the party managed to sneak their way through forests, mountains, or dungeons where people rarely tread.

Esperanza imagined that an incident the scale of the monastery burning down and all its inhabitants slain would not go unnoticed. She felt that it shouldn’t take long for anyone with a brain to realize that the monastery was slaughtered while missing most of its best fighters, and from there not much longer for the realization that those best fighters likewise met with misfortune to kick in.

By then they would have to conclude that some party annihilated the monastery, but they would lack the motive and the culprit, and would only be able to guess. Given the ongoing and intensifying state of the war, the demons would likely shoulder the blame for her again, which was a state of affairs Esperanza was perfectly fine with.

After all, there was no reason to refuse such a convenient scapegoat when she needed one.

It was only after the group traveled westwards for a whole week that Esperanza called for a rest stop and sent the humans in the group – herself included – to the nearest small town to look for the latest news and information. Unsurprisingly, news about the monastery’s burning had yet to spread to the town, given its distance and the recency of the incident.

Instead, what they heard from the gossip amongst the townsfolk – and some soldiers returning from the frontlines for recuperation from their injuries – was that the human forces stationed further south had recently managed to take over a large demon base that used to be a human city. The good news was marred with rumors that the demons had countered and conquered a fort further west, though, which dampened the mood some, even if it remained unsubstantiated rumors as of yet.

When the group gathered once more and discussed the news, they were uncertain on how they should react to it. After all, a shift in the border would make their current plans somewhat more complicated. After some discussion amongst themselves, the group finally agreed to head further west to see the situation near the fort that the demons had supposedly taken over.

Naturally, they needed to watch for other people and take extra care to cover their tracks since they were approaching the frontline of the war. Soldiers from both sides were naturally more vigilant in the area in question, which meant that the group had to sneak around patrols at times. Unfortunately, from the fort the demons had taken, there were two large towns along the road that led there, so it was difficult for them to gauge which side they should head to.

For the time being, Esperanza bid the majority of the group to hide themselves in the forests further north-east of the town proper. She herself, along with the other human members of their group, headed towards the town in small groups to gather information. Despite the higher vigilance, they managed to sell the impression that they were locals who lived further south that ran to the town in order to avoid the demons.

It was far from uncommon for refugees to head to the nearest large town or city in such cases, and there were a multitude of villages between the towns and the fort now occupied by the demons, so the excuse got them smoothly into town.