"Well, let's just hope our friends here are going through preparations of their own that require more time than ours. Not seeing or hearing any mention of them for two weeks is worrying." Mr. Bentley stated.

"What about Furor, have you heard from him recently?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yesterday. Even he seemed shocked they haven't done anything yet."

They continued discussing other topics until Elizabeth had talked about all she needed. Just as she was about to leave she remembered one more thing.

"I know this is confidential Mr. Bentley but do you feel we could discuss the reason the cult kills people with other adventurers?" She asked with a stern expression.

"As I've told you before, this is something only a few people in the kingdom know about. Besides, who knows what sort of people would want to figure out how to make or experiment with the crystals they produce." Mr. Bentley firmly responded.

"That is true but I feel if they're risking their lives against these people, they at least to know how they operate and how strange this whole thing is."

"Strange?" Mr. Bentley asked as he tilted his head.

"Think about it, I've had the displeasure of running into them a few times. Plus with our operation several weeks ago, of the locations we attacked, only two had any cultists. In total, we encountered twice the amount I've encountered by myself."

"Yes, what seems to be the problem?" Mr. Bentley.

"Well, it just seems odd they've chosen to attack us. With the level of people we've seen from them, it'd make more sense if they used them to kill more villagers and continue to evade us." Elizabeth bluntly stated.

"I thought you of all people would know people aren't logical creatures, Elizabeth." Mr. Bentley remarked.

"I know but… are you sure they haven't attacked any villages recently?" Elizabeth asked.

"Not to my knowledge. We have a few adventurers who volunteer every day to check on local villages." He responded.

Elizabeth looked stumped. ("I could at least see them possibly trying to take advantage of our initial wariness of them to attack a few villages but they haven't done so. What are they planning?")

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"Don't worry Elizabeth, we'll find out, all in due time." He said.

"Let's just hope, when we find out, we can deal with whatever they throw at us."

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In front of the mansion, Tina and Tibaut were having a light spar. He managed to land punch after punch on her but she took them like a brick wall.

("Damnit have my punches really gotten that soft?") He wondered to himself.

("God, why the fuck do these sting so much!?") She cursed in her head.

While his punches had gotten weaker, Tina was also throwing herself at him a lot more brazenly trying to exploit this newfound weakness. Their luggage hadn't been delivered yet so she "borrowed" a spear she found in Vanessa's workshop.

("But still, I'm not even using my own spear and I've got him on the ropes.")

She got him on the defensive more than he'd like and for the first time in ages, Tina saw victory in sight.

("Damnit I'll have to use my magic.") He thought to himself before he shot off a fireball at her while trying to keep distance between them. She smirked and easily dodged.

("I've gotten him to actually take this fight seriously. It is regretful this had to happen while you were weakened but a win is a win, Tibaut.")

She jumped into the air and swung a spear downwards, towards him. He barely managed to dodge it and instinctively shot a fireball at her. She blocked it with the spear but…

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"Hey Tibaut, do you know if Elizabeth has any more of those potions?" Tina asked.

She and Tibaut both had tweezers in their hands while she sat on a stool. She seemed pleased with herself and had a rare smile on her face.

"I feel like they'd be overkill for you Tina." Tibaut was looking less enthusiastic.

"I don't want to hear that from you," she responded as she looked down her chest.

She had blocked the fireball from chest height. Thankfully she didn't have any burns on her but the blast had destroyed the spear's shaft… which was made from wood. It sent splinters into her body. Tibaut had to concede the spar before she stopped trying to attack him.

"But I suppose you're allowed to sour today since I won." Tina boasted.

"Uh, sure. (We were having a spar, not a deathmatch.)" Tibaut responded, unsure why she was so pleased with herself.

"But you really should let me keep going. Don't think I'll stop the next you say you quit. A man should be able to take as much of a beating as he can give. Ow."

Tibaut pulled out a splinter and nodded his head. "If you say so. It is a shame your spear isn't here, then this wouldn't have happened."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it would have been able to take the blast."

"The blast? There wouldn't have been one in the first place." He said as he pulled out another splinter.

"?"

She looked at him confused. "What are you talking about? The blast would happened anyway."

"Huh? Isn't your spear made out of Disiponium?" He asked.

She responded sounding dumbfounded. "What? No, it's an alloy of Mithril. I don't have anywhere the amount of money for something like that (Well, the spear wasn't cheap either). It helps me course my mana through it. Disiponium would only be useful as a spear tip, not the whole thing."

"Huh… So you would've taken the blast anyway!?!" Tibaut asked concerned.

"I mean, it probably would have left my hands a bit sore but why wouldn't I?"

Tibaut wondered if he should ever use magic on her when Elizabeth wasn't around.

("Shit I might accidentally kill her if I don't regain my strength.") He thought to himself.

A few minutes passed and the pair eventually removed all the wood splinters from her.