At the House, the three young men waited for Ianina near the door to the main hall. Metello had put on his beloved [Acolyte] robe and golden top hat. They were having a halting chat when Ianina arrived wearing a simple dress and her conic straw hat. All of them were back together, so Roger offered.
“Let's go to the House's tavern. I'll pay you all for a beer to celebrate our first hunt. Sorry Ianina, but the cakes and wine you wanted are too pricey for us for now.”
She released a bored breath and replied with a disappointed tone.
“Too bad. Let's get that beer then. Anyway, I'll need to get used to a life devoid of cakes most of the time.”
As they entered the reception room, Mr Morton called to them.
“Lady and gentlemen, sorry to disturb you. I'm sorry to tell you this, but even if you have important things to do, there is someone upstairs who needs to talk to you first.”
The four young men and women stopped. Metello, for once, was the first to speak.
“What is the matter, Mr Morton ?”
“It's a...serious matter, but I can't give you details on this now. I will only say that it won't be too long and that you shouldn't need to worry too much.”
Ianina spoke up next with an uneasy voice.
“Is it concerning...someone in particular in the squad?”
“Not really. Just go upstairs, and you will know all you need to know. Mrs Jamison is waiting for you in the Nihil's room. It's another matter, but if you have some time after it and want to keep hunting as a real squad, you will have to register it.”
Roger facepalmed.
“That's true! I had forgotten about this. We have to find a squad name.”
Ianina brought him back to the situation by speaking in a dry way.
“But it's not the time for that now.”
The four young hunters slowly walked around the central desk and climbed the stairs. They passed the Menta door, where the library was, and they continued through the corridor to the Nihil's door. Roger knocked on the door, and a mature voice invited them to enter.
Inside, the walls were covered with bookcases filled with shipshape ledgers and papers. In the center, an eight-person rectangular table with its chairs was taking much of the room space. A desk had been placed at the tip of the table, and a middle-aged woman wearing white clothes and a severe face was sitting behind it. She spoke once more with a monotonous voice.
“Thank you for coming. Could you please put down your hats and sit at table two at each side for a moment, please? I have some things to hear from you and some others to tell you.”
They did what told with the sole noise of clothes rustling and chairs crunching on the tiled ground.
“Well. I will first assure myself that you are the people I need to talk to with Identify Person, and then I'll tell you quickly why I called you here. Am I clear? I'll do it now.”
After four uses of her blessing, she proceeded with the meeting.
“Good. You are the right people. Then, let's do it. About an hour ago, a young hunter going by the name of Francis came back from the mines in a sorry mental state. Thank Nihil, he went directly to us to share what happened to him. Are you the four people of the squad he was in at first? Answer me one after the other, please.”
If Metello had looked at Ianina, he would have seen her tense face relax after the woman's words. She even smiled a bit when she gave a “Yes” like the rest of the squad.
“He said that you had put him in danger by deliberately pulling too many monsters. Is it right ?”
Roger was livid. He tried to open his mouth but to no avail. Seeing this, Ianina spoke instead of him.
“Absolutely not. Francis has never been in danger. Roger and I were both in the front lane. He was standing safely in the second lane when we first heard five ratmen coming for us in the first tunnel. I'm pretty sure Francis did not even see the colors of the monsters as he ran back into the safe room at the first rattling noises.”
“So, there was neither intentionality nor danger.”
“Exactly, Madam.”
The monotonous voice of the woman rang again with a bit more strength.
“That's good to hear. Now, for the serious matter. Francis told me that all of you told him about something concerning Nox. That you thought she was going to unleash her undead horde on the Enlightened Lands and that Mr [Duke] Cavendish, our mayor, had intentionally lied and manipulated his people to hide this. What do you have to say about that ?”
Ianina looked silently into the woman's eyes for a few seconds before she replied.
“That's true. We spoke about the prophecy the great [Fulgur Saint] Casey told the world to inform all of us, people of the Enlightened Lands, of the threat of the newly born [Nox Apostle]. To convince Roger and Francis, who were in disbelief, Metello had to speak about what the mayor had done to him with his [Duke] mental blessings. We only spoke the truth, as Nihil, god of Time, Space, and Order encourages us to do.”
“I see that you know how to move your tongue with precision Miss Ianina. Despite that, I only found the truth in what you said. The problem is that sometimes, even the best followers of Nihil have to choose between order and truth as they are not always compatible.”
The woman marked a pause before she continued. Her first following words lessened a bit the [Priestess]'s self-confidence.
“Speaking about order, I don't think you registered as a monster huntress, miss Ianina. Some of this wouldn't have happened if you had. For some cycles now, Every monster hunter coming from outside Ironholes has to swear on their patron god not to talk about the prophecy or leave the city for good. You'll have to do it before going out. Is it clear ?”
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Ianina nodded as silence once again filled the room.
“We won't punish you for what you said, but we want you to know that you should not speak about it ever again. The mayor [Duke]Cavendish is the one to decide what the people need to know to keep order in his city, and order is necessary. If you are caught talking about the prophecy or about [Duke] Cavendish's use of his blessings once more, you'll be at best banned from the town, at worst... I don't know yet, but only a few mad ones among the people accused of treason have found it funny. Is it clear ?”
Once again, she obtained four “yes”.
“Good. If you have no questions, you can go. And don't forget what you can and cannot say.”
Indeed, Metello had no question. But even if he had one, he would prefer to leave it unanswered rather than stay longer in this room. As Roger closed the door behind them, a breath-releasing concert started. Roger was the first to speak with grateful eyes, not minding the lack of applause for the quartet.
“Let's go downstairs. I think that I'm convinced now you were both right. And a big thank you to you, Ianina. I remained frozen almost the entire time of the meeting. I was not ready for this political stuff. I need a beer even more than before.”
Ianina intervened, already almost relaxed.
“Don't forget that the squad and I have to register.”
“Oh well. You're right. I had forgotten, again, but it won't take much time. Let's talk a bit with Mr Morton.”
Ianina had a mischievous smile when she spoke next.
“On this note, what do you think of “Ianina and others” as a squad name ?”
Metello's face showed inconvenience at first, but the desired laugh hit Jeffrey and Roger, and the [Acolyte] understood a bit late it was a joke. He laughed too but was still afraid it was serious. As they went down the stairs, he asked.
“It is a joke, isn't it ?”
“Yes, yes, golden-man. I'm looking for a better name. Perhaps something to do with our objectives, like “Nox bane”? Or “Undead cleaners” ?”
Jeffrey suggested as they were nearly at the desk.
“Or, the Humankind Protectors ?”
“A bit too much for an orphan like me to bear.”
As Mr Morton was already speaking to a group of hunters, they had some time to think about it. It was Roger's time to share his ideas.
“Horde crushers? Saint John successors ?”
Metello timidly added his one with explanations.
“ “The warming light champions”? The warming light stands for the Enlightened Lands that we need to protect, for Ianina. The warming light is what protects our loved ones from the undead too, for Jeffrey. Also, the light and warmness are weapons against Nox and the undead. Finally, the champion part means we are fighters, for Roger.”
All three squad members had stopped to look at the young Lux follower with big eyes. Jeffrey nodded a bit while Ianina was thinking further. Roger was quite pleased with the general idea too.
“I didn't understand all of that, but that sounds not bad. I like the warm light idea a lot, but maybe “The warming light fighters” sounds better.”
“I like it too, even if it is biased toward Lux and Calor. But they are the main gods fighting against Nox, so why not. Nonetheless, I feel that “The warming light fighters” lacks a bit yet.”
“The “Warming Light Protectors” ?”
“Oh yeah! I like it, Jeffrey! I will be the [Paladin] of the Warming Light Protectors.”
“I like it too.”
Roger settled, grinning.
“So do I, fellow members of the Warming Light Protectors squad.”
Behind them, Mr Morton interrupted them, bearing his usual smile and startling Metello and Roger with his low voice. The previous squad had left for a few seconds now.
“It's a bit of a grandiloquent name, but I like it too. Come closer now. I will register it once miss Ianina is officially a copper-rank monster hunter.”
The [Priestess] was a bit confused by his last words.
“What are these ranks ?”
“Oh, it's quite plain. The beginners are copper ranked, then they can grow into tin ranked, silver ranked, and gold-ranked. Above that are the unranked, but you don't meet one often. You have first to have upgraded your class into the epic tier and be level 20 or more to be part of them.”
“Why will I be only copper ranked then? I already have my special tier class and have a level above five. I'm not at the same level as beginners.”
“Not bad. You'll get your tin rank a lot quicker then. But we have to be sure you have some monster fighting experience before upgrading your rank and letting you take on some harder requests. Well, it's mostly the squad rank who counts for this, but they are dependent on individual ranks.”
“What rank are you, Roger ?”
With a proud smile, he replied
“Tin.”
“And your old squad ?”
“We were tin too.”
“OK, let's do this.”
----------------------------------------
After around ten minutes, Ianina was officially a monster huntress, and Metello was part of the Warming Light Protectors. He was pretty happy with the name. He found it heroic enough to be used in a hero story. Once the registering was dealt with, Roger announced solemnly.
“Follow me now, let's get this beer. We more than deserved it.”
They walked out of the House's main hall into the street and turned directly to the right. After a few steps, Metello saw Ianina take off her hat and lower her head behind Roger.
“What is happening, Ian...”
“Shush! Enter the tavern quickly, please.”
They entered the noisy room sparsely occupied by round tables with people around. The [Priestess] quickly went to the farthest unoccupied one and sat with her back facing the door. The three young guys followed and sat with her as she hid her hat under the table. Roger asked his nervous squadmate.
“What happened ?”
With a pained expression, she reluctantly explained.
“Well. I haven't told you the circumstances of how I arrived here. Sorry for that. To sum it up, I could say I ran away from my bodyguard when I was in FarPort. I saw her when we went out of the House. She was waiting at my hotel entrance.”
Roger's loud voice rang in the noisy tavern.
“Four beers for here, please! ”
“Noted!”
He looked at the [Priestess] and added more quietly.
“And you need help so she can't find you. How important of a noble are you? What will happen to us if they find you with the squad?”
“Let's only say that my family is wealthy enough to hire a level 10 [Shield Bearer] as a bodyguard for me. And for...”
“Stop. Don't say more. If I learn more about you and what risks we take by helping you, I don't know if I still would want to do it."
He mumbled a bit to himself.
"Of course, it is too good to be true to find an almost dreamy squad with the same objectives as me. You are all bringing your strength but your problems with you too.”
Roger took a sip of the beer that had been quickly delivered and raised his voice.
“I guess it could be worth the risk. So. What do you need? Tell us what she looks like for a start.”
Ianina released a breath and spoke slowly and quietly.
“Thank you a lot. Her name is Livia. She is a bit taller than me with semi-long brown hair. She's wearing an iron scale mail with a brown cape and leather pants. On the cape is a blood-red sideways neighing horse's head surrounded with two white circles on a silver background.”
“Nox bollocks! It's your family emblem!”
“Yes...”
Roger drank his whole bear and asked for a second. The Warming Light Protectors listened to the noise around them, sipping on their beverage for a few minutes. Metello was lost on what to do. He had only a vague idea of what to fear. Noble's stuff was indeed not his kind of stuff. Finally, Jeffrey's curiosity pushed him to break the table silence.
“How did you escape ?”
Ianina chuckled in her drink.
“I told the [Guards] she was a kidnapper, and I stole a horse. It was pretty simple altogether.”
Roger spoke again too.
“I guess you can't go back to your hotel. Perhaps Metello or Jeffrey could host you, but I can't. I'm still living with my old squad-mates. When I met you this morning, I was going to look for a new home and leave them for good. Let's buy street food in the market and eat it at either of you.”
“Well, we live together for now.”
“Then we don't have to decide where to go.”