"The Inquisition arrived in town," Josefine announced to Cless with a foreboding tone.

"Sorry, Josie, you lost me. Who is the inquisition?" She asked back.

Josefine rolled her eyes, "What are they teaching the clergy these days? Are you really a third tier Cleric. The Inquisition! That Balthus, for crying out loud. The militant arm of the One God church. The ones that..." She stopped with a mischievous smirk.

Cless found annoying how everyone trailed off when they figured out they were going to say too much. Even the barmaid. "The ones that what, Josie?" She asked, reluctant. Cless was expecting to hear something bad.

"Nevermind. You should be wary and don't leave the inn unless you really have to. Take everyone with you and stay together," Josefine told her. "They will take time to get settled outside the town. Funny how none of them will come to stay here."

"The inquisition staying here as guests would make things harder... right?" She was unsure if it wasn't the other way around, given the absurd place that was Karen's inn.

"Maybe. Well, I have work to do. As you like to say, toodles!"

Josefine fled before Cless could do anything. She thought about what she could do to close that knowledge gap she suffered from. She needed to know about the heroes, the church and the state of the world. She had no venue of information regarding the church, as all religious people were either out to get her or followed the Priest's commands, which included not telling her about the church. The state of the world was even worse because she was sure no human in town besides either the Heroes or the Inquisition knew more than the gnomes.

It left knowledge about the heroes. These she could get from the common folk. But who would be willing to tell her the tale? Someone that was... Zoe. Zoe recognized Balthus even though he did something to dissuade her. Zoe knew of the heroes.

"Hey, everyone. We are going out."

With that many outsiders in town, Cless was bound to run into trouble if she walked with her group. She thought of some solution and came up with guild tabards. Yes, guilds usually used tabards to show their allegiance. She would need a symbol for her guild.

The Blind Eye Guild. The symbol was a stylized eye, with a milky white pupil and an unfocused iris made of embroidered rays in blue irradiating out from the milky circle. In some ways, that part alone looked like a cold sun. Then the eyelids and lashes, giving it a dreamy appearance. The blind eye didn't seem to be focusing or looking at something. It looked eerie and intriguing. She moved the lids a little apart to make the eye seem more open. Now it was startling, the eye seemed to be looking at nothing and yet seemed wise.

She wove five tabards for everyone. One more scarf for Silverfang to wear over his neck. They geared up and donned the tabards. It felt nice and warm that sense of unity. Cless was about to leave the inn with her guild when she remembered to ask something to Josefine.

"Josie, any news of Shane's guild that went to recover the weapons and hunt orcs in the foothills?"

The barmaid looked at Cless, then looked away to the east and frowned. "They are still there. I mean, they haven't returned yet."

"Thanks, Josie." Cless left thinking that barmaids were really the prime source of gossip. After all, they always hear the gossip of the patrons.

They went to the armor shop. Their orders should be ready by now. They entered the shop and Zoe's dad was tending the store.

"Guild master, welcome. I take you came to pick your orders, right?"

"Yes. Is Zoe in? I would like to have a couple of words with her. Girl stuff." That always worked in the books she read to scare away the nosy males.

"Of course, guild master. I'll get Zoe and ready your orders."

The armorer went upstairs and soon he came down with Zoe. The man went to the back, probably to get their commissioned gear and Zoe went on to pamper the up-and-rising valued customer.

"Guild Master Cless! Nice tabards, I really like the emblem! So unique! I'm glad you came today, I heard there's a large group of travelers setting up a tent city outside the palisade, can you believe that? I bet a lot of them will need armor repairs, things are going to become hectic here, I hope."

As always, Zoe's speech was like one of those repeating crossbows some novel authors liked to use.

"I heard they are from the church," Cless replied to keep the conversation going.

"Really? From the church? What are they doing here at the end of the world? That's so strange, and they arrive just as the first snow is about to fall, speaking of which, do you think Shane's guild will return before the snow? I don't know, but Patricia is running a betting pool and I'd like to bet too, you know? That is so exciting, two strong guilds coming out from our little town, you guys are surely going out and carve your names in the history of the world, I just hope that you remember those you left behind and maybe help spread the legend of our humble shop and our exclusive product. Speaking of which, would you like to test it now:"

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Excuse me?" Cless couldn't follow Zoe so she just focused on the last part. "Test what?"

"Your new brass-ierres! I have to adjust the wool stuffing before I sew close the inner lining."

"Oh. Sure."

Zoe went and brought the brass-ieres. She led Cless and Venaris to the fitting room.

"Those things look like canoes," The gnome commented. "I thought that female chest armor had two bulges."

Zoe disagreed with a head shake, "No, that is bad. The bulges would only drive attacks to the solar plexus. This shape here deflects blows away from the important vital organs."

"Oh. I see. The heart and lungs." Venaris concluded.

The sales girl stopped for a moment, "Yes, I guess it protects those as well."

They tried and adjusted the fillings to leave little space for bouncing inside the armor pieces. Bouncing in combat was bad, Zoe said. After the girls were satisfied with their chest protectors, they fitted the armor for the boys, including beastkin Silverfang. Both Vic and Kurt had leather helmets, but Kurt's had an opening at the top to let his crest of feathers pop out. Silverfang remained in his beastkin form.

After Cless paid the balance, she proposed to Zoe, "I need to do some consulting with you. Could you take an hour or two off your job? I can pay your wage if that's a problem."

Zoe's eyes shone. She ran to the back and yelled, "Dad! I'm taking a two-hour break! I have business with guild master Cless!"

They moved to a nearby tavern and rented a private booth.

"What do you need me for, Cless? I can call you Cless, can't I? You call me Zoe, we are on a first-name basis, aren't we?"

Cless giggled, "You can call me Cless. I don't have a last name. What I need you to tell me is the story of the heroes."

"What?" Zoe froze.

"Please tell me the tale of the heroes. You know that tale, don't you?"

"is there anyone that doesn't know?"

The five from the Blind Eye guild pointed at themselves. Zoe did a double-take.

"Okay. Here it goes," She cleared her throat and started talking. "Once upon a time, in order to defeat the wicked Infernals and their dreaded dungeons, the humans allied themselves with the benevolent Celestials. Even then, the balance of the endless war was skewed against humanity. The seven most powerful delvers were selected to travel to the Infernal Realm and defeat the Devil himself. I thought Balthus was one of them but I was obviously mistaking him with the legendary Armsmaster Balthus. Homonymous, can you believe? There is no way he would be that young. You see, the seven heroes went into the Infernal Realm seventy years ago."

"Wait. Did they return seventy years ago?" Cless asked. How old would it make Karen and the others?

"No. They went into the infernal realm seventy years ago, but the time there passes differently. They returned less than two decades ago. However, it seems they contracted a taint while in the Infernal Realm, so the heroes scattered to the corners of the world to purify themselves."

Cless thought it must be drivel and misdirection spread by the church. "Just an unrelated question, when was the witch of Witch Hill killed?"

"Thirteen years ago," Zoe answered absentmindedly and then spread her eyes wide open, "It can't be! Do you think the witch was one of the heroes?"

"No, no. I don't think that. In fact, I am absolutely certain that the witch was not one of the heroes." But her mother might be one of them. Or at least related to them. "Was any of the seven heroes reported dead?"

"Now that you ask, no. It would be terrible, wouldn't it? I bet they are all out there, killing monsters right now."

Or probably stopping the inquisition from doing whatever the inquisition used to do. Cless felt a shiver run down her spine. They were there for her, weren't they?

"I have no idea what the seven heroes are doing right now." Not a lie but Cless' words reeked of falsehood. "But who were them?"

"Well, one of them was Armsmaster Balthus. He was one of the few heroes that used no magic, relying purely on techniques and proficiencies. He was called Armsmaster because he could use any weapon. Even things that weren't weapons he used to kill monsters. Some stories say he used a goblin as a weapon to kill a dragon."

"Now, that's an exaggeration!" Cless laughed.

"Right. The second hero was a defensive one. The Justicar, I'm sorry but I only remember Balthus' name because he was my favorite, was a defensive warrior. He was an unstoppable force in the battlefield and could protect his companions. Next came... The Druid. He was a master of both plants and beasts, his magic could call upon the forces of nature themselves into physical manifestation. And then came the only Hero that wasn't human. The Great Sage, it is said to be the last of the elves, a peerless mage that could use any magic spell known under the heavens.

Their rogue was called the Heartfire. Or was hit the Hearthfire? This hero also doubled as their support and logistics expert, a person of many skills. As a specialty, the Hearthfire could create a sanctuary against the evil energies of the Infernal dimension. Without their support, it would be impossible for the mortal heroes to survive there. Their healer was called the Archbishop, a holy man that could sway the hearts of murderers and criminals with his speeches. He could also use Light magic and was that Light that allowed them to complete their task.

For ranged damage, they had the seventh Hero, the one called the Sharpshooter. She used a bow granted by the One God himself and could always hit her mark. Some say she was able to kill a healthy dragon with a single shot."

Cless couldn't help avoid rolling her eyes, "I bet all of them killed a dragon in some fantastic way."

Zoe chortled, "Maybe. It would not be beyond them. I know some less legendary guild master did it not so far away from here," She taunted Cless with a wink.

"Nice. But what did they do while in the Infernal Realm? Why did they need to go there in the first place?" Cless smelled bullshit on several of those descriptions. Probably propaganda and misdirection coupled with hearsay and rumors.

"Why, they went there to end the war! Their mission was to kill the Devil himself! The lord of all Infernals! And they did!" Zoe had a 'no way you didn't know that' face stamped.

"How did they even got to the Infernal Realm?"

"Well, you know how the dungeons are monster breeding pits. They descended into the deepest dungeon known and destroyed its core. With the power of the core, they created a rift to the Infernal Realm and crossed over. When they returned to the human lands, they spread far and wide to avoid contaminating the world with the taint they acquired in the Infernal Realm."

"Wow," Cless faked amusement. "That is quite the tale!"

A tall tale, she meant to say. Cless was sure her mother was one of the seven heroes. Since she was human and not a half-elf, was her mother was the Sharpshooter? Cless was sure her mother was one of the heroes. It made sense. The church was spreading misdirection, the timing of the witch hunt matched her rescue, she would be one or two years old. And she did have a knack with the bow.

Cless felt she was closer to the truth but at the same time things didn't feel right. She would have to unravel the true story of the Seven Heroes if she wanted to go further. And even though she had several of them as her guardians, none of them was willing to talk.

What terrible secrets they were keeping from her?

> Status unchanged.