Veiled Machinations (2)
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A strange silence lingered in the air after I asked Lennon about his own death, he didn’t show any overbearing reactions this time, instead, he just stared down at me with furrowed brows.
“.....That’s an interesting question, in fact, it’s almost too interesting. It’s almost as if you find the circumstances surrounding my death suspicious. I died in battle against the basilisk, isn't that the story that’s being passed down?”
“Yeah, that is the official story. If you just took that at face value, then that story definitely holds up, but....the more I learn about your situation, the less believable it sounds, there’s just too many loose ends.”
“Oh? Then why don’t you enlighten me child, what about my death do you find so perplexing?” Lennon’ voice rained down on me with a mix of authority and intrigue, even though we were standing in a wide-open space, it sounded as if his voice was echoing from all around me, ricocheting off nothing but the vast expanse of the pre-dawn sky.
“This town, Zale, it's a good distance away from the other major cities in Ekin and is relatively small compared to them. On top of that there isn’t much in the way of a fighting force here, not when compared to other cities and it's not under the protection of any wardens either. At face value this place really didn’t have anything to offer in terms of value, so the lack of security could easily be overlooked.”
“What are you getting at?”
“Heh....You heard me, ‘at face value’ there really wasn’t much in the way of an incentive to attack this place, but you have something here that could completely change that perception don’t you Lennon...... The rune.”
His eyes narrowed just then; the moment I mentioned the rune I could feel the subtle shift in his aura.
“You know about the rune? Just how-”
“I’m not done yet. The rune is certainly valuable, if anyone with malicious intentions knew it was here, they’d jump at the chance to get their hands on something so valuable, after all this was just a small town, if it was to ever face an all-out invasion then it would be ravaged before any reinforcements could even cover half the distance to get here. But such a straightforward tactic wasn’t a surefire way to secure the rune. In the worst-case scenario, you’d likely just entrust it to someone and have them flee from here.”
“You’re quite perceptive for your age, I’ll give you that, but how does any of that tie into my death? There’s never been any attempt at such an invasion.”
“That’s true, you were a level two Raider after all, one that even had a reputation in the capital. Word must have spread about the mage unit you established here so given your reputation and the people under your command, it wasn’t that hard for your mere presence here to act as a deterrent for bandits. Am I right, Lennon?”
His eyes slowly began to widen after hearing my explanation, but he quickly composed himself. Narrowing his eyes at the sight of the smile now on my face, he paused for a moment before speaking.
“......Continue.....Let’s see just how far you can take this.”
“Alright. I’m sure you know a man by the name of Oliver Rocco.”
“Yeah he-wait, you said your name was Liam Rocco just now, If I'm remembering this correctly his wife was pregnant back then....so that must mean...”
“Correct, I’m his son. Since you were alive when they came here, that means we barely missed each other.”
Lennon grasped his hazy face with his glowing palm, I heard a dry chuckle come from his shrouded visage before he promptly released his grip and muttered something.
“Fate really is a funny thing. Go on son of Oliver, show me where you’re going with all this.”
The subtle tension coming from him just now was gradually starting to dissipate, I suppose I owe that to Oliver, using his name just now sparked a favorable reaction from Lennon that even I couldn’t predict.
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“Then let's go back to when my father first came here on a mission a little over four years ago. That was around when the Basilisk first started attacking this place, but the ‘party’ my father was a part of managed to fend it off. They couldn’t kill it because my mother wasn’t in the best of conditions at the time, and my father had to constantly be by her side. So you, the only other person capable of defeating it requested aid from your old party members, Brunhilde. Isn’t that right?”
“Yeah, I hadn’t seen them for a while and they just so happened to be in the area, what of it?”
“Just happened to be in the area, huh? The way I see it, that’s a little too convenient. I don’t know if you’ve realized it, but that Basilisk is back, the mage unit that you’ve left behind is pretty much crippled after it ambushed them a few weeks ago...even your son Isaac got caught up in it.”
“Isaac!? Is he alright!?” The mention of his son’s name threw the lifeless man into a panic, it seems as if the flustered expression now on his face could hardly even convey the distress he was feeling.
“Yeah, there a few casualties, but he wasn’t one of them.”
“Tch!....Damn it.....” Lennon’s gaze fell to the now shimmering ground, it would be hard for him to deny any of my claims given how hard he was clenching his own fist right now.
“......What about your father? What was he doing?”
“My father agreed to join the hunt, but multiple sightings of the basilisk were going around so they were forced to branch out, my father went to a secluded location to face the monster on his own, but that ended up being a dead end. And now, Zale’s fighting force isn’t in any condition to defend this place, so they have no choice but to ask for outside help, and that help coincidentally ended up being your old party members.”
“..................”
His silence was enough of a response on its own, without a doubt; he knew exactly where I was going with this.
“I’m sure you realize by now, but this is starting to seem a little too convenient- No, its not even making sense anymore. Having the exact same party show up here twice to bolster the towns defenses against the same monster clearly isn’t working, they couldn’t even watch your back the last time so how exactly are do they plan on killing it this time?”
The specter heaved a sigh, it wasn’t done out of necessity, but more so out of habit.
“So its that obvious huh? And here I thought the story seemed plausible.”
That sigh just now must have been his subtle declaration of surrender.
“You win. Four years ago, when I went after that basilisk, I was killed. To think a little brat like you would be the one to figure it out.....” His somber tone radiated an aura of utter defeat, it was far sooner than I’d anticipated but that simply meant this conversation was now finally on track.
“No, I think Vreena and the others have already figured out that much, but from their reactions it seems like they just don’t plan on asking for any outside reinforcements since it could lead to other people hearing about the rune that's here. Conflict was always going to be the end result; they were probably just waiting until after the basilisk was dealt with.”
“Vreena huh? I haven't heard that name in a long time....”
He stared up at the twinkling sky with a hint of regret in his eyes, that look was something I’d seen far too many times to ever mistake it.
“You were testing me just now, weren’t you?” My abrupt question snapped him out of that tranquil daze.
“So you realized....I had to be certain you see. Just to make sure this wasn’t a ruse to get information out of me.”
“So? Is this starting to seem a little more reasonable in your eyes?” He gave me a once over, uncertainty now blatant on his face.
“I suppose so, I’ve seen a lot of things after being dead for so long. A cunning child sneaking out at night to question the dead doesn’t seem too far-fetched.”
“Heh-Heh....I’m glad you see it that way so let me ask another question. Are you willing to cooperate with my plan?”
“I’m not sure what you mean by that, but I want you to tell me something first....”
“Hm? What is it?”
“Since when did you start being suspicious of all this?”
“From the very beginning. It was far too suspicious for Oliver to be missing in action whenever that monster showed up, and besides, those Brünnhilde guys are using a giant wolf monster to search for the basilisk. Even though that was far too conspicuous for a supposedly discreet mission; nonetheless, with that monster's sense of smell they could have easily found the basilisk if they really wanted to.”
Lennon floated closer towards me, his glowing visage now portraying an expression that conveyed the purest essence of shock. He chuckled to himself almost mockingly before finally calming down.
“You’ve piqued my interest Liam, tell me more about this plan of yours.”