While Arthur took Amare to lure out Addy, Evelyn headed to Smithy Town along with Mort and Furball.
Mort was an undead, a zombie to be specific, but he was different from the rest. When Arthur had left him wander alone recently, Mort had hunted down beasts and consumed their flesh and blood, thus empowering himself and slightly changing his appearance.
His skin wasn’t as rotten as before and he talked less incoherently than before, however, he still strongly resembled a zombie.
Nevertheless, Evelyn equipped him with an overly-large hood that hid his face and repeatedly instructed him to walk normally and keep his mouth shut, which he reluctantly did.
As for Furball, there was no need to hide it as the existence of familiar, sentient or not, wasn’t non-existent in Astria. Admittedly, it was rare to encounter the so-called ‘Beast Tamers’, but they weren’t abhorred and exterminated like Black Mages and Necromancers, so Evelyn did not mind passing off as a Beast Tamer.
The trip to Smithy Town, which was famous for its veteran Blacksmiths and the abundance of top-quality armors and weapons, was relatively short and peaceful.
However, as Evelyn was getting closer and closer to her destination, she started feeling uneasy. She was taking the main road, and although the settlement was situated in the middle of a dense forest, it was still frequently visited by merchants, travelers, and adventurers.
Yet, she encountered no one and the dirt road was suspiciously ‘clean’, as in it didn’t have any marks of carriages or wagons.
Fully alert, the stone-faced maid slid her twin blades to her hands and slowed down her march as she looked around.
When the three had finally reached the entrance of Smithy Town, which had a medium-sized wooden sign to the side, Evelyn smelled the fresh and nauseating scent of blood.
Furball jumped from Mort’s shoulder and screeched as its eyes shone with an ominous red light. It was becoming erratic but it didn’t charge ahead and, instead, stayed near Evelyn’s feet with its snow-white fur erect and its claws digging into the dirt as it tried to control itself.
‘Smithy Town may be a peaceful settlement, but it does have its fair share of veteran and retired Knights as well as hidden powerhouses. I don’t think this was Addy’s doing… but the lack of any presence is making me unsettled.’
The maid warily entered the town with the absent-minded Mort and the erratic rabbit behind her, and soon enough, she saw dozens of bodies scattered across the road, in front of the building, and near the small stalls by the side.
As she expected a tragedy to have unfolded, Evelyn slowly approached one of the corpses and inspected it, but she couldn’t determine what killed everyone.
There were no exterior wounds; The bodies were literally intact, which made this whole thing more odd and frightening, especially since the smell of blood was still dense and lingering in the air.
The only conclusion Evelyn came up with was that this was the doing of one of the secret organizations. Still, as far as she knew, none of the said organizations would kill everyone and just leave. Usually, there would be an inhumane ritual to summon their evil god or an offering to appease the deity they worshipped.
Evelyn proceeded to inspect three more corpses but it was exactly the same. The total lack of evidence made her unable to determine the cause of death.
“It looks more like a mass suicide.” Mumbled the maid as she drew a cold breath and stood up.
The bodies littering the town notwithstanding, Evelyn did not go out of her way to conduct a thorough investigation. If anyone else came here, she would most likely be suspected. Although she didn’t feel that ignoring this whole affair was a good thing, she didn’t have the means to find the culprit, and nor was she inclined to do so, especially with her ‘master’ being chased by a lunatic.
“Then again, he would be pleased to see so many corpses.” She added while letting out a self-depracting laugh.
She agreed with the parasite to meet here, but she had to find a good place to hide and remain out of view. Moreover, she needed to find a good replacement for her weapons.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Now that the residents of Smithy Town were all dead, Evelyn did not shy away from browsing the empty shops and stalls and looking for a suitable pair of blades.
Eventually, after half an hour, she found something she liked. She also stored a couple of corpses in the ring Arthur had lent her.
When she completed her objective, she visited all the buildings in the town and, surprisingly, in the basement of one of them, she found an ominous circular drawing.
Although she didn’t know its meaning and didn’t recognize it, it wasn’t difficult to guess its origin. Whether it was the cryptic runes, the frightening drawn image, or the twin red circles drawn with blood, all of those were commonly used symbols found in the nests of the maniacal disciples of the secret organizations such as the Brutal Prince Order, The Sun Alchemists, and the Unholy Blasphemers.
This forest, which was South of Blackcrest, had two main settlements; Smithy Town and Warmcross, the former known for its impeccable weapons and armors, and the latter for the abundance of magical artifacts and useful charms, which could only be found in the Despot Collective.
As much as she wanted to check the situation in the neighboring town, Evelyn decided against it and, soon, found a suitable and inconspicuous spot. There, she waited for the parasite’s arrival along with the bored undead and the still-alert vampiric Rabbit.
----------------------------------------
Arthur led his hostage, Amara Na Xivia, to a quiet and relatively secluded spot somewhere in the lush forest. It was as good of a place as any, and though he knew that this wasn’t a permanent solution, he didn’t have any other alternative, at least for now.
Marjory Na Xivia was one of the five Original Vampire, someone who had lived for an absurdly long time, therefore, provoking her by eliminating her youngest daughter would be outright suicidal and foolish.
Then again, he didn’t want Amare to be hot on his tail and attacking at every given chance, which made him carefully deliberate on this mind-wracking dilemma.
“What is that you want from Rodrick exactly?”
The long bout of silence was broken by the parasite, whose question made the young girl slightly turn her head and look at him with her unique violet eyes.
She kept her counsel and contented with just giving him a piercing stare, to which he clicked his tongue and added,
“It won’t do us any good if you keep being uncompromising. Maybe if you could enlighten me a bit, we could reach a mutually favorable agreement. After all, I can see that you want to avoid unnecessary bloodshed too.”
Unfortunately, Amare did not give a response again.
“Alright, then…”
As she refused to give any answer, Arthur didn’t dwell on it and proceeded to tie her to a solitary tree. He tightly bound her whole body to the thick trunk and put a temporary barrier that would disappear over time.
Given the available skills in his arsenal, this was the best he could do.
“Remember that, next time, it won’t end like this.”
He smiled and waved his hand at her as he calmly walked away, not noticing her eyes fixated on his back.
…
Arthur retraced his steps and after an hour or so, returned to the main road. However, he wasn’t given the chance to head to Smithy Town as saw horses riding his way.
At first, he thought about hiding, but stopped at the last second and simply stood at the side of the road, watching as a small group of cavalry approached.
As he had expected, they stopped close to him; They were all riding robust horses that were bigger than average as well as simple but efficient protective armor. Additionally, the men themselves wore a special and distinguishable silver and white set of armors with the Holy Church’s symbol engraved on their long white capes.
‘They seem to be Holy Knights like that young man from before. Why are they here, though?’
Arthur acted normally by performing an elegant bow toward the Holy Knights, a soft and friendly smile plastered on his face.
Alas, despite his amicable greeting, the response he got was the total opposite. A middle-aged man with long blond hair frowned and got off his horse, suspiciously scrutinizing the parasite.
“You! Who are you and what are you doing here?”
“My name is James. A humble traveler hoping to visit Smithy Town… is there a problem?”
“Visit?”
The man examined every inch of Arthur, whether it was his normal traveling bag, his plain clothes, or his unique characteristics. Leonis Sanguis looked like a noble and his dark red hair made it hard to group him with commoners or adventurers. Nevertheless, the Holy Knight wasn’t attentive enough as his mind seemed to be preoccupied with something else.
“Smithy Town and Warmcross will be barricaded. No one is allowed entry, so return whence you came.”
After saying his piece, the blond Holy Knight turned around while flapping his cape and rode away along with the rest. Arthur wasn’t even given the time to ask about anything so he just stood there, pondering with a deep frown.
‘Evelyn has already gone ahead. Still, I can see what’s going on without attracting attention.’
Even with the new storage ring in Evelyn’s hand, Arthur still had the old bag, which had the Little Bunting and the other two human bodies.
So, after finding a secure spot, he switched hosts and soared to the sky, easily locating his destination. Without having to worry about being stopped, Arthur reached the settlement within minutes and saw its unexpected state; Corpses lying all around, a strong scent of blood, and a deafening silence. It had become a ghost town.