“It depends.” Lily said. “Their last plan was foiled and it does take some time to arrange a ritual that could feed off so many deaths. Today’s events were triggered by Minerva’s capture. It’s clear that a coup was planned but we likely accelerated their timetable.”
“So we might have dodged a bullet and the cult won’t be able to use this. Or at least not to its full potential.” I said.
I eyed the blood again. “Shani, why is your blob slowly moving towards our new maids?”
“Uh… is it? Must be the wind.” Shani did not sound very convincing.
“Just… dispose of it please. And do not throw it on a person.”
“Fine…”
“My lady…” Iris addressed me. “Now that we are your knights, do you have a spare weapon for us?”
“Oh.” She made a good point. Not only that, she did not have any additional clothing with her. Or a storage artefact. Minerva did not have anything either. And I doubted any shop was open today. “I do have weapons but not a fitting armour. We will have to buy something in the next city.”
In the game you could just equip armour and it would always fit. Sadly that was not the case in this world. All the armors in my storage would be a bad fit. Maybe we could find a smith on our way to the Dominion.
Then I remembered something. “Minerva, when you attacked us you pulled your weapon from a storage, right? Do you still have that?”
“Sorry, I have no idea where it is. Or where my armour and weapons are.” Minerva said.
“Everything she was carrying was left at the hotel.” Lily informed us.
“Oh well. The Inquisition likely looted the place after Loriel left. I am not sure if it’s worth going back. Anyway Iris was using a glaive, right? And you want a sword, Minerva?”
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“My preferred weapon would be a rapier.” Minerva answered.
“Yes, a glaive would be excellent.” Iris said.
Now, did I have anything fancy? I would not be able to top Lily’s naginata. Still, I did have some mithril weapons with basic enchantments. They were quite nice for this world I suppose.
As I handed them their new weapons I announced our plan: “Once Thessia is ready we will leave. Before we go to the Dominion we will make a small detour to a village in the Empire. Afterwards we will likely pass through the Dwarven Kingdom on our way home. Our final destination is the county we were granted. It should be a great place for Josef to do some research. From there we will come up with a strategy to deal with this mess.”
I did not mention Lucy’s parents. They would learn that part once we arrived. It might lead to some interesting questions. Especially since Lucy was turning into a kitsune.
“What shall we do with Eshantri?” Lucy asked. “Do we still want to contact Lilith? Should we wait until we are somewhere else?”
All heads turned towards the demon. “You… you could let me leave. I will tell my superiors that you desire an audience. I am sure we would be able to contact you at an appropriate time…”
Dragging an unwilling succubus with us sounded like trouble. And Lilith would have no problem sending someone to our county once we were there.
“If nobody objects you may leave. But when you report, tell your superiors that I do not look kindly on spies among my people. If we catch another demon trying to fool us… there will be consequences.”
Eshantri swallowed and nodded. Nobody complained so she used her wings and flew away.
We all returned inside and waited for Thessia to finish. It did not take too long and the ritual was prepared. I activated and watched in amazement as her tree changed. It looked like it was covered in a thin sheet of ice. Yet it was not cool to the touch. I stored the entire tree in my amulet.
There was a massive hole left behind. And it occurred to me that with all the roots gone there would be tunnels left. Would they collapse with us on top? The earth rumbled…
“Lazy is waking up!” Shani commented.
Oh. There was an earth elemental. I forgot about that.
“Who disturbs my slumber?” A deep voice asked.
“I should have kept the blood. I could have dumped it on lazy!” Shani complained.
“Why is there a storm elemental buzzing around?” The question was asked in a normal voice that sounded slightly annoyed.
“The temple is being relocated.” Thessia explained. “A civil war has started in the Empire and there is fighting all over Unitera. The Inquisition is using mind control and I got involved by helping a victim. Do you wish to accompany us to the Dominion?”
“WHAT?” Shani exclaimed. “You want to take lazy with you? He is useless!”
“My name is not lazy! I am a great lord of the earth! I am the great protector of this place, chosen by Sylphania herself! I am Terath.”
I scratched my head. “You sure failed in the whole protecting part earlier.” I said.
“HAH!” Shani exclaimed. “I bet he is not chosen by anything! He just liked sleeping under a giant tree! Unlike myself. I am helping one of the greatest ladies of the fey! I helped create a knight and slaughtered countless enemies in her name!” Shani paused, looking around. “Damn, this would have been so much cooler if I still had the blood…”
“Sylphania’s blessing has allowed Terath to remain in this world for an infinite amount of time. In exchange he is helping us.” Thessia clarified.