Feyre
Thankfully, the other four left her alone for the most part. She did have one she liked more. She didn't know why she liked them, she just did. They seemed quite honest and likable. They'd been happy to help her although how much they actually helped is another thing. Feyre thought it was the thought that counts and rested for the better half of a day. By the time she was fully rested and no longer tired from her time without sleep since death she was quite happy to answer questions. The first one she got was of no surprise to her but she avoided it as she had planned in her head ever since she had met them.
"So where are you heading Miss Inquisitor?"
That was Karrlund's first question. It seemed the other two weren't happy with him for that and glared before Feyre answered.
"Oh you know, I was just in the area. I much prefer travelling with others than alone. Dire Wolf caught me off guard as I was about to stop waiting for a friend, they didn't turn up however thought I might as well travel with some fellow... Devotees."
Feyre smiled at them from beneath her helmet. It seemed like a perfectly reasonable excuse to her. Looking around her smile dropped. If anything they seemed even more nervous around her now.
"Miss Inquisitor? If I may be so bold as to ask... How did you know Karrlund's name?"
That was Tyrril, The merchant one who was quite rotund. He certainly hadn't missed a meal recently. Although Feyre wondered if it might be something deliberate to make people see him as less cunning than his [Intuition] stat implied. She chuckled to herself and everyone blanched. She quickly realised why and spoke up.
"Ah, no no. I wasn't laughing at you Mister Tyrril I assure you."
The whole groups faces were as white as snow and Feyre cursed herself silently as she watched what little colour remained on the faces drop. She felt a sudden need to explain but doubted they'd believe her so she just started spouting some random spiel about [The System]'s blessings. It wasn't technically a lie so she saw no harm in it.
"Lighten up. All so tense. [The System] has granted me the greatest ability I could have been given I have a skill I cannot say yet I assure you, none of you are under suspicion... from me specifically."
She looked at Pavolia unintentionally. The effect was a bonus to all but her. Of course when saying that final line she should obviously have not looked directly at the [Ex-Heretic] but bygones be bygones and it was irreversible now. A look of recognition passed over Tyrril's face as she mentioned her [Skill] so obviously there was at least one or two who could at minimum see the names of others.
Feyre didn't really know if this information was good news or bad news. What if it is seen as heresy to check other people's status'. She shook her head and smiled at the group beneath her helmet again. None of them saw it of course but it was an instinctual thing Feyre did when with people nervous towards her. Poor Pavolia however was shaking like a leaf and wringing her hands. She looked like she wanted to say something but couldn't with the others around. Feyre paid her no heed for now but decided she'd corner her alone if and when the group made camp.
"Miss Inquisitor? May I also ask a question?"
It was Emrik this time. The Ex-Thief. She nodded and cocked her head to the side. He continued.
"Would you say we could've beaten the Dire Wolf?"
Feyre laughed but quickly stopped herself. That was rude and she knew it.
"Sorry, that was unbecoming of me and completely uncalled for. Unfortunately, I do not think your efforts could have quelled the beast. Although perhaps you could hold it off while Mister Tyrril got help from nearby. Emrik right? Don't look so down. It's part of my job to be this untouchable. That Dire Wolf isn't made to be killed by normal people. If [The System] even made it to be killable... System damned mutt took forever to put down."
She patted his head but realised something she should probably do around an Ex-Thief, just in case he went back to his old ways. She decided to lean down to his height, since she was quite tall, and whisper as to not embarrass him in front of his group.
"Keep your hands away from my pockets though, are we clear?"
She leant back and watched him nod quickly. He looked perturbed but not as bad as he did a few seconds ago when she revealed she knew everyone's names.
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Karrlund
He watched as the Inquisitor leaned in and whispered something to Emrik which made him pale. Karrlund usually didn't pry into fellow Guildmates' backgrounds, everyone joined the guild to flee from something, but this could end bad. The Inquisitor said she specifically wasn't after any of them but Pavolia's face and now Emrik's made him wonder if they'd somehow managed to anger the Inquisition and this Lieutenant just couldn't be bothered. She'd said she was waiting for a friend and had given up on waiting when she was attacked by the Dire Wolf, but he had no idea who an Inquisitor Lieutenant would call a friend. Perhaps it was another Inquisitor she didn't wish to expose to them. Perhaps there was already an Inquisitor nearby and she was meant to either report to him or System forbid, they were reporting to her.
He struggled with his emotions for a while before sighing. He knew Inquisitors were described as eccentric at the best of times but he doubted he or the [Adventurer's Guild] could stop the Inquisition. Only one Inquisitor was ever known for taking bribes, and he used those bribes to hire assassins to do what he was going to do anyway. All of them are fanatics of [The System] at the minimum, which Karrlund could understand. He himself prayed to the system quite often. Almost as if reading his thoughts the Inquisitor spoke again.
"So... What time do you lot usually stop for rest and... pray?"
Karrlund flinched. He knew some Inquisitors enforced praying stops on Carriages they commandeered and he didn't know why he had hoped this one would be different. After all the Inquisitor had a super rare [Skill] gifted by the System and was a [Lieutenant] rank in the Inquisition. If she wasn't a complete zealot he'd probably wonder what sort of craziness was going on inside the Theocracy.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
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Emrik
Emrik saw Karrlund look at him and Pavolia before going into his deep thought state like he sometimes did. He saw the Inquisitor noticed this too and when she asked that loaded crossbow of a question he felt a need to speak up.
"We usually pray just before bed Miss Inquisitor..."
He hoped that was enough to placate her and that the others would catch on to this and make it look like they usually prayed before bed.
His thoughts were cut off by the Inquisitor reaching for her sword. Moments later he heard a horn and the carriage stopped. Tyrril's eyes widened but Karrlund picked him up and put him in the Carriage. Emrik saw them then. Tens of bandits all just inside the treeline. This was bad. The Inquisitor might suspect them of doing this, especially if she knew of his days back when he was a [Thief].
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Feyre
She growled as she saw the bandits. She'd been practicing on having her Inspect show only names but then she realised she couldn't see classes, not even her own. So she had edited her status through sheer force of will. Now everything displayed a class when she inspected it, which was useless on plants but slightly amusing nonetheless. She had then focused on her skill only giving her the important information on things and even tried discerning hostility levels from the system. Which was what had lead to this.
[System: Status Screen]
[User Name: Mikel]
[User Level: 17]
[User Class: Bandit Leader]
[User HP: 450/450]
[User MP: 10/10]
[System: Status Screen]
[User Name: Gerl]
[User Level: 10]
[User Class: Bandit]
[User HP: 200/200]
[User MP: 0/0]
[System: Status Screen]
[User Name: Yatte]
[User Level: 12]
[User Class: Bandit]
[User HP: 200/200]
[User MP: 0/0]
[System: Status Screen]
[User Name: Rena]
[User Level: 13]
[User Class: Bandit]
[User HP: 200/200]
[User MP: 0/0]
[System: Status Screen]
[User Name: Wilhelm]
[User Level: 13]
[User Class: Bandit]
[User HP: 200/200]
[User MP: 0/0]
[System: Status Screen]
[User Name: Bert]
[User Level: 12]
[User Class: Bandit]
[User HP: 200/200]
[User MP: 0/0]
[System: Status Screen]
[User Name: Perfi]
[User Level: 14]
[User Class: Bandit]
[User HP: 200/200]
[User MP: 0/0]
[System: Status Screen]
[User Name: Zigor]
[User Level: 16]
[User Class: Bandit Captain]
[User HP: 300/300]
[User MP: 5/5]
[System: Status Screen]
[User Name: Lima]
[User Level: 11]
[User Class: Bandit]
[User HP: 200/200]
[User MP: 0/0]
[System: Status Screen]
[User Name: Charlie]
[User Level: 14]
[User Class: Bandit]
[User HP: 200/200]
[User MP: 0/0]
[System: Status Screen]
[User Name: Julliette]
[User Level: 10]
[User Class: Bandit]
[User HP: 200/200]
[User MP: 0/0]
[System: Status Screen]
[User Name: Romeo]
[User Level: 9]
[User Class: Bandit]
[User HP: 200/200]
[User MP: 0/0]
...
...
...
Feyre counted around thirty, thirty-three to be precise. That was a lot of bad guys. She didn't think that Eurani the game would allow this amount of bad guys even if the strongest one was almost half the level of the weakest one here. She didn't know how rare mages were but the fact none of the bandits even flagged up on her [Skill] as having a dangerous skill, something she'd managed to work out by herself and no thanks to [The System], was a good omen.
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Mikel
He had decided to attack the carriage as soon as he saw it. Only four guards, none of them looked like they could do AOE attacks so he was safe. Two of the guards had noticed his group before the Horns went off and the Carriage stopped moving. It was definitely a magical carriage due to its lack of horses or drivers. This was a One in a Million chance for his crew of misfits. A predatory smile grew on his face. That fat merchant looked absolutely minted. He blew the second horn and slid down the slope with a few others including Zigor, his [Captain] and right hand man.
"Greetings travellers! I am Mikel! I humbly ask you hand over any and all goods on you as well as..."
He looks at the two women, one of them has armour so covered in blood he assumes they got swallowed whole and cut out of some beast of the woods. Poor girl, getting out of a beasts stomach only to be attacked by his crew and end up with a different kind of beast.
"Your fine damsels there, if you don't mind..."
The women of the group, well woman since he can't see the bloody one's face, grimaced and glared at him with disdain. The two men looked at the women and back at Mikel. He instantly saw that one of them, the smaller one, had the hots for the unbloodied woman while the burlier one looked to the bloody one as if asking for guidance. Was the armoured woman the boss? Even more unfortunate for the group. Mikel was level 17 and Zigor was level 16. That meant they were already in the Iron Ranks. Or would be if they were Adventurers. These adventureres didn't have their badges showing so he assumed they might even be mercenaries. That or they're below level ten and not even a proper rank yet.
Mikel grinned. The one in armour's body was completely covered by it but that didn't hide the fact she was definitely going to be his personal one at the start. He didn't care as much for the Mage looking one, [Mages] were no fun to break, but warriors were a delight. Always so self assured.
That was when he was surprised. The Armoured chick walked forwards.
"Move Bandit. We you have no business with us."
Zigor was about to step forwards when he stopped. He was about to say somehing but Mikel stopped him.
"Zigor you can't call dibs on this one. She's mine."
"Vile things... why [The System] lets you live is beyond me... though then again it did lead you to me so it must not like you much..."
That's when Mikel saw it. The symbol was covered in blood but if he looked closely, which he had been trying to do with her thighs, he could make it out.
The symbol of the Inquisition.
The symbol meaning he would never be leaving this forest.
The symbol that meant he had signed this whole group's death warrant.
He silently apologised to the crew for this. At the same time the Inquisitor drew her sword.