Everyone finished packing up after they prepped for their coordinated journeys, then the two groups exchanged pleasantries and split amicably to go their separate ways. Both sides had things revealed about their members, and both sides had a lot of things to discuss and think over among themselves. There wasn't really any debate over the merits of occasionally meeting to team up, especially for the cracks that they guessed would need more than one group's collective experience. What they talked about was the individual people in each group.
For Kara's group, the main topic was Hunter and his actions and attitude towards them, with some discussion about Diofra and how well she had cooperated with Jessica. For Hunter's group, the main discussion was Jessica and her significant personality change and the spell she had given Hunter. Diofra made several copies the next time they stopped to eat, and she told him they would have to wait until they reached the next town before she could get all of the ingredients she would need. Hunter didn't mind, mainly because they had to wait until then to buy the children's books anyway.
What bothered Hunter was that he would need to have it continually cast on him, because he couldn't cast magic himself or maintain the spell on his own, even though he had an enormous mana reserve. He also didn't have access to multiple magic users to make the spell permanent, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to do that anyway. He had no idea what a permanent mental block spell would have on him and his abilities, mainly because his abilities were all mental techniques that let him manipulate Presence. If the spell interfered with that, it would be beyond pointless to have it cast on him, for the simple fact that it would make him practically useless.
For the time being, both groups went about their separate tasks and put their thoughts of the other group aside. They travelled without incident to the first few cracks and dealt with the creatures they encountered fairly quickly. After handling what was essentially a brood of over three dozen half-size dragons, nearly every other creature was child's play to deal with.
The Emissaries of Light had a bit of a problem when one of the creatures they encountered was something that looked like a rabbit. It had the big floppy ears and looked cute for the most part, except for the razor sharp claws and teeth, and it had what looked like a beaver tail instead of a puff ball. Killing them wasn't the problem, though. Trying to track them all down was. Thankfully, Jessica and Diofra really could communicate back and forth as much as they wanted, with barely any mana cost, and Maylia gave them very helpful tips to track the little creatures down.
Hunter's group on the other hand, had a really easy time of it. One of the cracks had a large lizard-like thing come out of it and they found a nest and a clutch of eggs when they followed it. No other tracks were in the area and the nest looked old, so either the creature had been there for a long time or it had just arrived. In either case, they killed it and Hunter carried the eggs back through the portal.
Hunter, with god as a passenger, didn't try to fight the other large lizards when he saw that they all had similar nests right next to the crack. Instead, he spread the eggs he carried to the different nests he could see, looked up at the sky and memorized the star pattern, then hopped back through the crack and closed it. Nearly all the cracks were similar and were fairly easy to handle and close.
Both groups couldn't help but agree that splitting up had definitely been the smart thing to do. They coordinated their travel schedules all week, including rest stops at inns. Then, like previously agreed, they met up just before entering the marked city on their maps. Diofra didn't even have to make a small clearing for them and they arrived within minutes of each other. Hunter and the others had barely dismounted their horses and attached the feed bags to their bridles when the Church of Light's fancy carriage pulled in and came to a stop.
*
“Good afternoon, adventurers.” The driver said and nodded to me and the others, which was the first non-coerced thing he had said without being spoken to first.
“Afternoon.” I said and motioned to the carriage's four horses. “How are your feed bags holding up?”
“I'll have to replenish our stocks, now that we're in a city big enough to sell more than a couple bags at a time.” The driver said with a chuckle as he climbed down from the driver's seat.
“We've had the same problem.” I said and waved at the six horses that were happily munching on feed nearby. “Even after stocking up before leaving the capital and picking up extras along the way, our horse expert still had to manage it carefully.”
“We still have lots if you need some.” Afyne said. “I planned to top off our own stock here, too.”
“I appreciate that.” The driver said and flipped the steps down beside the carriage and opened the door, while Afyne took out a large sack of feed and filled the feed bags before she attached them to the horses.
“Oh, it's nice to stretch the legs after a ride like that!” Steven said and stretched.
“Hello to you, too.” I said, and he chuckled.
“Hi, Hunter!” Jessica said and hopped down the couple of steps to the ground. Her medium length dirty blonde hair bounced on her shoulders and looked freshly washed.
“How did you manage that?” I asked and pointed to her hair. My own hair had been cleaned during the last bath I had almost two days ago and was now worse for the wear.
“It's a preservation spell.” Jessica said and moved her head around to show me her hair stayed just as bouncy, no matter what she did.
“Isn't it great that she's putting her magic to good use?” Josh asked with a laugh and helped his wife down out of the carriage.
“You were pretty quick to ask for it when I discovered it.” Jessica said with a smirk.
I noticed that Evangeline's hair was just as light and fluffy as hers. “Does it only work on hair?”
“So far.” Jessica said. “I'm still tweaking it to see what else I can use it on.”
“Please let me have a copy, even if it's not a perfect spell.” Diofra said. Her hair had suffered the most out of all of us, despite her hair being among the shortest. “I'll suffer the mana loss gladly.”
Jessica laughed and pulled out a sheet of paper with writing on it. “I figured you'd say that.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Diofra said and took the paper and hugged it. “I'll try working on it as soon as I can.”
Kara climbed down out of the carriage and looked around. “If we're leaving everything here, we might as well start looking around for whatever the crack has let out.”
“As cover, you can do that while scouting around for supplies.” I said. “Allirynn, Imiryl, and Diofra can go with you.”
“You're sending them away with us?” Steven asked, a little surprised.
“Maylia, Afyne, and I need to visit the mayor and several of the city council members.” I said and tapped the golden kingdom badge on my chest. “It's on behalf of the queen.”
“You're getting the official story?” Jessica asked, and I nodded.
“Evus is a guard, so they won't question why he's there.” I said as an explanation.
“That's his polite way of saying it would be frowned upon if he brought 'outsiders' into the mayor's special meeting.” Imiryl said with a smile.
“That's not my rule by choice. The queen asked me to play nice.” I said and smiled back at her. “You know how I would normally deal with a stuck up mayor.”
Evus laughed. “That poor mayor!”
“Poor is right.” Diofra said. “The last thing the queen told us was that the Minibear town had grown into a city and the mayor wasn't getting a single copper coin out of it, except for the cost of the land!”
That made everyone in my party laugh, and the emissaries just stood there in confusion. I gave them a quick explanation of the Minibears and what I had done, and I thought I saw both Jessica's and Evangeline's eyes sparkle, just like Afyne's had when she first saw the cute little deadly creatures. Kara's expression on the other hand, was more contemplative than anything else.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Keep an eye out for anything suspicious, any odd feelings or sensations, and for odd people.” I reminded them.
“That's going to be difficult.” Evus said and tried to scratch under his breastplate. “I think I have sand in my armor.”
I looked down at myself and at Maylia and Afyne, then sighed. “All right, slight change of plans.” I said. “We find the closest inn with tubs in the rooms and clean up first, then we can split up to go for supplies and to visit the mayor.”
“A bath would be nice.” Evangeline said.
“I'll stay here and watch the horses.” The driver said.
“I'll send Evus back here after the meeting and we can get the horses settled into a good stable.” I said.
“We're not using them to hunt?” Maylia asked.
“The crack is inside the city, maybe below ground like the last time, and no one has reported seeing any kind of illusions.” I said. “I doubt riding a horse is going to help us this time; but, we'll keep that option handy, like we always do.”
“That's assuming no one is covering it up.” Kara said and I nodded.
“It's one of the main reasons I'm going to the meeting.” I said. “Depending on how it goes, I might have to visit all of the nobles scattered around the city.”
“Ha!” Josh barked a laugh and grinned. “As the queen's representative, you have to suffer through rich men's dinner parties!”
“Better you than me!” Steven said with a laugh. “The stuffiness and arrogance of their kind would kill me!”
I bit my tongue, so I wouldn't comment on his own behavior. Jessica saw my reaction and had to bite her own tongue in response. I saw the laughter in her eyes, though.
“Bath first.” I said and motioned towards the road. We left as a fairly large group, all twelve of us, with me in the lead. Allirynn, Imiryl, Evus, Diofra, Kara, Jessica, Steven, Josh, and Evangeline walked behind me, while Maylia and Afyne walked on either side of me. It was an impressive looking group, even dirty like we were, and the people at the edge of the city were nervous when they saw us coming. I motioned to Evus and he stepped out to the side. The guards on duty saw his armor that was similar to their own, and they relaxed and lowered their weapons.
“Now you know why I didn't want to ride into town.” I commented.
“I didn't think of that.” Jessica said. “With this many of us together, we look like a raiding party!”
“Bingo.” I said.
“If us walking towards them made them nervous, imagine their shock if we rode in here with half a dozen horses and a large carriage behind us.” Maylia said with a smile.
“They would attack to defend themselves.” Kara said. “Useless as that would be against us.”
I chuckled. “The best defense isn't always a good offense.”
No one else spoke and we walked calmly all the way to the guard house. When we were close enough, I had everyone stop and I saluted the guards with their salute.
“The queen sends her regards.” I said and tapped the badge on my chest. “I have an appointment with the mayor and the council today.”
“I've never seen an entourage so big.” The guard said with awe and looked at everyone.
“Only these six are my regular party.” I said and pointed them out. “I picked up the others about a week ago. I thought I had lost them since then; but, they are surprisingly clingy and here they are.”
The two guards laughed and I felt something poke me in the back.
“Clingy, huh?” Jessica harshly whispered and I could 'see' with Detect Mana Presence that it was the end of her staff. She had slipped it under the edge of my uniform coat and had the tip pressed against my spine.
“It was a joke.” I whispered back, while using Presence to bring the sound to her ears only. “You know I liked it the last time you clung to me.”
Jessica pulled the staff away from my back and I put my attention back on the guards.
“I need an inn with a lot of rooms and big baths.” I said, and they told me about several options. I thanked them for the information and we all walked by the guards without further hassle, besides stares from them and the other guards that had peeked out at us. Both Kara and I noticed the man that generated a small ball of light and spoke into his hand. I waited until we were far enough away before I spoke.
“At least it won't be a surprise for the mayor when we show up at his office.” I said and told everyone what I saw and Kara nodded confirmation. The city was quite large and it took us a few minutes to get to the first inn that the guards recommended. I glanced over it and saw that it was pretty close to what we needed; but, it was nearly full and didn't have anywhere near enough rooms for us all, even if we shared, so I walked on and went to the next place.
This multi-storey one seemed like the better choice and we went inside. I wasn't wearing my cloak to hide my face, since I was here on official business, so I wasn't bothered by the viewing bubble under the front desk that showed our faces. The clerk didn't look at it, and that put my opinion of her up higher than it normally would have been, if she had looked at it before speaking to us.
“Greetings, adventurers!” The woman said with an enthusiastically fake smile that she would probably show every person that came into the place. “I'm required to tell you that we have security features for disguises and illusion spells. If you do not wish to have your identity revealed, you may leave before I activate the spells.”
My opinion of her went through the roof because of her candid admission, so I gave her one of my award winning smiles. She blinked her eyes for a moment at the sight, then her fake smile faded and was replaced with a genuine one. Her eyes flicked over the blast shield on my face, and I watched her trace the shape of it from the middle of my forehead and down to the middle of my cheeks. After she looked at the indent cut out for my nose, her eyes settled where she thought my eyes would be.
“We're all fine with that. Thank you for asking.” I said sincerely.
The woman nodded as she touched something under the desk and said a quick chant that I couldn't understand. I felt the mana flow out from the desk and cover us briefly, and the woman nodded again.
“Welcome to the Seascape Inn.” The woman said, happily. “How many rooms would you like?”
“Let's start with three large double rooms with big tubs, preferably side by side and on the same floor.” I said and indicated myself, Maylia, Afyne, Imiryl, Allirynn, Diofra, and Evus. “Another large room for the married couple.” I pointed to Josh and Evangeline, then looked at the others. “I'm going to assume you want your own rooms?”
Steven nodded. “Damn right I do.”
I chuckled and turned back to the woman at the desk. “Three normal rooms as well, with tubs if you got them.”
“Yes, sir.” The woman said. “That will be forty-five copper a night.”
“Per room?” I asked and took out my medium bag of gold coins and took one out, and the woman's face blanched as it lost all its color.
“N-n-no, s-sir. For all seven rooms.” She said. “Supper and breakfast the next day is another five copper.”
“Oh, okay.” I said and put the sack of gold away and took out a handful of silver from my pocket. “We'll be here for at least tonight and tomorrow, depending on how our business goes, so I better pay for three days, just in case.” I said and gave her three silver coins.
“What about the driver?” Afyne asked.
“Right. Thanks for reminding me.” I said and handed the woman behind the counter another silver coin. “I'll need another normal room with a tub for three days.”
The woman recovered quickly and handed us all the keys for our rooms and told us where they were.
“Thank you.” I said and started to walk away.
“Sir! Your change!” The woman exclaimed.
“You can keep it.” I said and ushered everyone towards the stairs. “I really need a bath!”
*
The woman behind the counter looked at the money in her hands and back at the handsomest man she had ever seen. Despite the metal melded to his face, the shape of his mouth looked like it was perfect for kissing. Her face flushed slightly red as she imagined what he could kiss with them.
“Hey, Winifred. Are you okay?” A man asked from behind her.
It took Winifred a moment to answer. “I'm fine.”
“Uh huh. Yeah, sure.” The man said and laughed. “You know what room he's staying in. Why don't you go and offer him extra towels for his bath?”
Winifred turned with an angry face to yell at him, then her expression evaporated. “You know what? That's an excellent suggestion.” She said instead and walked over to the huge closet full of towels and took out six of them. “Watch the front desk for me.” She said and didn't wait to see if he was going to agree as she walked over to the stairs.
“Hey, I was only joking.” The man said.
“Were you?” The woman said with a smile and went up the stairs.
“I have to stop teasing her about the guests.” The man said and walked over to man the counter while the actual clerk was off fooling around.
*
I had only taken off my uniform coat when there was a knock on the door of the room. I turned and looked to see the clerk with a stack of towels in her hand. My opinion of her had been through the roof, and now it was high in the sky. I held in my laugh at having so many extra towels when we usually had to be careful about how we used them. I walked over to the door and opened it.
“I'm sorry to bother you.” The woman started to say.
“You're giving me extra towels, so it's no bother.” I said and took them from her. “Thank you.”
The woman looked at the towels in my hand and then at my face. “Do.... do you need...”
“I appreciate the offer; but, I have enough help taking a bath.” I said and took off my blast shield.
The woman's mouth dropped open in shock and stared at my exposed sapphire blue eyes.
“Thanks, anyway.” I said and shut the door on her.
Both Afyne and Maylia laughed at the poor stunned woman.
“You can't keep doing that.” Maylia said. She had half of her armor untied already and slipped the thick leather breastplate off over her shoulders.
“I only told her the truth.” I said and stored the blast shield and hung my uniform coat on the back of a chair. “It's not my fault that my beauty stuns them.” I said with a grin.
“It's exactly your fault, you narcissist.” Maylia laughed. “You keep wearing that thing and you don't have to.”
“It's saved my life a couple of times already.” I said. “Plus, like I told Jessica, it's a part of my uniform now. If I don't wear it, I'll feel naked without it.”
Afyne laughed this time. “You stopped wearing the hood thing and the gloves, and those are supposed to be a part of your outfit.”
“I can't tickle you if I'm wearing gloves!” I said and started to tickle her. Afyne laughed the unrestrained laugh of joy and tried to get away. “Oh, no you don't!” I said and picked her up and carried her over to the tub. “Someone needs a good scrubbing!”
“You do!” Afyne almost yelled and grabbed me around the neck as I dunked her into the water. I let her go; but, she didn't let me go, so I rolled into the tub, head over feet, and got dunked myself. I managed to flip over and get my legs and backside over the other side of the tub and slipped my head and torso out of the tub as I knelt on the floor, completely soaked from the waist up. I saw both Maylia and Afyne as they laughed their heads off at me, so I leaned against the tub and laughed, too.
At least my pants didn't get wet.