“Quick, hide.” Kazius warned the others, peaking over at the Dwarves, hiding behind a building.

“What on earth could Dwarves want here…” Alice whispered.

“Wow, they are so short!” Eve exclaimed only to be shushed by Azanor.

“They are Dwarves, Eve. All of them are that height.” Azanor explained.

“Ooooh” Eve stated in awe as if she never heard about them before despite living in Ratier. As a Priestess she should know that much, but at the same time… She was a bit out there.

“Wait… I’ve seen them before.” Alice admitted.

“You have?” Kazius questioned in surprise.

“Well… Not all of them… But… One of them… He works for the King of Thimdur… I am sure of it. I remember meeting him sometime ago at a ball. He is one of the designers for mithril armor and weapons that works with the royal family…” Alice stated in confusion.

It was then they saw the Dwarves talk to a local. They were speaking the Common tongue…

“Do you have the usual?”

“Yes, do you?”

Could be heard in the exchange.

‘So, some of the locals here speak Common because of business with Dwarves…’

Kazius froze, seeing the Dwarves hand over some crates with food… Likely with poultry products… And in exchange… They received Mithril.

“Seems like Dwarves don’t actually make their own Mithril…” Kazius stated in realization, his eyes widening slightly in surprise.

‘So even that much isn’t true?’

Alice frowned, looking extremely frustrated and upset.

“Is there anyone who ever told the truth in those damned kingdoms?” Alice stated her tone more than upset. Kazius could understand her frustration. He himself struggled with knowing what to think anymore… There was also the fact that so many Monsters didn’t even know about the war. It seemed everything they had learned as of late just destroyed the image Alice had of her family’s legacy. Likely what she, as a princess, built her whole identity around. All the truths were beginning to pile on.

She looked angry, almost ready to cry, but instead just scowled.

“I want to go. Let’s just leave. This does not involve us.” Alice pleaded.

Kazius frowned, not liking to see her like that, but there was nothing he could do.

“Okay, let’s go.” Kazius stated, leaving the city through a different direction.

He had wanted to get himself new clothes, so he wouldn’t have to wear his Knight armor anymore. It genuinely disgusted him to have it on, but he decided it could wait. Not to mention, he did not want to risk being spotted while shopping nor did he know if he could afford anything decent.

‘Is everyone out West allergic to the truth?’ He wondered mentally, understanding her frustration.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Honestly, Kazius himself was also annoyed. Smuggling metal from this place… Why not just admit the metal was not your own? Then again… To admit Monsters could make such a metal… Likely would get Dwarves targeted by Zelphar and Ratier… If the rumors were true, Dwarves were great craftsmen… With a lot of pride… How could they pass up working with a metal like Mithril? Such a mentality probably explained why they were willing to do business with Monsters… Perhaps that fact meant there was hope for Dwarves… But… Kazius refused to be optimistic. He himself felt Humans were hopeless… And now that he knew more about ‘The Wastelands’… He felt like Dwarves and Elves were no better considering the lies were the same.

Still, more than anything, Kazius wanted to know what actually happened… All those centuries ago. Perhaps knowing would also bring Alice some closure… Azanor seemed to know a lot about those events… But whenever it came up he did not seem to want to talk about the heroes… But he did mention there were 8… Not 7…

One way or another… Whatever the truth was… He needed it to sate his curiosity and to plan for the return of The Demon King… Something he still did not want to bring up to the others… They had enough things on their mind as it was. Especially Alice.

Once out of the city, Kazius turned to look at Alice.

“Are you okay?” Kazius asked in concern.

“I will be… I just…” Alice stated, sounding lost and exasperated.

“Do you not like seeing short people?” Eve asked in confusion, very lost about what upset Alice.

“No… That isn’t it… I just… I wish I just knew what a lie is and what isn’t… Who even am I? What did my family die for?” Alice questioned, tears streaming down.

“I know, Alice… But you are not alone. I don’t know who I am either, not anymore… But we can find out the truth and who we are… We will figure it out together.” Kazius assured her as he gently cleaned off her face.

Azanor looked conflicted but stayed silent. He seemed like he had something he knew but wasn’t sure whether to open up about it or not.

Eve frowned at the two.

“Well, I know who you are! You’re both my friends.” Eve stated with a warm smile. The Elf really was always so giddy.

“How can you stay so happy, Eve? Don’t you feel betrayed too?” Alice questioned.

Eve looked confused at the question, thinking a bit.

“I am just happy to have friends, I can’t be upset. I try not to worry about stuff like that. I don’t really know what is going on most of the time anyway!” Eve exclaimed happily.

“What about being lied to since you were a child?! You must be originally from Zelphar before you became a Priestess… You are a Holy Maiden to a Religion founded on a lie! Whatever made you leave Zelphar is a lie! The Priests who mistreated you lie! Everyone is a liar!” Alice exclaimed, clearly not understanding why Eve was not as upset as her.

While Alice seemed ready to have a meltdown, Eve seemed to only look even more confused.

As she spoke, Azanor was watching her like a hawk. He did not miss a single word Eve said.

“But… I only remember being a Priestess for a few months. It wasn’t for that long, it doesn’t matter.” Eve admitted.

Kazius was lost, she must have gotten an Oracle or something to become a Priestess. How could she be one as an adult for such little time?

“What did you do before that?” Kazius finally asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t remember.” Eve admitted with the most lighthearted shrug possible despite what she was saying. She truly was not alarmed by her lack of memories.

“You… Don’t remember anything?” Azanor asked in confusion and concern.

“Nope! I am just happy I am not alone and have friends! So why do all those lies even matter? I met my friends because of them. Who cares!” Eve stated giddily.

Alice seemed to calm down by now after hearing this. Perhaps she felt like she had it less worse off in comparison to the Elf who clearly was not all there. At first Kazius was not worried about Eve, thinking she just had a peculiar personality, but it genuinely seemed like something had messed with her head.

“That is so sad, Eve… I… I’m sorry… I ended up yelling at you… But none of this is your fault… And you have your own problems.” Alice stated in shame.

“Why? I have friends, I have no problems. You were just sad, I’m okay. Maybe I will remember, maybe I won’t. I’m okay either way.” Eve insisted contently.

“If you say so…” Alice trailed off with a sigh, taking a deep breath to try and keep it together.

“Okay… I will be alright.” Alice followed up.

All the lies had truly hurt everyone of them one way or another… Even Azanor. Something must have happened to have a Demon hate lies so much.

“If you’re sure…” Kazius trailed off.

“If you truly think you are alright, how about we take a look at that map? Find some place away from here… Somewhere safe to hide and clear our heads.” Kazius questioned as he opened up the map they had just purchased.