{-Llewel-}

The further they got from the city, the no more willing Bezyu seemed to give a proper explanation. In the time she could’ve spent explaining, then, she spent nervously asking questions; questions he had a feeling she already knew the answer to.

“The two of you have been doing well, haven’t you?” she prompted.

Myr nodded, but didn’t have time to actually say anything.

“That’s good. What kind of things have you been doing recently? Anything interesting?” Bezyu paused. “Nothing dangerous or otherwise putting the two of you in danger, I hope?”

“Can’t say we’ve been doing much more than quests here and there,” Llewel remarked. “But you don’t have to worry about whether we’re safe. We’ve been making sure to be careful about who we accept quests from and, in general, how open we are about who we are.”

“It probably helps that a lot of people seemed to already ‘know,’” Myr said thoughtfully. “A lot of the players think that we’re like them and explain the other stuff away as bugs. When they think they already know who we are, they’re not going to ask for the details.”

“That’s good. It’s always better—especially for the two of you—to remain as discreet as possible. Though that recent development might make it a little harder, it could also turn out to be a boon, too.” Bezyu nodded to herself, as if to tell herself to believe the words she was saying. “What about the Rune Reactivation Project or Nankohm? Have you encountered any of them recently?”

Llewel wondered then if someone else might like to answer some questions—being a party and all—but the players seemed interested in their own hushed conversation. So, he honestly replied, “Kind of.”

Bezyu immediately frowned. “Kind of? What does that mean?” Panic flashed across her expression for a moment before she must’ve remembered that it looked too suspicious. “Did you run into any trouble?”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it trouble. We did talk with someone, though.”

“Just… talked..?”

“Have you heard of Rachel? It sounds like she’s responsible for a lot.”

“Oh, yes. She’s always been quite involved. I’ve met her on occasion, she’s always been much nicer than the others. What did you talk about, then..? I don’t suppose it was any good news?”

Llewel shrugged. “More or less just their side of the story. Their reasons for wanting us gone.”

He didn’t know how he felt to note that she seemed to understand what he meant. Still, she hadn’t dwelled on it for any longer. “So nothing from the Rune Reactivation Project, then? Even if they’re not as big of a threat, it’s still worth being careful around them.”

Myr was the one to answer, shaking her head. “I think it’s been a while since we’ve encountered any of them at all. Since… Kehnore, maybe? Or maybe that’s just when we started avoiding them.”

“Either way, neither’s caused too much trouble,” Llewel said. He wondered if it really brought any reassurances, though, given whatever else Bezyu must’ve known.

Stolen novel; please report.

“That’s good. Always nice to know that you’re staying safe.” Bezyu took the opportunity to finally note the temple-of-sorts that they were quickly approaching. “Ah, it seems that we’re almost there! There’s a few things I’ll need to do to let the rest of you in, so I’ll go on ahead. I should be finished by the time you’ve all walked over.”

He honestly couldn’t tell if she said it out of general interest in getting things done quickly, or to avoid any future questions. Though he was willing to believe it was a mix of both.

With their destination close and Bezyu dashing towards its entrance, the players must’ve realized their time for quiet conversation was over.

“Do you think there’s any trouble, really?” Zetai asked casually. “I mean, there can’t be a lot of things that can happen all the way out here, right?”

Tinath shrugged. “It’s still their own world. It can probably change a lot more than we think it could.”

“I’m willing to trust in her instinct,” Reynneak said. “If she thinks that she needs our help, then it’s not like we really have an excuse not to.”

“She’s still acting strange, though,” Llewel remarked. “This is about something more than just the crystal. Even if I don’t think I want to know what that is…”

“Eh, no use worrying about it right now. At least not until we know for sure.” Zetai wandered up to take the lead. “If it turns out to be a problem, we’ll figure it out together.”

They all nodded or mumbled their agreement. It was still pretty hard to convince himself of it, though—he couldn’t help but wonder how long such a statement could last.

Nothing else was said between them during the short walk, perhaps because they felt fragments of the same thing. But when they got there, they were greeted by Bezyu’s somewhat-nervous smile, and her gesture towards the entrance of the temple.

“We’re all able to walk right through,” she said. “It is still a bit hard to navigate, though, so it’s best if you stay close to me. Unfortunately all I can do is deactivate the tests, since players can’t access the other entrances.”

Zetai shrugged. “I don’t think it matters too much. Just show us what you wanted to check on and if there’s anything else you want our help with.”

Bezyu nodded and led them through. It all seemed a lot less impressive, honestly, to walk through it compared to working through it; at least by Llewel’s memories of the events. She guided them with a different kind of silence… another considering what they had once done here, but not in a positive light.

“This is where it’s kept,” she announced after a couple of minutes. The room was what one would consider something befitting of a temple, laid out so it was hard to tell people didn’t regularly visit here. Or… it would, aside from the fact it was missing its centerpiece.

“Wait, something actually happened to the crystal?” Tinath questioned. “Are we sure this isn’t a quest, then? That… seems like a pretty big thing to just go missing.”

Llewel was worried for a different reason, though, because Bezyu had to fake surprise. She’d known about this beforehand—and she wasn’t particularly good at hiding it. He’d figured already that there was more to this than the crystal… but this confirmed that it was never really about the crystal at all.

“This is an unforeseen turn of events,” Bezyu remarked, “but I assure you, it still isn’t a quest. Though I suppose that’s not much of a reassurance, really, since you’ll be doing more work for no reward…”

“It’s important here, isn’t it?” Zetai asked. At Bezyu’s nod, she continued, “Then we’ll help out. We’re willing to lend a hand when the NPCs need it whether or not there’s a quest tied to it.”

“Just show us where you want us to start,” Reynneak agreed.

Llewel—and possibly Myr, by the looks of it—might’ve called out Bezyu’s bad acting, were it not for how relieved she was to hear the offer. She didn’t want them to go anywhere.

“Alright. There should be enough of us, let’s check around some of the other entrances and see if we can find any clues. Whoever did it had to have left something.” Bezyu gestured to a few doors. “I’ll be sure to help. If anyone finds anything, they should tell me immediately, alright?”

With one final nod, they walked off to investigate the area.