CHAPTER ONE

Preempted

"... In summary, the recent rise in monster attacks is presumed to have been caused by a disturbance in the northeastern sections of the inland forests. An inspectorate survey team will be dispatched to ascertain the nature of this disturbance in two days. Please prepare the town's dimensional gate to receive the team and their equipment. Any questions?"

Nullam took a few of the usual questions and answered them individually. A select few of the politicians seemed vastly unnerved at the beginning of the brief, gradually relaxing as time went on. He noticed them flinch when he mentioned the scheduled survey team, which was more than a little suspect, in his opinion.

The report itself wasn't of much note. It essentially boiled down to two facts; the first being that the monsters seemed to be running away from something and not running towards the town, and that whatever they were running from is somewhere in the northeast. The latter was something to be investigated further by his fellow inspectors, who would be coming with all the necessary equipment.

Nullam wouldn't be able to investigate the matter himself, much to his relief. No way in hell would he even attempt to go that far into those monster-infested forests. It would be difficult for even an experienced team of hunters to pull off, and he wasn't even equipped for that kind of expedition. This is why he decided to call for backup.

Once the questions stopped, a stern-looking old man raised his finger and spoke. He was dressed in a relatively simple robe and many decorative sashes. Nullam was surprised by this sudden question, as the old man had been completely silent throughout the previous briefs. He recognized the old man to be Pritchard Helion, the oldest and most prominent member of the township council.

"Inspector, if I may," croaked the councillor in a deep, gravelly voice, still retaining a sense of regality and eloquence in the way he spoke.

"Yes, Councillor Helion?"

"The council would like to know when the survey team is due to arrive– " said the old man, each breath ending in a subtle wheeze. " –we'll need time to prepare for their arrival, much like the welcome we'd given you a few weeks prior."

"Unfortunately, I can't say exactly when the team will arrive. As for preparations, they should arrive in about two days." Helion simply nodded and signalled the end of his question, so Nullam chose to wrap things up. "That should be all, please review the contents of the document when you have the time, you are all free to leave."

And just like that, the entire room petered out until it was just Nullam and a few township workers left inside. Nullam decided to help out a little and cleaned up after the crowd.

▬ ▬ ▬ 

There isn't exactly much to do in Itania other than work. When you do have downtime, there isn't a whole lot to do, either. Nightlife's virtually non-existent, the monsters are too tough to casually hunt. The forest's too dangerous to explore and tourism isn't exactly booming, despite the town and island's appearances. Itania was one of those out-of-the-way settlements you wouldn't find on a casual skim of vacation magazines, and there was no cheap way of getting there, either. 

This lead to Nullam and his very impatient friend to their current situation. The survey team was due to arrive today, and he had to be near the town square at all times. Of course, Ami wouldn't stand for being left at the house, something made all the more frustrating by her desire to explore the town's every nook and cranny.

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Nullam decided to be smart and took Ami to a decent cafe within view of the town square. 

"So who's coming over, anyway?" asked Ami, taking a bite out of the nice (and quite expensive) steak she ordered and likely expected her generous host to pay for. "Couldn't they tell you what time they're coming or something?"

"Truth be told, I'd much rather stay at home and admire the view," replied Nullam as he took a sip from a simple cup of service water, living the life of a frugal monk. "Coming here with you is bound to be a massive expense on my part, anywa– Ow! What the hell?"

Ami glared daggers at him as she retracted her hand, reeling back from a firm jab. "You're an asshole, d'you know that?"

"Okay, okay, I get it." Nullam admitted, hands raised in defeat. "We're waiting because I don't actually know when they'll be here. They'll be carrying quite a lot with them, it only makes sense to help out my guys."

A few hours passed like that, with him and Ami grabbing an occasional bite as they watched the residents milling about in the town square. These people have treated them quite well and seemed genuinely nice so far, in Nullam's honest opinion. Watching people live out their lives in peace, seeing children playing in the open – it was a pretty good life. He could imagine himself living here, with Ami to spice up the mundanity of everyday life.

Nullam quickly retracted that thought and forced it into the deep recesses of his memory. He was bothered by his sudden contentment and desire to live with... Ami? It hasn't been a long time since their breakup, and he did still feel quite bitter about it.

Although he decided to set it aside and focus on the future, he could never bring himself to move forward on a dime. It felt like a betraying himself, and if there's anyone he'd never betray, it was himself.

They are friends, nothing more.

He was snapped out of his trance by a sudden clap, and he could vaguely remember her talking about something as he indulged his own thoughts. Shaking his head, he turned to Ami. "Sorry, what did you want?"

Ami went silent for a while before speaking. "I wasn't asking you anything?"

"You... clapped, didn't you?" 

Again, another clap. This time it was audibly distant. The last clap was distant too, but he'd only just noticed it. 

"What the hell was that?" asked Ami rhetorically, looking inland. 

And another clap. Then another. 

"Shots, what in the world?" Nullam said as he rose from his seat, motioning for Ami to follow. The claps stopped for a while at that point, and the town square's centrepiece – a rectangular prism with glyphs etched on every surface began to glow faintly. Nullam promptly ran towards it, Ami in tow.

The shots rang out from inland, some distance away from where he was standing. Nullam knew there was but one point of interest that far into the forest. He would have to take the survey team and get there immediately.

"Go back home and get changed. I'm leaving sooner than I thought."

▬ ▬ ▬

Nullam snapped into a respectful bow as four people started materializing in front of him. Ami was long gone by this point, the plan was for her to get packed and ready to leave at a moment's notice if something went wrong. Nullam liked his contingencies, and quite enjoyed planning them out. It's a shame he had to activate it this early into his stay.

No, he isn't paranoid. It's just a habit of his.

The group materializing in front of him were dressed in more comfortable clothes than what was usual for mages. These guys were wearing fatigues, likely experts in wildlife and the forest. The four immediately snapped to attention, bowing before their redheaded welcome party.

"Inspector Arcana, pleased to meet you," said Nullam, shaking each of their hands. A few more claps suddenly rang out in the distance, making the group flinch. Each one of their faces scrunched up into a scowl as the situation dawned on them. "As you might be able to hear, we've got a problem on our hands. We're pushing through with the expedition today."

The four simply nodded as they began lifting their bags and bulky containers, moving with haste in preparation for what was to come. It was going to be a long day for the Inspectors.