After a short debrief outside the cave, Matthias and Tolg immediately set off back to town. Manna stayed behind to wait for the reinforcements. She told Matthias that he should go back by himself and check in on Soleil, just in case. They had been gone for the better half of the day already, and the hooded man’s words did cause him some anxiety. Ultimately, he agreed to leave without her.
As a hunter, she was the best candidate to leave there as a guard. The fort was dotted with trees, so she would have no problems staying hidden. But he found it strange that she would willingly separate herself from him. Usually, she nagged about watching his back whenever he brought the subject up.
It took the two men a few hours to get back to town, as they were tired from their earlier efforts. During the whole time, few words were exchanged between them. But it wasn’t awkward at all.
In the middle of their commute, they met with the party responsible for providing them back up. It was a party of C-rank adventurers who had brought with them a couple of soldiers from the local garrison. Due to being strangers to each other, the exchange of information was succinct. No pleasantries were exchanged. But annoyingly enough, the soldiers taunted Tolg merely for the fact that he was a beastkin. Matthias told them off even though Tolg didn’t seem to mind.
After seeing him get enraged at the horrible fates the women encountered, Matthias felt that he was a trustworthy guy.
What he didn’t expect was Tolg bidding him goodbye right when they saw the town walls.
“It was only a short while, but it was a valuable experience,” he said. Despite tilting half of his torso in a bow, his massive frame still dwarfed Matthias. “I’ll be continuing on my journey now. Thank you for assisting me in bringing those girls some measure of closure.”
He left with those words, heading towards the north.
Even at that time in the evening, the guild was bustling with activity. After making his report, including the fact that they had failed to rescue the five captives, he learned that there had been multiple bandit attacks on carriages throughout the day. That was the reason why reinforcements came so late. They couldn’t spare the manpower until things calmed down late that evening.
Just in case, he asked if he could see Soleil again, even if it was momentarily. Unfortunately, they immediately declined. But they did guarantee that she was safe and sound. They even gave him a letter, which was apparently written by her. It read:
“Friends,
The guild feeds me nothing but bread, salad, and soup.
How dare they?
Send meat, or I shall exact revenge.
~The Demon Lord.”
Reading the letter brought a smile to his face. It looked like she was doing just fine.
With nothing else to do, and with Manna still not back yet, he decided to head to the restaurant to eat. Normally, he would have headed back to the inn since that was where he and Manna agreed to meet up in case they weren’t together. But since they were under house arrest, that was out of the question. And though Tolg had offered to cook for him as they made their way back, Matthias refused, as he had no appetite at that time. In fact, he still didn’t. The deaths of the five young women still weighed heavily in his head.
But still, he had to at least look like he was trying to recover.
So, he ordered a salad plate; the smallest serving they could provide. He also ordered a large serving of boar steak with mashed potatoes and asked a staff member to have it delivered to Soleil. On his end, his small bowl contained a mere six pieces of leafy greens and some root crops. It looked dismal. Even though the chef tried her best to make it look appetizing, with a bright dressing and a few berries thrown into the mix, it did little to lighten up his mood.
All he could do was let his fork wander about above the bowl.
“What’s up? Wait… Are you okay?”
He felt a hand on his shoulder. A disappearing sensation of dullness told him that the hand had been there for a few seconds already. He raised his head with stiff movements and saw Nail looking down worriedly at him.
“Oh,” he murmured. “I’m all right. Just a bit under the weather.”
Considering that the events were not classified information and were going to be disseminated at a later date anyway, Matthias ended up telling Nail what had happened that day. It was just to pass the time, really; a whim. But he knew that Nail wouldn’t take the news lightly. The latter’s grim expression proved it.
“Shit… that should be Nelin’s group…”
“You know them?”
Nail propped his chin on his fist and explained with a tired look.
“Yeah. They’re an all-female party, Rainbow Rivers. Nelin's the leader. Four of them there, and one’s a novice. But the three original members are C-ranked. Considering the church rarely sends priestesses on cargo escort, then it’s likely that all four of them were captured, and the one extra’s a clergy.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Three parties were hired by the church to go east. The other two groups don’t have women. It’s the most logical thing to conclude. That said…” Nail sighed. He moved his hand to the side and let his head drop on the table. The weight of his upper torso on the surface caused even the well-built furniture to creak. “How am I supposed to explain this to Mie?”
“Why?”
Nail hesitated for a moment. He turned his head and scanned the area. After making sure of something, he turned back to Matthias and replied gravely.
“The junior I was talking about. Her name’s Aina. She’s Mie’s little sister.”
----------------------------------------
Almost two hours after Nail had left with a brand new set of troubles, Manna had returned.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
The first place she went to, even to the extent of ignoring him waving at her, was the bar counter. There, he heard her ordering two whole roasted chickens, three cups of ale, and an entire loaf of sliced bread.
She was very hungry.
“It’s a shame that beastkin left. He was a great cook.”
“His name’s Tolg.”
“I thought you weren’t good with names?” she laughed. “Gotta admit, though. That guy did leave an impression. Honestly, I thought he was the guy we were waiting for.”
Matthias raised his eyebrows. That was kind of unexpected.
“Well, Soleil said she met a “good fellow” that needed a party, right? That guy meets both criteria. Plus, doesn’t he give off that “I’m looking for someone trustworthy to travel with” kinda vibe?”
“That’s… oddly specific.”
She shrugged in response.
When the food arrived, Manna quickly dismantled one of the whole chickens and gave half to him. For the ale, though, he had to order it on his own. All he got was a dagger on the table and a threatening glare when he reached for hers.
After they had eaten their fill, talking about useless things as they did, they went back to the waiting room that served as their temporary residence. Matthias entered first with a relaxed gait, followed by Manna who held her head with her hands while whistling. Once both of them were past the doors, Manna immediately moved behind the door and closed it gently. Matthias placed his head against various parts of the walls and knocked on them. They inspected every nook and cranny, ensuring that they turned over every piece of furniture and scrutinized every corner before they could finally relax.
“Room’s safe.”
If that was Manna’s conclusion, then Matthias could trust it with confidence.
He fished something out of his pocket and threw it at Manna, who had just finished reassembling the couch. She caught it easily, but for some reason, she used her teeth.
“Why did you…?”
“Dude, I’m fixing the furniture. You want me to grow a third arm?”
After sitting down, Manna started to inspect the item with wide eyes. It was the emblem that Lod, the hooded man from earlier that night, had dropped. He didn’t get the opportunity to show it to Manna back then. Considering that even Tolg, who had traveled for quite some time, didn’t recognize the sigil on it, then he doubted Manna would. But there was no harm in trying. At the very least, he wanted Manna to remember something notable for the future.
As expected, she didn’t know anything about it.
“Why don’t we ask the church?”
It would make sense that such a depiction would make one instantly connect its origins to within the church.
“Just in case, do you think they really are “allies”? Right now, we have no idea where we can find them, so I can’t exactly go out and spy on ‘em to check.”
She threw the sigil back at him. And for some reason, she threw it right towards his mouth. Of course, he caught it with a free hand.
“I think it’s a bad idea to trust the church on this thing, Manna.”
“Why?”
“Because Soleil is a beastkin parading around as the “demon lord”, remember?”
“Oh. Shit.”
Manna bit her finger with a troubled expression. Soleil’s eccentricity was coming back to bite them.
Of course, both of them doubted that the church took Soleil’s claims seriously. But then again, allowing a beastkin to declare that they are the “demon lord” within a territory influenced by the church was damaging to their reputation, even if it was just a minor disturbance. Though the church’s written doctrines didn’t teach any form of human supremacy rhetoric, that didn’t stop the clergy from adapting to the cultural norm. After all, their doctrines didn’t advocate for equality either.
Additionally, the church had served as the vanguard for the fight against the demon lord throughout history. It relentlessly invested people and resources into the fight and would even provide their saintess as the companion to the hero with every new generation.
In a way, it was natural to conclude that the church would naturally be at odds with Soleil.
“What about the carriage attacks? You think the church sabotaged their own? Soleil is fine, though, and most of the parties that were sent had already returned.”
Manna had a point. They were able to confirm that the carriages that were attacked all belonged to the church. Everybody had retrieved one form of evidence ranging from their unique coins to armaments and clothing. Regarding that, there was only one thing Matthias could think of.
“You think it’s infighting?”
“Makes sense.”
Even back in his old world, there was no shortage of unhappy employees banding together to scheme against the companies they were unsatisfied with.
But there was no use thinking about it when they had so little information. At the end of the night, there was one remaining question in his mind.
What was that “gift” the hooded man referred to?
----------------------------------------
The very next day, Matthias woke up early once again and idled about in the guild’s public waiting area. There were a couple of other parties already present, who were discussing the events that had transpired.
Like yesterday, Soleil was able to move about early that morning. That was probably the only time she was allowed to go out of confinement. They shared breakfast, with Matthias only ordering half the amount he usually does so he could eat with Manna as well later on. While they were eating, he told her about everything that had happened until then. Soleil listened with a heavy expression on her face.
“You shoulda just ran in there to save them!”
As expected, she was vexed with that point in particular and started to berate him. Though he agreed with Tolg that it was the best decision that was available to them at that time, he still felt ashamed when he had to face Soleil, who could easily rescue all of the prisoners by brute force.
He also felt that he had underestimated the rift between them not just in terms of ability, but also in character. If she had been there instead of him or Tolg, then there wouldn’t have been so many deaths.
That was for sure.
That was why he couldn’t answer back. He could only hold his head down and take Soleil’s complaints as if to confirm his shortcomings. But it only lasted for a very short while. She looked depressed and apologized suddenly.
“Sorry. I said too much. If you think you did your best, then you shouldn’t look so sad.” She straightened her ponytail and said, “That’s what pissed me off.”
“But…”
“Bla bla bla–”
She covered her ears and started blabbering like a child. Matthias felt his head throb.
Sometimes, he thought Soleil had a minor case of severe brain damage.
But surprisingly, he felt much lighter than before. Hearing Soleil’s equivalent of being comforted was a load off of his shoulders. At the end of the day, maybe that was what he wanted.
He had started to idolize the woman in front of him, who would run into danger without thinking to save a stranger. And to hear her affirm his more logical approach gave him a lot of confidence.
Suddenly, the guild’s front doors were slammed open. It made everybody’s shoulders jump, except for Soleil who was still covering her ears.
It was Nail. He looked haggard like he had run a marathon thrice without rest. Frantically, he looked around the lobby and ran into the restaurant area. Then, he yelled out in panic to everybody present:
“Has anybody seen Mie?!”