~Chapter 180~ Part 2
"Thank you for the meal!"
"Haha! Don't mention it, kids!" The tavern-keep's lips curved into a satisfied grin, and he winked at Angie. "I should be the one to thank you for the business! Dig in, while it's still hot!"
It was a bit after lunchtime when the gang gathered again at the now-familiar tavern. I've once read that originally these kinds of places were a kind of all-in-one traveller's rest stops that took care of drinks, food, and lodging, and this establishment certainly kept the tradition alive. On the flip-side, it was oddly deserted at this hour, and while I wasn't sure the group caught on yet, I was pretty sure it was because the majority of the villagers were eating in a large communal food court at the other side of the central square.
I didn't know the logistics of that, but it allowed Josh and company to eat in peace and discuss their findings in something approaching privacy. Only after eating, of course, and they all focused on the generously portioned dishes in front of them with the eyes of hungry wolves. I could understand that, since they'd been moving non-stop since the sun came up, gathering information and doing odd-jobs in the process to get in the good graces of the village folk.
On my end, I'd been running myself a bit ragged since the morning, as I tried my best to keep track of as many variables as possible. That, of course, included the gang's activities as well, but there were a bunch of other fronts to keep in mind at the same time. For a start, I confirmed that nobody on Critias was aware of these guys sneaking into the Abyss yet. I mean, nobody besides Tajana. And the Fauns. … And maybe Roland.
Okay, so on second thought, a few people were aware, but none of big guns knew that they were in the Abyss, at least for now. There were a couple of others who were aware that the gang was on a 'training trip' though, and the adults could be divided into two groups regarding their opinion on the matter.
On one side, we had the Draconic Federation folks, whose reaction could be best summed up as, 'Well, of course they're training! A big battle is coming; they must be excited for it!', because both the Knights and the Draconians had a bit of a battle maniac streak. On the Assembly side, the arch-mages considered that taking Amelia out of the spotlight while the mess around Lord Marzanna's actions and the collusions between the various Magi and Celestial renegades was sorted out to be just fine.
Maybe it was because they were all overwhelmed with bureaucracy and diplomatic firefighting like this that nobody deigned to closely scrutinise why this collection is super-important teenagers decided to take a collective vacation in the middle of nowhere without any adult supervision. I had a feeling that once they managed to get their heads over the water and start asking questions, some heads would roll (metaphorically, of course)… unless, of course, the Abyss-arc spills over to Critias before that, in which case all hell will break loose anyway.
That said, some people were already mad, though not for the reason I would've expec— No, scratch that. It was entirely in character for… Well, let's just take a look at them for a demonstration, shall we?
Inside the base's training grounds, a wild duel was unfolding, shaking the entire main hall with its impacts.
"Like, I'm sooo totally mad!" a familiar brown girl yelled, her hair and custom skimpy robes fluttering as she threw a series of punches at the air, with four semi-transparent hands mimicking her motions behind her.
"You're mad!? Then how am I supposed to feel!?" her opponent, a draconian youth with burning red hair, bellowed back at her and flexed his arms. Next to him, a pair of semi-transparent reptilian arms, topped with four-fingered paws, lashed out and met the punches raining down towards him with strikes of his own.
I've seen him using a similar draconic technique during the battle with Marzanna's goons, and I imagined that this variant was directly inspired by the signature spell of the rejuvenated ex-arch-mage. Each time the spectral appendages met, their contact released shockwaves that buffeted their clothes and made the ground shake beneath their feet.
"But, like, I wanted to train with them too!" Sahi yelled, bending her upper body left and right like some famous anime boxer, while Zihao growled and made a bunch of hand seals instead, like some famous anime ninja.
"You already had the opportunity to train with them in the Elysium! I wasn't even invited that time!"
Once he finished his motions, a semi-transparent dragon's head appeared behind him. The Asian dragon type, with the mane and the whiskers and stuff. If I squinted, it kind of looked like Xiao's true form, but then it distorted as it opened its mouth and released a burst of fire. Not dragon-fire, aka the variously coloured wave motion beam attack, but an actual wave of orange flames.
"Like, don't be a total loser-o-rama!" Sahi yelled back and thrust her hands forward, summoning two more hands. The six unleashed a flurry of blows, and while one of them was disintegrated in the process, the flame was also extinguished. She heaved a deep breath, then struck a pose and exclaimed, "I wasn't invited either. Like, if you wanted to come along, you should've totally made up an excuse like I did!"
"This time they didn't even tell me they would be going!" Zihao argued back, and as he lurched forward, the talons of his summoned dragon arms dug into the concrete of the training field.
"Hey! Like, they didn't tell me either, and like, I'm totally not spazzing out!" the brown girl yelled… while her magic hands were pounding the ground in a display of impotent rage.
"My rage is justified! My rival just ignored me and left me behind!"
The two of them were just about to get ready for round two… but then, suddenly, a barrier made of neatly packed hexagonal panels sprang up between the two of them, making Sahi blink and then glare at her left.
"Hey, Paz! I totally told you not to—" Her words came to a sudden halt, and then she immediately dismissed her magic hands. "O-Oh! Hi, um… Uncle Gulliver? Like, what brings you here?"
He wasn't alone. The lanky arch-mage was flanked by Lord Barnabas, Morgana, and Naoren as well. Needless to say, the impromptu duel was quickly brought to an end and was followed by a well-deserved scolding, but I didn't stay around for that, because there was something else that caught my attention.
A moment later, my point of view was inside Castle Nergal, where Crowy was having a belated lunch with the original owner of the place. Or, considering I've seen them get started about an hour ago, maybe they were just eating really slowly.
Lately, I've been trying to make a habit out of rapid-cycling the usual Far Sight targets. Since I could only pay attention to one of them at a time, and I had literally hundreds of marks, it was hard to keep track of everything at once. Even when I limited my attention to just a dozen or so VIPs, it took about twenty seconds to glance at each one of them, a minute or more if I actually slowed down and tried to figure out the context of what I was looking at. Needless to say, I did one of these sweeps while watching Sahi and Zihao getting scolded, which let me catch this curious exchange.
"Is your informant reliable?" asked Crowy, sitting at the head of a long feast table filled with dishes. He was in his standard dark purple outfit, cape and all, and had a rather sour look on his face.
"Absolutely," Belette Nergal responded from the other end of the table.
The silver-haired Abyssal was sitting as far from Crowy as possible, though I figured it had less to do with keeping distance and more with both of them technically being 'at a head of the table' of opposite ends, and sitting anywhere else would've been seen as subordinating themselves to the other. Not that it would've mattered, because there was not a single other soul in the lavish dining room, and it was so quiet they barely even needed to raise their voices to hear each other.
"So what you're telling me," Crowy spoke while leisurely cutting a piece of meat, "Is that the previous news about the Shamash bringing in reinforcements from the outside was but a misdirection."
"Precisely," the Nergal Patriarch nodded with a thin-lipped smile and took a sip from a tall wine glass. "They must've leaked the information to our spies, hoping that we would focus our attention on House Shamash's territory while the Gulas and the Enlils could strike us in the back. They even went as far as to open a gateway, but my informant assured me that neither Fidèle nor anyone else came through."
"So it was a ruse. How pathetic," Crowy grumbled. "I'll show them that their petty mind-games are meaningless. I shall lead the assault on the northern frontlines, personally."
"Shouldn't we inform the Emperor first? Aren't you still recovering from the fight with the Peacemaker?"
The emphasis he put on the word 'Emperor' was odd; a veneer of deference masking frustration, and maybe even disdain? Something like that. On the other hand, the fact that was still calling me by that moniker just gave me the creeps.
Crowy frowned and put down his knife and fork, then looked the other man in the eye.
"The Emperor doesn't need to concern himself with such trifles. As for my health, refer to that bastard by that title again, and I will demonstrate my vigour to you on your very skin."
"Ah, slip of the tongue," Belette responded glibly, but the way his eyes were shaking told me he was more than wary of Crowy's outburst.
Also, the fact that we both hated that sobriquet made me feel genuinely dirty. Ugh.
More importantly, since they returned to their meal after that, I did another quick sweep and realised that Josh and company finished the majority of their food and were already in the process of discussing their findings at the table.
"… practiced my magic." That was the end of a sentence coming from Ammy, followed by a sigh. "I mean, getting used to the flow of mana here is nice, but why are they only asking for earthworks?"
Her gripes were met with a giggle from Penny, and when Ammy glared at her, my sister hastily waved her hands.
"S-Sorry, I wasn't laughing at you! I just imagined them telling you about their problems, and then you trying to figure out how to do it with fireballs. You know? Like in the campaign."
"We aren't playing an RPG now," Josh pointed out.
"R-Right! And it's not like I only care about fireballs, or anything," the class rep agreed with a slightly sulky grumble, and while my dear assistant had a 'I'm clearly skeptical, but I'm not saying anything out of politeness' kind of reaction, Angie nodded along and pushed the topic in an unexpected direction.
"But, I mean, it's really like we're in an RPG! Think about it! We're in a tavern, we went around the village to do quests, and we got paid in coins! I love it!"
"Right, right!" Penny reached into the pouch on her belt and produced a few of the coins in question. "They have cool designs, too! Maybe we should take some home as souvenirs for Mom and Dad. Uncle Roland, too."
"Guys, guys," Josh interjected while showing his palms. "Can we focus, please? We're in…" He paused to look around, and despite nobody listening in, he lowered his voice anyway. "We're in enemy territory. Take this seriously."
"Oookay."
Angie's half-serious response drew a sigh out of the guy, so he turned back to the class rep.
"Let's continue where we left off. You said that the structure of the Ley lines here is similar to the ones in Elysium, right?"
Ammy responded with a firm, "Correct."
"How does that affect the plan?"
"It's good news," she insisted, but then she added a slightly less confident, "Although, I have to make direct contact with one of the Mana Wells to be one hundred percent sure."
"At least we're on the right track." He turned to my girlfriends next. "Did you find anything?"
"I've completed the demographic analysis of the village," Judy responded without batting an eyelid.
"That's… neat, but I meant more along the lines of… something that's useful for our plan?"
"We collected lots of gossip," Elly chimed in. "They were mostly things we've already heard about, but there were a few things about the civil war."
"Such as?" Josh prompted her, and this time it was Judy who interjected first.
"Seventy-seven percent of the people we asked said they thought Noir had an advantage in the war. Sixty-two percent thought that the Nergals would eventually stab him in the back. Eighty-nine percent said that it was only a question of time before House Ninhursag would enter the civil war, but they didn't seem to care whose side they would join."
"We've also got directions towards the closest cities," the princess added, like a cherry on top.
"Don't we already have a map?" Penny asked, and she turned to Snowy.
"Y-Yes, I made one last night. It's still in our room," my other sister explained, then smiled at Elly. "If you can tell me what they told you, I think I can figure out exactly where we are."
"That would be helpful," Josh concluded and focused on my sisters. "Did you find anything useful?"
"This place has big rats!" Penny exclaimed with a grin. "Or, like… I'm pretty sure they were some kind of rodent, and they were really mean, too! I was asked to help hunt a bunch, and I got a whole lot of coins!"
She shook the pouch on her belt, making a satisfying jingling sound.
"Lili?"
Addressed directly, Snowy shook her head.
"I couldn't find much. The people here… they must still think I'm related to Lady Shamash, o-or at least the direct descendant of one of the Noble Houses, so it's hard to make them let their guard down around me."
"Can't you just use your Seducer thingie on them?" came the stray question from the Celestial girl at the table, but Snowy immediately shook her head.
"No. I-I mean, I could, but ever since the accident, I…" She subtly glanced at Penny, then back at the table. "I try not to use it unless it's absolutely necessary."
"I wouldn't say it's absolutely necessary, but…" Josh began, but seeing her expression, backpedalled before finishing the sentence. "Fine. Go at it at your own pace. I'm sure they'll open up to you in no time." He exhaled hard and turned to his girlfriend. "Now it's our turn, right?"
"Yes, but… was I the only one who thought the way Neige looked at Penelope just now was super sus?"
Josh rolled his eyes and delivered a light chop on top of the Celestial girl's head with a deadpan, "Stop it," then faced the group again, completely ignoring the soft 'Boo!' coming from his side. "We collected intel in the hospital."
"Do you mean the big building?" Ammy cut in, sounding oddly dumbfounded. "Is it really a hospital?"
"Yeah!" Angie, already over their previous exchange, beamed at her with unbridled enthusiasm. "There were lots of patients, too!"
"Patients," Judy repeated after her, notebook in hand. "Were they also victims of gateway collapses?"
Josh shook his head with a quiet, "I don't think so. I asked around while Angie was treating them, and they seem to be victims of the civil war."
"Refugees?" Elly guessed, and Josh let out an ambivalent noise.
"Maybe. Most of them were from places where the Noble Houses clash over territory, but I didn't wanna stretch my luck, so I didn't dig too deep."
Meanwhile, the princess turned to Angie next.
"And you were treating them? Won't they realize you're a Celestial?"
"I can be really subtle if I want, you know?" she responded with an impish smirk, followed by a slightly more solemn, "Seriously though, they only have one healer, and he's not great. Maybe Abyssals are just not that good with healing magic?"
"I… can't deny that," Snowy said in a mousy voice, but then Josh grabbed the reins of the conversation again.
"To answer your question, we were careful, but I have a feeling that even if some suspected Angie, they didn't seem to care."
"Isn't that odd?" the class rep inquired with a troubled frown. "Aren't the Abyssals and Celestials mortal enemies?"
As the resident Abyss expert, it was Snowy's turn to shine again, and she hastily explained, "N-Not really. I mean, it's more like the Noble Houses really don't like Elysium and the Celestial Intelligence Network, but individual Celestials are… fine, I guess?"
"We should still try to keep a low profile," Josh concluded and put his hands onto the table. "That's all we have for now. What are everyone's plans for the afternoon?"
"I was invited to hunt boars!" Penny exclaimed right away. "I mean, I think they are some kind of wild pigs, and they look really mean, but hunting them pays a lot of coins!"
"I'm having déjà vu…" Angie whispered, while the others continued to rattle off their plans.
"I'm going to borrow Neige," Judy stated, much to my sister's surprise. "We found a group of Fauns, and we plan to question them, but neither of us knows Faunish. They might also open up to you quicker than to us."
"Yep! And this way Judy won't have to hide behind me all the time!" Elly declared with zero ill intent, but my assistant kicked her on the shin under the table anyway. As always, she was comically inept at inflicting violence, so the princess only let out a startled, "Hm? Is something the matter?"
"It is perfectly natural, even rational, to be cautious around unknown Fauns," Judy declared with more than just a hint of wounded pride in her deadpan voice, but before that skit could develop, Josh and Angie picked up the thread of the discussion.
"I guess we're gonna go back to the hospital and collect more intel," the guy started, and his girlfriend nodded along.
"The doctor said he'll give us a reward if we heal ten people! I'm already done with six!"
"I've also got some pocket money," Elly chimed in with a grin. "I helped a granny with some vegetables while Judy was interviewing her!"
"How much money do we have in total?" Josh's question made everyone count their proverbial pennies, and once it was added up, he let out a thoughtful hum. "We already have enough to stay the night. It might be wise to do that and stick around until we're ready to move out."
"Leave it to me! I'll catch a whole bunch of piggies and pay for dinner!" Penny declared with altogether too much enthusiasm.
"Then… Then I'll heal twenty patients, and get a bonus from the quest-giver!" Angie doubled down, much to his boyfriend's mild annoyance.
"I told you, this isn't a game," he griped, only to be summarily ignored.
"I'll look for more grannies in need of help then," the princess was next, and to everyone's surprise, the class rep also joined the fray.
"I'm planning to earn some money too, you know? I don't want to be a dead weight!"
"Aren't you already doing earthworks, or something?"
Angie's question didn't have any ill will, yet Ammy still puffed up her cheek.
"That was just for practice! To get used to the Ley lines here! I have something else lined up, you know?" She must've mistook everyone's silence for skepticism, because she continued with extra vehemence. "I'm honest. I was asked by one of the locals to help her make bricks for the new well they're digging! And I'm going to do it with… erm…"
The way she suddenly faltered made everyone raise curious brows at her, and it was Josh who acted on that curiosity first.
"You're gonna do it with what?"
"With… fire… balls."
How did the saying go? You can take the player away from their pyromaniac character, but you can't take the pyromaniac character out of a player. Or something in that (fire)ballpark.