Chapter 461
"The eldest sister really knows how to pick her timing."
We saw the commotion kick off right on schedule. Then we turned to face the woman who'd dressed for travel—not in a gown, but in clothes that actually made sense for moving—even though it was the middle of the night.
"You'll really let me see my son?"
"We'll make it happen. You just won't be coming back here."
Lightning in the distance. Thunder right after. Flames shooting up a few seconds later.
From this high window, we had a front-row seat.
"...I never planned to come back here anyway. Take me to my son."
Barze was maybe ten. His mother looked like she was in her mid-twenties. Same silver-blue hair. Slightly wavy, but not messy. Tall for a woman—maybe five-seven. But with curves. Thin, almost like a model.
"Got it. Second sister."
'Ready when you are. Let's move.'
The woman, Penne, had let us in when Amina's spirit came back around.
"Let us in" meaning she cracked the window. I'd cut the bars outside with Magic Edge. They were sitting on the floor now.
The past few days, we'd had Amina's spirits scout the place. Turned into little animals, slipped around.
We mapped the patrols. Found the gaps.
We'd raised plenty of hell around town in the meantime. Once the temple knights showed up, that'd all blow over.
"Let's go."
"Yes."
I took Penne's hand and stepped into the second sister's Spirit Passage.
'Don't go touching things. Those crystals are live.'
"Y-yes."
Penne was looking around, curious. The second sister's crystals glowed yellow. In the wrong light, you might mistake them for gold.
Penne had reached for one. She pulled her hand back quick.
'Move. My sisters are watching the exit with Nell and Amina. Should be fine, but we want to be out of this town fast.'
"Right."
The second sister undid her hair tie. Her hair color and eyes shifted back. Makeup came off.
The fake tattoo on her neck was gone first thing. Bad luck to keep that around. She only wore it because I owed her one.
"A spirit?"
"That's right. A lightning spirit. One of ours."
'I don't work for just anyone. You got lucky.'
Penne's eyes went wide. The second sister's whole presence had changed.
"I owe you one. I'll make it right when we're home."
'Fine. I'll hold you to that.'
The second sister nodded and kept walking. You follow a spirit through a Spirit Passage, or you get lost.
Looks like a straight line, but if the spirit wants, it's a maze.
So we walked. Quiet. Stayed behind her.
Penne didn't know us. Didn't know where she was going. She had to trust us anyway.
Honestly, I was surprised she came along at all.
"Hm?"
I glanced back. She was still there. Our eyes met. She tilted her head.
She ran off with that father of his, so her judgment wasn't great. Still, she trusted me.
I faced forward again. Felt her hurrying to keep up.
'Exit.'
We stepped out of the Passage after maybe ten minutes.
"There you are."
"You made it!"
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
Nell and Amina were there. The youngest sister, watching our exit. The eldest sister, who'd dropped the lightning bolt.
"We're done here?"
"Almost. Next stop, Freihait. Mother and son reunion. Happy ending... if only."
First goal, done. Normally, this is where the music swells and the credits roll. But nobody except Penne looked like we were done.
"There's this."
"Yeah. There's that."
One problem leads to another. All that hell-raising turned up something we weren't expecting.
We'd sent Nell and Amina ahead to grab it.
Nell was holding a bag. Careful. Like it was glass. She was Class 8 now, and she was treating it like it might break.
"Eldest sister. I need a favor."
'You want her back in Freihait?'
"Yes. And Nell, give her the bag."
"Okay."
Nell passed the bag to the eldest sister.
"And this."
I handed over a note I'd scribbled.
"Give both to Esmeralda. The note tells her what to do with Penne, and what to do with the contents of that bag."
'Got it.'
This note and this bag were why we were taking a detour.
I wanted to go home first, get our ducks in a row. But there wasn't time.
Nobody saw this coming.
We were going to torch their stash on the way out. Found this while we were digging through their files.
"Youngest sister. Take this to Claudia. We need her. I know she's busy, but bring her, Judeus, Shalia. Anyone she can spare."
'Okay.'
The sisters nodded. Serious. That was all we could do here.
"I'm counting on you."
'We've got this.'
The eldest and youngest took off. Penne looked nervous. I nodded. "It's fine." She went.
"Second sister. We're up."
'You really do attract trouble. Apostle of the Chaos god or something?'
"...Don't. Don't even joke. That one's in the temple. We have a statue."
The four of us stepped into a fresh Passage. Scratching my head.
"Doesn't sound like a god you'd want in a temple."
"People hear the name and think he causes trouble. But he can keep it away, too. That's why he's got followers. People praying for peace."
I played along with her joke. We walked. Not like last time, with Penne. This time, the second sister was moving fast. We kept up.
"So the Chaos god sent us to clean up his mess?"
"A lot of kids' lives are at stake. I'm not gonna say no."
Gods keep their distance in this world. Same as in FBO.
But if we're doing something that affects their domain without knowing it, maybe they reach out. Can't rule it out.
"Human trafficking. Buying kids from poor families. Transporting them out of the old Bordrinde territory. They never quit, do they?"
The bag Nell had been holding was full of evidence. Child trafficking. Transport plans.
They'd picked up supplies in that town. Lots of them. Two days ago.
Normally, the Church would be long gone by now. But moving that many kids is slow. Hard to cover your tracks.
Tracks fade with time.
We should have called the Entertainers. Let the temple knights handle it.
But we were running out of time.
Weather had been clear. The trail might still be there.
'...Almost there.'
"Copy. Can you drop us somewhere discreet?"
'I'll try.'
Time was on their side. We couldn't wait.
We came out deep in the woods.
"...Fire pit."
"Wagon tracks over here."
"Looks like boxes sat here."
This was a supply drop. A staging point.
They'd cleared a patch of woods. You could see where people had been. Lots of them.
"The tracks that way are a decoy. Follow them, you'll end up nowhere."
Nell had found tracks leading out of the woods. Toward a road. There were tracks from the town. Tracks back to the town. Tracks going somewhere else.
"You sure?"
"You can't move that many kids in broad daylight. They don't use roads anyway."
Fake trails. Trying to throw off pursuit.
Nell tilted her head. They looked real.
"Amina, anything?"
"Footprints everywhere. Can't tell."
Normally, you'd chase the wagon tracks. But in this world, if your level is high enough, you can run as fast as a horse.
They move supplies on foot. Carry everything through the woods. Simple. Brutal.
Monsters in the woods help hide the trail. The Church loves that.
'What now? Want me to scout from above?'
"You'd stand out. We'll save that."
'Fine.'
The camp was there, but no sign they'd gone deeper into the woods. Classic Church.
"Call it a hunch..."
I folded my arms. Tapped my fingers against my elbow. Ran the possibilities. Overlaid them on the map in my head. Picked the most unlikely place.
"This way."
"That way?"
Not deeper into the woods. Not toward the mountain. A diagonal path, angling in.
Amina looked surprised but followed. The woods were pitch black. Just our light. Me first. Amina, Nell, Second Sister behind. Five minutes.
"Bingo."
I pointed the light at the ground. It was trampled flat. Like a crowd had been here.