Chapter 12: Took the Bait
"Okay, here goes...," Muttered Raven, taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling as he began transforming, before he jumped as he suddenly felt a firm hand on his shoulder, startling him.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Huh? Oh, it's just you, Tacitus, you scared me," Raven let out a sigh of relief, relaxing as he thought to himself, "Damn it, I stopped focusing on my sensory abilities for a moment there, I didn't even notice him...that could've been really bad if an enemy had shown up instead, gotta make sure I don't make the same mistake again."
"Yeah, you came out of nowhere...we still have almost an hour before we're supposed to meet up, are you done already?" Chimed in Celia in surprise.
"I guess you could say that, yes. More importantly, what were you trying to do here? I thought I told you to lay low," He frowned in exasperation.
"And you also told us to attract the attention of the Inquisitors, which kinda contradicts telling us to lay low," Pointed out Raven dryly.
"Either way, that was way too reckless. It's a good thing I found you two in time, that could've turned out badly."
"How did you find us, by the way? We're a good distance away from the alley where we were supposed to meet back up," Remarked Celia curiously.
"After I left the church, I decided to head back to that spot through the alleys, I figured I'd have the best chance of running into you two that way, and it looks like I was right. Now then, let's get to what I learned at the church...for starters, it's been more or less fully rebuilt, with a new Priest in charge. I spoke to him, and made sure to make it clear that I was a Commoner...and based on what I could glean from his reactions, I don't think he's prejudiced against Commoners, so we don't need to target him.
It also became clear that he doesn't know anything about what happened here, when I asked about Raven and his sister, he simply responded that he's new to this village so he doesn't know. And I didn't sense any deceit in his words, so that's that. But that was when I got the feeling that I was being watched, there were likely Inquisitors in the church, so I decided to say something that would make them suspicious.
Specifically, I mentioned coming across a strange Monster that could speak in Pearl Forest, and added that I heard rumors of a creature emerging from the church when it burned down, a creature that matched the description of the Monster I saw in the forest. And it looks like they took the bait and followed me," Tacitus lowered his voice, as he noticed Raven tense up slightly.