It took Arwin a solid second to remember where he was. As he held Lillia, the rest of the world simply forgot to exist. He hadn’t realized quite how much he’d missed her. And it wasn’t just her, either. The clinking ambiance of the Devil’s Den full of diners and the presence of the rest of his guild around him…
This was the way things were meant to be. This was what every single one of them fought for — which made it all the more ironic that they’d had to leave it in order to lay the bricks that would pave the path into this moment’s continued existence in the future.
Lillia finally pulled away from him after several long seconds. The chatter in the tavern had already risen to a near-deafening level. There were far, far more people sitting around the dining room than Arwin could ever remember. It was practically packed to the brim with bodies.
Every single person was trying to be heard over the other. It was a mixture of cheers and joyous congratulations meshed together with calls for more food and drink. Even the darkness of the Devil’s Den couldn’t contain the bustling excitement that filled the room.
“Congratulations!” someone yelled. The voice was vaguely familiar, and Arwin recognized it a few moments later to come from Wanda, a huge adventurer who had been one of his earlier clients. She was squeezed into a corner table all by herself — not for lack of company, but because there was no room for anyone beside her. The massive adventurer raised a mug of frothing beer and sent him a huge grin. “That was one hell of a run!”
Everyone else in the room mirrored the sentiments. A flow of adventurers rushed past them in a tangle of limbs and slaps on the back. Every single one of them was beyond themselves with excitement, and any words that may have formed on Arwin’s lips were stolen away before they could get a chance to slip free.
Why are they so happy for us?
Some of the adventurers knew him or the other members of the Menagerie — he saw Raen and Melissa sitting at a table together — but the vast majority of them were people Arwin had never seen. He hadn’t even made equipment for them.
They were just people that had been in the tavern. And yet, this group of adventurers were more excited about the Menagerie’s teams’ than half of the people on the teams themselves. Arwin had never felt this level of support in his life.
And Arwin was stunned to find that he rather liked it. People he had never so much as even seen were clapping him on the back like old friends. They were shaking Olive’s hand so furiously that someone might have thought they were trying to rip it off and wrapping their arms around Kein’s shoulders like long-gone drinking buddies.
The tide of people swirled around the Menagerie like the waves of a furious ocean, their words and bodies blending together into a blur. The next hour felt like a blur to Arwin. Little memory of it remained, but he had more drinks shoved into his hands than he could count, and it felt like a shame to waste any of Lillia’s work.
None of the Menagerie got a chance to get any real conversation in with each other for quite some time. But, as the day wore on, the imps begun to slowly herd people out of the inn. There was almost no resistance beyond a final few shouted congratulations as the final groups left — though one man was completely out cold and had to be dragged out to the street Monica and one of his friends.
And then, finally, the inn was quiet once more. It had been hours since they’d gotten back. The sun had long since set over the horizon of the city to paint the clouds in the sky with fading pinks and purples.
All of the members of the Menagerie collapsed into the chairs scattered around the room. Even their allies had headed out for the night to give them some much needed space. Somehow, the unintended party had actually been just as tiring as the tournament itself. The few moments of silence were more than welcome.
“So,” Lillia said after nearly a minute without a single word from any of them. “Who won?”
A snort of laughter burst from Arwin. They’d somehow managed to get through an entire celebration and Lillia didn’t even know what places their teams had taken. Then again, she had probably been ridiculously busy with all the adventurers stuffed into the Devil’s Den. Keeping track of the tournament was probably too difficult while she was working.
“Depends on your definition of a win,” Arwin said. “Just about every goal we had going into the tournament was accomplished. Not all in the ways we wanted them to be, but everything other than Art and Vix’s problem has been solved. That includes dealing with assassins from the Kererus Coalition and making them look like a joke on the stage, not to mention our larger goals. I dare say that the increased attention we saw today was only the beginning of things.”
“Godspit,” Lillia breathed, her eyes widening. “It’s a good thing I already contacted Riker for another expansion to the Devil’s Den. I was already feeling like things were a bit packed. I hope you’re ready for all the extra people coming to the street. At this rate, we’re going to need to start offering more services just to keep people occupied while they’re here. I — hold on. I’m getting ahead of myself. When you say all the problems… does that include Elias’ one as well? How?”
Arwin’s smile faded. “You might want to sit down for this.”
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“I am sitting down.”
“I meant metaphorically,” Arwin said. He glanced over at Rodrick. The paladin was already leaning forward in his chair, eyes sharp as blades. He’d caught the shift in Arwin’s tone, and so had Lillia. Arwin blew out a breath as he gathered his thoughts. “We found out a lot more than I had been expecting to during the tournament, and that includes some big things. Some really big things.”
“I’m listening,” Lillia said. “What happened to Elias? Is he dead?”
“I’m right here, you know,” Elias said. “Not dead. Well, dead. Just not doubly — oh, you get the point.”
“I should probably start at the beginning,” Arwin said. “You’re going to want to hear the whole story for this one.”
And then he told her what that had happened since they’d arrived at the tournament. He covered everything from way the Secret Eye had used it to functionally farm money for themselves all the way up to the information that Necrohammer had given him.
Arwin didn’t leave a single thing out. Reya occasionally jumped in to fill in details that Arwin hadn’t been there for or had unintentionally glossed over. The rest of the Menagerie stayed dead silent the entire time. Not one of them so much as did anything other than breathe until the story had reached the point at which they all now stood.
Only then did he join them in their silence.
It didn’t take long before it was broken.
“Godspit,” Rodrick said. He rose from his chair and started to pace back and forth across the dining room, arms crossed behind his back and features twitching with every thought. “I — do you have any idea what this — no, of course you do. But still! The extent of this information… ridiculous. Incredible. Unbelievable. Some combination of the three. And you believe Necrohammer?”
“Elias, you feel… normal?” Anna asked, examining the undead man intently. “Nothing strange? No weakness? No hunger for flesh?”
Elias didn’t even blink at the questions. “Feel free to take a look yourself. That might be for the best. Maybe you’ll notice something I missed. But I feel fine. Better than normal, actually.”
Anna did exactly as he had suggested. She called forth gentle white light and let it spill from her fingers over Elias. Her brow creased in concentration as the entire room watched her work for nearly a minute.
Then she let her hand lower.
“He seems… unchanged. My magic can’t detect any interference with who he is. That doesn’t mean it isn’t there, though,” Anna warned. She shook her head. “But Necrohammer seems to know what he is doing. A procedure as invasive as the one insinuated to have happened should have left severe damage to you, but I can’t sense anything.”
“We’ll keep a close eye on him,” Rodrick said. “Assuming he and Maeve plan to stick around, that is?”
The two members of Phoenix Circle exchanged a glance. Then, as one, they nodded.
“Norm— Necrohammer clearly has something planned for all of us,” Elias said. “I don’t know if I trust him or not. He isn’t the man I thought he was. But I don’t know what else we would do. After everything we’ve learned, it would be wrong to just turn our backs on it. We’ll stay so long as you’ll have us.”
“I’d say you’ve more than earned your spot,” Lillia said. Her eyes looked slightly distant from all the thoughts that must have been passing through her head. She pinched the bridge of her nose between two fingers. “But the Adventurer’s Guild… I don’t know what to even say.”
“They’re no better now than they were before,” Rodrick said firmly. “Good reasons do not a good man make. They may have once had some good purpose, but that was long since lost when they put the world into a meatgrinder.”
“He’s right,” Olive agreed. “We can’t excuse them just because there’s a chance that the world needed more power. Also, we don’t know for sure that Necrohammer was telling the truth. He could have lied.”
“It’s possible,” Arwin said. He blew out a breath and rose to his feet. “I don’t think he did, but trusting him blindly would definitely be very dangerous. And that’s why we have to do what he suggested.”
“Setting Sun,” Anna guessed. “You’re going to seek out this One person?”
“After I get stronger,” Arwin said with a nod. “I’ve been focused on the tournament recently. I don’t regret that at all, but I don’t have a proper suit of armor for myself right now. I need to use new smithing techniques to—”
“Hold on right there,” Lillia said. She shot to her feet and pressed a finger against Arwin’s lips before he’d even realized she’d moved. “You can tell us later. There’s no need to go too deep into our plans. Not while we have a guest.”
There was a moment of surprised silence. Then the air above a chair to their side twisted. Strands of darkness wove themselves together into what was quickly becoming a familiar form. Eleven sat in one of Lillia’s chairs, her long hair covering her entire body like a cloak.
How is she here? Did Selen teleport her along with us? If that’s the case… Eleven is somehow so stealthy that even the Secret Eye couldn’t detect her passing through a spell they themselves cast.
That’s terrifying.
… and Lillia spotted her. Holy shit.
In an instant, the entirety of the Menagerie were on their feet and readied for a fight. Eleven didn’t so much as flinch. She barely even seemed to notice their movement. Her eyes, partially hidden behind her long bangs, were focused directly on Lillia.
Eleven let out a tired sigh.
“Who’s this?” Rodrick asked, a hand on the hilt of his sword.
“This is embarrassing,” Eleven said. “I got sniffed out. You didn’t even blink the last time I was here.” Searᴄh the NovelZone.fun website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
“Arwin told me. That’s why I took a skill at Journeyman 9 that gave me better awareness of everything that happened within my tavern from all the energy I got from people dining here over the past few days,” Lillia said grimly. “And the only reason you aren’t dead yet is because Arwin has implied you might not be our enemy. I suggest you ensure he was not lying.”
“I knew this was going to be a pain in the ass,” Eleven said with another weary sigh. “Could I get a drink? I’d take a bed too, but then I’d probably fall asleep, so I’ll stick with the drink.”
Rodrick’s eyes narrowed, but Lillia strode over to the bar and pulled a bottle from the shelves. She poured it into a clean mug, then thunked the filled mug down before Eleven.
“Here.”
The other woman gave Lillia a small nod. She took a long drink, then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Right then. You lot have the gist of things. Actually, you had a little info that I myself didn’t know. Figure the innkeeper was using it to gauge how much I understood about the situation by watching my reactions. Clever girl.”
Lillia just smiled. “I have my moments.”
“So does your entire guild, from the looks of things,” Eleven said. She leaned forward and brushed her hair away from her eyes so she could see properly. “Right. Let’s talk business. I think I’ve got some information you’re in some desperate need of. But, first, I have to ask one thing.”
“And what would that be?” Arwin asked tersely.
Eleven’s gaze locked with his. “Where’d you stick Twelve’s body?”
The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!