Page 218

“I suppose congratulations are in order, Lady Erynthea,” praised Rigetta, the Guild Master of the Sephrodia Valley branch.

“It’s just one person,” Erin responded dryly to the compliment as she took a seat on the couch across from Rigetta. Her eyes fell on the hemispherical crystal orb on the table that was shrouding the room with an anti-espionage spell.

“I have read the reports. It was quite an endeavour. Thankfully, only his lower jaw is broken and a few of his ribs shattered. Painful but he’ll live. Seems like he was bludgeoned by something small but tough. What happened?”

“Let’s just say he had too high of a regard for himself.”

Rigetta chuckled and leaned forward in her seat. “Tea?” she offered.

Erin shook her head.

“Suit yourself.” Rigetta shrugged and poured herself a cup. “To think they will be so troubled by a bounty mark with a dead or alive requisite. This Edmund fellow must know quite a lot about the Covenant’s inner workings.”

“He claims that he knows nothing and he doesn’t know why those people want him dead with such ardour.”

“Maybe he must have seen something he’s not supposed to without realising it himself. We get quite a lot of such cases.”

“Then how would we be able to extract what we want from him when he doesn’t even know it himself?”

“The Guild is well-prepared. As we speak, his memories are mostly being copied into a Memory Stone.”

“A Memory Stone?”

“It’s basically a magic stone that can store the memories of an individual. The memories stored within can be viewed by others. But it requires the expertise of a Mind Magic user. It’s hard to properly explain it in words. You’ll understand when I show it to you later.”

“What happens after his memories are… copied?”

“He will be thrown into the Guild’s prison while we process his offences against the guild. After that’s done, if his crimes and misdeeds are also offences outside the laws of the Guild, he will be handed over to the city. But there will be a long period of waiting in between due to the typical slow procession you can expect from governmental administration. But by then, it will already be too late for the Covenant as we would have already gotten what we want from Edmund.”

“I see…” Erin muttered with a downcast gaze.

“Pardon me if I’m being presumptuous, Lady Erynthea, but you don’t sound very… thrilled or happy. This is a job well-done despite the kinds of odds that were against you.”

“You trust all of the staff in this building?”

Rigetta smiled wryly. “I know what you’re implying. To be honest, I don’t trust everyone but there’s nothing the Covenants plants can do about it. At best, the plants can only pass on information they had gotten their hands on. If it’s exposed that the Guild is compromised, the Adventurer’s Guild Union will pull out of this city. If there're no adventurers, where will the nobles get their precious metals, rare stones, and peculiar monster materials? The Covenant may not care but their partner-in-crime, the viceroy, does. Rylan Grid will not let it happen. Does that assuage your worries, m’lady?”

“Not entirely but I do feel a lot more relieved.” Erin cast out a long breath. “So, how long will the memory extraction take?”

“Memory copying, not extraction. There’s a difference. Edmund will still have his memories after we are done with him.”

“And how much longer do I have to wait?”

“About an hour or two, depending on the individual’s mental fortitude.”

At that moment, a knock resounded from the door. Rigetta waved her hand over the hemispherical crystal orb and the spell melted right back into the orb. The distant chatter and rustling noises returned to Erin’s ears from outside of the room.

“What is it?” Rigetta asked, with the doors staying closed.

“The other companions of Lady Erynthea has reached the guild. They are without major wounds.”

“Ah, delightful news. Thank you. You may leave.”

Erin felt the Guild Staff bowing behind the doors and took her leave with small firm steps.

“Your friends are back safe and sound.”

“As they should. Things will only get more difficult from now on, they should be able to manage this much. Anyway, what’s the next quest?”

“Be at ease, m’lady. The next one will be issued accordingly to the information we will be getting from Edmund. Until then, get some rest. You earned it. I understand your urgency but I don’t think being hasty will get you far, m’lady.”

Erin sighed. “I suppose it won’t.”

****

“Erin!” Lyra exclaimed in delight as she threw herself into Erin’s open arms upon their reunion in the guild reception area. It was deep into the night. Not a single sane soul was lingering in the guild other than the staff members and the adventurers who had their own complicated circumstances.

Erin caught her overly-excited lover and swung her around before pulling her into a deep embrace. “You’re safe… Thank the stars…”

“The stars have nothing to do with our well-being. We made it through with our own strength and skills,” Nivia grumbled in the background.

“Of course, you all did well,” Erin said. “I’m very proud of you all.”

Lilian tittered. “If we wish to continue walking in the trail left behind by you, we need to at least be able to lift some of our own burdens.”

“You did well too, Aera,” Erin complimented her fellow Apostle with a bright smile.

Aera nodded meekly. She was standing beside a pillar, a few feet away from the group. Her gaze appeared to be constantly shying away from Erin’s eyes.

“What’s with her?” Lyra asked, reluctantly pulling herself away from Erin. If they weren’t in public, Lyra would have turned the embrace into a fervent bout of their tongues and lips.

“She nearly killed Edmund.”

Lilian’s brows were raised. A small grin formed on her lips. “Oh, my. What happened?” she asked. “Must have been his tongue or his eyes. Even the Spirits found him annoying when he was silent and brooding.”

“We had just fought off our assailants and he went on rambling about how we might as well just kill him before he brought Aera and I down with him.”

“That doesn’t sound like Edmund at all,” Lyra remarked. “Was he drunk?”

“On his delusion of grandeur, yes.”

“What kind of delusion?”

“He was under the impression that we oblige his noble sacrifice. He told us to tell you that he was sorry for all that he had done and…”

“And?” Lilian urged.

“Well, he asked for a kiss from me as his dying request.”

Lyra balled her hands into fists, clenching them tightly as she seethed with fury. “That son of a bitch… Even at his presumed last moments of his wretched life, he had no true remorse and only sought to fulfil his own lust and desire.”

“I can’t imagine how he’s still alive, given Aera’s temperament,” Lilian said.

“I was barely able to save him. As a consolation, his jaw was broken and a few of his ribs were shattered.”

“At least get his limbs,” Lyra mumbled.

“That thought did cross my mind but we didn’t have a wagon or a cart.”

“Where is this unsavoury person right now?” Siv asked.

“Currently being processed by the guild. We will be notified once that’s over.”

“That’s perfect, then,” said a booming voice from the hallway that led to different rooms on the ground floor. A towering woman with dark skin and long dark crimson hair strode towards Erin and her companions. The pair of horns sticking out from the woman’s head made her stride even more imposing.

“Amyra, fancy seeing you here,” Erin greeted.

“Oh, right,” Lyra blurted out. “We encountered a Venerer but Amyra appeared and helped us stall the Venerer while we ran.”

Erin’s eyes widened. “You encountered a Venerer?”

“Not here,” Amyra said, putting a finger on her lips while gesturing her other hand at the guild’s annexed pub.

Erin and her companions moved to the pub, taking a seat in the further corner from the entrance before they continued with their conversation. Amyra took the liberty to order a large mug of ale for everyone but since everyone else declined, only Amyra was drinking.

“So, who’s this Venerer that you all encountered?” Erin asked after everyone had settled in their seats.

“Saril, I believe her name was,” Amyra answered after downing half a mug’s worth of ale in a single gulp. “She’s an Acolyte. She’s quite handy with Light Magic.”

“You fought her, I assume.”

“I didn’t just fight her. I defeated her.” Amyra scoffed with a simper. “I think you would have an easy time against her too, Lady Erin.”

“It’s ‘Lady Erin’ now? What happened to just ‘Erin’?”

“That was before I knew you were m’lord’s consort.”

“I am no one’s consort.”

“Fine, lover, whatever. My point stays the same, m’lady.”

“A priestess of Aeryo defeated an Acolyte of Ruva…” Lilian mused. “If anyone saw this fight, it would become the main gossip of the city among the highborn for the months to come.”

“No one saw us,” Amyra said. “Pity. Could have used this gossip to put the arrogant Ruvan Paladins in their place. It could limit their movements.”

“The Venerer lives?” Siv asked.

“Of course. I can’t exactly just kill a paladin no matter how annoying I find them to be.”

“Then if her defeat gets into the ear of the commander of the Venerers, what would the response be from them?”

Lyra snorted. “If they come for us, we will just show them we’re not like their usual victims that they could just bully into submission.”

“Their commander is the Scarlet Blade, Azaela.”

“Oh…” Lyra muttered.

Erin felt her heart thumping at that name.

“The Scarlet Blade…” Lilian mulled. “The Elders talked a lot about her. For an individual above the level of eighty, she has quite a small repertoire of Arcane Arts. Yet, her prowess was still talked about till this day by the Fae Elders.”

Amyra finished the rest of her ale in one big gulp and slammed the mug with a sigh of delight afterwards. “Azaela… The person who could have been the Sword Saint if she didn’t have prior commitments with a faith.”

Siv and Lyra gazed at Erin as the two were privy to Erin’s past life and her past status as the Sword Saint.

“But she’s a problem we can worry about later. Right now, what of the bounty fellow? Edward, was it?”

“Edmund,” Nivia corrected her.

“Yea, him. What of him right now?”

“He’s being processed,” Erin answered. “They are copying his memories into something they called a Memory Stone.”

“How lavish, a Memory Stone,” Lilian exclaimed excitedly. “It can easily cost up to a hundred gold depending on the region. They’ll also need a skilled Mind Magic user to use the stone properly. If they’re willing to use such a luxurious item, they must be convinced that Edmund saw something very implicative.”

“Considering the assassins that had come after Edmund, I don’t think it would stop at being implicative. Whatever he saw or knew, the Covenant was willing to send Demoids after him.”

“He better be worth it…” Aera muttered under her breath.

Erin laid her hand on top of Aera’s tightly clenching fists. “It’s alright, Aera. Regardless of his worth, you did well.”

“Only because you were there, Erin. If you weren’t… I don’t think I would be able to stop. These Covenant roaches… They’re everywhere yet nowhere in sight. It’s frustrating. It’s even more so when one of them is right in front of you but you can’t kill him because he has valuable information.”

“The sentiment is mutual, Aera,” Lyra said.

Aera looked surprised at Lyra’s affirmation with her outburst of emotion. She nodded and turned her flushed face away before it could be seen.

“Well, we have nothing to do but wait for now. Are you sure none of you here would like to drink?” Amyra asked.

“Fae can’t drink alcohol that isn’t properly distilled by the Spirits,” Nivia said.

“Then how about the three of you? Lyra, Aera, and…”

“Siv.”

“Yes, Siv. A drink?”

The three shook their heads.

“Well, you lot are no fun. Am I going to be drinking alone despite having pretty ladies around?”

“Don’t worry. You need not drink anymore,” Erin said and stood up. She turned behind her as a Guild Official trotted up to them with silent yet hasty steps. “Looks like the procession is over.”