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“This is indeed a very nice place for us to have this conversation,” Rigetta remarked as she let her eyes wander the whole room, smirking at every obscene trinket and suggestive ornament that came into sight while sat comfortably in an armchair with a few extra prurient contrivances. “A fine establishment, I must say.”

Erin sighed, shaking her head while rubbing her temple as she sat in the soft armchair. “It was not my first choice nor was it my second or third.”

“But we’re here.”

“By necessity. There were no other places as secure as this one or so I’m led to believe.” Erin’s scowled trailed over to the Augur, who was lying on the bed as if she was here for leisure purposes.

“Cross my heart, Lady Erin,” Amyra said with a sparse smile. “If there are better choices out there, I’m not aware of it nor have I seen it. The owner of this brothel is an Aeryon. She’s trustworthy. We have been over this, m’lady. Do you still not trust me?”

“Aedan is your mentor. As long as it’s harmless and overall frivolous, he won’t shy away from japes like these. So there, you have an answer.”

“Well, that ain’t my fault, m’lady. It’s your precious lover’s.”

Erin rolled her eyes. “Forget that I ask,” she groaned.

“Well then, Lady Erynthea, what news did you bring from your excursion last night?” Rigetta asked. “Considering you didn’t report back to the guild immediately after, I can only assume that you stumbled upon something that made you question your belief in the guild, in me.”

Erin nodded. “Your assumption would be correct, Guild Master. While we haven’t found anything pertaining to the plans the Covenant have in store for me, we have discovered something… paramount to the operations of this hushed circle of malefactors.”

“Hmm… paramount…” Rigetta made a solemn pondering face. “I guess it’s something related to how they produce the Demoids?”

“Quite right, Rigetta.”

“By the divines…” she gasped softly but gravely. “This… thing that you found, did you bring it with you?”

Erin exchanged a brief glance with Amyra who was still indolently lying on the bed behind her. They nodded at each other before Erin turned her gaze back to Rigetta. “We did,” she answered and took out the vial of pure Demonic essence from her subspace storage spell, Vault.

Unbeknownst to the Dwarrow, Amyra’s gaze narrowed slightly and her hand crept slowly to the back of her waist, where her Infinite Pouch was hidden.

Rigetta frowned as she stared at the vial with incredulity. The Demonic aura oozing off the vial was sending shivers across her skin. “You shouldn’t have brought it with you, Lady Erin. If that thing is truly as important as you surmised, having this item on you as you walked around in public would be… dangerous to say the least. What if I turned out to be an agent of the Covenant all along?”

“Are you?” Erin asked with an eyebrow raised.

“The Spirits might seem amicable in my presence but as there are spells and magic tools to hide one’s scent from sharp noses like yours and conceal sounds from sensitive ears like yours, there are also means to hide one’s unpleasantness from the Spirits. You shouldn’t be so naive, m’lady.”

“Then you’ll be assured to know that I have deluded your belief, Rigetta.” Erin tittered and dropped the vial to the floor. However, the vial did not shatter into millions of pieces and splatter its content everywhere. Instead, it disappeared into a puff of bluish smoke and fading cyan sparks as if it had been nothing more than an illusion.

And gone was the ominous and dreadful feeling exuding from the supposed vial.

The Dwarrow flinched lightly in stupefaction. “W-what… What did you do?”

“That was just an illusion, as you can already tell.”

“Illusion? But that Demonic aura…”

“It’s a very complicated spell but we have a very… clever enchanter. He made use of Spirit, Spatial, and Light Magic to make that spell. The baseline for that spell is Spirit Magic. The foundation is a Wisp, a meagre Familiar of mine, layered with Twilight Shroud to give it the vial’s appearance. To make it seem more realistic, the appearance is further enhanced by Light Magic. And Spatial Magic is used to trap some of the dark aurae of the original article. And there you have it.”

Rigetta was barely able to follow Erin’s explanation but she didn’t get lost. After Erin’s explanation, she finally grasped Erin’s meaning. “Ah, I see. You were testing me.” She chuckled. “Well played, m’lady. Well played.”

Amyra moved her hand away from her Infinite Pouch and sat upright from her lying position. “Thank the lord, Riggy,” Amyra heaved. “I don’t know what I’ll do if you turn out to be an enemy. I would have probably beaten you into a pulp, minced you, and then seared you black.”

“Thank the divines that I didn’t turn out to be your enemy,” Rigetta retorted with a smile.

“So, what will the Guild do with this information?” Erin asked.

“To be honest, I do not know.”

“The guild hit an impasse?”

“Not that… It would be great if that’s all there is to it but I’m afraid it’s much worse than that notion.”

Erin frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s the Ruvans. Well, the Venerers, to be exact. They have come requesting the cooperation of the guild in apprehending the factions and individuals that are involved in the Demonic dealings.”

“They found out about our arrangement?”

“Not surprising but neither was it the problem here.”

“They are being stubbornly and zealously insistent with their so-called request, aren’t they?” Amyra said.

Rigetta nodded. “I’m afraid so, Amyra. They even have their High Priests’ endorsement since Demons are involved but those aren’t even the crux of the issue.”

Erin raised an eyebrow. “Then what is?”

“They have a formally signed requisition from the Pontiff and Azaela in writing. If the Guild refused their request, the already strained relationship between the adventurers and the Ruvans would essentially devolve to the point of silent rivals.”

“Wouldn’t that just cause an immense catastrophe in almost every city and town? Are they willing to shoulder that kind of burden?”

“The pontiff and the Venerer’s commander aren’t individuals who would make such sacrifices.”

“Then the request is forged?”

“No, it’s very real. I have seen it and felt it… I felt the divinity oozing off of it.”

“Fuck a duck,” Amyra cursed with a scoff.

“Ah…” Erin muttered in realisation. “Ruva… This is Ruva’s decision.”

“She knows something about the Covenant’s plans that we don’t and that led to this decision. If she’s willing to risk instability amongst the people to get rid of this threat, the Covenant’s scheme must be extremely more severe than we wish to admit.”

“And so she resorted to such drastic measures.” Amyra snorted. “How typical of Ruva. The Apostles and Acolytes certainly do reflect their Divines.”

“When’s the last time you looked into a mirror?” Erin questioned.

“Just this morning,” Amyra answered unabashedly.

Erin sighed and turned her attention back to Rigetta. “What are the consequences if we accept their request?”

“If the guild accepts it, private information of the adventurers will be laid bare before the Ruvans under the pretence of rooting out any possible Covenant spy. The quests will then be turned into missions and ventures that would only benefit the growth of Ruvanity. The adventurer’s guild will be essentially assimilated by the Ruvans.”

“So the Covenant had basically given them ample reasons and heaps of excuses to take the power of the adventurer’s guild for themselves. With how things just conveniently fall into the Ruvan’s favour, It almost felt like they schemed this whole thing with the Covenant.”

“If Demons were involved, I would be inclined to believe that,” Rigetta said.

“There’s always a first time.”

“Then please it be any other Divine but Ruva. The world would plunge into chaos if the largest faith in the world is colluding with Demons.”

“Then let us not dwell on that ominous and soul-shaking thought. Where were we?”

“Our next course of action,” Erin said. “Since it has come to this, we will have to make our own move without the aid of the guild. I have a suggestion, Rigetta.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“Give me the Memory Stone and every important clue you have dug out of Edmund’s memories so far. Since the guild is now under the vigilance of the Ruvans, I’ll have to move independently.”

“But without the front of accomplishing quests for the guild, the Covenant will use their connection in the noble circle to suppress you.”

“The front can stay but the true essence of our arrangement has to be shifted, discreetly without the Ruvan’s notice.”

“I can fool them but not for long.”

“Then fool them as long as you can.”

“How long do you need?”

“Around a week or two. Can you do it?”

“I can handle a week but it would be impossible to be longer.”

“Why?” Erin asked when she noticed Rigetta’s darkening expression.

“I forgot to tell you that Azaela will be coming to Sephrodia Valley in a week’s time.”

“Well, ain’t that just unnerving.” Amyra chuckled self-deprecatingly. “Is she as intuitive and astute as the rumours say?”

“I only met her briefly,” Rigetta said. “We didn’t even talk but I have seen how she eyed her surroundings and the people around her. She’s more than what the rumours say. It’s a shame that she was tempted by the grace of Ruva.”

“I met her once and briefly too,” Erin murmured.

“Oh, right,” Amyra exclaimed. “You did, didn’t you? So, what’s your impression of her?”

“Distrustful and prejudicial. She doesn’t seem like a fanatic or a zealot. I don’t believe she has any love for Ruva at all. Her faith seems to stem from some kind of mutual interest with Ruva.”

“Hmm, what a curious observation you have there, Lady Erin,” Rigetta mused. “Have you perhaps engaged her in combat?”

“Came close too but surprisingly, she backed out.”

Both Rigetta and Amyra were blinking blankly in surprise at Erin.

“I was shocked too when she proposed a suspension of hostility. Apparently, I think Aedan has threatened her in some form or way.”

“Aedan, the Apostle of Aeryo?”

“You know of him?”

“Considering his history and as the Apostle of a deceased Divine, all the seasoned folks have heard of him. Even if they don’t know their name, they recognise his story. Not to mention, he owns a large piece of land in Sephrodia Valley by dealing with the Yorun King directly. Do you know what that piece of land is called by the locals?”

Erin shook her head.

“The Neverland.”

“The Neverland?”

“Yeah. It’s because everyone had heard and some were even sure about its existence but nobody seemed to have seen it aside from the followers of Aeryo and its Acolytes.”

“You have not seen it either?”

“I was not allowed to,” Rigetta said with a wry glance directed at Amyra.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that. It was his lordship’s orders.”

Rigetta giggled as she turned her sights back to Erin. “How envious, Lady Erin. You managed to seduce the Apostle of Aeryo. I’m aware of his multiple past affairs but you’re the first that I know of to gain his trust and access to the Neverland. Never took you for a pale lily, Lady Erin.”

“Pale lily? I reckon that means I swing both ways?”

“Do you not? Or am I wrong with my conjecture?”

“No, you’re not, but it’s only limited to him and no other men.”

“Oh, what makes him so different from the other men that you are willing to spread your legs only for him??”

“Guild Master, I wasn’t aware that prying into love affairs was to be the purpose of our meeting.”

Rigetta tittered. “Forgive me, Lady Erin. It has been so long since I last have the opportunity to taste the thrill of love. Truthfully, I’m starved for some love.”

“Are you now?” Erin asked with a narrowed gaze.

“But I have to apologise to you, Lady Erin?”

“What for?”

“I’m no lily.”

Amyra broke into a chortle while clutching her belly.

“You don’t need to be sorry, Rigetta,” Erin responded amicably. “I’m not particularly fond of you in that way either.”

“Hmm, I’m not to your liking?”

“Pardon me for saying this, Rigetta, but with your stature and physique, you are like a little sister to me at best.”

Amyra’s chortle became louder behind them.

“Well, I can’t deny that. I do look young even for Dwarrows’ standards.”

Just then a knock resounded from the door and the three in the room all assumed a serious expression. They were told not to be interrupted or disturbed unless some dire issue arose.

“Leisure time’s over,” Amyra said and bounced off the bed. She took out her body-sized cleaver-sword from the Infinite Pouch and hoisted it on her shoulders at the ready.