Chapter 58:
Information Gathering
When the group transporting the criminals arrived at the capital, they headed straight for the palace.
While the Guild had the power of mediation in all affairs regarding guild-assigned jobs, as well as the ability to arrest criminals, it did not truly possess any legal authority. The questioning and judging of criminals was a matter for the palace and the city guard. Normally, the handling of such incidents remained within the guards’ jurisdiction, but when it came to grave or political matters, agents of the Crown took direct charge. It seemed that the current incident fell into just such a category.
Of course, it was only natural that a case involving a kidnapping, in which the victim was a non-human, would be bumped up the hierarchy, particularly when it involved religious heresy and a great number of perpetrators who may or may not have included wealthy merchants and low-ranking nobles. Plus, there was the possibility that there had been additional allies who were not even present… These were not the sorts of bandits or thugs who fell under the standard justice that the city guards could provide.
Faleel was handed over to her mother and father, who were waiting at the city gates. Mavis had updated them on the situation the night before, and they had even come to see the reinforcement squad off, so they were already in place when the convoy arrived. The rescue had drawn to a close without Mile reaping even the slightest perks.
***
“Now then, please tell us every detail of what transpired.”
Though the investigation was being conducted on the Crown’s authority, it was not the King himself who came to question them. Such questionings were conducted by someone whose post was appropriate to the severity of the situation—though it was always at least relatively high-ranking individuals in the royal court who were put in charge of such things.
Of course, the Crown had already been given the gist of the situation. Without it, they would not have been able to select the appropriate rank of representative, after all. The guild master, who had been roused in the middle of the night along with the half-dozing night guardsmen, had plenty of time to kill before dawn, so it was no trouble to prepare a letter to be carried to the palace once the sun had risen.
Using the testimonies from the Crimson Vow and the Servants of the Goddess as their basis, the officials questioned the captured men, who could tell from the start that there was no point in denying the facts when they had been caught in the act with so many witnesses. Instead, they opted to try to portray themselves as a group of meek and pious believers who would never harm a little girl, claiming that it was merely necessary to have a young beastgirl present for the ceremony and that they were going to return her safely once the ritual was finished—among all other manner of highly dubious claims.
Of course, no one present would believe such a story, meaning that the criminals would be subject to more intense individual questioning later on…
However, that was not the biggest problem at hand.
The Crown needed to know the scope of this peculiar organization, the details of how it had been established, the identity of any other members of this order, and the ultimate goal of the group. Understanding these points was of the utmost importance. Without this knowledge, there was no telling if such an incident might occur a second or even a third time. In fact, there was no telling whether this incident truly was the first time. There were plenty of other people from the capital who had been reported missing before, after all—even though it was certain that at least some of that number were comprised merely of eloping couples, traveling tricksters, and the like.
After their testimony was given, the two parties’ duties were done. Once they had shared all that they knew, and confirmed the criminals’ recounting of the facts, there was no reason for any of them to linger any longer. All that was left now was for the guards to extract the truth from those offenders by one means or another.
And so, the girls headed toward the Guild. While everyone there was already aware of the details of the job, they needed to give their official report to mark the completion of the emergency job and receive their reward of a single silver—which none of them would have traded for even a thousand gold.
“Do you think that they’ll let us know about the findings of the investigation?” asked Mile.
“I mean, that isn’t exactly something that the palace would be interested in sharing with us hunter types,” Telyusia replied. “In fact, if anything truly troubling came to light, I bet they would want to keep it under wraps.”
“Oh, man. Really?”
That was unfortunate. Mile wanted to know more about those people. She was particularly curious as to how a story that should have been lost to the sands of time—twisted though it may have been—made it all the way into the heads of these people and how it had become a basis of their faith. Furthermore, the fact that they had nearly invoked a dimensional linking spell could not possibly be mere chance. She had to find out the root of all this and make sure that no one tried to use that magic ever again.
This mission was more important and direr than the elder dragons’ investigation could ever be.
“Though I suppose,” Telyusia added, “the guild master might be able to get at least a bit of information out of them. He was the one who originally informed the palace of the incident, after all, so it should be fine…”
Indeed, as Telyusia implied, the Guild had been the ones to inform the palace, and if such an incident were to occur again, the Guild would likely be the first to have to deal with it, so it made sense for them to get at least the basics of any report. Of course, such information would probably be limited to the scope of the perpetrators’ organization and the severity of the threat they posed—not the particulars of any confessions about their true identities.
This sucks… Well, that’s fine. I’m sure something will come to me!
When Mile was angry, she had a fairly pessimistic way of thinking, but most of the time, she was relatively optimistic. With the power of positive thinking, there were no limits to the sort of good ideas she could manifest.
After receiving their one silver each from Felicia, who had returned to the Guild a bit before the two parties, the Crimson Vow and the Servants of the Goddess each retreated to their respective hideouts—the Servants to the small house they rented together, and the Crimson Vow, naturally, to Faleel’s inn. They had been awake the whole night. It was time to get some food and go straight to sleep.
All that they had received today was the reward from the innkeeper; the bonus from the Guild and the Crown would come tomorrow. They probably had yet to decide on the amount.
All right! As soon as we get back to the inn, Faleel is mine—all mine! With none of those pesky Servants in the way, it’s time to give Faleel the scoop on who really played the most important role in saving her…Hehe. Bwehehehehehehe!
Somehow, Mile seemed like she might be a rather unreliable narrator.
“All righty then, see you gals later! Good work out there!” said Telyusia.
A tinge of a blush on her cheeks, Reina replied meekly, “Y-you too…”
From the depths of their hearts, the other three screamed in silence, Who are you, and what did you do with Reinaaaaaaa?!?!
***
“We’re back!”
“Oh! Welcome baaack!!!”
As always, Mile announced the party’s presence as they stepped through the door, Faleel greeted them from the reception desk. Faleel already appeared to be back to her normal self. It had been some time now since they had last seen her, so all the emotion of the tearful reunion between parents and child had likely faded.
Then again, it was her parents who had been the emotional ones; Faleel had actually seemed relatively unaffected. While the two of them had been waiting and worrying the whole time that she was gone, Faleel had been knocked out right after her abduction and so she had no recollection of the time between when she had been snatched and when she had woken up. Plus, when she had woken up, she was surrounded by the Servants, a group that made her feel safe, so really, she never even had the time to get scared.
She had, of course, been distressed at the time of her kidnapping, but after riding home on Philly’s shoulders and talking with the Servants for a while, she completely forgot all that as well. It was at least some small relief that she did not appear to have suffered any long-term trauma.
Mealtime was still a long while off, but the innkeeper and his wife were more than happy to take the party’s food orders. As they prepared the food, Mile desperately gave Faleel her side of the story.
“And so you see, Faleel, the one who followed your trail and found you after you were taken was me—Mile!”
So she proclaimed, and yet all Faleel could see before her was a sneaky fox trying to steal the Servants’ glory.
The Servants of the Goddess never boasted about what they did, she thought. They were just happy to see that I was safe. Compared to them, Miss Mile’s being kind of a creep…
Sensing that Faleel’s reaction was not the one she had been hoping for, Mile began to panic.
“I-It’s true!” she protested. “By tracking your scent…”
“Hm? Did Miss Reina do that?”
“What?”
That was when Mile remembered their very first morning at the inn—and the memos that Faleel had written in the margins of the inn’s register.
Mayvis: Shes tol but shes got no chest. Probly a elf.
Rena: Shes got fangz. Shes probly got sum beestfok blood in her. Just lik me.
Poline: I sens evil on her. Probly a deemon.
Miel: Shes a skwirt. Probly a dworf.
Th-this is bad! If she thinks that Reina is one of her people, she’ll feel closer to her than to me!
Mile began to fret more and more.
“N-no! That’s not what happeeeeeeeeened!!!”
Watching Mile’s futile struggle, the other three members of the Crimson Vow looked upon her with cold, disapproving, and tired eyes…
“Well then,” proposed Faleel, “Let’s test your sense of smell!”
If Mile was the one who possessed a sense of smell on par with that of a member of the beastfolk, then she should be able to prove it. Though Faleel had previously assumed Mile to be a dwarf, she was rather pleased at the thought that Mile might have beast blood like her and wished to confirm the notion. Unlike Faleel, with her cat ears, and Reina, with her pointy canines, Mile showed no outward indicators of carrying beast blood at all.
Faleel appeared to disappear into the kitchen and then quickly returned. In each of her hands was a cup full of water.
“One of these cups contains just a drop of ale,” she explained. “No normal pure-blooded human could tell them apart, but if you can follow someone’s scent, this should be nothing!”
“Leave it to me!”
Mile was chomping at the bit. With this, she would be able to prove herself to Faleel!
Her sense of smell was already far more acute than the average human’s, but it was still nothing compared to an animal’s or beastperson’s. So she used her body-strengthening magic to enhance her senses, just as she had when tracking the kidnappers. In fact, this time it was sharper still, on par with a dog’s or wolf’s. Failure was not an option here.
“All right, maximum strength smell! Let’s go!”
She brought one cup close to her face and took a big whiff of it.
Sniiiiiiiff…
She could smell the water and the cup, mixed with the scent from Faleel’s fingers, the simmering dishes and raw ingredients in the kitchen, and the scent of the owner and his wife—as well as all the scents lingering around the dining room…
“All right, now for the next one!”
Once again, she put the cup to her nose and took a deep breath in.
Sniiiiiiiff…
Slam!
Promptly, she lost consciousness and collapsed onto the floor.
Seeing this, Reina waved both of her hands around near her rear and said quietly, “Uh, ’scuse me…”
The fact of the matter was that, no matter how strong a beast’s or beastperson’s sense of smell was, they could still deal with a bad smell or two. Their sensory organs and the structure of their brains were equipped for it. Therefore, short of something like the monstrosity that Mile had crafted in the forest, they rarely suffered much simply from a bad odor. Even back in the forest, where they had vomited and lost consciousness, none of them had died from the shock.
However, humans were different. As their senses of smell were generally not very strong to begin with, they were lacking in such safety mechanisms. Mile, a human herself, had raised her sense of smell to beyond that of a beastperson’s, and then, utterly defenseless, breathed in with all her might, absorbing all the scents around her…including Reina’s contribution.
“Is she all right…?” asked Pauline, her eyes full of worry. She prodded Mile, who was still twitching on the floor, with her foot.
Mavis, who had been watching silently, finally opened her mouth to speak.
“Well, anyway…”
“Anyway?” parroted the other two.
“Let’s eat. It won’t taste as good if it gets cold.”
The food had been laid out on the table without them noticing it. Out of courtesy, the innkeeper and his wife had tried their very best not to look Mile’s way, their faces taut…
“Why didn’t you wake me up?!”
By the time Mile finally came to, it was already the next morning. She had missed out both on dinner and on playtime with Faleel. She was livid.
“You were sleeping so peacefully, we didn’t want to disturb you. Anyway, let’s go ahead and get some breakfast.”
In truth, the other three had slept the afternoon through, so by the time evening came they were wide awake. Likewise, Faleel has slept all through her kidnapping, and was, by then, wide awake as well. Together the four of them had played the night through. Hearing this, Mile screeched in anger, but there was nothing that she could do about it now. All she could do was seethe and grit her teeth.
***
Three days later, when they popped in at the Guild as usual, the members of the Crimson Vow were called to the guild master’s office. Perhaps they were finally going to learn the results of the interrogation.
“First of all, your reward. Please take this,” he said, taking two leather sacks from his drawer and placing them heavily on the desk.
Normally, the Guild used cloth sacks to save on expenses, but on more momentous occasions, or when a congratulatory mood was to be conveyed, they used leather, which felt more special. Today, they were receiving not just a payment for a job but a “special reward,” so leather was the obvious choice…although Felicia was known to hand out leather sacks with reckless abandon, something that was no good for the Guild’s bottom line.
“This is your bonus from the Guild, and this is your bonus from the palace. Unfortunately, some of the criminals were ones that we couldn’t sell as slaves, so there’s a separate amount from the palace’s own coffers to compensate. And because even the enslaved criminals couldn’t be given a lifelong sentence, just a set term, the price was less than usual. They aren’t bandits, and they didn’t kill anyone, so their servitude will have a limit, seems like. A few exceptions escaped even that much.”
The exceptions that were mentioned probably referred to the mages, who could not be left unmonitored to the life of a slave, though perhaps there were some other extenuating circumstances, such as an intervention by some noble or person of influence on one of the criminals’ behalf. Either way, it was really none of the Crimson Vow’s concern. They were neither in a position to interfere with the administration of justice, nor interested in doing so.
Felicia, standing just behind the guild master’s shoulder, took the two sacks and handed them to Mavis, who, as usual, appeared to be the leader of the Crimson Vow. Felicia seemed to have made the unilateral decision that anything to do with the Crimson Vow was to be within her purview and her purview alone, and of course, since there wasn’t a soul around who would dare argue with her, the other guild employees simply accepted this as the natural order.
“Thank you so much!!!” they said all at once, bowing their heads courteously. Mavis then accepted the bags, and, as per usual, handed them straight to Mile to be stowed away, without bothering to look inside. Obviously, they would investigate the amount later, but this was not the time or place for such things.
Why was that? Well, it just didn’t look as cool.
“So then, what were the results of the investigation?” Mile asked boldly, voicing the question on her mind.
“Ah, well, there were both countrymen and foreigners among the group, ranging from middle class to lower upper class. They’re all fellows who fell under the influence of some heretical cult from somewhere. Apparently, the teachings originally came from some country to the east, but none of them could pinpoint just where.”
“To the east…?”
The Crimson Vow had arrived here in the Vanolark by heading west from the Kingdom of Tils, the land where Mavis and Pauline were born and where Mile first became a hunter, and then further west still, through Mile’s home country of the Kingdom of Brandel. As a result, they might conclude that this cult could not be from a neighboring nation, but somewhere much farther east still—in the completely opposite direction from the way they had been traveling. Heading back that way would be a huge hassle.
Well, all our current problems have started right here, so I guess we can worry about the east another time…
Mile was not terribly concerned.
“Plus, well, what they were really after was the summoning of a god, or rather, ‘conducting a ceremony to welcome the god’s descent.’ They claimed that they had no intention of harming the girl but merely using her a vessel for their god, so it was ruled to be not an attempted murder, but merely a kidnapping. It doesn’t fall under slave trading or illicit trafficking, either.
“Of course, kidnapping is a pretty grave crime on its own, and the victim was not a human but a beastgirl. There were also some apparently affiliated nobles and merchants who came to put pressure on the Crown. I suppose it doesn’t look good for them to have their dependents labeled as felons or heretics…”
It was all a big, fat lie. Back at the clearing, the men themselves had said that Faleel had been intended as a sacrifice. They would never use what they considered to be an inferior life-form as the “vessel” of their beloved god.
However, this was not something for Mile and the others to decide. They had already given their own testimony, which had most certainly included the word “sacrifice.” Plus, if the sentencing had been made with political considerations in mind, there was nothing that a group of mere C-rank hunters could do about it.
“Is that so…?”
Mile swiftly gave up hope of learning anything further. On top of all that, there was no telling how much of even what the guild master had told them was true. Asking anything more was pointless.
Of course, everyone else was merely glad that the matter had been settled. If the kidnappers had been punished, and they were assured that nothing like this would happen again, then that was good enough for them. Even if some bigwigs had stepped in, it was not as though the perpetrators were getting off scot-free. They were still receiving proper punishment due to abductors of a young girl. They had just dropped the whole “cultist” part.
Even the ones who escaped the fate of servitude were not being entirely acquitted. Whether it was serving a term in jail or paying an exorbitant sum in bail, they would be punished one way or another. Plus, an investigation was sure to be launched into all their cohorts who had not been present, as well.
Honestly, it was only to be expected that the standard procedures would not be followed when those apprehended were people of influence. And besides, they would be under scrutiny from there on out—if not from the authorities, from those nobles whom they might be troubling and their dependents.
Evidently, the Servants of the Goddess had already received their reward and their update. As far as the two parties were concerned, the matter was now closed.
“Well then, let’s go find a normal job to do today!”
“All right!”
And so, they headed back down to the first floor to see what was on the job board.
***
Rustle, rustle.
Late that night, when everyone was sound asleep in their rooms, one person remained awake, still slinking about.
Naturally, it was Mile. Thanks to the sound and vibration barriers she had erected, no one noticed as she shuffled about on the top bunk of her bunk bed.
Though she had previously been sound asleep, the nanomachines had sent vibrations through her eardrums to murmur a morning wake-up call to her (though it wasn’t exactly morning). The phrase they used was a peculiar one.
GOOD MORNING, MILE. IT’S TIME FOR YOUR DAILY BRIEFING…
Of course, Mile had instructed them to say this. And then, quietly, she replied,
“Okay! Let the ‘Super Secret Agent Gambit’ begin!”
Once again, Mile had something strange up her sleeve.
After stepping out into the hall and closing the door, Mile released her barriers. If she kept them up, the others wouldn’t be able to hear thieves or invaders, which was a bit of a problem. For the same reason, using sleeping magic on them was out of the question. No matter how low the risk was, she would never put her companions in that sort of danger.
Then she slipped quietly out of the inn. Her destination? The palace. Where else?
As she neared the palace, she put up light, sound, and vibration-blocking barriers, and, just in case, she cloaked her scent as well. It was the palace, after all, so it was not entirely out of the question that there might be personnel with a beastly sense of smell in their employ. Even if the probability was fairly low, it was better safe than sorry. If she were caught, she would be in big trouble.
After making certain that her barriers were impenetrable, Mile snuck inside.
Hidden as she was, she could have walked through the front door without incident, but that wouldn’t be any fun. And in truth, her head was running wild with thoughts like, What if the guards actually can see me? and What if my barriers suddenly collapsed right in front of them? She could not bring herself to be calm.
Thus, just on the off chance of something going wrong, she decided to move about as though she had no barriers at all. Furthermore, she was wearing not her usual garb but a clever disguise so that her true identity would not be revealed, even if she were caught.
She wore a mask upon her face and a headband with cat ears. As for her outfit, she wanted desperately to wear the sort of leotard that your typical female cat burglar would wear, but as she had never actually come into contact with the genuine article, she did not know enough to recreate one. Besides, when she considered how thin the material would be, she lost her nerve. Instead, she settled on something she was far more familiar with—a school-issue swimsuit like the ones from Earth.
Of course, such an article had never been proven combat-ready, and as a result, she was relatively nervous. Her bloomers would never fit underneath it, so she had to go without. At least to the people of this world, who had no concept of either leotards or swimsuits, she judged there was probably little difference between the two…which was true. Considering that both were equally absurd—equally shameless—it really made no difference which one she chose.
Location magic! Tell me where those criminals are…
Indeed, it was time for her to harvest a word or two from those kidnappers herself—that is, to speak to them directly, and in her own way.
They had probably already been through the wringer in terms of interrogation, including torture, but given that she couldn’t buy what she had been told, their story as it stood was meaningless to Mile. So, it was time for some one-on-one, face-to-face questioning.
Honestly, it was a big pain.
Mile’s plan was an absurd one, which, honestly, the men had no reason to go along with. However, Mile was never bothered by such little things. She was not in Japan, and she was not on Earth. Compared to that, all this was essentially trivial…at least in Mile’s book.
All right, there they are!
Thinking that she might find herself in just such a situation, Mile had committed the criminals’—and particularly their leader’s—body language to memory, and with that information, she was able to track them right to where the men were being held. Naturally, it was not some important part of the palace, but an outbuilding constructed specifically for the containment of criminals.
Hm. They’re separated into groups, a few in each. Well, I guess that makes sense. No one here would be stupid enough to put all those dangerous mages together in the same spot. Plus, it lowers the chance of them corroborating each other’s testimonies or scheming behind the guards’ backs!
And so, with her barriers still up to protect her, Mile crept into the building.
“Good evening, gentlemen!”
“Wh-who’s there?!” the kidnappers replied uneasily as the two soldiers who were stationed as lookouts suddenly fell into a deep sleep.
There were five men in this particular area, including the leader. It was only natural that they would call out in such a panic when suddenly addressed by a formless voice.
“A robber…”
There was no way that Mile could neglect to use her practiced phrase now.
“A-a robber?”
“Ah, no. I was just pretending to be a robber…”
If they thought that she really were a robber, the conversation could never proceed, and so she quickly corrected herself.
So that they could speak normally, she decided that it was time to reveal herself. No one would ever speak candidly to someone whom they couldn’t actually see, after all. And so, she released the barrier.
“My name is Lady Cat’s Eye!”
The name was a mix of several manga characters, and of course, it was a tribute to Faleel.
“Wha…?! I-It’s…”
“A flattie!” cried three.
“A pervert!” cried the other two.
Horrendous. Both reactions were equally horrendous.
“Wha-wh-wh-wh…”
Mile was shaken at the utterly unexpected reactions and burned red in the face with anger. However, it was not as though they could help it. In this world, ladies wore bloomers. Compared to that, a swimsuit, with its stretchy, form-fitting fabric and high degree of exposure was about as close as one could get to being totally naked.
“A catgirl, is she?! I tell you, those beasts have no sense of decency…”
“Obviously! Can’t expect a beast to understand virtue!”
“Honestly, have you no shame at all?”
“Whatever. I’m not interested in seeing some skinny little girl in the buff.”
“Hm. That’s not a bad look…”
So went each of the men’s appraisals. The last one was probably the worst!
Nngh… I can’t allow this. Forget my reputation—I’m giving catgirls a bad name! I’ll have to change my name… I can’t be responsible for something like that.
Mile whipped the cat ears off her head and stored them away.
“Huh? She took off her ears?” the men were stunned.
Mile thought quickly and then announced her new name: “You may call me Little Evil God!”
“What the heck is thaaaaaaaat?!”
A few minutes later, once the men had finally calmed back down, Mile introduced herself properly.
“Now then. I am the last survivor of the gods that came to this world from another in the distant past. After our companions retreated, those of us who valued our pride too much to flee in such a cowardly manner remained in this world. In the final battle, we persisted, blow-to-blow with the denizens of this land, and were nearly destroyed. Yet on the brink of death, I was sealed inside a holy barrier where I slumbered for eons. And then, when I sensed that a gate had been opened to my home world, I awoke…”
As far as the men were concerned, they had already been captured and said all that they had to say. As a result, there was really no point in anyone from the palace trying to deceive them, and even if they were, it wasn’t as though they didn’t know saying anything more would get them in a lot of trouble.
At any rate, it was absurd to think that this girl might be a spy or official from the palace. No such official agent could possibly exist. They were far more unassuming and reserved. Such a figure would be ridiculous even for a Miami Satodele novel…
Plus, given the fact that she had snuck into the building and knocked out the guards, it was clear that she was someone who was hostile toward the Crown.
Considering these points, the men’s tension began to ease, though they were still not convinced that she was a “god from another world.”
Mile then conducted a demonstration.
Twist, twist.
With her finger alone, she twisted the iron bars.
Fwoom! Sparkle!
Fire came from her mouth and strange beams of light from her eyes.
And then she took on her “Goddess” form.
The men prostrated themselves on the floor of the cell.
From there, they answered her questions frankly, though it was unclear whether it was because they truly believed that she was the final survivor of the ancient gods or simply because they were understandably frightened of this strange entity that had broken into the building and could twist an iron bar without effort—which had to mean she could easily wring their necks as well…
As far as Mile was concerned, the reason didn’t really matter, as long as she was able to learn the truth.
What the men were finally able to tell her was the following:
The closest country to the east was the Kingdom of Brandel, Mile’s home country. Further east still than that was the Kingdom of Tils, where Mavis and Pauline were from. (Because Reina had grown up as a traveling merchant, she had no idea what either of her parents’ home countries were or even where she had been born. For some reason, her father had never told her.)
Much farther east than either of those, in some unknown country, a new religion had begun to flourish.
The teachings of this religion told of a war between the gods of this world and the gods of another world in the far distant past. Those who heard this story quickly realized that it resembled the legends told by the elves and dwarves.
That said, there were several important points where these stories differed. The most significant of these was that, while the stories of the elves and dwarves painted the gods of this world as “good” and the gods of the other world as “evil,” this religion’s view of the pantheon held no concept of rank or morality. Their view was simple: the gods of this world had abandoned them, so it was time to worship a new set of gods and receive their divine protection. Similarly, where the elves and dwarves’ legends took the view that, “The elves, dwarves, humans, beastmen, and demons must all join hands to protect this world abandoned by the gods,” these men taught that, “Only humans hold the power to worship the foreign gods. All other races are our enemies.”
If you’re trying to popularize a new religion, wouldn’t it be easier to choose one that’s accessible to all races? Why bother spreading one that’s less accessible and encourages antagonizing others…?
Mile had her doubts, but then again, she supposed, most religions were not fully accountable to logic. She decided to think no more about it.
The legends of the olden days had been lost among humans, and so the stories, as told by the elves and dwarves, had generally been written off as having nothing to do with the human race. Why, now, had stories with similar origins—but completely different perspectives—made a resurgence?
The men seemed to have little idea. All they knew was that this new faith had spoken to their desires and to the promise of obtaining divine blessing through their deeds, and as a result, they had become believers. The teachings of this religion required no great sacrifices and did not demand they proselytize to others, merely asking them to pray for divine protection to save their own skin—and conduct rituals. The ritual they were attempting the other day was the greatest of these, one they had been preparing for and awaiting just the right moment to perform.
Indeed, it was a ritual to open a gate to another world and call forth its gods. If they could offer up a sacrifice from one of the aberrant races to one of the gods, their wishes would be granted…
So they were trying to sacrifice her! Wait, no! I already knew that. The issue here is…
“And who came up with the incantation for that ritual?”
“Ah, well. The spells were compiled by the late founder of the sect… They’ve been passed down faithfully, though admittedly, there are some parts that even we don’t understand. Of course, the words aren’t the only important part. It’s crucial that you pray deeply to the gods while you say them…”
Hm, I think I get it now. I still don’t know where it came from, but otherwise…
“Well, well. I see. Now that you have answered my questions, I shall be taking my leave. Farewell!”
“Oh! P-please wait!” the leader pleaded, as Mile, her business concluded, started to make her exit.
“What is it?”
“U-um, we’re your believers, so please grant us your protection! Rescue us from this hardship!”
Receiving divine protection would prove that they were messengers of the gods. Instead of being treated as criminals, they would be lauded as divine messengers. What a total reversal of fate!
Apparently the men were so desperate for a miracle that they now believed this “Little Evil God” to be a true otherworldly deity—or at least, they were trying very, very hard to do so.
“There’s no such thing.”
“What?” the men asked in unison.
“If a pack of huntsmen came into the woods to hunt, and a jackalope said to them, ‘I am your truest believer! Please grant me your favor, and place me and my brothers at the head of the forest hierarchy!’ do you truly believe that the huntsmen would do so?”
“………”
“Of course, anyone other than myself would have already eaten them right from the start. Any foolish jackalope who would show itself right before a huntsman, that is!”
“………”
“Oh? Did you all assume that this was my true form? If you were to see my true form, it would shock the life right out of you… Do you wish to see it?”
Shfshfshfshfshf!
The men noisily shuffled back from the iron bars as quickly as they could, their backs up against the opposite wall.
All right! Home free!
Mile put her full range of barriers back up, just as they had been when she arrived.
“Sh-she vanished…”
Leaving behind the men, who were still on the floor, a mix of despair and relief upon their faces, Mile carefully walked out of the building.
Hopefully, they won’t attempt to use that dimensional linking magic again after this. Fingers crossed, anyway…
The ritual was one that required the combined magic of a number of mages, something they had only been able to set into motion after gathering their numbers. Now that they would be scattered about, some of them imprisoned or enslaved, it would probably be impossible for them to attempt such a feat again. Once all their terms had ended, there was the possibility of them regrouping and attempting the ritual once more, but given that the eyes of the authorities and their relatives would be upon them, it would likely be very difficult to do so. If they were to try anything at all suspicious again, they would surely be dealt with by their own relations.
If it came out that one member of a family was a criminal—a cult worshipper, little-girl abductor, and would-be murderer—the young people of that family would never find anyone to take their hand in marriage, after all.
***
Finally, without a sound, Mile slipped back into the inn and returned to the room she shared with the rest of the party. She released her barriers, a black cloak wrapped around her. She gripped the doorknob, gently turned it, and slowly opened the door…
“Eek!”
Reina, Mavis, and Pauline were all sitting in chairs facing the doorway.
“………”
Mile attempted to close the door again slowly.
Reina curled her finger, beckoning Mile. Resigned, Mile opened the door wide and entered the room.
“Care to explain yourself?”
“Um… Well…”
Reina narrowed her eyes angrily.
“How many times have we told you not to slip off on your own without telling us, Mile?”
“A…a lot…”
Mavis looked at her sadly.
“Seriously, again?! You were going to leave me alone again, Mile?!” Pauline looked about ready to cry.
“So, what did you run off to do this time, huh?! Didn’t we say that we were gonna do everything together?!” Reina shouted, rising from her chair and stalking over to Mile, then shaking her by the shoulders.
The cloak slipped to the floor, revealing the swimsuit underneath.
“Actually,” said Reina, “next time, just go handle your business on your own.”
“Yep,” Mavis agreed. “I’m good, thanks.”
“That’s even worse than that thing you made me wear! I’m good, too!” Pauline chimed in.
“Dismissed!” the three said at once, before dispersing, each snuggling back into her own bed and heading right back to sleep.
“Huh…?”
For Mile, who had been preparing herself for a stern dressing-down, this was something of an anticlimax.
“Huh…?”
And yet, somehow, she was not happy about this at all.
“Huuuhhh…?”
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