Chapter 431:
Critical Levels
“AH, GOOD, they’re coming out… Something doesn’t look right, though.”
My father and the rest of the scout party were just coming out of the cave. It was a relief to see them, but Juggy was right: Something about them looked off. I swallowed the anxious lump down my throat and waited patiently for them to come all the way back.
“Welcome back,” I greeted my father as the team approached.
“Hi. Let’s take a little break,” my father said.
“Yes. Let’s,” Nalgath nodded.
Huh? Why is he being so curt…? I took a closer look and saw Nalgath’s face was quite tense. Juggy made room for the scout party to sit on the ground.
“Thanks…” my father said.
“Are you guys okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Juggy peered anxiously at the group. Arly answered that he was fine, but his voice was lacking its usual luster. Once everyone had sat down, I pulled a pot of hot tea and several cups out of my magic bag. I had borrowed the guild master’s kitchen that morning to cook.
“Here, have some tea.” I hoped it would ease everyone’s nerves a little.
“Thanks, Ivy…” Piarre took his cup and nodded to me. I smiled back at him, and relief filled his face.
“Sure is soothing…” Nalgath sighed.
“Yeah,” Arly echoed.
Their tense expressions softened a little, which put me a little more at ease.
“Thanks,” my dad said as I sat beside him. I nodded and smiled. Of course I would do everything I could to help them.
“So, are you okay to talk about it?” Juggy asked the scout party.
“Deep in the trash…in the deepest part of the cave, I think…well, we don’t know the exact number, but we found the remains of about ten people.”
Human remains…
“One of them was wearing a ring that looked familiar… I think it’s our vice-captain.” With a grim edge in his voice, Nalgath described the cave to us. I remembered the vice-captain was one of the people who had gone missing earlier. So they were dead…
“We also found one person wearing holy vestments. Probably a clergyman from the church.”
The church… The word struck a chord in my memories from long ago. I had already shut away all recollections of my parents, but I still remembered the stare I’d received from the person in the church when I had my skill read. I had no recollection of their face whatsoever, but their eyes were still vivid in my memory. When that pair of eyes stared at me, my body trembled all over in fear. Looking back now, I wonder why that person’s eyes assaulted me with so much intense hatred…
“Ivy? Are you okay?”
“Huh?! Oh… I’m okay.”
“Are you sure? You were looking awfully somber.”
I guess the resurfacing memories of my dark past had shown in my face. I took a deep breath to steady my emotions. I’m okay now… That life is long in the past.
“I was just remembering something from my past. But I’m okay now…”
Now I had a father who would always be by my side, even though he knew all my darkest secrets. I had Ciel, and I had my sleeping slimes in the bag, too.
“Do you know who the clergyman was?”
“No, and we haven’t heard from the church that they’re missing anyone.”
Juggy and Piarre tilted their heads quizzically.
“How strange. They wouldn’t have been under the spell, would they?” Nalgath got a curious look on his face, too. I answered with the same expression, unsure of what was confusing him. “If the people at the church were under the spell, I could understand why they wouldn’t have filed a missing person’s report with the village, but they weren’t under it. But if one of your comrades went missing, you’d definitely contact the village watch station, now, wouldn’t you?”
Aha, that’s right! We still haven’t found any people outside the adventurers and watchmen who were under the spell. And it is strange that unaffected people wouldn’t file a missing person’s report. Unless not everyone who works at the church gets along?
“Is everyone who works on the church on good terms with each other?” I asked.
“What do you mean?” my father asked.
“Well, I was thinking if they didn’t get along with each other, they might not care if somebody went missing, or maybe somebody just ran away because they were having problems…”
Men of the cloth are still men, after all. It’s entirely possible that one of them ran away because of their own issues.
“I’d rule that out. The clergymen’s sense of camaraderie is strong—disturbingly strong,” my father said. I looked at him in surprise. Noticing my stares, he shrugged his shoulders and said, “Anyway, there’s more to them that meets the eye.”
Did the church do something to him? Hm, lots of adventurers distance themselves from the church. Funny, the common folk in villages and towns regularly rely on the clergy. I wonder why adventurers don’t?
“What do you think, Mr. Druid?” Nalgath asked.
My father and I both looked quickly back at him. “Sorry, we weren’t listening. What did you say?” my father asked.
That’s because he was talking to me. Now I feel bad.
“I was just thinking we might want to give the people in the cave a more thorough looking over,” Nalgath explained.
“I think so, too,” my father said. “Maybe we should go back to the village and see if anyone’s missing. Check with their families first.”
Nalgath and his men nodded. “Got it. Okay, let’s head back to the village.” Taking this as a signal, we started packing up to leave.
“I’ve already washed these,” Piarre said, setting the clean cups down in front of me.
“Thank you, sir.” I put the cups back in my magic bag and stood up from my spot on the ground.
When Ciel began to stir, the sharmy, who had been keeping an eye on us from the trees, tensed up with fear. I could feel it in my skin.
“They really are terrified of you, Ciel. How could they be? You’re so cute.”
Mrrrow.
I gave Ciel’s chin some scritches and it purred back at me. The creature really was so cute that I couldn’t keep from smiling around it.
We arrived at the village to find a completely different team of gatekeepers. That was normally unheard of, so we approached the gate with surprise.
“Good morning. Is there a problem?” Nalgath asked the gatekeepers. They gave him uncomfortable looks in response. “What is it?”
“Well, about an hour ago, one of the gatekeepers suddenly got violent.”
They got violent? Does that mean the spell’s damage reached critical levels? Wait a minute, when the spell’s damage becomes critical, doesn’t the person it’s cast on become an empty shell? I thought the caster was the one who loses control of themselves and goes mad.
“How’d you handle it?” my father asked, approaching the gatekeeper.
The gatekeeper recoiled a little. “We managed to pin them down and quarantined them on the guild master’s orders. Right after that, the people who were working next to them collapsed and were taken to the infirmary.”
“Got it. Thanks.”
The gatekeepers, who were fidgeting with fear from our intimidating questions, relaxed the moment my father thanked them.
“Let’s go.” Arly took off, and I followed behind. Where was he taking us? This wasn’t the road back to the captain’s house.
“Where are we going?” my father asked. Arly caught his breath, turned back to look at us uncomfortably, and muttered an apology. I gave him a questioning look.
“I just couldn’t let Ivy get anywhere near somebody who’s lost their mind.”
“Yes, sir. Um…”
So then the gentlemen of Cobalt were trying to see the affected gatekeepers.
“By all means, investigate if you want to. I’ll give the report to the captain,” my father said.
“Oh, thank you so much, Mr. Druid,” Nalgath said. “Arly, Juggy, you two go and check on the gatekeepers. We’ll deliver the report to the captain.”
The two nodded, and with a little bow to my father, they jogged over to where the gatekeepers were being cared for.
“Arly and Juggy were rescued by gatekeepers when they were little, so I’m sure they’re extra worried,” Nalgath explained as we made our way to the captain’s house. That would certainly explain why they were so flustered.
“I understand. I hope those gatekeepers make it,” my father said.
“Yes… Me, too,” I replied.
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