Rest in peace Evelyn, I know we barely knew each other, but I can’t help but feel like garbage at the moment, more so since I kinda pushed Ceryse to bury her sister, I want to believe it helped her come back to her senses but it’s still a terrible thing to do.

  As, seeing the amount of corpses, They won’t be able to have private ceremonies, so I wanted to give Ceryse the benefit of a little privacy when saying the farewells to her twin sister, that and also, I might exhume the body ter, so knowing where Evelyn was buried helps, that is if reviving people needs their previous body or something, I have to get back to helping Adele with her research.

  Also, surprisingly, flowers doesn’t exist in this pce, so I used a spell to pnt some on top of Evelyn’s grave, it’s a bit sad to think people will just take them out of her resting pce, so I pn on learning curses just to make the flowers bloom forever, I have been reading the book my ‘father’ gave me, but I’m not able to do something like this yet.

  For now, I’m just trying to console Ceryse, who has not stopped crying ever since, I can’t bme her though, even my eyes watered a bit when reality struck me like a cold water bucket, for now I’ll try to be here for Ceryse and-

  “There you are princess~”

  “You two, read the room a little”

  I’m literally on the verge of caving their face into their skulls, you should be gd that it would be disrespectful to the dead to send them a pair of idiots to them in their resting pce, just you wait when we leave town again!

  “What happened? Oh!”

  Aaron read the grave and then simply looked straight into Ceryse.

  “I’m terribly sorry for your loss”

  “I...”

  “Oh, well that’s unfortunate, I know it’s not much but, please accept this”

  Hope then rummaged through her sleeves, and pulled some sort of ribbon with a symbol I’ve never seen before, fixing it into the sister’s gravestone.

  “I’m gonna guess the flowers are your doing right dear?~”

  “Yeah, don’t trample them”

  “Of course”

  “T-That is!?”

  “A ribbon of excellence, granted to people with extraordinary deeds, if Marisa saw fit to exalt your sister, then she more than deserves this, plus that makes tampering with the grave and flowers a crime”

  “I... I don’t know what to say, thank you!”

  Why do people here tend to soften with people of the cult? Aaron and Hope are not exactly what I’d call ‘worthy of praise’, yet I keep seeing people around here bend over backwards for them.

  ...

  ...

  “You’re pale as a ghost, why don’t we regroup at Meldar, and you take a rest princess~”

  “I hate going with your pn, but fine”

  I worry about the capital, they definitely received the brunt of the attack, and are probably in a worse condition than this town. Plus there’s no more attackers here, I turned all of them into a pile of ashes, although maybe those monsters still lived.

  “Then-”

  “But before going, help me make sure the town is not endangered anymore”

  “It should be fine, we promise~”

  “We took care of the remaining human chimeras in the outskirts of town, and we have the remaining soldiers helping and getting rid of empire stragglers”

  Hmm, well I know they’re not lying, at least I hope so, honestly following my instincts blindly is something I grow wary of, but neither of them get something by lying.

  “Ceryse, I know it’s a bit too early, but do you want to come along?”

  “E-Eh!?”

  I did ask her before, and she agreed, but I wanted to stay here and give her time to mourn, unfortunately, time is not on our side.

  “I-If I can be of assistance, sign me in!”

  “Alright, so you’ll travel with Marisa, and wished to join us before, so let’s make it official”

  Hope then handed a little sort of sleeve with the cult’s symbol on it.

  “O-Of course, it would be my honor...”

  Ceryse looked dejected at the thing, and her eyes began to water again.

  “...Evelyn wanted to join in with me as well...”

  “Well-”

  I stopped Aaron mid sentence, lest we get another sea of tears at the moment, besides I have my own piece of mind about this.

  “Don’t force yourself Ceryse, whether you accept their offer or not, it doesn’t need to be this instant”

  “Marisa is right, Wear it when you feel ready~”

  “...Thanks...”

  We had a moment of silence, and after that, Hope created a portal where all four of us headed into, arriving at a certain tattered meeting room, the same one where I fought 6 monsters at, and where people are still around trying to fix the pce, they all rejoiced at our arrival, and then the siblings took their hoods off.

  Odd, they never take them off, I already lowered mine just before burying Evelyn. But no one is surprised by their faces. I'm guessing it’s not news to them, odd that all four of us are redheaded now that I think about it.

  “We’re gd to see everyone ok, how are the casualties?”

  “Heavy, but optimistic given the size of the attack, we’re working on giving first aid, and relief to the people!”

  “Good, Charlotte is on board?”

  “Of course!”

  “Then-”

  While the siblings were speaking with a random cultist, Ceryse simply tugged at my sleeve, and asked me with a whisper.

  “Are we in the cult headquarters? How do you know all these people?”

  “I don’t even know their names, let alone if we’re on the headquarters”

  “Then-”

  “And you sister? Are you a new recruit? I haven’t seen you around”

  Another random demon guy approached me.

  “She’s-”

  Nah, you’re not bullshitting out of this Hope, I’m just gonna tell the truth.

  “I’m not, I simply got ahold of this cloak to cover my identity to the empire, I’m not working with you guys”

  “Wow! You carry yourself in a regal manner like the masters of the cult, master Aaron and mistress Hope, you should consider to make her an official member, were it not for her, we would’ve been in an even worse situation”

  “I already offered her but she refused, as, she has her own circumstances, so we can’t force her~”

  “I see, that’s unfortunate, but you’re always welcomed sister, make yourself at home!”

  You know, for cultists, these people are surprisingly amicable. Come to think of it, the only members I had interactions with before were the siblings and that weird guy at the guild.

  “It might be much to ask, but can you guys make do without us for a while, we need to hold an emergency meeting”

  “Of course! Leave it to us!”

  Hope then beckoned us to follow her downstairs, I’m guessing into the dark basement, honestly it’s private enough, perfect for me to spill their guts on the ground, as soon as we reached it, and Aaron closed the door behind us, I pulled the bde from my sheathe once again, and pointed it towards them.

  “M-Marisa! What are you doing!?”

  Ceryse retorted, taken aback by my actions.

  “You two have some expining to do, if you knew the pce was being attacked, why did you keep that information from me!”

  “Would you have listened if we told you as much?~”

  “...”

  “If you had accompanied us to the meetings when we arrived at Yrea, you would’ve known”

  “Hmm...”

  “Plus, we needed to defend Meldar, if the capital fell, Yrea wouldn’t be far behind, I understand the death of a friend pains you, but there has been so many casualties, your feelings are in the majority”

  “...I hate your guts so much!”

  And the worst part is that I have only myself to bme! Although it’s true saving everyone would’ve been impossible, at least Evelyn would still be alive dammit!

  “Then if you knew of the attack, why did you let it get to this point?”

  “Could you have stopped them all yourself princess? You seem to barely be able to stand~”

  “Tch! But if M-”

  I stopped myself mid sentence, Aaron simply looked at me with astonishment, and Hope simply pced her finger in her lips making a ‘shush’ gesture.

  “Wise to keep your words to yourself, we wouldn’t be happy killing your friend over secrets~”

  “I wouldn’t let you do so to begin with!”

  If Maldi is the ruler of the demons, why did he not interfere or just kill the people of the church or empire? Surely he could do such a thing, I simply can’t fathom what his end goal is!

  “Why don’t we introduce ourselves, your poor little serpent friend is so out of the loop~”

  “I-I feel like this is way over my league, maybe I should just wait outside!”

  “No Ceryse, do not leave my side, it would be dangerous”

  “...”

  “I still think introductions are in order~ I’m Hope, a pleasure to meet you Ceryse”

  “And I’m Aaron, I believe our names ring a bell, no?”

  “T-Then you’re THE Aaron and Hope!?”

  “In the flesh~”

  “Are you two that important?”

  “M-Marisa, they’re the founders of the cult! Everyone knows them!”

  “They did a terrible job then, why make an organization and call it a ‘cult’”

  “Weeeeeeell~”

  “It wasn’t always like this, at the beginning we were a simple group of mercenaries, but the people of the empire called us a cult in a derogatory manner, the name stuck from defiance of the members, and to stick it to the empire for their naming of us”

  “Huh, interesting and dull”

  “Marisa, how can you talk so casually to them! They’re really important people you know!”

  “Ceryse, Marisa is the important one here dear, has she not told you her identity?~”

  “I thought you wanted to keep secrets”

  “It should be fine, no? Not that you cared about keeping your identity secret~”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Ceryse is definitely way out of the loop on things, she’s asking me about it because she wants to know more and well.

  “I’m-”

  “Marisa Von Hesgold, The legitimate daughter of our true king, Maldi~”

  “W-WHAT!?”

  Ceryse is looking very surprised.

  “Such is the way of life, I don’t consider that deadbeat man my father, so there’s no need to funt my title or whatever”

  “M-Marisa, y-you’re...”

  Yes, I figured as much would happen in a pce where they worship that guy so I avoided it, but if Ceryse is gonna travel with me, she deserves to know I think, although the st name doesn’t ring a bell, I actually don’t remember hearing st names that often in this pce.

  “That’s enough of that, I’m listening now, so tell me all that you know, is there gonna be another attack anytime soon?”

  “Nope~ The empire lost a bunch of their ‘soldiers’ so they might take their time to grow their numbers again, in fact it’s good news that their attack was so rge!”

  “How can you call that good news?”

  “Well it’s simple, the elves saw the army marching, and while they themselves didn’t get attacked, they requested an ambassador to keep them in the known, and see if we need aid”

  “Ah, weird, I thought the elves were pretty close minded?”

  “They don’t let people in, but send supplies and the like to their neighbouring countries from time to time. The way I see it is a ‘Have this and don’t bother’ kind of deal, not that they care much about us anyways”

  “I see, then are you implying that to be our way in?”

  “Not at all, at least normally”

  What is Aaron going on about, why bring this into focus then?

  “We have a policy that the cult cannot mix with the government, as a way to keep a power bance and the ease of mind for the people”

  “Imagine us as a separate entity~ at least on the surface, we do have a big saying in the political ndscape, but for image reasons, we can’t send one of our members”

  “Well isn’t that convenient? Then?”

  “Well you already disassociated with us publicly, so we recommend you go to Charlotte’s home, she’s the equivalent of what you’d call a ‘town lord’ back in Aldrid, and she’s most likely the one that will do the ambassador work, if you request her assistance, maybe you could enter Atrille without much of a problem”

  “Or you can force your way in~ Both of them work, just give the word”

  Hmm, now what, should I listen to the siblings? It couldn’t hurt to get to meet the local government, and also, I feel a bit guilty about what happened and how it would’ve been avoided had I listened to them to begin with, honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if a donkey soundtrack pyed in the background back then.

  “Well, I guess it’s better than nothing, where could I find this woman you mentioned?”

  I said finally putting down my bde, truth be told I’m so tired, I think even those two caught up on my bluff.

  “She lives in the center of town, in a somewhat dipidated home covered in cobwebs~”

  “...what?”

  Did I hear that right? Or am I starting to lose my mind? Whatever, being in this pce just hurts my pride, so I think I would be better off looking for her on my own, and I’ll take Ceryse with me, I’ll have to look for a pce to rest if I can’t go to Atrille immediately, let’s leave those thoughts after meeting this pce’s town lord.

  “Let’s go Ceryse”

  “U-Un!”

  She’s still fbbergasted by the news, I simply walked outside the basement and back up, not before taking my backpack, I left it here when the battle started, so I’m gd nothing is missing from it, I took the cloak off and stored it with my stuff, in case I need it for ter, now I have this and the sleeved one.

  ...

  ...

  “W-Why did you not say anything about your lineage before!?”

  “Why would I? It doesn’t make me happy in the slightest”

  “But Maldi is a hero! He-”

  “Oh You’re!”

  Ceryse was stopped mid sentence by a demon dy who was walking while carrying wooden pnks on her shoulder, and keeping a little girl’s hold on her other hand, it’s the woman I saved not long ago, I mean I say that, I saved her in the morning and now the sun is starting to set so from morning to dusk it’s a significant amount of time.

  “You’re the one who saved me right? The sister with the elegant bde!”

  “Ah, yeah, sorry about being covered, I was trying to hide my identity”

  “Ah! I see, sorry, but also, thank you so much!”

  The woman then bowed her head, making a perfect ninety degree angle with her pose. Her daughter also bowed although she seems a bit unaware of what’s happening, if anything, I can feel a certain level of fear, as she’s trying to shift into the back of her mother.

  “There’s no need to thank me, I did what needed to be done, besides, I... I couldn’t save everyone...”

  “But you saved a lot more people than you think, don’t feel bad about it, were it not for you, we wouldn’t be alive!”

  “I see... thanks”

  “No, thank you so much sister, if there’s anything I could do to help you, feel free to ask!”

  “Oh, well since you’re offering, I’m looking for a woman named Charlotte, do you know where I might find her?”

  “Lady Charlotte? She’s probably in her home, you’re not from here then dear, let me guide you to her, it’s the least I could do!”

  “Oh I wouldn’t want to be a bother and interrupt whatever you’re doing, just point me to the pce please”

  “Nonsense, you’re not a bother sister, it would be my pleasure”

  The demon dy pced the logs to the side, and just beckoned us to follow her. Is it ok to leave your stuff haphazardly on the street? Not that I have any grounds to reprimand her since I leave my stuff randomly as well...

  “Why are you looking for Lady Charlotte, sister?”

  “I need to see some things with her, it’s all”

  “Sounds important, just be careful though, She’s wary of strangers, and she might look scary, but she’s a huge softie, so don’t be too intimidated by her”

  “She seems important, how is she as a ruler?”

  “Everyone loves her, she helped even in the fight not long ago, she keeps everyone together, for good or for bad”

  “I see”

  This doesn’t help me, it’s hard to gauge her for negotiation if people hold her in high regards, all I gotten is that she ‘looks scary’, ‘has no ill will’, and-

  “We’re here”

  She’s a slop at cleaning, look at this! It looks like a horror house, covered in spiderwebs and dust everywhere! Not only that but her windows are covered by pnks, so I can’t even see anything inside!

  “Are you ok dear? You look a bit pale?”

  “M-Me!? Positively!”

  She’s speaking to Ceryse, she’s been slithering with me on the way, but I’m guessing things are still a bit too much for her to process, plus she’s still mourning so she’s probably just shaken.

  “Umm, err-”

  “Ah! I never presented myself! I’m Jane, pleasure to meet you sister!”

  “Jane, I’m Marisa, and she’s Ceryse, I know this might be abusing your hospitality, but could you make her company while I talk with Charlotte?”

  I don’t think Ceryse is in the mood or mental strength to keep being presented to important people, and the presence I feel coming from inside the house is from someone who normal people shouldn’t mess with. Whoever lives here is strong, stronger than Heather but not quite Adele’s level, still way above the little snake, and she was already staggering with me and the siblings, even though we were somewhat amicable.

  “Oh it’s nothing! I run an inn with my husband, want to come by to rest baby?”

  “I-I rather continue-”

  “Please take her to rest, she just lost someone significant, so I want her to rest if possible”

  “Oh my! I’m so sorry to hear that, let me take you to a pce to rest baby, maybe make you something to eat, it might not be much but a hearty meal is never bad to have”

  “I-ok...”

  “Thanks Jane, I’ll look for your inn once I’m done, and thank you! I’ll pay her stay and meals when I get there”

  “Oh don’t be ridiculous, how could I ever charge for that in such a situation”

  There are a lot of demons working, people going to and from rebuilding and other jobs, they seem like a tight knit community, so I’m gd they’re such nice people compared to how they were portrayed in other countries.

  Either way, Jane took Ceryse away, she’s quite cute, honestly I was a bit disappointed when she mentioned her husband, I kinda wanted to woo her in but it’s more than obvious she has nothing but eyes for her husband and daughter, let’s just, go meet the town lord in person and be done with things, I simply knocked on the door, but got no answer.

  “...Hello? Anyone home?”

  I kept knocking, mostly out of courtesy, but a random demon looked at me and yelled towards me.

  “Just enter Cutie! Charlotte’s home is always open!”

  “Err... ok? Thanks”

  And so I enter the pce, dark, actually completely pitch bck inside, were it not for my night vision, I literally wouldn’t see anything, spiders scuttle around the floor as soon as they were disturbed by the door creaking open.

  I do my best to avoid stepping on them, they’re pretty big and squishing them with my shoes sounds gross beyond what I can imagine, plus they seem to be getting out of the way as I go, hiding in the openings of the wooden floors and walls.

  The inside is way worse than the outside, webs everywhere, I’m literally ducking over while walking to avoid them as best as I can, I don’t want to get covered in them.

  “Hello? Anyone?”

  “HMMMM!! HNNNN!!”

  A moaning came from inside past a hallway, that didn’t sound good, it sounded like someone being gagged, so I tried approaching and after a bit the webs went from thin and normal, to as thick as yarn, ok, maybe not as thick, but close enough.

  “What the!?”

  There’s two people literally bondaged on spiderwebs silk, gagged by webs bound together as string, and hanging from the ceiling, cocooned together! But also, the third presence in the roof with them was what caught my attention!

  It was a dy attached to the body of a gigantic spider! The cssic arachne I’ve always heard of in fiction! She has 8 long sleek legs and smooth dark skin? chitin? Then it’s a human torso from the waist up, except her arms are longer than normal people, and she has four dark eyes on her face, two of them were normal eyes pcement, and two smaller and slightly up and to the side.

  “I don’t know you, who might you be?~”

  She mentioned, her legs holding to herself in the webs at the ceiling, she stretched her arm and pulled a scarily long needle from one of the immobile man, who screamed and squirmed as the needle went out of him, he might be scared, as for me, the sight of the blood on the long needle is making me hungry.

  “I’m Marisa, I arrived at town in the morning, am I interrupting something?”

  “The morning you say? What an inconvenient time to arrive, or maybe it was on purpose?~”

  Hmm, it was intentional but not by my own decision, still, I can see why she would be wary of me, although I’m not an empire knight, so there’s no need to worry about my identity.

  “I’m just a bit unlucky, I tried to help in the fight if it’s any consotion”

  “You’re still a stranger, I can’t take my chances~”

  She said, cleaning the needle on the long sleeve of her clothing, surprisingly elegant given her sloppy way of living. After cleaning it and hiding it in her sleeve, she moved her arm at a rather unnatural speed and the needle was sent flying my way.

  I simply stopped it with my hand, grabbing it and not letting it pierce me, but as soon as I touched it, it felt a hot stinging sensation in my palm, so I let go of it, and the moment it touched the ground, the wooden pnks started to melt...

  “That was my strongest poison, who are you?”

  “You knew I would stop it, is this a test?”

  “Perhaps, if you were part of the empire, well, I would need to get information from you like my two friends here~”

  She said, pcing her hands into her sleeves as the two front spider legs are caressing the man’s chins in their silky prisons. So they’re empire knights? figures.

  “I hate the empire as much as everyone, you have nothing to worry about that”

  “Is that so?~”

  Hmm, I really can’t read her that well, maybe she’s pnning to attack me or simir, I really don’t-

  Wait, this sweet smell that’s lingering in the air!

  I quickly covered my face, I haven’t forgotten about it and small doses would probably not hurt me anymore, but I don’t want to be sedated again like with the whole auction fiasco.

  “That smell of flowers, did you just let it out?”

  “Sharp, so you picked it up quickly and didn’t pass out, that tells me all that I need to know~”

  The woman proceeded to get down from the ceiling, and looked straight at my face.

  “What are you of lil’ Aaron and Hope? Family perhaps?~”

  Seems like she knows more than she’s letting on...

  Joanne_carper