Chapter 906: Act 82 – Into the Night II
Brendel smiled slightly, having gotten the answer he wanted. He turned around and caught the sharp gaze of Nemeses, who was lying in that direction, and she nodded gently at him.
At this moment, the setting sun began to sink into the Empire’s inland sea. In the last moments before sunset, the sea to the far west burned bright, turning into a solid block of shimmering gold. However, as the final ray of light sank below the horizon, the golden waters quickly dissipated, leaving behind a dark red hue, as if it were a gradually cooling cast. From the west to the east, Gravel Town was surrounded by rolling hills, and on a clear day with no clouds, the views from high above were incredibly expansive—especially the distant Anzeruta Mountain Range running east to west and the boundless plains to the east created a magnificent scene. However, as twilight fell, the distant mountains were shrouded in a layer of dusk, becoming hazy and resembling an impressionist oil painting, the edge of the sky and the earth covered in a layer of orange light and clouds, becoming indistinct.
But all this eventually succumbed to the quiet of the night.
As the light dimmed, creatures accustomed to darkness found their vision opening up instead. The harpies circling above the town seemed to detect some movement in the nearby hills; they hovered over the hills for a long time, squawking loudly. But before they could draw attention to others, it seemed that a sudden commotion erupted within Gravel Town, with noisy sounds coming from several streets, and the clamor and uproar once again attracted the notice of these feathered beasts. They turned and flew back toward the town.
Within Gravel Town, cave dwellers were capturing hidden residents, Imperial soldiers, adventurers, or other dangerous elements. They were not used to daylight, so the search began at dusk, quickly throwing the town into chaos.
On the second floor of the Bullfrog Inn, the foul-smelling searchers had just left. Suddenly, among a pile of clutter, a cloak was lifted, revealing a small figure as if a door had opened on the wall. In the pitch-black room, a pair of lake-like emerald green eyes were first revealed, large and crystal clear, blinking gently before showing a relieved expression. This was a young girl dressed in a dark green cloak, though the cloak appeared somewhat odd—clearly a travel cloak for an adult, with only the hem altered to fit her small stature so it wouldn’t drag on the ground. However, the oversized hood couldn’t be adjusted, forcing the girl to constantly hold it up at the edges to avoid it obscuring her vision, making her look quite comical.
Beneath the large hood, the tips of short, silver hair peeked out. The girl had her hair styled into two short pigtails, tucked behind her pointed ears, which seemed to be her only identifiable feature—generally, only those of mixed elf and human blood like her could be seen in the northern territories of the Greyshire Knight Order or even further north in the Kingdom of Erlandta. Additionally, she carried a crossbow nearly half her height on her back, wearing short leather boots that each sported a feather.
She tiptoed to just the right height to rest her chin on the window ledge, raising her head to stare at the harpies in midair—only when they flew far away did she laboriously climb onto the desk and knelt to peek out of the window quietly.
The cave dwellers had already left.
She closed the window, shivering slightly as she asked, “Xainne, did it go far away?”
A soft, curious voice replied, “It seems so; they didn’t discover us!”
A small, triangular head appeared beneath the wide hood. This creature looked a bit like a dragon shrunk down to a few thousand times smaller, sporting the same horns and sharp teeth, along with folded membranes for wings. However, it was not a dragon; it was a pseudo-dragon. Vaunte had very little documented about this peculiar species, only appearing in a few legendary stories and biographies. Scholars along the coast of the Abyss Sea believed them to be spirits of books and knowledge, and they could often be found companioning with scrolls, but this was merely to satisfy their strong curiosity about the world. For the same reason, they would accompany mortals, adventuring throughout the world.
“The sprite got scared. This place isn’t fun at all; those creatures are bad and show no kindness to sprites!”
“Serves you right; you shouldn’t expect them to be nice since you broke their trebuchet,” Xainne replied irritably.
The sprite appeared flustered, hurriedly arguing, “I didn’t know what it was! I just wanted to touch it!”
“Well, you didn’t have to cut that rope.”
“But I felt something terrible would happen if I cut the rope!”
Xainne sharply retorted, “Something did happen, and now we’re wanted criminals!”
“Before that, we weren’t hiding at all,” the sprite pouted. “You didn’t tell me there were these strange things here before we came. Didn’t you say this was the land of humans?”
“It was before I left last time.”
“When was that?”
“About three hundred years ago, I guess.”
“Never mind that,” the sprite said, pulling Xainne off her head despite her protests and stuffing her into her pocket. “Did you actually see that guy?”
“I saw her for real! It was that bad egg who knocked us out of the sky! I’d recognize her even if she turned to ash,” Xainne barely escaped the sprite’s grasp, peeking out from the pocket to say, “If you hadn’t made such a commotion, I might have caught up to her sooner.”
“Sorry,” the sprite replied apologetically.
Xainne boasted, “Fortunately, this lady is clever; I already put a magical mark on that scoundrel. As long as she hasn’t left the city, I can find her.” She gestured with her claws over the sprite’s body. “Let me see… hey, she hasn’t gone far; she’s nearby!”
“Where is she?”
“Lift me up,” Xainne commanded.
The sprite took her out of the pocket and held her up to the window. Xainne glanced at the street outside and pointed to one of the rooftops, saying, “Look, see that eastern house? She’s in the attic!”
The sprite leaned on the windowsill for a while before realizing, “Oh, I know! She’s hiding in that candy shop—!”
“What candy shop?”
“The one we visited that day, with the chubby owner and the sign with four strange arrows! Don’t you remember?”
“Oh, I remember,” Xainne said. “But that’s not a candy shop; it’s a bakery! Those four strange arrows are a compass, ‘Rowse’s Compass.’ See, I even remember the name! Oh no—! It’s two streets to get there from here, and I remember one of those streets has the posts of those stinky creatures. What should we do? If you show yourself, they will definitely catch you. They will prepare a very big pot for you to make soup with the sprite, including salt, onions, and carrots.”
“It’s fine; if we take that road, they definitely won’t find us.”
“Which road?”
The sprite climbed down from the desk. The pitch-black inn had no light, but her emerald green eyes sparkled in the dark without any hindrance. She opened the door, crossed the hallway, and descended the stairs to the first floor, entering the kitchen, which had a cellar covered with thick wooden planks piled high with cabbages and potatoes. “What is this place?” Xainne asked.
“There’s a secret passageway below that connects to the candy shop across the way.”
“It’s a bakery,” Xainne corrected, but then asked, “Why is there a secret passage in an inn leading to a bakery?”
The sprite shook her head. “I overheard the innkeeper talking with a woman.”
“A woman?”
“A very beautiful woman; she even gave me a piece of candy.”
“You mean to say you eavesdropped on them, and she gave you a piece of candy?” Xainne asked incredulously.
“No, I was standing far away; they thought I couldn’t hear, but the sprite heard everything clearly.”
“Don’t you feel any guilt?”
The sprite clearly lacked such feelings, pushing cabbages and potatoes off the wooden planks until they rolled to the ground with a thud, then lifted the plank to reveal a dark staircase.
Indeed, there was a secret passage beneath the cellar, its entrance hidden behind a row of wine racks. The long, dark, and winding passageway seemed to turn many corners, going up and down, with water pooled in some places, dripping occasionally. Yet the sprite was not afraid at all; she looked around curiously, as if she were on an adventure—which indeed it was.
But no matter how long the passage was, it eventually ended. Soon, a person and a dragon groped their way to an iron door that was tightly shut, leaving not a crack.
Xainne was about to fly up to the doorknob to cast a spell, but the sprite grabbed her tail. “Wait, someone is coming!”
“Ouch, don’t grab my tail!” Xainne squeaked.
The sprite raised a finger to her lips. “Shh—”
After a moment, there was a rumbling sound coming from behind the iron door, as if something was being dragged. The noise continued for a while until it stopped, followed by the sound of footsteps. “One, two, three, four, five, six,” the sprite counted silently. Six people entered the room on the other side, followed by the sound of a door closing. Xainne was startled. “Are they coming in?”
The sprite shook her head, as if she had seen it with her own eyes. “They didn’t come over.”
As if to confirm her words, there was silence behind the door for a moment, followed by the voice of a coarse middle-aged man: “Miss Delphine, we’re here at a bad time. No one knows where those damned things are coming from. You make the call. We can’t stay here any longer. We know there’s a secret passage in the city leading downstream to the Abyss River, but if we’re late, those monsters might find it.”
A gentle female voice replied, “I know where those things are coming from. That person has a cave dweller guard squad in his territory, indicating his relationship with Jotungrund is anything but ordinary. They’ve been plotting these schemes for a long time; no one expected him to actually dare to strike against the Empire.”
The sprite heard this voice from the secret passage and said to Xainne, “It’s her.”
“Is that the woman?”
The sprite nodded. She pondered for a moment before suddenly exclaiming, “I know! She must be the owner of the candy shop.”
“In your hometown, do people call the owners ‘Miss’?” Xainne joked.
“If she’s in the candy shop, then she is definitely the owner.”
“Good logic.”
At this moment, a young voice joined in, “Mr. Alman must have uncovered this person’s scheme at the Loop of Trade Winds, which is why he met with such misfortune!”
“Thank you, Mr. Efi. That person is cunning and treacherous, so that must indeed be the case. I’ve asked Andisha; if he hadn’t deliberately left Alman and the others behind, she wouldn’t have found the opportunity to act. That woman is indeed hateful, but certain hypocrites deserve punishment more. Alman vowed to protect me for life; now that he’s gone, I am still his wife, and I must take revenge for him.”
The first voice sighed. “Sigh, Miss Delphine, fine. Please rest assured, no matter how long you stay here, we will remain to protect you.”
“Thank you, Mr. Sorens.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“The cave dwellers attacked the North Hill outpost today; that place holds no value for them. If they were targeting Bouas, it might make sense, but it’s clear they merely attacked the North Hill outpost,” the young voice said. “Cave dwellers wouldn’t do something meaningless. However, I’ve heard that Earl Orkans was there, who has longstanding grievances with the nobles to the south of the Empire, so I suspect he is most likely with these cave dwellers.”
“Our people have indeed learned that a mysterious human has always been by Tanpu’s side,” the rough male voice responded.
“That’s probably him; ordinary people wouldn’t be associating with those monsters, especially at this time,” remarked a new voice with a slightly hoarse accent.
“Can we ascertain Tanpu’s whereabouts?” the woman’s voice asked.
“That’s not difficult. These monsters are probably accustomed to burrows and are not used to our structures; we can easily approach their base,” the man responded.
“Alright, think of a way to set up an ambush along his path. Don’t get too close; that person is formidable.”
The young voice spoke again. “No matter how formidable he is, he can’t escape the Demon-slaying Lance.”
“Better be cautious than regretful,” the rough male voice warned.
Then the others chatted among themselves about various recent events. Xainne and the sprite soon lost interest in their conversation, and the murmurs from behind the door gradually lessened. Soon, there was another sound of dragging objects, and finally, with a heavy slam, everything returned to silence.
“Did they leave?” After a long while, Xainne asked.
The two cautiously pushed open the iron door. Behind it was a small room piled high with a variety of clutter—wooden boxes, barrels, broken cabinets, and iron shelves. The sprite looked around and quietly asked, “Did you understand what they were talking about?”
“Oh, just mutual revenge. I’ve seen a lot of humans like that,” Xainne flapped her wings and settled on the sprite’s shoulder to reply.
“They’re really boring. Let’s ignore them and go find that bad guy to get revenge.”
“I feel like you just included us in that accusation.”
“Why would that be? We are avenging justice; it’s not the same as them.”
“What’s the difference?”
“Don’t speak, Xainne.” The sprite had unwittingly learned the skills of sulking out of embarrassment from associating with Xainne.
The two ascended the basement stairs quietly, pushing open the basement door. Outside was still a dark corridor. The Crusian’s talents in architecture seemed limited to connecting pathways, rooms, and stairs, adding nothing creative. They carefully passed the first floor of the bakery, but there was no one living there; all the rooms were empty, looking as if they had been swept through—still retaining the unique stench of the cave dwellers.
“Do you know how to get to the attic?” Xainne asked, covering her nose with her claws.
The sprite, however, was unconcerned, sniffing around with her little nose like a puppy. Then she answered, “Of course I know.”
“How do you know? Have you been here before?”
“Well, once I sneaked up there.”
“When was that?” Xainne asked, surprised.
“When you weren’t around. There’s a wild grapevine behind that house; it was easy to climb,” the sprite replied quietly. “But then I accidentally got caught in the curtains and fell, ruining the grapevine. After that, I couldn’t go up anymore.”
“After that? You’ve gone up several times? What did you go up there for?”
The sprite answered, “I wanted to see where that chubby guy hid the bread.”
Xainne scoffed at this response. “You were trying to steal bread, weren’t you?”
The sprite’s face turned slightly red. “Who told him not to sell it to us?”
“Have you ever seen someone buy something without paying?”
“But sprites don’t have money.”
“Oh!” Xainne grabbed her face with her two little claws. “How pitiful; let’s make a deal.”
“What deal?”
“This time, if you get caught by Ai Quisha, don’t say I took you out.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want to die yet.”
