The Investigator
I packed my things and headed to the Adventurers' Guild. The investigator still hadn't arrived.
"We rushed over for nothing."
"Haha… well, at least nothing's gone wrong."
Was it? We waited for the investigator the client had sent, and before long it was lunchtime, so we ordered food at the guild. The quality was a bit rough for the price… but it filled our stomachs well enough.
"Ugh, we were supposed to leave today! Isn't this way too late?"
I couldn't hold back my irritation any longer, flailing my arms and legs in a fit of temper. The young master laughed.
"What? Is something funny?"
"Not at all."
He was still smiling.
"Hmph."
I folded my arms and whipped my head away, then tapped my fingers restlessly against my side.
"Ugh, when is she getting here!"
The other three didn't seem the least bit annoyed.
"You okay, Emma?"
"Yeah."
"And you, Sister Mary?"
Sister Mary simply smiled without a word. I turned to look at the young master.
"Well, they work under a noble, don't they? They probably figure it's only natural for adventurers to wait. And she's bound to have plenty of her own preparations—so it could take a while."
Hmm. Put that way, I supposed a delay made sense.
She wouldn't be going empty-handed. The investigator would need supplies too—paper for notes, containers for anything she collected, a weapon to defend herself, clothes…?
"Ahem. Then I guess we should wait a little longer."
Bored out of my mind, I passed the time rocking back and forth by the window. Eventually a guild staffer and the guild master brought someone over.
"This is the party that accepted the commission."
The investigator turned out to be a woman—and a young one at that.
We rose from our seats and exchanged greetings. Her name was Liza—Liza Stein. She belonged to the lord's family of this city, though from a branch house. She used the family name, but she didn't quite feel like a full noble.
As she introduced herself, I looked her over. She carried a modest-sized bag on her back, and a short sword hung at her hip.
She swept a glance across our group, then checked Sister Mary's credentials. When Sister Mary displayed her Holy Power and the token that proved it, Investigator Liza gave a nod.
"Let's depart at once."
"Yes."
At her command, we moved out. As a guest of honor, she effectively came under our protection as well—but I didn't figure there was much to worry about.
The road was quiet. Even the young master, who normally chattered away, had gone strangely silent.
"Um… you're a noble, aren't you? Don't you ride a horse or take a carriage?"
Even from a branch family, a member of a noble house ought to have at least a horse provided… Her face flushed slightly.
I may have asked the wrong thing…
"Horses are expensive. You can't just use them freely."
The young master spoke up before the investigator could answer.
"Is that so?"
I knew horses were costly. A proper warhorse was supposed to run over a hundred gold apiece, wasn't it? Even the horses merchant caravans used went for more than fifty gold each, and the upkeep was enormous.
"Besides, bringing a horse along makes escorting more difficult."
Ah. That made sense too.
"Yes. That's why."
Investigator Liza looked a touch put out. My careless remark must have soured her mood.
"I—I see. I didn't realize."
Once I took a more humble tone, Investigator Liza's temper eased.
The road to the village was truly dull.
Since we were also serving as escorts, I couldn't wander off or amuse myself, and my companions were silent… It was stifling. Still, I followed along quietly.
"Let's rest a while."
Investigator Liza was the first to suggest a break.
"Understood. We'll rest, then continue."
Hmm. It hadn't even been two hours—wasn't that a bit early? My companions still looked full of energy. Investigator Liza, however, did not. She was dripping with sweat and gasping for breath.
Of course. A noble who'd spent her days on paperwork could hardly keep pace with a party as physical as ours. The fact that she'd followed in silence until she reached this state was impressive in its own right.
I shot Sister Mary a subtle look. Among the Holy Magic spells was one that restored stamina. The effect wasn't dramatic, but used on someone this exhausted, it ought to help.
Once Sister Mary's Holy Magic took hold, Investigator Liza's condition improved.
"Thank you."
Sister Mary simply smiled. We rested about twenty minutes, then set out again, stopping whenever Investigator Liza grew tired.
"It's getting dark. Going much farther will be difficult."
The young master spoke up. Investigator Liza was… bent over, wheezing for air.
"What would you like to do?"
Investigator Liza raised a hand to stop us.
"R-rest… then… g-go… hah…"
"Understood. We'll prepare to camp."
That settled it. Time to move.
"Emma, gather firewood."
"Okay."
"Sister Mary—"
"I already know what to do."
The young master and I set down our packs and pitched the tent. Investigator Liza? Only once the preparations were mostly finished did she finally catch her breath enough to look around.
"C-camping outdoors?"
"Yes. It's already dark—moving any farther would be dangerous."
"I… I see."
If she'd meant to reach the village in a single day, she should have shown up earlier! I didn't know exactly how much farther we had to go, but the late start was on Investigator Liza. More than that—was something wrong? She kept frowning…
Don't tell me she has a problem with how we're handling things?
Sister Mary suddenly approached Investigator Liza and had her sit nearby.
"It hurts, doesn't it?"
"That's…"
"There's no need to hide it."
With a gentle smile, Sister Mary carefully removed Investigator Liza's boots. The feet that emerged were covered in wounds. The sides were raw and scraped; the soles were blistered and burst.
Her heels were in just as bad a state.
Looking at feet with scarcely a patch of uninjured skin, I couldn't help but grimace.
Had she stubbornly endured the pain the whole way? Sister Mary began healing Investigator Liza's feet with Holy Magic. The wounds were so severe that one or two castings weren't enough.
"Are you all right?"
She'd already spent Holy Power on the journey here—Sister Mary might not have much left to spare.
"You're not running low on Holy Power, are you?"
I wasn't asking out of concern for the stubborn investigator. I was worried about Sister Mary.
"I may be a little short, yes."
As I thought…
"I'll do it."
I let out a long sigh and crouched down, then cast a powerful healing Holy Magic. My Holy Power was overflowing anyway—no reason to hold back. The Holy Power flowing from my hands wrapped around Investigator Liza's feet, and they recovered at a remarkable speed.
After about a minute, her feet were fully healed.
"Th-that's incredible."
She seemed astonished as well.
"If it hurts, you should say so instead of toughing it out."
She said nothing, and silence settled over the campsite. The awkwardness was unbearable…… The moment Emma appeared, I headed straight over to her.
"We need to get this campfire going already!"
We ate the dinner Sister Mary had prepared and settled in to rest.
The silence still hung heavy, and it was driving me crazy.
"Ahem. Might we ask why you're going to investigate?"
Unable to bear the stifling quiet any longer, the young master spoke up.
"That's…"
Was there something more to it?
"We're aware that undead can appear in villages struck by plague. But there's no particular reason to investigate in advance."
Was that true? Weren't undead dangerous once they showed up?
"Even if undead do appear, they almost never leave the village. Unless someone goes looking for them, incidents rarely occur. So why are you going to investigate?"
Hearing the young master's explanation, I truly did wonder about her reasons.
"Hah. You already know a great deal, it seems. Yes, you're right. There's no real need to investigate."
Investigator Liza spoke with a somber expression.
"That village… was where I used to live."
The plague had killed many, she said, but some had escaped alive. Because she bore a noble surname, she had gotten out relatively early. But far more of the villagers had been unable to flee.
Even those who tried to escape had been turned away—people refused to take them in, saying they might be carrying the plague.
"It's been several years now."
What was she imagining? Investigator Liza's expression was painfully distant.
"And then I heard a rumor that undead had appeared."
Someone gathering herbs and mushrooms nearby had supposedly seen them, or so the story went.
"So I wanted to confirm it for myself."
At the investigator's admission that she wanted to know whether the villagers had truly become undead, the mood grew heavy.
"And if it is true… I want to give them rest."
When I asked where the money had come from, she said the Viscount who ruled the territory had provided it.
"At first the Viscount was displeased, but he soon gave me the funds."
He'd handed over a subsidy and told her to see the matter through properly…
I'd taken him for nothing more than a bootlicker currying favor with the prince… but it seemed he had at least some regard for family after all.
"You didn't need to go yourself, did you? If you'd simply hired adventurers, you could have gotten the information for far less."
Entrusting expensive talent like us with a job when she didn't even know if the rumor was true was a foolish move.
What if—just what if—we reached the village and there were no undead? What if the rumor was wrong?
We'd still collect our pay, but she would take the loss.
As a noble she might have wealth enough that it was pocket change… but a loss was still a loss.
"I called it a rumor, but I'm certain it's true."
She seemed to have some kind of conviction.
"Then does the commission include exterminating the undead once we arrive?"
"Yes. In that case, I'll pay an additional fee."
Hmm…
I couldn't bring myself to ask why she was willingly throwing herself into such a grueling task.
I more or less understood. She wanted to go and lay her family and friends to rest.
"Then please rest first."
She had no sleeping bag among her gear, so we lent her one of ours.
The four of us would be taking turns on watch anyway, so it made no difference.
I drew the first watch and sat blankly before the campfire.
Investigator Liza was already asleep from exhaustion, and the other three seemed to have drifted off as well.
"Sigh… something about this keeps nagging at me."
I'd gotten irritated over her being late, made a few missteps with my words, and thought poorly of her…
But after hearing her story, she was truly a pitiful person.
"I should treat her better tomorrow…"