Familiar Faces
After we finished off the ogre — a creature too strange to simply call a variant — I watched Huey collect the red horn left behind where the corpse had fallen.
"…Aside from a vaguely unsettling feeling, nothing particularly unusual about it."
"We'll look into the details later."
"No more troubling presence nearby, so let's get moving."
Still uneasy, Huey pulled several talismans from his robes, stuck them onto the horn, and only after chanting an incantation did he seem to relax. He then stuffed the horn — thick as his own forearm — into the backpack Lucy was carrying.
"Looks like that ogre and the energy I saw earlier are connected somehow."
Huey said the surging power that had been rising into the sky had noticeably weakened after we took the ogre down. I followed after him for a while.
"It's up ahead."
A clearing came into view — unnaturally formed, as if someone had carved a piece clean out of the forest. And at its center…
"…An altar?"
"Tch."
Just as Huey said, something resembling a large altar stood there. It was clearly built from human bones, and I clicked my tongue at the sight.
"An altar made of bones. Whoever built this has truly terrible taste."
Lucy spoke up, equally disgusted.
"That altar seems to be the source."
Huey frowned, saying the black energy he'd seen was rising from it.
"Leaving it alone doesn't look like it'll do anyone any good. Let's smash it."
Standing around staring wasn't going to change anything, so I suggested we destroy it.
"Shall I handle it?"
"No, it'd be better if I use Taoist magic…"
I ignored the two of them arguing over who would do it and quietly kindled purifying flames along my wings.
Fwoosh.
And then—
"Ren?"
"Why all of a sudden…"
I shook the fire free from my wings and sent it flying toward the altar.
Crack. Sizzle…
The flames sputtered a few times as if resisting — then the altar collapsed without strength.
"Ah. It's gone."
Huey looked around, reporting that the black energy had vanished.
"So… what exactly was that thing, in the end?"
"Beats me."
That voice of mine had been strangely quiet for a while now, so I figured it probably knew something — but if it had any intention of telling me, it would have been chattering away already.
"Well. If we report it to the Ennis Adventurers' Guild, they'll figure something out."
Huey surveyed the area for a moment longer before giving up. He sighed, sounding worn out.
"Let's get moving again. We should reach the village before sundown."
"Agreed. I'm starting to miss a proper bed."
And so we set off toward the village, leaving only that lingering unease behind. After walking for quite some time—
"…Looks like this place got hit too."
Just as Huey said, Ennis showed clear signs of a monster attack. Bloodstained barricades ringed the village.
"Still, the damage doesn't appear too severe."
Listening to Lucy, I surveyed the surroundings and spotted familiar traces.
"Well, no need to worry. Look over there."
I smiled lightly and lifted a wing, pointing toward the village entrance — more precisely, toward the top of the watchtower standing there.
"Huh?"
"That person is…"
The two of them stared in the direction my wing indicated and froze in surprise.
"Hey—!"
And for good reason. Up on the watchtower, the Captain was dozing with his back against the railing.
"Captain—!"
I'd figured someone from the group would be guarding the village, but I never expected the Captain himself.
"Huh? What? Why are you here?"
He'd been nodding off against the watchtower railing, but at the sound of my voice he rubbed his eyes and jumped down.
"It's been a while, Violet."
"…I thought you'd run off somewhere, but I guess not."
Huey greeted the approaching Captain while Lucy bowed her head.
"I was supposed to meet Frederica before heading north."
"Ah, that makes sense."
Only then did he seem to understand why I was here. He tucked the spear he'd been holding against his body and clapped his hands together.
"Well, anyway — nothing much happen on your end?"
"I think the real trouble's been on your end, Captain."
"Don't even start. Betty's been riding me all night and I'm dead tired, and then suddenly the monsters go completely berserk."
He'd clearly gone several days without proper sleep. He kept yawning as he spoke again.
"Well, no point standing around out here. Let's head inside. Shall we, Huey? Miss Luciella?"
He ruffled my hair roughly, then put on his professional client-facing smile.
"Ugh — get your hand off my head."
"Haha. You hate it?"
He kept mussing my hair, daring me to shove him off with force if I had a problem with it. We bickered as we walked for a bit.
"Hey, take care of the rest."
"Thank you for your hard work, Violet."
He gave a casual greeting to the adventurers resting inside the village, then—
"Haaah, I'm exhausted. Seriously."
—walked straight into the Adventurers' Guild building in Ennis and collapsed face-down onto a lobby table.
"You've worked hard, Uncle. Here, have something to drink."
"Thanks, Marie."
A brown-haired woman — Marie — set a drink down beside him. Only after thanking the Captain for his efforts did she notice us, her face lighting up with surprise.
"Oh? Huey?"
"It's been a while. Have you been well?"
"Of course."
After a brief exchange with Huey, Marie looked at me with a puzzled expression.
"If you're with Huey, then… is that Ren?"
"…It's been a while, Marie."
"Wow. Dad told me about it, but you really did become a woman."
"That's a sore subject, so I'd rather not talk about it."
"Ahaha. Sorry, sorry. Still, you're so cute."
Apparently my becoming a woman had erased whatever distance used to exist between us. She kept cooing about how adorable I'd gotten while hugging me this way and that.
"…I've never seen Ren this docile before."
"And did you hear that? She called her 'Marie.' Marie."
I glared at the two of them whispering to each other, clearly shocked by how meekly I was putting up with it.
"Ahem. Anyway — what's going on around here?"
Huey cleared his throat, averted his eyes, and directed the question at Marie.
"Ah, well…"
At Huey's question, Marie reluctantly released my cheek — which she'd been squishing with clear disappointment — and scratched her head.
"For about a week now, monsters have been swarming all over the region."
She added that they were stronger and more vicious than usual.
"As for the cause, nothing's been confirmed yet…"
Mid-explanation she paused, checked that no one nearby was listening, then leaned in and lowered her voice, still looking uneasy.
"There's word that priests and holy knights from the Great Temple in Arcadia have been mobilizing in large numbers."
Judging by how carefully she said it, this wasn't public information.
"Um…"
"Just Marie is fine."
"Ah, right. Marie. I have one question, if you don't mind."
Huey had been listening to her explanation, then—
"Forgive me for asking, but… what exactly is your position?"
Between her connection to me and the quality of information coming from someone who seemed like a mere receptionist, Huey found it odd. Lucy nodded in agreement beside him.
"Ah… ahaha."
Marie laughed awkwardly and scratched her head. Regulations meant she couldn't say it herself, after all.
"Marie's a candidate for the next generation of Adventurers' Guild leadership."
As long as it didn't leak anywhere it shouldn't, it was fine. I decided to explain in her place.
"Working the reception desk here is part of her field training."
"Ah, I see."
"That makes sense."
And then—
"She's also the daughter of one of our mercenary group's founding members."
I added that last part, and the two of them turned to stare in shock at the Captain, who was snoring face-down on the table.
"Not him."
This time they looked at me with expressions that said surely not.
"…Do you really think that makes any sense?"
"Ahaha. The truth is, Esras was founded by three people — Uncle Violet here, Ren, and my father."
While I was still too dumbfounded to speak, Marie cut in with a smile.
"Wilhelm Werner. That's my father."
"He's out of the country on a job right now. If you ever get the chance to meet him, I'll introduce you."
"Ah, I see."
"I nearly had a heart attack."
Huey and Lucy finally nodded with sheepish smiles. Marie beamed and suggested we get back to the topic at hand.
"Anyway, we still don't have any solid information on the abnormal monster outbreaks or their increased aggression."
The Adventurers' Guild was investigating in cooperation with the various nations, but after a full week they still hadn't found so much as a lead. Marie sighed and started to rise from her seat—
"Oh? Wait a moment."
"Yes?"
Huey called her back, something having just occurred to him.
"Lucy. Pull that out."
"Come to think of it, we did have that."
"Ah, right."
The thing all of us had completely forgotten about — the red horn from the ogre we'd slain earlier. Huey took it out.
"So, this happened a few hours before we arrived at the village…"
And Huey began telling her about the altar and the black energy.