Level 1 Fallen

After my talk with Diane and Bella, I stepped outside and used Walking Fortress to create a replica of Yatagarasu’s manor. I wasn’t worried about us being discovered, as we were currently staying deep in the forest. We kept the house vaguely close to Athua’s capital so that the two of them could come and rest even when I was busy making my equipment, but it was not visible through the trees.

More importantly, our house was protected with a stealth effect, and this new one would be removed as soon as Diane was done studying it. Thus, even if someone did see a disturbance in the trees when this manor was created, it would be gone by the time they arrived.

Diane spent the next two hours studying the mansion, patrolling its corridors and inspecting every entry point. Unfortunately, there were no hidden passages for her to take advantage of, but she quickly recovered from that disappointment. Once she was done memorizing the layout, she donned the black cloak that I gave her, her presence becoming even more faint.

“I’m going to go make some preparations in town. I’ll be staying there for tonight, and will return tomorrow after everything’s taken care of.” With that, she began walking towards the distant city, while I took down the temporary manor.

“You think she’s going to be okay?” Bella asked in concern, watching Diane vanish between the trees.

“Let’s trust her a bit,” I smiled. “You know how hardcore she is with getting into character when she wants to. This is exactly the kind of thing that she’s been preparing for, ever since she joined this game.”

Bella hesitated, but ultimately agreed. With Diane gone, it was just the two of us together in the house. Originally, Bella had been quite shaken by the trait farm, whether it was the one that I had nearly been trapped in or the one that I had been assigned to destroy. I could understand why, given her own trait. She had already lost it once during the ruins exploration, though she was lucky enough that there was a way for her to get it back at that time.

“By the way, what’s going to happen with the refugees you took in last week?” Bella asked, and I shrugged my shoulders.

“A few of them signed up with Nuoda to be knights. Most just want to live ordinary lives, though. As for those that were… less fortunate, Safire is still trying her best to help them recover. Last I heard, only three of them had managed to start talking again.”

Bella winced at that news. “Well… at least some of them are starting to get better.”

The two of us talked late into the night before turning in. Diane hadn’t called for us to help her, so it didn’t seem like she had any issues getting into the city.

The next day passed with Bella training her stealth in the forest, sneaking past various monsters and finding sniping angles. Although she wasn’t as extreme as Diane, she had certainly settled into the role that she had assigned herself.

It wasn’t until three in the afternoon that I sensed Diane returning from the direction of the city. Her steps were unhurried, a calm expression on her face beneath her hood. When she opened the door, Bella and I were just discussing what we were planning to have for dinner that night. Our talk froze when the door opened, and Diane walked in to sit at the table with us.

“How’d it go?” Bella asked with concern in her tone. “Were you able to do it?”

Diane gave a brisk nod. “Yeah, I took care of it. It just took me a while to get back because I had to stay hidden while they searched the mansion. An Archbishop of the church was there to discuss protective measures.”

“Did he witness the kill?” I couldn’t help but ask, but Diane turned to look at me.

“I took them both out. Condensed hydra poison in their tea. It clogs your mana circuits, so you can’t activate skills once you’re poisoned. Originally, I was just going to go for Yatagarasu like the mission said, but…”

Diane let out a low sigh. “The church was aware of the trait farm. Yatagarasu spoke about it right in front of the archbishop, and seemed to imply that it was created with their cooperation. When I heard that, I messaged Wisteria to inform her and ask for permission to target both of them.”

“Once she agreed, I slipped out of my crawlspace and snuck into the kitchen where the tea was being made. Originally, I had planned to wait until he was drinking alone to poison him, but that conversation changed things. I also used a special ink on one of the teacups that would only become visible with heat. It’s useful for passing secret messages, but this allowed me to leave the ‘four’ you asked for and have it only appear after the tea was poured.”

My eyes widened slightly in surprise at the fact that she had managed to get all of that done in a single day. She likely got some items from her friends, like the special ink and poison, but still. I remember what the manor looked like. The only crawlspaces that she could have been referring to were either below the floorboards or above the ceiling. Both were small enough that only a halfling could properly move, though I didn’t remember any connections with them close to the kitchen.

“Did you learn anything else?” I asked, also surprised to hear that the church had been involved in the farm. If Nuoda found out about that, she would probably raise hell with the church. Thankfully, we didn’t have a branch in Fallcry, and certainly wouldn’t after this.

“Before they drank the tea, they were talking about countermeasures against future assassinations. The archbishop handed him three scrolls to distribute to his guards. One was a Scroll of Resurrection, and the other two were Scrolls of True Self. According to the archbishop, this would allow them to get a look at the true face of the attacker and confirm their origins.”

“In other words, they suspect that the troll and reaper aren’t the real assassins?” Bella asked, but Diane shook her head.

“They don’t know. The problem is that the archbishop wasn’t familiar with any grandmasters that fit the descriptions that Drake used. No reapers that flayed their victims after decapitation, or trolls that could control shadows and stone to such a degree. He suspects that there might be an organization involved, maybe even the League of Assassins, but currently he thinks that both killers are two different people.”

Diane took a deep breath before continuing. “The possibility was raised that they might be the same person, but the archbishop thought it was unlikely. The only one that he could think of that possessed all of the necessary skills to carry out these assassinations was the master of the League of Assassins. And if he was involved, he wouldn’t bother with a disguise when he kills.”

“Still, I need to be wary of those ‘True Self’ scrolls. Why bother with a resurrection scroll, though? At worst, he’ll be losing a bit of time going back to his body.” My brow furrowed as I asked that question, but Diane quickly answered my concerns.

“It’s for when he doesn’t respawn properly,” she said, and my eyes widened. “Since they suspect that the League of Assassins or a similar organization is involved, they assume that his final death will result in him being imprisoned in the organization’s headquarters. When that happens, the guards are to use the scroll and resurrect him, forcibly pulling him out of the prison.”

“Wait, that works?” Bella asked. “Won’t he have already respawned? How could he just teleport back with a resurrection scroll?”

Diane shrugged her shoulders uncertainly. “I’m guessing that the scroll can pull a target back as long as their body remains. They even discussed having him killed secretly in the mansion to leave a body as ‘insurance’, in case the killer looted his last body before he could be brought back.”

That was smart, given that my first instinct upon hearing about this scroll was to just loot his body when I did the last kill, preventing there from being anything for the scroll to target. “Did you figure out where they’re going to be storing the body?”

Diane looked back at me with a calm gaze. “The death is happening in the mansion. However, the body will be preserved and transported to an underground facility beneath the church. According to the archbishop, they extend this service to important figures in order to prevent them from being captured by hostile organizations.”

“I informed Wisteria about this as well, and she updated our mission. You’re to continue with the last four kills of Yatagarasu as planned, and make sure that you loot his final corpse. In the meantime, I have to infiltrate the church’s storage facility and identify as many of the bodies being kept there as I can. Then, when it is time for the final kill, I have to destroy Yatagarasu’s prepared body.”

“Given the scale of this incident, Wisteria said that there was a chance that the master might get involved directly. After all, the League exists to protect NPCs, and that is their bottom line. Turning them into Chosen just to walk them into a trait farm is the same as directly targeting the NPCs themselves.”

“Originally, they were fine with us punishing Yatagarasu and the caretaker of the farm as the primary culprits. However, if the church is tied to the incident deeply enough that an archbishop is involved, they may have other criminal clients. My investigation will determine whether or not the situation has escalated to the point where the master of the League of Assassins needs to make a public appearance.”

“What about me?” Bella asked. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Diane hesitated, looking at the elven marksman. “I don’t think you’d do too well in my infiltration mission. However, with your keen eyesight, you could be Drake’s lookout. After killing the archbishop, they might change their plans to take revenge, and may even post a grandmaster on standby to deal with the assassins. If you have a good enough vantage point, you could warn Drake of anyone approaching.”

Bella quickly agreed, nodding her head enthusiastically. “Got it. Thankfully, Yatagarasu’s trait has him acting in wide open areas more often than not, so it is easy to find vantage points to overlook where he grinds.”

“When are you heading out to start investigating the church?” I asked Diane.

“After dinner,” she responded with a small smirk. “You didn’t think that I’d leave without eating, did you? I heard the two of you talking about food when I walked in. Even if it’s not the same as eating when logged out, the food here is much better than what they give me outside.”

I couldn’t help but let out a light laugh at that, retrieving the enchanted menu from my inventory and placing it on the table. “In that case, feel free to get whatever you want for tonight.”

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