Translator: Alpha0210
The inn's presence had faded along with the night-steeped streets, but lights still flickered inside. As was typical, the first floor of this inn doubled as a tavern.
Beneath the soft glow of the lamps, patrons gathered in small clusters over modest drinks. Yet the atmosphere was so quiet one could hardly believe this was a place where glasses clinked.
The reason was easy to see.
Most of those seated over drinks were religious folk. Silver-inlaid patterns adorned the surface of their loose, breathable garments, and since that was the distinctive dress of Noxstanti believers, a single glance was enough to know who they were.
Of course, their doctrine held no prohibition against drink. But they were people who revered the quiet of night, and they considered it a virtue not to cause a commotion once the sun had fully set. Honestly, that seemed less like a virtue and more like common sense, but anyway.
...This also tied into why the night market had ended early today. Festivals held at night often ran well past dawn, but Noxstanti festivals ended before midnight.
So those looking to soothe the lingering ache of the festival's end held quiet after-hours gatherings at the tavern.
Lukas liked this town's atmosphere.
The people working diligently under the blazing sun, the passersby merrily strolling the night market, the believers who tempered their strength even when clinking glasses. Nothing grated on him; nothing felt off.
Which was why he suspected he was about to be disappointed.
If this scenery turned out to be artificially staged.
"Can I get you anything?"
The innkeeper asked in a low voice.
He felt no hunger, but his mouth was strangely dry. Was it the desert? Lukas was about to order water to quench his thirst, then changed his mind and ordered liquor. Curiously enough, this was a place where water was more precious than alcohol.
"...Lukas?"
A voice reached him just as he was looking for a suitable seat.
Iris sat at a table tucked away in a corner. She wasn't alone. Across from her... no, not quite.
One more person sat diagonally from Iris. At a four-person table, few companions would choose seats that made them look so unfriendly with each other.
In any case, that peculiar arrangement told Lukas exactly who it was.
"See something you shouldn't have? Why the long face?"
The face on Schweiser, who said it, was longer still.
He was rubbing his cheek against the table, dark circles ringing his eyes, looking half dead with exhaustion.
"If you're that tired, why not go up and rest?"
"That's the plan. Once we're done talking."
"Talking about what?"
"Right. There's something I need to tell all of you......"
Just then, Lukas felt a blank stare from across the table.
It was Iris.
Her words and manner were usually hard to read, but today, for some reason, her emotions were easy to decipher. Proof that she was shaken, perhaps?
Iris asked in a careful voice, as if to confirm.
"...You're Lukas, right?"
"Yeah."
"Whew......"
Iris let out a sigh oddly laced with relief.
Then she lowered her gaze, her eyes tinged with something like discontent. Her pride seemed wounded somehow, though he couldn't say exactly why.
But he did understand why she'd felt the need to confirm his identity.
Did they really look that alike? ...No. They definitely did.
Lukas caught himself before he could reach up and touch his own face.
"I heard that guy woke up? And bolted right away, too. Quick enough to slip past the great Iris PeaceFinder while she stood there blinking. Did you find him?"
"I merely let my guard down."
"Ha. Excuses don't suit you."
At Schweiser's jab, Iris shut her mouth. Meanwhile, Schweiser checked the space beyond Lukas's back and spoke again.
"You're alone. Guess you lost him too."
"No. I found him. We even talked a while. But he said there was something he wanted to think over alone, so I gave him some space."
"You just left? Good grief. Is that really wise? What if he vanishes for good?"
"Then that would be his choice too. There's still plenty about him I find questionable, but that doesn't give me the right to dictate what he does."
"But......"
Schweiser started to say something more, then closed his mouth.
That man might be Lukas's family.
Lukas had probably felt it too... was it really all right to let a blood relative he'd only just reunited with slip away so easily? The question nagged at him, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to raise the subject outright.
Family was a delicate topic, not just for Lukas, but for every one of them.
Lukas raised the drink that had just arrived to his lips. It was lukewarm, but quenching his thirst was the point, so it didn't matter.
Having wet his throat, Lukas looked at the two of them and said,
"An unusual pairing, though."
It was rare to see Iris and Schweiser seated at the same table.
To Lukas, both were treasured friends, but that aside, the relationship between the two of them could hardly be called close.
"No tables left. Had to make do while waiting for you."
"You owe me one."
"Owe you what?"
"You plopped yourself down at the table I'd claimed without so much as asking."
"I bought you a drink."
"And you think that settles it? Not a chance."
Lukas cut in with a question before their pointless bickering could drag on any further.
"Where are Lucid and Kasajin?"
"Lucid's meditating upstairs. Said he'd appreciate not being disturbed tonight."
"Kasajin probably won't be back tonight. He seems intent on continuing his own investigation, though who knows how much he'll actually turn up."
Iris shook her head.
By rights, Iris was the best suited for scouting and investigating an unfamiliar place like this. She could gather information without anyone noticing, and even if discovered, she was confident no one could follow her trail.
But these past few days, nursing, or rather keeping watch on, that man had kept her from playing that role.
"I just hope he doesn't end up kicking a hornet's nest for nothing."
"Kasajin has the sharpest instincts of any of us. He probably won't do anything careless."
"...'Probably', is it. Hm. An unsettling adverb."
Schweiser muttered, but Lukas pretended not to hear and went on.
"Anyway, Lucid and Kasajin each seem to have their own business, so I'll tell you two first. It's just as we suspected."
His voice dropped a little.
"'Sarman' is definitely suspicious. Though we won't know for certain until tomorrow."
"Agreed."
"Really? I couldn't tell. Isn't it just a comfortable, pleasant enough city?"
At Schweiser's mutter, Iris smiled sweetly. With a look that said, now I've got you.
"Which is exactly why you should get out and about more, hm? All that wallowing in dust holed up in your room has degraded your already mediocre judgment past the point of usefulness."
"You think I'm playing around? I'm slaving away making items that'll actually help you people."
"Are you, now? Will 'a leaf that turns book pages automatically', 'a plate that doubles as a kitchen knife', and 'an edible lunchbox' really help us?"
"Great inventions are always born from unusual ideas. If you can't understand that, our conversations will run on parallel lines forever."
"What research you do is none of my concern. But could you stop siphoning our funds to do it? Does your conscience not prick you at all?"
"God, you're petty. You're the only one who ever makes an issue of it any–"
"...If you're going to fight, do it after you've heard everything. Can you focus for now?"
At Lukas's low warning, the two clamped their mouths shut.
Holding back a sigh that threatened to escape at any moment, he continued.
"Like I said yesterday, the supply route for the festival goods is suspicious. I did some digging of my own, going from shop to shop, and every source turned out to be the same."
"Which is?"
Lukas brought his hands lightly together.
Mana moved covertly, forming a thin membrane centered on them. A measure to keep their voices from leaking out.
Schweiser marveled inwardly. His mana handling had improved yet again. Where did this man's talent end? Most people in this city probably wouldn't even realize a barrier had been raised.
"The temple."
The moment Lukas uttered the word, Schweiser understood why he'd bothered with the barrier. There were quite a few Noxstanti believers around them.
"Every last item was supplied through the temple."
"But Sarman is a city under 'Liadrox', isn't it?"
Liadrox was the great kingdom that ruled most of the Amakan Desert. Its state religion, naturally, was Noxstanti.
"Isn't receiving supplies from the temple common enough? It's festival season, too."
"It is. But historically, that support amounted to the Amakan Desert's traditional liquor, goat meat, or religious scriptures at most. This year is different. Rare wines you can't find in the desert, fresh vegetables, even ornaments crafted from gold and ivory were everywhere."
"Ah......"
Schweiser recalled the meat-and-vegetable skewers he'd seen at the night market. Come to think of it, there had been quite a few dishes made with vegetables.
"Which is why this year's festival seems to have swelled to an unprecedented scale. What do you suppose that means?"
"That the temple's finances have become remarkably comfortable?"
"Exactly. So tell me, Schweiser. What do you think happened inside that temple?"
Schweiser pondered a moment before speaking.
"...Sounds like a patron with enormous wealth appeared. Someone who could freely pour in enough donations to raise the quality of this festival by several notches."
"Hm."
"Your reasoning?"
"The continent's Four Great Religions are in an unusually weakened state right now. Accepting donations, receiving subsidies from the crown, dispatching clergy...... They can bring in money through those basic channels, but every region is likely running a deficit all the same. And it's not as if their finances suddenly improved in the meantime, so the most likely scenario is that a patron appeared and donated a fortune to the temple here in Sarman."
"Hm."
"Did you look into it, by any chance?"
"I did. And got no information, of course. It's shrouded in a suspiciously thick veil. For this, we'll only find clues by visiting the temple in person. But......"
As Lukas trailed off, Iris picked up the thread.
"It's dangerous, you mean."
"Right. The temple at the town's center is under guard so tight that not just outsiders, but even the town's own natives can't set foot inside. '...Those who visit with the sun are warmly welcomed, while nights are for quiet cultivation.' That's one of the Noxstanti teachings. It means that while the sun is up, no visitor is ever refused entry. Not here, it seemed."
The temple had offered the festival season as an excuse, but it hadn't made for a particularly convincing one.
"Whatever they're hiding, its outline should start to emerge tomorrow."
Tomorrow morning.
Through Lucid's arrangements, they would be able to enter the Central Temple. They were to hold talks with a high-ranking priest of the faith there.
"But in the process, we had to reveal who we are. It's awkward coming from my own mouth, but our recent track record has been rather conspicuous."
The renown of Lukas's party had risen to the point that no one in the human nations was ignorant of them. Enough that even in this desert, revealing their identities earned them honored treatment.
"That's not an unqualified good. The Demigods are still concealing themselves in the shadows. Approaching enemies like that with ourselves laid bare in plain view is dangerous. So this business will be riskier than it looks."
"We'll have watchers on us. The areas we're allowed to move through will likely be limited, too. Above all, it could be a trap."
Iris thought for a moment, then said,
"...It may still be too soon, Lukas."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
It was Schweiser, not Lukas, who voiced the question.
Iris glanced at his face as she spoke.
"I mean making contact with the Demigods. What have we actually learned about them at this point? That they're not one, but many? That they possess transcendent power? That they regard sentient beings as little better than insects? That's all. In other words, we know almost nothing about them."
It was Schweiser, not Lukas, who answered.
"Well. I see it a bit differently."
"Do you honestly think that? Haha. I can't imagine why the world calls you a sage."
At Iris's derisive laugh, Schweiser's expression hardened as well.
"Look here, Iris PeaceFinder. Drop the sarcasm. It's exactly as you just said. We know almost nothing about them. Now that we've established the Demigods aren't a single entity, we can't brand every one of them as evil. What if there are decent Demigods among them? What if we approach with blades drawn and sour the relationship from the very first step?"
"Spoken like a true idealist. We've already confirmed evidence that they destroyed several cities. We saw a race they drove to extinction, its forms warped, its reason stripped away. And now we've found their influence reaching into the great kingdom that spans this desert. If decent Demigods existed, would they have stood by and let such inhumanity pass?"
"Maybe they only think it's wrong and don't dare show their opposition. Forced to follow the majority whether they like it or not. Those are exactly the ones who hold possibility. Think about it. If we could win over even a single one of those immensely powerful Demigods as a comrade? The information we'd gain, and the strategic value–"
This time Lukas didn't hold back his sigh.
At that, the sharpened edge of their at-each-other's-throats debate vanished like mist. Then, as if gauging his mood, the two stole glances at Lukas.
Instead of meeting their eyes, Lukas looked down at his glass. He was aware the sigh he'd just released had soured the mood, but he didn't particularly feel like smoothing it over.
Maybe it was the fatigue. Lately, it had been rare for him to sleep more than three hours a night.
"There's something that connects to what I said earlier. The man who saved us. Says his name is Residue."
"An alias?"
"Who knows... he insists it's his real name, at least. In any case, if he comes back here, I'm thinking we might act together for a while."
For the first time, this remark drew a similar reaction from both Iris and Schweiser.
Both their expressions turned distinctly uncomfortable.
"I can't trust that man."
And I don't like him either, Iris added with her expression.
"I hate to agree with that woman, but I feel about the same."
"He's far too suspicious in the first place. The timing of his appearance was so perfect it might as well have been scripted, and then there's his face. Lukas. I hesitated over whether to say this, but honestly, rather than your brother, he could be a Demigod's pawn made to have you mistake him for one."
"...Well, I wouldn't go quite that far. I just don't know if the man would bother walking this road of thorns with us. And even if he did, frankly, I doubt he'd be much help. He doesn't seem ordinary, sure, but we're up against Demigods. Monsters that even a hero born once in centuries couldn't be certain of beating. So–"
At that moment, the tavern door opened.
The quiet drinkers frowned and shot glares its way. Out of keeping with the still night, the door had been thrown open rather roughly.
"......"
The man who entered, Residue, surveyed the room through half-lidded eyes, then said gruffly,
"What are you all looking at?"
*****
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