Chapter 188: Root of hate

King Rorick was watching the party interact finding it very refreshing from the normal proper demeanor of all his attendants. "Ehm" he cleared his throat to remind the still young adventurers of where they were, his amusement plain on his face. "How did you three enjoy the annual tournament?" keeping up his ruse that this was a normal event the king gave a toothy grin.

" Yes it was very interesting to see how widely the warriors use the traits they are born with. I feel our party has learned a great deal from today." Su nodded intently as Walker's words were exactly true. The king smiled even more.

"I am glad you all enjoyed yourselves then, I had prepared some nice mentors for the four winners but unfortunately you Walker, will not be able to stay for a year long mentor-ship. Hmm what to do, I plan to send a customary thank you gift to your King when you leave, Ah I will figure something out for then." He hadn't expected one of the party to win against their best up and coming warriors but was pleasantly surprised to see it happen. " What did you think of meeting my general Scylla, she is one of the most powerful people in the entire kingdom."

"Her presence was very forward, I was very surprised to see her block that last attack, I couldn't even see her move!" Walker was showing his heart on his sleeve by speaking his mind. Scylla's action was still stuck in his head. 

"Ha! Yes i think she is rather amazing as well, you know she wasn't born here. Scylla was born to the demons as one of their slaves, but through a significant amount of effort and her mastery over her system she came to this kingdom. My Father helped her learn to be a proper general and placed her as my direct guard until I became king. You could say she has watched me grow up." This was a bit more than they had planned to learn about general Scylla but it was nice to hear that a king was much more down to earth than the nobles and royalty they were used to. However hearing that Scylla had once been a slave was enough to wipe the smiles from the party. 

"Ah yes I figured your king may not have been as forthcoming as we are here. My gate manager said you all seemed fairly clueless about carrying the medals your emissaries carry." After a long sigh and a bit more disappointment king Rorick continued. "Our kingdom has always had a bit of a disagreement with the demons, naturally due to some of their stronger ranking demons liking to toy with our populace. They are a kingdom where strength reigns supreme, no matter your birth you are considered trash until you gain strength." King Rorick's eyes grew cold. "Over the past years the demons have become much more active and begun to ignore their normal power struggle. They have formed a group building up their strong again, taking slaves of other kingdoms. Now that is not enough to cause anything like war but their greater demons have been sending more intellectual trickery than usual, the most recent being potions." King Rorick clenched his fists almost shaking, "Some merchants came selling many potions at a lower cost claiming they wanted to enter the market with a stronger health potion, naturally this gained momentum well. Many citizens bought them and consumed them. The results? Slow painful death." Pausing while staring off at the wall king Rorick seemed to take hold of his emotions again, " many were healed instantly then over the next week withered away bleeding mana into the air and no longer able to generate it. We hunted the merchant only to find that they had fled the city and left everything behind. We found evidence that they had been a demon but we could not find their escape route, we are currently hunting them believing they are somehow hiding in the city still. This is why your escort was so strong, we can not risk anything." 

Walker was silent along with the rest of the party, this was why they had yet to see any potions being used or sold. The fact that the Demi-humans did not get along with demons was common knowledge and even outlined in their history. They even banned them from their city due to pay disputes. However the fact that one had managed to poison so many of the citizens was pure evil, Walker did not want to believe an entire race was evil. He had seen monsters like Midnight who were much more than just some killing machine monster, but were all demons really alike? Walker also began to connect the dots between some of the newer carvings on the stone walls, but held himself back not wanting to cause a scene.

"King Rorick, should I understand that you wish us to bring this information to our king?" Walker wanted to thank him for the worry and additional escort but first needed to follow the proper business respects. 

"Smart boy, yes I will leave you with documents delivered by my general to you upon your exit. We will be asking for support in certain matters and have found we can rely on your kingdom." King Rorick had started to soften again having finished the heavier matters, he was glad that younger emissaries had come over the strict and stubborn usual ones. Things would proceed much more efficiently if backed by one with a hero title. 

"We shall do our best." Walker bowed slightly as a sign of respect. "And we thank you for your additional escort, however, we will go sightseeing tomorrow and wish to be left to our own devices. If this is tough for you to allow, we can sign documentation that it is our choice so you can rest easy and be free of retaliation." Walker knew that they could be used as pawns for their kingdom to attack Ordist, so it was only wise that they leave a record of dropping their escort to prevent any undo futures. 

A wave of king Roricks hand brought an attendant over with documents. They stood in front of Walker allowing him to fill out their desire to be relieved of an escort and that they would take full responsibility for their own well being. "While in my city please remain at attention, I do not trust a demon to let such an opportunity lie untouched." With this final warning king Rorick turned, allowing his attendants to lead the party out. 

The weight that just dropped on their shoulders was enough to break a back. The Demi-humans and demons had always been at odds but at this moment it seemed that things were close to boiling over. Walker only feared that the art showing wars against demons were about to repeat themselves. The previous escort led them back to the tamers guild with no issue, the past ruckus from before seemingly forgotten. 

The party ignored anyone that asked them to head anywhere, choosing instead to find an empty place in the sleeping quarters so they could speak privately. Today was a lot to digest and they needed the time to understand. 

"When we were entering the doors of the king's chambers did anyone else see the newest carvings?" Leading off Walker was about to explain his theory. Seeing everyone shake their heads no he took a deep breath, "there was the start of a carving, it showed an older king laying on a bed surrounded by others. It looked like they were sick. I believe that the previous king consumed one of the potions that King Rorick spoke of." Everyone but Midnight seemed surprised and conflicted. 

"Naturally they would want to catch the culprit no matter what. I understand why they sent such a strong escort now, they had just faced great hardship." Su understood immediately.

" so why don't they just go and punch the demon's faces? They are more than strong enough." Remey was angry for them, the idea of potions which should heal being used to poison was disgusting to her. 

"They can't their hands are tied, they don't have the demon in question and can't get answers. Without an interrogation of Ordist does anything against the demons, the demons will be justified to attack and no one can help defend Ordist. It's all politics. However I have a feeling Walker had some ideas about that?" Gil had one eye brow raised knowing exactly what Walker was thinking. 

"Well, Gil you're spot on. I think we should go sightseeing tomorrow, visit this city's adventurers guild, look around the markets, get her the things we want or need. While doing all that we keep our eyes out and let trouble find us. If king Rorick is right, then the culprit may take advantage of us being here. Basically we are fish bait." The party wore devilish smiles, even Midnight seemed eager to reel in prey this way.