Chapter 87: Insecurities issuing a Challenge.

Chapter 87: Insecurities issuing a Challenge.

Four human men were anxiously wriggling around on the ground, struggling to free themselves from their bindings. They wore plain tunics with leather jerkins, thick trousers, knee-high leather boots, leather bracers, leather gloves, and finishing the outfit, they had winter-thick hooded cloaks. Over their shoulders.

Under their hoods, the men looked like the type of guys who would intentionally make themselves look gruff and tough, with wild hairstyles and stubbles on their faces. Thankfully, they weren't filthy like the bandits.

Considering they should be working for the lord of these lands, a noble, I guess they had to groom themselves properly. The lack of a strong scent was probably to help them sneak.

Pardon me, Saori said as she looked at the captured spies with calm, but serious, eyes. but those are mana threads. As long as I can supply them with mana, it would be very hard for you to break through them without sufficient strength. I would ask you to stop struggling.

They looked at us with defiance, unwilling to speak as they shuffled their eyes around to look for an opening to escape. Sweat was moisturizing their faces, clattering their teeth at the sight of the saurians.

Grrrr, Akast growled, having been awoken from their fear of him.

"Please, be at ease," I started out, attempting to diffuse the situation and calm the men down enough to speak to them. "We have no intention of harming you. Your little surveillance job was becoming a bit of an annoyance, so we wish to resolve a few things with you."

Ashlakleel sagot toth zacotl, Mister Kushlekzar greeted them in the saurians tongue, bowing in a prayer pose. we are faithful servants of Plesia, us saurians. As members of the Tide Watchers, I swear on our faith to our Goddess that no harm will befall you, on the assumption that you have no ill will against us.

You heard him, I continued. Im not technically a priestess or shrine maiden, as I admitted many times, so I cant promise to Goddess Aurena. Nevertheless, my party also wishes to stay peaceful with Lord Helvas, as we have plans to stay in Carine village for winter.

The spies stared at each other, discussing with their eyes until the eldest looking guy spoke, "We cant say anything, my Lady. He directed his brown eyes to the ground as he said that, raising them to us with a glance of anxiousness.

Curiosity was tempting me to look at his profile, but he was neither an enemy nor did I really need to look at it. Politeness was important, so looking at other peoples private information was a no go for me. Besides, even if these guys tried to look into mine, chances are low that they could break through my [Identity Blocker Lv. 10].

A bit reassuring that I didnt waste 1750 SP for nothing.

I understand you have your orders, but I believe you owe us answers, Saori stated, picking up her cup of tea to drink from it. Ever since the morning of our first day in the village, I have been able to detect six men skulking around the village, keeping watch of our house and following each of us. You should understand that our wind elf friend is not a fan of people disturbing our Ladys peace.

Although I was ignoring it, Tasianna was exerting a chill. Her [Terror Aura] wasn't high level but it was enough to scare the captured men, all far low-leveled than her. She hasn't diverted her gaze once since the men came into sight.

I suggest you come clean. There is nothing productive you could do by silencing yourselves, Saori suggested, freeing the men from their binding.

Their confusion was expected but none of us gave it a second thought as Grazlahta, Krim-Slak, Akasht, and Tasianna went back to their lunch. Saori began pouring tea into cups that she took out from her storage and offered it to the spies. Once she was done, we started the interrogation with Mister Kushlekzar, Saori, and I.

Showing them a friendly smile, I hoped to thaw the ice between us, I believe you should know enough about us, especially from Chief Colwyns report, correct? So, let us skip our introductions and go to yours.

I never saw Colwyn or his family hand in the report, nor did they tell me about it, but I would be a Dummkopf to not assume it. Considering they were responsible for the management of the village, whose ownership belongs to Count Helvas, it was only normal for him to do so.

I also heard from Colwyn himself that he had to request Count Helvas about our stay. Apparently, moving into a village wasnt so easy as to just ask Colwyn for it. As it was his fief, his possession, Count Helvas himself had to give Colwyn the ok in the end, to legitimize our stay in the village for an extended time.

Although I thought Colwyn's family had the status of a serf, a villein, they actually were wealthy enough that they bought their freedom from their lord. They were considered yeomen, or freemen, and were actually employed as official caretakers of the village. That explains why that family was so educated.

Baffled at their freedom, the spies remained silent for a moment until the man with the brown eyes spoke up again, Jecht. He said, acting the representative of the group.

Well, a pleasure to have met your acquaintance, Mr. Jecht, I responded.The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B11n.

Widening his eyes in surprise, Jechts jaw slacked as he repeated, Mr. Jecht?!

Is something wrong? I tilted my head. Youre obviously older than me, so addressing you with Mr. is the polite way to do.

M-My Lady, I am a simple servant in the service of Lord Count Helvas. There is no need for you to show me this amount of care, he answered flustered, astonished of what I said.

It should be obvious by now that they think I was a noblewoman of some kind. My education might have been enough to pass me as an authentic noble, but I have no idea how the aristocracy actually worked. Not a big fan of being treated differently

Hmm, revealing your allegiance as a spy isnt very professional, Mister Kushlekzar dropped, unnerving him even further upon the realization that he made a blunder. Once again, we bid you to give us answers. Being observed is one thing but knowing that we are being observed and pinpoint each member successfully is another. As a former scout, I find it frustrating to see that no improvements have been made over a week of surveillance.

The brash criticism of the spies skills and abilities clearly agitated everybody besides Jecht, willing to speak back, but any attempt was prevented with a swift punch to their stomachs from the man himself. Jechts prudence seemed to have increased after he unwillingly revealed the fact that he was ordered by Count Helvas to spy on us, a fact that we already guessed.

As the silence continued, I eventually got fed up by it as I sighed, I guess we cant get anything from you if we dont resort to torture.

The word torture made the men tremble for a second before returning back to their aloof attitude. They might not be bonded by Saori mana threads anymore, but they made no attempts to run away, knowing that if Saori was able to find them in the first place, then she would be able to hunt them down in no time.

Instead, they accepted their fate. Spies were always in danger of being found out and captured by an enemy force, so the idea of escape was usually dime if they hadnt gotten the skill to do it themselves. Torture and death was and should be expected, so these men had to have the training to not talk under duress, not show their fear, as that could lead to the downfall of their lord.

Inherited from their mother, the three goddesses acted on their horniness and started conceiving children. Knowing that this would cause great harm to the world if demigods began appearing too rapidly, Plesia ordered Marsven to weaken each child, stripping them from their divinity so they may live the life of a normal Peolyncian child among their fathers.

The balance of powers wasn't disturbed due to this decision, as all three new races were able to adapt to their new existence on Peolynca. The population grew so quickly that even towns could be populated by one of these races alone.

And that is where the book ended.

Holy shit, this sounds like some fucking fiction. Romance novel at the beginning, but mythological stories about how horny these goddesses were in the end. It honestly felt like I was reading some Greek pantheon stories, wow.

So, how was it?

Bwuh! I shrieked out as somebody tapped me on the shoulders, waking me up from my thoughts.

Oops, sorry about that, Hestia, turning around, I could see Saoris apologetic expression. You were so engrossed in your reading that nobody wanted to interrupt you, however, the sun is about to set. We should probably end it for the day.

Oh, is that so? I responded as I looked up, witnessing the sky slowly turning black. Well, I just finished this book anyways. Saori, you should probably read it when you have the time. You like Greek god stories, correct? You would like this one, I think.

I handed her the book, invoking a smile from her, Once we return home, let us take those books out and categorize them. I honestly want to immerse myself into as many of them as possible.

Packing up our stuff, we were about to leave when Mister Kushlekzar stopped us, Wait, I think you forgot something, Hestia.

I looked at him with confusion, prompting him to continue, Well, did you forget about your evolution? You wanted to evolve today, correct? Your evolution only requires a day and I wish the honor to watch, if I may.

Well, it was true that I needed a day to evolve, but that would mean that I would awaken during the same time tomorrow. If Count Helvas invited us to come tomorrow, then we couldnt exactly deny it as I did say that I wanted to meet him.

We cannot do that, Mister Kushlekzar, Saori said, figuring out the problem. If Hestia were to evolve now, it would be a problem for us if Lord Helvas were to summon us. We cannot do it today.

Oh, I have forgotten that in my excitement. I apologize, the saurian priest admitted, apologizing. Then, should we plan this on another day?

Actually, I dont think we should go through with it, I unexpectantly stated, shocking everybody to ask me what I meant with that. I mean, that I dont want to evolve. Not now, at least.

W-Wha?! Mister Kushlekzars slacked his jaw, displaying the razor-sharp teeth in his mouth.

Hestia, what is the meaning of this? Saori asked. Wouldnt evolving be better?! You cannot level up anymore, so you cannot improve your stats. The only way you can become stronger is by leveling your skills at this point.

I know, I said, scratching my cheeks as I forced myself to answer her question. Butthe thing is, I dont want to become too strong, you know?

Youdont? the incredulousness in Saoris eyes told me enough that she still didnt understand anything.

Yeah, I know I sound pretty stupid, right now, but think of it from my perspective, Saori, I then looked into her eyes, glaring into her red-blood irises apologetically. You arent strong enough. You too, Tasianna. I dont want to evolve right now when Im not sure that you two could handle my berserk state. I dont want to hurt you two, and I definitely dont want to isolate myself. This is my way to solve the problem.

I shrugged as I said that. Frankly, doing this was frustrating for me to no ends, but I decided on this after the bandit Quest. I couldn't afford to evolve now, not before my two companions were strong enough to stop me if I ever rampage again.

It gnawed at me. I wanted to protect my friends, and the best way to do so would be to evolve, gaining more strength while allowing me to earn more levels and SP. Stagnating like this was infuriating. If I werent improving my magic skills and learning how to use my new skills and body, then I really was just lazing around.

Im sorry, Mister Kushlekzar. I know you were excited, but I dont think I can do it while you are still here. However, I could still show my-! while I was apologizing to the elder scale, a sudden chill ran down my spine, giving me goosebumps as I turned my head towards this hostile aura. S-Saori?

A, educators job isnt to teach students about what would come on the next quiz, our true duty was to help them flourish, help them to grow into responsible adults, Saori suddenly cited, as a dark aura cloaked her body. That was what my sempais, the senior teachers, taught me when I started out.

She clenched her fist, grinded her teeth together, glaring at me with a frown as red mana mist exuded from her eyes, "'I am holding you back'? I know that. I know that very well. Nothing was more anguishing then watching you suffer due to Danternos influence, helplessly watching Mister Kushlekzar being the only one who could stop you. I was only able to support everybody, I couldnt prevent your torment.

Her eyes started to wetted, but she pushed it all back, I want you to evolve, Hestia. I am not your teacher, but I am your friend. As your friend, I will not allow you to obstruct your own growth!

Frustration grew inside me as Saoris stubbornness smacked my consideration down, Saori, I know you want to help me but-

Fight me, Hestia.

H-Huh?!

If you dont think Tasianna or I can contend with you, then lets fight. Our usual spar, same rules, no need to hold back, her challenge flustered me, simultaneously causing Tasianna to release her chilly aura, showing me that she wasnt backing down. I understand why you underestimate us, Hestia. We havent proven ourselves and you keep becoming stronger. However, as your companions and retainers, that is an insult.

Please, excuse me for issuing this challenge, Lady Hestia. However, I request you, from the bottom of my heart, to grant me the chance to display what I can do, the usually timid Tasianna uttered with complete confidence.

Shadows began hugging Saoris body like armor, Let me show you how far a teacher will go to help her students.