Chapter 456: Distrust.

Chapter 456: Distrust.

Maam, please, return to your home! I told the baker, waking her up from her shock.

Y-yes, Lady Shrine Maiden. Miss She was about to grab the cloak persons hand, but the latter jerked backwards and waved her hand.

Nah, Im good. She then pulled the bread basket up and nodded. Thanks.

Y-you be safe, please. May the Goddess keep you safe in her light.

With that, the woman ran away, disappearing into the crowded street among the many questioning citizens. The cloak person sighed and turned to us, scratching her head as she looked down at the basket. Saori then walked up to the girl, an unspoken question in her eyes, causing the latter to sigh again.

Pleading for the Light Goddess to protect me is pretty annoying she whispered. She then handed the basket over to Saori. You guys spoiled me. Now I cant eat normal, plain, old, good, delicious bread any longer because I think Im missing out. Terrible mindset.

Ill do something with them Saori sighed. Why are you here Valeria?

Varya, Vidia, Valeria, Valeria Too many people with the same beginning, Midirn complained, scratching his head as if he was having trouble remembering all the names.

Considering we were in the open and had no idea who was listening to us, Saori correctly surmised to call Vifi by her human name. Which, admittedly, wasnt my first instinct. I was about to call Vifi by her real name. Good thing Saori thought ahead.

As always, nothing fishy. No seafood, and Fittingly, Vifi was about to give Saori her preferences before Saori stopped her.

I know, I know. Just answer the question. You should not be here, and why are you wearing the cloak?

Sadly, before we could continue, our attention was drawn to the incessant shouting. The soldiers sound panicky. Alarm! Pursue the intruders!

We can leave that for later. Jeez, what a coincidence I eyed Vifi, but she shook her head. I sighed. Come on. Lets

Im not coming.

We are in enemy territory, a place we told you to not follow us, and you are saying we should let you out of our eyesight? Were you spying on us just now? Why did you only react when Hestia noticed your voice? Saori frowned. You went against our wishes. Are you trying to make this harder for yourself, or should I start scrutinizing your every single move?

Vifi scratched her head, scowling with only her mouth being visible. Urgh, you dont need to say the obvious. I know being here makes me seem like Im working for my people. Im not. Its just a bad happenstance. And, if you want to keep it that way, let me stay out of this and hide. Im here on Grimnirs orders.

Hearing the name of our blacksmith pacified Saori and I and we nodded at her proposal. Vifi told us to meet her at the secret location in the middle distract on the eastern side of the city, or, whatever that meant. Surprisingly, Saori knew. Once Vifi left, Saori told me she had Song hiding in her shadow, giving us eyes on her.

[Princess, we should be wary. Her allegiance is still not assured,] Beth warned me.

With that dealt with, we moved towards the noise as a unit, courtesy of Midirn who warned us we shouldnt move separately. Considering the knights and soldiers disliked beastmen, they might try something with the twins or Saori if I wasnt around.

Once we got to our destination, we witnessed the local guards fighting against multiple cloaked figures. In addition, multiple stalls and shops were thrashed and looted, as evidence of the filled leather sacks a tall and muscular thug was carrying around.

Thieves? Mana Eyes.

A quick look on the seven men, all of them were humans and were, strangely, only around level 50. Far too weak to raid Aureolis. Like, were they stupid? A normal holy knight was close to rank B and that should be enough to easily deal with seven rank Cs bandits. Still, these seven were strong enough to overwhelm the local guards.

More over here! They got through the gates!

The highwaymen are running towards the center; protect the upper city and the church! Call for the knights!

Now closer to the vicinity, my ears managed to catch on the voices of other guards through the chaotic screams of the people before me. Sadly, with so many people running past us, I couldnt pinpoint the locations of the other attacks. Still, if somebody called the knights, then those other spots should be all right.

For now, I had to deal with this.

Saori, Shay, Beth flank them and make sure they dont suddenly take a hostage. Midirn, with me.

Your orders! Everybody declared before getting into position.

With Midirn moving in slightly in front of me, we saw the guards bravely engaging the thugs and trying to gang up on them to prevent them from running away. Unfortunately, the guards were no match for the thieves, being outmaneuvered and overpowered, to the point I saw multiple guards gasping for air or crying out in pain on the ground. Blood covered the ground as some of the guards helped the injured escape.

Sacred Field.

Playing it safe, I materialized a blinding white magic circle to heal the injured, momentarily distracting everybody fighting, giving Midirn an opening to use [Gale Steps] to bodycheck a thug away from a soldier. With a loud roar, he turned his back to the guards while glaring down the criminals.

I am Champion Hestia. You are trespassing on the Goddesss holy ground, given to her followers as a place of worship and faith! Surrender your weapons now, or I will deal with you like any other bandit!

Dammit! Wrong location! one of the thugs shouted. Move back!

All seven pulled out their masks and put them on before two of them threw bombs onto the ground. Anticipating something the moment I saw the masks, I narrowly managed to stop one of them by catching it with my scales, only for the second to release a brown-colored smokescreen.

Midirns nose and mine instantly picked up the rotten egg smell, jerking back as our higher leveled [Enhanced Olfactory Sense] made us almost want to puke. The stench kept prickling my nose, creating this nauseous feeling inside my throat and mouth Sadly for them, using something like that to stun us was futile.

With my eyes all watery from the pain, I shot seven [Sacred Smite] at the fleeing thugs, but only two screamed and fell on the ground. [Detection Sensor] sure helped, but [Sacred Smite] was still a straight-shot spell so if somebody stood in the way or dodged, it could miss. Didnt help that my nose and eyes were running!

Theyre escaping! The guards shouting before I suppressed my urge to retch.

Having mostly recovered, I was about to follow up on them, only for Midirn to suddenly grab me under my arms to sling me on his back. Feeling like a kindergartner riding on the back of my Papa, I went a bit red, before he asked me for air.

Nodding, I cast [Air Shield] around us to stop the stink, before he charged right into the smoke and into an alleyway. More stink clouds were laid on the ground, but I was more fascinated by how quickly they managed to run. Did they drink an agility potion? Guess you needed some help for such a stunt.

Ill pocket this for now. I placed the stink bomb my scales caught into my storage, since nobody could see me do so.

You got their location? Midirn asked.

Yeah, go straight left and avoid the citizens. Then hard right into another alley! I relayed what I was picking up from my skills. Also, why are you carrying me? We can fly!

And spook the people here with a giant dragonewt large enough to squash a humans head casting his shadow over them like a bird-of-prey? Thats how you scare humans unfamiliar and prejudiced against beastmen, Princess, he insisted. Besides, we dont need to catch them. All we need is to chase after them so we can hit them all together!

The other groups!

Exactly! Couldnt catch everything, but from the way they moved, I suspect there are multiple groups operating in different spots from each other. Thats why the city is in such turmoil, even here, he said after he passed into the street and into the alleyway per my directions. One of them said Wrong location, right? Weak or not, these arent normal bandits with how well prepared they seemed.The debut release of this chapter happened at Ñøv€l-B1n.

Making stink bombs strong enough to stun a beastmans, or dragons, nose takes pre-planning inside a city made for only humans. They expected us. They also had stat-boosting tonics with them, something even normal adventurer groups will have trouble acquiring for all their members. I raised my head, noticing a bandits shadow slip right into the midst of a crowd. Got it. Saori, Shay, and Beth are ahead of us. Theyre moving in.

Bit too early. Have them stay close, but not until we get to another group. More efficient, and we also have to deal with this quickly and get back to the others. I dont like how that guy spoke.

Fitting for an army veteran. Quick decision making and reasoning skills with only minimal information.

I focused my hearing on the sounds around me, letting the shouting and screaming of the townsfolk enter one ear and let it out through the other, only registering stuff I found interesting. With my parallel minds, I tracked down the other groups, quickly discovering that there were three more of them.

One group managed to defeat the guards and were robbing and attacking people without any pauseone was actually close to the eatery to the point I heard Tatsuyas loud howling before he shouted his attackswhile the group farthest away from us wasnt conspicuous enough for me to hear from this side of the city.

I informed Saori and the twins of everything I discovered using [Telepathy]thankfully, they were close enoughbefore instructing them to lead the thugs who were chasing towards the rampaging one. However, Saori had to dip out, informing me she had to make sure her students were all right, despite the fact she knew heavy hitters like Master and Neill were there.

I couldnt stop a sensei from protecting her students, so I let her go. Thankfully, Rajah would stick with me. Even if he couldnt appear just anywhere due to his size, he could still shoot his hardened fur like projectiles for sabotage. We just had to make sure to clean it up later.

In any case, with the twins and Rajahs help, we managed to follow the thugs away from any hotspot where they could hurt people and into the vicinity of their allies. Midway through the chase, I also jumped off Midirns back and went to the nearby guards. As I was supposed to garner peoples support, healing them up was the best way to do so.

Thank you very much, my lady! The conscious soldiers thanked me, before giving me information on what group attacked them.

14 people ambushed them while they were chasing after another group, with some speculating these people were hiding inside the city before the alarm got triggered. They warned me how all the members were seen ingested potions and tonics, with some even wielding monster material-made weapons and armor. The attack itself was well coordinated, embarrassing the guards as they sheepishly recounted everything, making it obvious they didnt want to tell me before I reminded them the citys safety was at stake.

The only other way into the city is through the underground sewers. The guard captain and the clergy inspect the outer and inner walls every week for any damage or cracks. Her Holinesss walls keep our city safe in time of dire need, after all.

We failed, Lady Champion. Please, help us.

Its already been a while. Where the hell are the knights? Oh come on, is this another priority issue again? Tsk, good thing Fleindia is with Krim and the other saurians. I can rest assured they can protect her Hopefully, these bandits wont turn out to be a distraction for some assassins.

I slipped past the knights attention and went back to Saori and the others, only to learn not a single knight came over here. Sad to see the truth. Nevertheless, I recounted what happened to everybody.

They did what? Saori frowned. So, all those thugs were distractions? All so they could hit Fleindia and threaten her life? But then they just turned around and killed the people? That that does not add up properly.

If you ask me, this sounds more like a way to discredit you, my lady, Tasianna expressed. The priests were already questioning your ability to save a Saintess, and now another got attacked while you were prioritizing everybody else but her life. Not to mention, many people died from the demonkins rampage.

Oh no

Cleaning up some thugs wont do anything for you. Ellaine grimaced. In fact, that would only put your decision making to question. Your mark as a leader. Your capabilities to lead the church with your directive.

They got us, Tatsuya voiced everybodys thought.

Shit! I turned around and began walking, only for Neill to grab my arm.

Woah, you arent going anywhere with that killers face. Midirn reported to us. With how youre now, youre just looking for a scapegoat and a target to punch.

I tore my arm away. Shut it! Grk!

Sis pushed me. At least turn your [Battle Frenzy] off then, or do you want me to punch it out of you, you little brat? Love you to bits, but you know I wont take this kinda attitude lying down. I taught you how to properly manage Minor, so stop embarrassing yourself and our bloodline by getting consumed by it!

She pushed me again, this time more forceful than before, but I stomped my feet down, anchoring myself in my spot as I glared at her. I grit my teeth, having this urge to fight her right now as she was standing in my way. I could hear my breathing in my head. As if time had stopped.

I looked around at my friends, at their worried and confused looks. I looked down at my arms, only now realizing there were white neon lights covering my scales. I touched my hair, pulling some of them in front of my eyes where I could see evidence of [Battle Frenzy] still being active. Hard to ignore myself glowing like a light bulb, but somehow I did.

Didnt I deactivate it? Did I leave it on all this time? Wait, hold on, where was the box with the Dhuinn rune at? Did I forget I did, huh?

I calmed myself, even turning down my [Aerokinesis] stereo. I groaned, caressing my face as I finally understood what happened to me today. I got played, and this would only get more troublesome down the road.

I apologized to Neill and everybody in attendance for my behavior, before standing up. Neill, Saori, and Tasianna wanted to come with me considering who I was about to question, and they wouldnt allow me to go otherwise. Master and Yorshka also insisted for my protection.

Leaving Yorshka, the twins, and Ellaine behind to protect the students and everybody else from any potential attacks, my group went to the eastern side of the city, where Saori led us into a small eatery with a hidden entrance called the Nobles Secret. This was where Vifi wanted us to go.

There, we questioned the bartender as we couldnt find the demonkin, where the man handed us a piece of parchment that told us to meet her in the sewers. After getting directions, we ventured towards the southeastern part of the city, where we found out an entire checkpoint was placed at the sewers entrance.

It took a bit of persuading for them to let us in since the guards were given instructions to not let anybody in or out of it, but I overruled them since I was a Champion. My main argument was that I had to search for any clues since I assumed the thieves came from the sewers. Once inside, Song showed herself and guided us towards Vifi, who was waiting next to a wooden crate.

Yo, gues

I charged up to her, leaving barely any space in between us. Tapping her shoulder, I glared at the demonkin. Coincidence or not? Youve told us countless times to not put all our trust in you, but I did want to believe, you know? I did. Im not the type of person who wants to be paranoid about anything, and I strongly believe in the concept of spreading happiness. Not pain, suffering, or all that crap. So, tell me straight here and now, did you backstab us? Was the reason why you tried to hide from us the reason why a demonkin attack happened today?

Hestia! Saori pulled me back. Clicking her tongue, she turned her head to the slightly baffled Vifi. Got the context?

Wrinkling her mouth, she sighed. The gist of it. People got killed, I guess?

We can do it now and here, Neill stated as her scales formed her gauntlets and sabatons. A real rematch, and I dont think my little sister has any shred of mercy in her this time. You can launch the trap, were ready.

Ha, not to implicate myself, but if I wanted to get back at you guys, it would be better planned out, since I do know I cant exactly win against you and your sisters song in my current form. A 15% emotional surge isnt worth anything since I know your top limit. She smiled smugly, but didnt possess an inkling of hostility.

You dont need to fight alone since were in enemy territory, Tasianna argued. You could call for the Prince of Envy and his sin heir, and itll turn into a real battle. There are many ways for you to turn on us to your advantage.

And can I remind you that I am a deserter? If I were to return, they would execute me. Even if I brought the newest Champions head to them, they wouldnt be happy about it. The initial plan to get rid of Melloxtressa is gone, so harming you now would only incur her wrath. Shell wake up eventually, sooner rather than later when the [Room] disappears with your death. Vifi shrugged before turning around and opening the wooden crate. Heres the real reason why I came. Look.

Midirn and Master went up for us, inspecting the stuff inside before they jerked forward. Master then pulled out what looked like a black tanto.

Grimnir made this. Here, catch, Saori. He threw it over.

Once in her hand, she appraised the item before her eyes also widened in surprise. Black lightning crackled around her arms before they gathered around her blade, elongating it until it was the length of a sword.

From the look of it, my dagger skills still apply its bonuses to it. The length of aNo, I can adjust the length of the lightning blade however I want, but it is still a tanto at the end of the day. Exactly like mine, but, couldnt I use this in my fenrir form? Saori then caressed the handle, showing me the shine of three runes. This is obviously Grimnirs work.

The old man told me to sneak them to you since you wont have any weapons inside. Sneak it past the checkpoint with your storage, and youre all good! Thats why I came. The only reason, she reiterated that last part. Im a soldier. It doesnt feel good if I have nothing to do but stare into the sky.

I get that, Midirn nodded. Nothing feels worse than being sidelined, all while you know that a battle is about to happen. Those thoughts, right? Cant get it out of your mind, not even during sleep, and you feel so antsy. Useless.

Vifi chortled, shaking her head a bit, but nodding in agreement. Military people understood each other.

But, then, why so soon? Tasianna questioned. Weve only been here for three days. And how did you sneak into the city without any issues? We had to go through a checkpoint. What about the barrier? Shouldnt you have sounded the alarm by entering the city?

Just like in Shaturein, mana barriers dont go into the ground. Thats why the sewer is the perfect way to enter, you see. Also, sneak past a checkpoint? Who do you think youre talking to? I can do that even without my voltaic lightning! She scoffed, looking insulted for the first time in this discussion. She then calmed down before pointing at her cloak. This trench coat is actually the reason why I was so confident in going in and out. I was intending on hiring a courier to hand you a letter, but color me surprised when I encountered a demonkin operative.

An actually worthless description, huh? I guess I could usurp it, maybe.

This cloak as I had called it up until now was actually a [Shrouded Vigilance Jacket], an invention created by the Prince of Sloth, BoleTarias top inventor. The jacket was made to hide a demonkins demonic aura and also hide their Profile from any snooping subordinate god, making it one of the best tools for a field operative. Vifi, in fact, used it for the Elyonda siege.

Which begged me to ask her why she had one. She had nothing on her when we met, aside from some rundown weapons and armor she repossessed from bandits. This brought her back to how she encountered a demonkin on her way here.

She noticed the person was fending off against a group of bandits. Seeing an opportunity, she helped the bandits by throwing a rock at the demonkin, cleanly knocking them out and leaving them vulnerable for the bandits to rob. To her fortune, the demonkin killed over the vast majority of the bandits, so any who were left were too exhausted to fully rob the demonkin, only stealing any money or valuables, but leaving the jacket behind.

Vifi stripped the person and donned the jacket, using it to sneak in and out without any issue. Sadly, there were some caveats with it.

It can only be used by those with demonic mana and it requires some type of fuel or something to recharge it. Lord Sloth never explained it to me, but I presume its some ritual or special mana thread. Anyways, the point is that this thing wont last forever, she explained. Thats why I left the operative alive. Would be more problematic if they died, and losing the jacket, while expensive to make, isnt the end of the world since humans cant use, properly appraise, or even recharge it. Thats why I had some bandits flee.

But now youre telling us you made contact with a demonkin, Master brought up.

Yeah, and its your choice now to believe me or not. I would suggest not to, since, you know, Im a demonkin.

I frowned. There is also that time you got affected by [Original Sin: Jaldaboath]. That is the perfect time for that sin heir to speak to you, make a deal with you.

And youve all the right to suspect me. Kick me out if you want. At this point, that self-righteous cousin of yours cant do anything since Im exposed I dont want to kill my own people. If you ask me, if you want me to go, then say so. I would enjoy proper exile better.

Then do it, why are you still here then? Do you need my permission?

But, thats the problem, Donut. She sighed. Tell me that I should leave, then I will. If you wont, then you can continue living with paranoia.

Why is she being like this? Shes like a clingy cat who keeps telling you she doesnt want to be with you, only to always come back. Why does she need me to tell her to leave? She can do that any time!

I dont understand. I dont understand her thinking at all. Is she a traitor? Is she just being misunderstood? I As the leader, what is my choice here? If I would appraise her to see how her emotional levels were. If I could understand how she was feeling, then I could probably do something.

Would you like to share what you experienced? But to my surprise, Saori was the first to speak up. What you saw in Jaldaboath? I saw my personal experiences, so I might be able to understand where you come from? I mean, Hestia tries not to be paranoid, but I didnt stop indulging my own paranoia this whole time. I admit that I was not being polite to you. So, would you like to tell us more about yourself? Maybe it would help alleviate our distrist?

And the surprises wouldnt stop. For a moment, I saw Vifi break her poker face, making this sad, vulnerable face I havent seen her make before. She had always been more melancholic and standoffish whenever she wasnt arguing or fighting me. It fitted the manner she wanted to interact with us by keeping all of us at an arms length, until, well, Grimnir began pushing her to build rapport. He even got her to attend my concerts.

Sadly, this moment was fleeting. She sighed and glared at us. Yeah, suuure. Get to know me better so when the backstabbing part happens it would hurt even worse. Im a wrathie. I know exactly how much anger can fuel your strength, and Donut nearly unleashed that on me, today. Im done. Take the crate. Ill come back in a few days with the rest, since, as you said, three days isnt a lot. Old man needs more time, but hell get your kitted up. Bye.

Vifi turned around and began walking away, leaving us in the dark to everything going inside her mind. After sneaking the crate of weapons back to the church area, Fleindia informed us that the church would perform an emergency meeting at tomorrows morning prayer, wanting to speak about what happened today. The vicar would personally attend and he wanted the entirety of Aurora to attend, especially me.

With a throbbing headache, I asked Saori to bring me to the shadow world so we could enter my subspace. Once inside, it was fully confirmed we could come and go from the [Room] while keeping its existence a complete secret. Once I greeted Svena, Haati, Lorena, and Priscilla, and told them what happened since I arrived in Aureolis, I then went over to Gravy where I had him spawn two slimes for my monster room.

I see if we can evolve them into those toilet slimes, we can promote Shoyi from cleaning duty.

My monster room was still immature and required some time before it could transform into the same one I encountered, but for now, it was all okay. For now, Gravy deserved a head pat! To Rajahs chagrin as he glared at the golem pebble with pure envy.

Once Saori came back with Master, we went over to Grimnir to inform him of everything. Lass was bored, so I sent her out, he told us why Vifi was around. We then talked about the Dhuinn rune, where he told me he would ask around. Dhuinn rune creation wasnt documented, but the runesmiths who could make one were.

Master then handed Grimnir a letter he wanted him to send to Caedhul, informing us he just wanted his adventure to be chronicled. After that was done, we returned to my room in Aureolis, readying ourselves for tomorrow.