Chapter 33
We were tired and injured after that fight and after finding out how their tracks were covered. After all that, I never thought to find someone willing to bring in new help. As tired as we were, we invited Coco into the house and asked her to tell us what she knew. At the back of my mind, I was wondering why she was helping us now. And how do we know if what she was saying was true? I guess we'll have to see…
"So… how could you help us with the cult?" asked Subaru as they seated themselves around the table. A single candle flickered on it, illuminating the room. Everyone else leaned in and awaited her info.
She sighed, whether out of relief or tiredness they couldn't tell, and explained, "I do not know what name he goes by now, but where I'm from, he is Dorgriaz the Black Hearted, formerly called the Brave. A powerful black dragon... old and powerful. He was one of the elders in my land, Draconerica, until he was discovered to have been amassing an army to try and take it over by a group of seasoned adventurers. He was exiled and he was not heard of since. That was until there were reports of signs of him being here. I was part of a small team of… well, spies, sent here to try and figure out whether he truly was here and if so, find out what he was plotting. We got ambushed on the way here and I was the only survivor. I've been stuck living around the poor side of the city while trying to figure out what was happening… if anything was happening."
"And then you heard of us," chipped in Choco.
"Yeah, it's a wonder what you can listen in on when everyone thinks you are just playing a tune," said the dragonborn with a smug smile before turning serious, "Well, if his past actions are anything to go by, then he will most likely be aiming to overthrow the royal family."
"What!? Then, we have to warn them!" exclaimed the fighter.
"Wait, Subaru. We don't have evidence yet," opposed Okayu, "We don't know where and when he will try this. We don't know the cult's numbers. We don't know who else did they get besides those yuan-ti. We are still in the dark here."
"He wouldn't act so obviously," continued the dragonborn, "A lot of time has passed between his exile and current day. He would have had plenty of time to amass a following and allies like those yuan-ti. He would most likely be preparing for a certain day to take everything out all at once."
"If only we can get a solid lead on this..." muttered the cat girl with a huff, "So far, all our efforts hadn't gotten us anywhere."
"Well, we can try to shake down a suspected noble? Maybe the ones opposing the trade deals perhaps?" suggested the dragon bard.
"Eh, how do you know about that?"
She looked at the fighter with a smirk and said, "Like I said, it's a wonder what you can listen in on when everyone thinks you are just playing a tune. I hear all sorts of things. Especially in the more fancier taverns where some of them are frequented by the servants of nobility." Clearing her throat, she continued, "Well, I think we need to sleep now? I will tell you more... and you will have a lot to do tomorrow."
"Älright, now that we are fed, let's continue," Coco declared after breakfast, "Now, we… you will be looking for a noble named Dobery..."
"Disturbed the trade deals."
"...yes, he is the one that kept disturbing the trade deals," confirmed the dragonborn, "Thank you, young one. Now, I believe he is one of them, based on what I heard. I hear of him sometimes shutting himself up in his study and sometimes multiple strange voices coming from within."
""...Creepy. Sounds like ghosts," muttered Subaru, "Looks like we have our next target. We have to go to his house and… interview him, I guess?"
"Yup. You do that. I'll be going out and trying to gather more info on this," the former declared with a grin.
"Should we ask Towa to join us?" asked Okayu, "She seemed to be very persuasive in getting what she wants, from what I saw yesterday."
"Good idea. We can stop by her house on the way there," agreed the fighter, "I'm sure she would join us."
Unfortunately, I was wrong. She glared at us and slammed the door in our faces. She then opened the door, shouted something about the sewers and slammed the door again. I guess after calming down, she couldn't get over getting almost eaten by that monster… what in the world was that, anyway?
After the door slamming, we headed to the nearest guard house and got directions. Easy enough. Dobery's house… another one surrounded by a garden. It was big and looked extravagant. What's with nobles and gardens? We were let inside, surprisingly. The maid then brought us straight to his study, as if we were expected. Kind of suspicious…
The party filed into the study warily. The noble Dobery was a middle-aged man, his combed brown hair greying in some areas. He was seated at his desk, his hands steepled in front of him as he stared at them. After the maid closed the door, he said, "Well, what an interesting group you are. Lord Wilford has praised you quite a bit."
"Er… thanks?"
"Then again, he was always the odd one out among us," he continued, brushing off Subaru's words, "A capable man in The Game, but he always did pursue his own interests rather than the court's or his family's name. Still, his word still holds weight." He got up and walked towards the window, turning his back on them, saying, "So, tell me, what brings you here, adventurers?"
They glanced at each other for a moment before the fighter spoke up politely, "We are here to investigate a cult that has taken root in the capital. Unfortunately, your lordship is on the list of suspects."
"Is that so..." muttered the lord as he turned to face them, "Might I ask where this came from?"
"My apologies, but where we got this from is very dangerous," she tried to dissuade him, "Should this get out, well, it would be disastrous."
"True, true," he muttered as he shuffled back to the desk. After hemming and hawing, he puffed his chest out and said, "Well, I must protest this accusation. I have never been involved in any such cult. My loyalty is to the crown and to the crown only."
"Then, do you mind if we search the entire house, my lord?" spoke up Okayu, "If you truly are blameless, then you surely have nothing to hide."
A disdainful look crossed his face before getting schooled for calmness, "Very well. By all means, search my house. As you say, I have nothing to hide. Nothing that supports this preposterous accusation."
"My thanks. milord," said the fighter as the party saw themselves out of the study. After the cat girl closed the door, she asked, "Well, how should we do this, Okayu?"
"Alright, Choco and I will search upstairs," the latter planned out, "You and Rushia look around here. Then, we look for the basement entrance and we search it together."
"Saving the best for last," quipped the tiefling with a smirk.
"If you say so," she said as she shrugged, "Alright, let's go."
The party split and went about their respective tasks. Subaru and Rushia scoured the ground floor. The servants pretty much stayed out of their way and left them to their devices. They searched everywhere, save the study. Nothing. However, they did get directions to the basement entrance from the maid that showed them in. After they were done, they waited for the other two at the foot of the stairs.
Meanwhile, the unlikely duo noticed several things out of the ordinary. The guest rooms had nothing strange, but Choco found torn scraps of paper in a metal container that were partially burnt. She showed them to Okayu, who sifted through the remains and found a small scrap containing the words 'house of Dire'. With this, they hurried downstairs and met up with the others.
"Take a look at this," said the cat girl as she showed the scrap of paper to the others.
"Ah, possible clue?" asked the fighter as she and Rushia looked at it.
"Good enough as a clue," admitted the tiefling, "But not enough as evidence, I think. We need more proof."
"Agreed. I guess it's time to search the basement," stated the cat girl.
"Alright, follow us then," said the fighter as she motioned the others to follow her.
The entrance was behind the house, right outside the kitchen. A flight of stairs led down to a wooden door. According to the servants, it was a spacious place used for storage, even if they barely used it. However, the layout of the basement was very, very familiar.
"Isn't this the same sort of basement that the other house had?" asked Choco as she pushed open a door and looked inside.
"Yeah… a hint?" joked Okayu.
"Hi, hi. Alright, we should get back to search," chided Subaru as they looked through more rooms. It was eerily similar. Storage room with a lot of boxes. Area with table and chairs. A room with wine barrels and wine bottle holders. They were empty and the taps dry. The small room at the end of the corridor with a table and a chest, this time empty. One singular large room, empty.
"Really is barely used," muttered the tiefling, "But, no clues down here."
"Huh… so we barely found anything…" groaned the fighter, "I don't want to face that lord after this."
"No worries, I'll do it," assured the cat girl, "I've dealt with his sort of noble before."
Opening the doors and going out, they came upon cloaked cultists and the noble himself wearing the same robes.
"Well, I think we found our proof," quipped the tiefling cleric.
"Truly, our Dire Lord has blessed us this day," declared Dobery, "Kill them all."
"Choco, with me," said Subaru amidst the cheering cultists that were unsheathing their swords.
A beam of radiant light suddenly slammed into Rushia, who was next to her, from overhead.
"Are you alright, Rushia!?" she asked as the cultists charged straight for her, their loud shouts drowning out everyone else. She quickly turned and struck down one but he was replaced by two more that attacked her and the young necromancer. With a wave, the latter conjured and threw a ball of green liquid that splashed over two of the cultists. The hissing liquid burned and ate through their leather armor. The young girl then disappeared in a puff of mist, just as Okayu's bolts finished them off. The tiefling took this chance to add to the shield wall by her side, effectively blocking off the cultists.
"Nice! We just need to outlast them," the fighter declared as she cut another cultist down.
"I will not let you!" retorted Dobery from behind the line, "Best that you Be Still."
Glowing yellow bands suddenly wrapped themselves around her body and her mouth. Both her arms and legs got pinned down and she was unable to say a thing. The noble laughed and stepped out of sight. Her eyes widened with worry as she tried to twist aside from the swords of the cultists. The swords still struck through but her armor held firm. However, with all the cultist's attention on her, they were left vulnerable to everyone else. Rushia's balls of acid and Okayu's bolts helped quite a lot. With Choco covering her, she felt that she didn't need to worry and was glad for having reliable friends. Eventually, all the cultists lay dead at their feet. The noble stepped around the corner, looking quite thunderous.
"Stupid fools! You dare go against us all!" he shouted fanatically, a crazed look in his eyes as he pulled out a dagger and a blood-red scroll from his robes, "Lord of Dire, I give my life to your cause! Use it as you see fit! Vocavi diabolum sanguine barbam!" He placed the scroll over his heart and buried the dagger in his chest, pinning the scroll to his body. Before their horrified eyes, he fell over dead.
Almost immediately, a crackling sound reached their ears and a bright red glow appeared from the room they came out of. Subaru, being the nearest to the door, turned to face it after the spell was broken due to the caster's death. She used her sword to carefully push the door open…
"DIE!"
...and was taken aback by a glaive getting plunged into her arm. A strange purple-skinned being with a tail and long barbed tendrils for a beard. She hissed and moved backward just as the being tried to twist its weapon to draw more blood. A bolt was then shot and buried into its chest. It roared as it ducked to the side and out of sight.
"What in the world was that?" she half shouted as Choco directed her spirit mace over.
"I don't know," the latter admitted, "Towa might know, but she isn't here. It's trapped inside without anywhere to run though."
"In that case..." muttered the fighter as she mentally prepared herself. With a shout, she ran inside and attacked, dipping past its guard and slashing it twice in the chest.
"I shall end you and drag you down to the Nine Hells!" it roared in pain as its 'beard' sprang to life and thrashed about, scratching her face. The shallow cuts stung harshly as a trickle of blood dripped down her cheek. As she ducked out of the way, she blocked its overhead glaive attack with her shield.
Without warning, Choco's spirit mace slammed into its face. Unluckily for the tiefling, it recovered in time to parry her mace. Unluckily for it, its hands were full and occupied enough for Subaru to plunge her longsword deep into its heart. It let loose a baleful howl and burst into an explosion of sulfurous ash.
The fighter quickly covered her face, the smell getting to her. The tiefling didn't seem too bothered by it, muttering, "Smells like a fiend."
"Urgh, let's get out of here, Choco," said the former, "This needs to be reported to the guards."
"Alright, let's go, Subaru."
"Done. I've notified the guards," informed Okayu as she came back to the mansion, "You can get back to the house first. I can handle things from here."
After that fight, they returned to find that most of the servants had disappeared. It dawned on them that most of the servants were involved with the cult save one or two maids and the cook. They were currently seated in the dining room.
"Alright, we'll meet up with you later," said Subaru as they got up to leave.
"Don't forget to tell them of our help," reminded Choco.
"Still have a chest of gold," muttered Rushia.
"Yeah. Besides, let's stop by Towa's house and tell her what happened," suggested the fighter, "At least to figure out what that lord summoned."
"Ah, yes. Our very helpful half-devil," snarked the tiefling, getting giggles from the other two.
AN: Hello, readers. Now that Coco is here, we finally get a name to pin to the bad guy. However, it is just a name. They don't know what he looks like. Yet. Coco needs to dig up a little more. Or will someone else find it out first?
Also, remember Dobery. Lord Dobery to you. As we find out, he is also in league with the cult. Just how far does this cult go? All to take over the throne. Though, the noble is a bit careless. Really, not making sure everything is burnt properly. A pity. Not that he has time to regret his actions. He probably won't anyway. And with another blood sacrifice, he brought a fiend to this plane. A demon with a big beard. Make of it what you will.
Alright, this is it for this chapter. Next chapter, the search for the cult continues. Thank you for reading and have a good day, dear readers.
Addendum: This is why 2020, we can't have nice things. Mano Aloe, you will be missed. If I ever do Wanderlust 2, I will definitely immortalize you in writing. No questions asked.