Chương 71: The Destination

"What if… I really am the scary monster?" Lamb stared at Enel for a moment, then at the horse he had been brushing. She opened her mouth to speak, but ended up glancing at Guinevere instead, quietly urging her to fix her mess. But alas, Guinevere had no idea what she did at all. And so, the only thing Lamb could really do was grab Enel's face, parting his lips with her thumb.

"Your fangs grew?" she asked, leaning closer to look.

"Doesn't look like it." She pulled his face, tilting it toward the fire.

"No." She removed her thumb, then wiped it on her shoulder.

"I would say mine are even sharper. Look." Lamb stepped back and showed her own teeth, tapping one fang with her tongue.

"I… am being serious, Lamb."

"Well, fuck. So am I." Lamb shrugged.

"If you are that worried about your fangs being sharp, then I will shave mine down to look like yours. That way, you will not be so weird. But then again… M'lord, your fangs being sharp is not the weirdest thing about you. You are just… weird overall."

"I appreciate your words of comfort, Lamb."

"Psh, please. I am not Lady Mira." Lamb waved him off.

"I am not here to comfort you. And also, that little girl was scared of you because you were scary. You just killed a vemon right in front of them, and told their parents they deserved to be executed. Of course, she was scared." Enel lowered his eyes.

"But she still went with you," Lamb said.

"All those children did." Guinevere finally stepped down from the cart and approached them. For a moment there, Lamb was afraid of what she was going to say. But her words were… alright.

"Tofa said you were scary, my lord. She did not say you were cruel," she said.

"There is a difference." Lamb pointed at her with her thumb, but the hesitation on her face showed she was still unsure whether what Guinevere said was good or not. Enel did not say anything and only looked at them, and Tiny, who had been pretending not to listen to them by the fire, groaned at them in frustration.

"M'lord," he leaned back, looking at them.

"You are not a monster. Real monsters do not ask if they truly are monsters. If you want to see what a real monster looks like, he is right there." Tiny pointed at the Black Mask they had tied to the side of the cart, who had been completely silent from the start of their travel, not even saying a single word.

"So…" Tiny continued.

"Just sleep on it." Enel stared at him, and a little smile appeared on his face. And this time, it stayed for a while. He looked at his hands again, then let them fall to his side as his shoulders relaxed.

"I will… stop thinking about it for now." He nodded.

"And you are right, we should all sleep. We continue southwest at first light."

"Southwest?" The archer, who also happened to be listening in on them but had no idea what they were even talking about, perked up when he heard Enel's words.

"Your party is traveling southwest?"

"Yes."

"Ah. It now makes sense why you have such an expensive ward. The monsters there are almost as bad as the ones the barbarians have in the north," the archer said, then let out the heaviest sigh he could as he looked at embers fading away above them.

"I can't wait until my party is as strong as yours. It would probably take years to reach your rank."

"... Rank?" Enel blinked, and he and Lamb slowly made their way back to the fire.

"What do you mean?"

"Your party rank…?" The archer squinted, staring up at Enel with a confused look on his face.

"What is that?" Enel glanced at Lamb, then at Guinevere.

"It is our party's rank, my lord," Guinevere answered.

"I'm… confused." The archer stood up.

"Is your party not registered to the Adventurer's Guild?" Enel looked at Guinevere again.

"Judging by the look you are giving me, you did not know about this?" Guinevere said.

"I assumed you did, as Lady Mira was a hunter and she told you a lot of stories about adventurers."

"There… are a lot of things she had not told me." Enel sighed.

"What are the ranks even for?"

"For fame and honor, my lord. You bring proof of your deeds, and the guild would reward you and your party with a badge that a lot of people recognize."

"What?" Enel blinked as he looked at the archer, who pulled out a bronze badge from his pocket.

"W-woah…" Lamb blinked.

"Why do we not have that? We should have that."

"No, it is fine." Enel raised a hand.

"We do not need something like that. We should sleep. We have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow." Enel nodded, moving toward his bedroll. Lamb followed him as he sat down and got ready to sleep, however. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

"So…" Lamb sat beside him.

"We… are getting those badges after this is all over, right?" Enel glanced at him… then a small smile slowly crept onto his face.

"Of course." The next morning, the hunters left before the sun had even fully risen. They only bowed their heads to the party, thanking them for the best sleep they had had in days. Enel and the party continued through the grasslands after that, following the rough map from the Black Mask. The land grew drier the farther they went, with the grass becoming thinner and thinner, and the rocks larger… even the wind felt quieter. The Black Mask prisoner remained tied at the back of the cart with them.

His eyes traveled everywhere, and Tiny noticed him groaning in frustration the more they followed the path.

"Is the area becoming familiar for you?" Tiny asked the Black Mask. But the prisoner only glanced at him before looking away, curling and turning his head down while he mumbled words. Days passed like that, with the party only resting when the horses got tired. They came across a few more hunter parties, but no one really approached or joined them, only nodding to acknowledge each other. But soon, not even a single shadow resembling any kin showed itself.

The wind had been whistling quietly throughout their journey, not completely silent. The whole party felt that, and they also became more alert. And soon, Bernard raised his hand and stopped the horses even though they had only packed up their camp a couple of hours ago.

"What is it?" Enel asked.

"Tracks, M'lord." Bernard pointed toward a shallow dip in the earth ahead.

"Carts." Lamb jumped down, crouching near the marks.

"These are… fresh. They are all moving west. Are we close?"

"I believe so." Bernard nodded. Enel looked toward the horizon, where the black shapes they had seen the day before had grown clearer. He thought they were mountains at first, but… not exactly. One of them rose from the earth like a massive tooth, larger than anything around it. Bernard stared at the tracks, then at the map.

"If we follow these… we will likely reach our destination before dusk."

"So…" Lamb smirked as she looked at the others.

"Is it… time?" They all looked at each other after that, and only Tiny closed his eyes and sighed. And a short while later, behind a cluster of boulders large enough to hide the cart… everyone changed their outfit. All except for Tiny, who was now tied up.

"Why am I the offering again?" he asked as he struggled to turn to Lamb, who was pulling a black robe over her shoulders.

"Because you look like the child out of all of us," Lamb said, shrugging as she loosened the rope around Tiny's wrist.

"And do not move too much, you will hurt your hands."

"Oh, thank you for the concern." Tiny groaned and shook his head.

"But why do I even need to be tied up?!"

"Because we need to be convincing!"

"Does that look convincing to you?!" Tiny pointed at Enel and Guinevere with his lips. Enel was trying to tuck all of his luscious golden hair beneath a black hood.

"M'lord!" Lamb approached Enel and immediately began shoving loose strands of his hair under his hood.

"Earthmother, your hair is too bright! I am so close to wanting to fucking pull it out of your head."

"Jealous?"

"Fuck you. My hair is beautiful. That is why I wear a bandana… which you have lost, by the way."

"... I have already apologized for that."

"Guys…" Tiny sighed.

"I do not think these disguises would work."

"What do you—" Both Enel and Tiny looked to where Tiny was looking, only to see the black robes around Guinevere look like a tent due to her frilly skirt underneath.

"M'lady…" Lamb shook her head.

"You look… round."

"It is the dress."

"Why would you not remove your dress?"

"As I said a few days ago, all my things are underneath it." Bernard, who had also put on one of the robes, adjusted his mask quietly. He looked more natural in it than the others did, perhaps because of his weathered face. As for the actual Black Mask, they now covered him with a blanket, putting a gag firmly in his mouth.

"Okay." Enel nodded, wearing the black mask over his face.

"Everyone ready?"

"I have no choice," Tiny whispered.

"I look fucking cool." Lamb put the mask over her face. Guinevere did not really say anything, and instead of placing the mask on her face, she held it like a ball mask. Bernard glanced at them, sighing while shaking his head before lightly flinging the reins. They followed the tracks through the grassland after that, and the massive rock formation grew larger and larger.

"I… am guessing that is where we will go?" The enormous mass of rock looked smooth, and as they continued along the trail, they were greeted by a large carving on the stone walls. It was a circle with a single curved line inside it that resembled the edges of a cloud. The tracks all stopped just at the edge of the stone wall… but there was no gate or any passage through there. Tiny looked around.

"There is… no one here."

"Sshh," Lamb lightly kicked him.

"Silence, child."

"... Stop enjoying this too much."

"Sshh!" Enel, sitting beside Bernard, looked up at the massive stone. He could hear movement inside… as well as someone from above. And soon, a shadow dropped from above. It landed in front of the cart hard enough to crack the ground. The horses reared, but Bernard held the reins steady. Lamb's hand went to her sword beneath her robe, but she quickly restrained herself. She could feel it, even without the man using his Breath, that he was at the Third Depth… or perhaps even half a step to Fourth.

The man in front of them slowly stood. His robes were not as dark as theirs, and over his face was a red mask marked with a single black dot between the brows. Tiny stopped breathing as the Red Mask looked at the cart. He approached, staring at the party before turning his focus on Tiny.

"Why do you only have one?" he asked. Lamb's eyes widened at his words, but she quickly lowered her head.

"We encountered some problems along the way. We will report once we are inside." Tiny, who was tied up, also lowered his head. He glanced at the blanket covering their prisoner. He knew it… the man had not told them everything.

"Very well." The Red Mask waved Lamb off.

"From which commune is this one?"

"Valir's Crescent," Lamb quickly said.

"Valir's Crescent," the Red Mask whispered.

"No wonder. Nine and Ten of Veyrmark reported that there were nobles who wished to join. I also heard they were quite curious. Did they give you trouble?"

"... A little bit." Lamb shook her head.

"Hm." The Red Mask nodded, then walked toward the stone wall with the carving on it and placed his palm against the ground. He released a Breath, and wrote a Script against the wall. The ground seemed to answer him as the walls groaned. Lines appeared across the stone, spreading upward until the carving split from the middle. And with another groan, the wall parted.

"Enter." The cart rolled forward. None of them spoke as they passed through the opening. The air was colder inside, and the passage beyond the stone walls continued straight, wide enough for several carts to pass side by side. Lamps burned along the walls, giving them a little bit of light as the mountain behind them closed.

"Uh…" Tiny whispered.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"Sshh!" Lamb lightly kicked him again.

"What… are you doing? Quiet." They continued deeper into the tunnel. And soon, it opened into a vast grotto carved inside the rocky mountain itself, with bridges crossing above them and smaller tunnels leading to somewhere. They could see carts on the side, next to large huts, but… there was no one else there. Guinevere's eyes moved everywhere, and Enel's did too. He glanced at the carts with cages on them, and he could see some of them were soiled. His fist tightened.

Bernard glanced at him then, only for a moment, but when Enel noticed, he slowly loosened his hand. The Red Mask walked ahead of them without looking back.

"You traveled a long way here," he muttered as he finally turned around. For a while, he only looked at the party… then sighed.

"But now that you are inside… shall we stop pretending?" And all of a sudden, several men in black robes stepped out from the shadows, chains already in their hands. None of them were wearing masks.

"Ah…" Tiny closed his eyes and lowered his head.

"I knew it." The Red Mask turned to Enel.

"So," he asked, "who are you people?"