No, I couldn’t. Heretics were determined to change society through violent means. The ones in this cellar had been plotting something atrocious, and if we hadn’t stopped them, they might have hurt people I knew.
“We’re saving our fellow man. Isn’t that motivation enough?”
I nodded and thought about my good neighbors. Lady Oralle at the White Cloud Inn; she treated me like her own grandchild and gave me fried potatoes even when I didn’t ask. Villonser, who ran the old bookshop on South Street; he was a great guy, and we had similar interests. There was Arize from the tool shop, Morcus the street performer, and Coral the merchant. By our acts today, we had saved them all. We could be proud of what we’d done.
Still, it wasn’t meant to last forever. We planned to leave town one day and find somewhere we fit in. Isaac, Elise, and me. The three of us, together.
“Right, well then. Let’s get out of here.”
“Quite. The smell is driving me nuts.”
The pair of them headed up the stairs, and after a moment, I followed. Elise and Isaac. The woman I fell in love with and my loyal friend. I watched them walk ahead of me, and I thought maybe someday, I wouldn’t be a burden. Maybe someday I could protect them, like they protected me now.
As the memory ended, Leon heaved a deep sigh.
“Why can’t things ever be easy?”
Leon returned his gaze to the black fire, still burning.
“I know what’s terrorizing Regtelia Town,” he said. “An Agent. Or something that used to be one, anyway.”
“An Agent?” inquired Alice.
“Of the church,” Leon replied. “Assassins, basically.”
“A-assassins?!”
“Yes. The Agents are the peacemakers of a secret organization within the church, called the Neighbors of Fear. They’re charged with rooting out heresy wherever they go.”
Although their tenets differed, the hierarchies of the Martyrs and the orthodox church were very similar. The same shadowy organization existed in both branches.
“However, Agents of the main branch are rarely sent out on missions. Orthodox religion is quite accepting of differing creeds and doesn’t tend to brand them as heresy. The Martyrs, on the other hand, are the precise opposite. They’re always searching for corruption, always busy rooting it out.”
Because of this, the Martyrs’ Agents were highly trained in the arts of assassination and devoted themselves to honing their skills. If one of them became a fiend, Leon and Alice would find it difficult to take it down.
“However, in this case, the man in question is insecure. The memory I saw just now painted a very sorry picture, and it wasn’t of a trained and devoted killer, that’s for sure.”
If anything, the man called “Lab” was a coward, an idealist, a burden to his teammates… Just like Leon had been all those years ago.
“Do you think the memories you just saw could have been of a different fiend?” asked Alice.
“…I’m not sure.”
When a memory was as clear as the one Leon just faced, it usually meant the resulting fiend was more powerful. Judging by his past encounters, it could even mean a Class Two.
“But a single Class Two or even a Class One fiend couldn’t overpower Velgo’s elite squad.”
“Then…do you think it could be a Special Class fiend?!”
“No. Not based upon the memories I saw.”
Something stank.
“…Ever since the goblin attack, things have been going…unusually.”
Unfortunately, they had little choice but to press on. Surely the mystery at the heart of it all would soon become clear. The most important thing right now was…
“What was he burning here?”
Perhaps understanding that could lead to a breakthrough regarding the fiend’s weakness. A million possibilities flew through Leon’s mind.
“…Hm. There’s something shining inside it. Is that a Testament Stone?”
That implied the fire had been used to burn a fiend to death.
“But fiends don’t kill each other without good reason. Does he hate the other fiends for some reason, or is he just territorial?”
Leon looked over at a restaurant near the fire. The board out front identified it as the White Cloud Inn, the very same eatery mentioned in the vision.
“That’s where those three went to have lunch,” he said.
Could he have been protecting this place?
Just then, something happened.
“U…urgh…”
Leon heard a faint voice, almost imperceptible.
“Alice. There’s a survivor. Let’s go and help.”
“Oh! Yes, Master!”
The pair headed over and came across the source of the voice. It was a female adventurer, lying by the side of the road. Her shoulders rose and fell as she gasped for breath.
“A-are you oka—?” Alice began.
“Wait,” said Leon, holding out an arm. “Don’t approach.” He turned to the woman and scrutinized her suspiciously. “Something’s not right about her. She might look human, but…”
“You think she might be about to turn into a fiend?”
“It’s possible. We need to make sure. Be ready to fight at a moment’s notice.”
Having said this, Leon took a few careful steps toward the woman and called out, “You there. Did the church send you?”
The woman slowly turned…then gasped and covered her right eye. There was only one reason she would do that.
“She’s infected,” said Leon. “With Blue-Eye.”
This was the source of the strange feeling Leon had sensed earlier.
“Alice, you wait there. Don’t let her touch you, or you could get it too.”
Then Leon quickly approached the woman, calling out, “I was sent by the church, like you… Can you talk?”
“…Water,” the woman replied.
“That I can grant. Here.”
“Oh…!”
With trembling hands, the woman accepted Leon’s canteen and took several deep swigs. While she was distracted, Leon took the opportunity to look at something specific: her eye. In her haste to quench her thirst, she had neglected to keep it concealed, exactly as Leon had hoped she would.
“You seem to have contracted it recently,” he said.
The woman jumped. “You…aren’t…afraid?”
“My name is Leon Crossheart. Leon the Devourer. Heard of me?”
“Devour…er…? …Yes… That explains…it…”
Leon waited a moment for the woman to catch her breath, and then began his interrogation.
“Are you a member of the search team?”
“…Yes, I was.”
“Anyone else still around?”
The woman silently shook her head.
“I see… What happened? Be specific.”
The woman recounted her tale. For the first few hours, everything was going swimmingly. She and the other four on her team were all veteran adventurers, each the equal of ten lesser men. No ordinary dungeon should have posed a challenge.