The party of four led us into the nearest town, the same one that housed the guild Soulgros was infiltrating. That was a coincidence, no doubt.
Most guilds had their bases of operation within the safety of civilization, and guilds like ours that openly risked assault from brigands or monsters were fairly rare. Most were dark or gray guilds, the kind that would be raided by the Royal Knights in a heartbeat. If Lucil’s guild was in a town, then we could reasonably assume they weren’t an organized crime guild, and I was relieved that we’d already avoided the worst-case scenario. We needed to exercise caution, of course, but I didn’t want to have to kill them all. I wasn’t a fan of murder, despite my occupation.
“Our place’s on the edge of town,” Lucil explained as we walked. “No way we’re rich enough to afford the town center.”
I told him that wasn’t an issue. Even if I didn’t get out much, I could still handle a little walking, and Soulgros was in excellent physical condition. Unlike Laladie, whom I would’ve had to carry, my partner matched my stride with perfect precision, her very breathing in sync with my own as she followed me from exactly one step behind.
Her actions were making the hair on the back of my neck rise, so I turned and asked her if she’d rather walk beside me.
“No. I shall remain here.”
The speed and firmness of her response was only more disconcerting, and I could feel her eyes burrowing into my back as we walked.
“We’re here!” Lucil finally announced after an extremely awkward stroll. “This is it, our guild!”
I refocused my attention ahead, and I felt the stiffness leave my shoulders as Soulgros peered around me. We stared at the building before us for a long moment. It was all I could do to keep smiling, let alone reply—and before I could muster the words, Soulgros interceded.
“It looks like shit,” she announced.
Lucil glared at her, stalking back to her angrily. “The hell’d you say?!”
I sighed. My hopes that she’d exercise some tact were for naught, it seemed. More importantly, somebody had best stop the boy before he aggravated Soulgros any further.
“Hold on there, Lucil.” A young man with a lax smile put a hand on the boy’s shoulder, stopping him in his tracks before Soulgros could draw any weapons. “It’s the truth, no need to get upset.”
Luckily, the lax man—Pelorro, if I remembered correctly—had a better head on his shoulders. If he’d been any later, we’d have a dead child on our hands, and I was glad to avoid that.
The middle-aged man, Apollo, grimaced at us. “It may be a wreck, but it won’t fall apart on you, promise.”
I turned back to Soulgros and swatted her on the head, sternly whispering that she shouldn’t bring it up again.
“Ow… Thou art so cruel!”
And yet, I wasn’t the one who had insulted our hosts.
“Hey, um, are you coming?” I turned to find Ligg, the lanky, bespectacled man, looking back at us curiously. “Why don’t you come inside?”
For the first time, I noticed the ornate pendant hanging from his neck, marking him as an adherent to the Church of Angels. We’d have to avoid him as much as possible; if he found out our guild had cult fanatics in it, he would no doubt attack us with the same zealous fervor Yuuto’s late companion Mary had. He wasn’t a bad person, from the looks of it—he simply put his faith in the wrong gods.
“Come on in,” Apollo called as he held the door open for us.
Looking about, I realized the other three had already stepped inside. This was the moment of truth. His companions could be waiting with weapons drawn in the passage beyond. Should that happen, I would have to bar their way for Soulgros to flee.
“Rest assured,” the ninja said with a hint of joy in her voice. “I swear upon my life that I shall protect thee.”
I was touched by her words, but I couldn’t accept them. I told her that I’d be protecting her instead.
“Wha?!”
With a smile, I lead the way into the depths of the building before us.
✦ ✦ ✦
Their guild was cramped to the extreme and far older than Yerkchira’s guild hall to boot. It would have been a little large for an average dwelling, but I still couldn’t believe any guild could make do with so little space.
More important, however, was taking stock of how many members they had. I peered about, looking for any indicator of their numbers, and came to my conclusion almost immediately.
“Rather small, are they not?” Soulgros muttered from behind me.
She was right. Aside from the party of four we’d already met, there were signs of only one other person here.
“Not many of us, right?”
Apollo chuckled without so much as glancing at us. That would have done him no good, of course—I was smiling as always, and only Soulgros’s eyes were visible, making her expression all but unreadable. The elder must have thought it odd himself.
Officially speaking, a guild needed at least five members in order to be recognized. Yerkchira was incredibly small as well, but we totaled ten members, including myself.
“We’ve got a fifth, of course,” he continued, “so I promise we’re legal.”
“Rest assured, we are aware,” Soulgros replied brusquely. “More importantly, thou hast best explain our presence here.”
“Right.” Something in Lucil’s expression strained with unease. “Before that, you’d better see our last member.”
I glanced at one of the doors in the room, from behind which I could feel the only other person in the building. There was something off about it now that I focused on it, however, something that was unfortunately very familiar.
Pelorro caught Lucil by the shoulder and peered worriedly down at him. “You sure?”
The boy nodded. “If they’re gonna help us, we can’t go keeping secrets. ’Sides, they’ve gotta see her for anything to make sense.” With that, he turned back to us. “Follow me.”
Sure enough, Lucil strode up to the door. What I sensed wasn’t directly harmful, so I obediently followed him.
He paused, hand on the knob as he looked me square in the eyes. “I’m gonna warn you, it’s surprising, but don’t let it show. Can you do that?”
That confirmed my suspicions, and I nodded firmly. That meant I would likely be able to help the person in question.
He ignored Soulgros’s muttered discontent about my being ordered about, as she also nodded. Lucil smiled, but only a moment later, as if mentally preparing himself for what would happen next.
He let out the breath he’d been holding and pushed the door open with a noisy squeaking. “All right, then. In you go.”
The room inside was impeccably neat, such that I doubted this was the same old guild hall. There was virtually no furniture, aside from the rough wooden shelf beside the ancient bed. A girl was lying in said bed, sleeping on her back, and showing that she looked virtually identical to Lucil, save for her longer hair. They were siblings; that was normal enough.
“Ngh…” she moaned.
The girl rolled over, her body and sheets alike drenched in sweat, and I caught a glance of the problem as she did so. The left side of her face was inflamed with a twisted sigil of some kind.
Soulgros glanced at me. “My lord, she…”
She didn’t even have to say it. To me, it was clear as day that the poor girl had been cursed.