“Huh… So, they let you quit, just like that? You’re strong enough that I thought they’d kick up a fuss or somethin’.”
Soulgros nodded at Lucil’s words. “Our former guild was quite reasonable, and it hardly took a moment to convince them. I must remind thee, Lucil-dono, to address us with proper respect.”
There was levity in her voice, which was frankly a relief. We’d headed straight from the gray guild to here, ready to begin aiding Lucil’s guild in their task immediately. It was hard to maintain my smile in the face of Soulgros’s bald-faced lies, however, and I resisted the urge to correct her.
Apollo strode up to me. “According to our information, the Elixir’s in the depths of some forest.”
That was a bit of a surprise. Artificial Elixirs were a miracle of modern magic, and they were held without exception in royal vaults, cathedrals of the Church of Angels, or other similarly fortified locations. Even they could cure almost any injury or illness, however, and were likely saved for serious threats to important individuals’ lives.
Lucil stared intently at Soulgros. “Y’know what, you look like you’re in a good mood.”
“Me? Rest assured, nothing of note hath happened to me.”
“Liar. You’ve never not sounded pissed when talking to me before.”
“Because thou art all a true displeasure to talk to,” I barely heard Soulgros mutter.
He was right, however—Soulgros was in an exceptionally good mood, it seemed, and her usual gravity was now broken by such joy that I wouldn’t be surprised if she started skipping everywhere. I was a tad worried her happiness would lead to carelessness, but even if that came to pass, I felt confident I could support her.
Lucil shot Soulgros a curious look. “So, uh, something up?”
Ligg put a hand on Lucil’s shoulder, giving him a quick shake of his head. “There are some things you should never ask a woman, and that’s one of them.”
That only seemed to deepen the boy’s confusion, but I was impressed at the softness of Ligg’s words—just as I’d expected from the gentle-seeming man. I was grateful for the care he showed for Soulgros’s privacy. The only thing that bothered me was that he believed in the Church of Angels. I sighed under my breath. He seemed nice enough, but then again, Mary had as well before she attacked us. No, I couldn’t afford to relax my guard around him. There was a very real possibility he would attack us if he knew we weren’t believers, and I didn’t want to go through that again.
“You’re really gonna leave me to watch for monsters alone?” Pelorro called from his post a short distance away. “I’m getting lonely over here! Somebody come talk to me!”
Pelorro seemed to be the guild’s scout and the one principally in charge of spotting threats. That was something unfamiliar to Yerkchira—each of our members had their own means of detecting threats, and we had no such specialization. It was assuring to have an expert taking the lead, even if said expert was looking back at us like a kicked puppy.
“God,” Lucil muttered, puffing himself up in an effort to look mature. “I guess I’ll go walk with him.”
Pelorro greeted Lucil with genuine glee. At this point, I was beginning to wonder if their youngest member was their most mature after all.
So far, our joint operation with Lucil’s guild was going smoothly, with no friction to speak of. I had Soulgros to thank for that, as any of the other guild members would have caused trouble for certain. She was broad-minded in ways that Laladie and the others weren’t. Similarly, Lucil’s guild hardly antagonized us at all, aside from general wariness, which they made an active effort to conceal. The resulting peace filled me with a genuine desire to help Lucika as well. We’d certainly find the Elixir she needed at this rate.
“…”
At the time, I hadn’t even noticed that Soulgros and I had been watched the entire time.
“Why do they stareth so?” Soulgros muttered, though I would not realize the gravity of her musing until much later.
✦ ✦ ✦
“This is it,” Apollo announced. “This is the place the World’s Eye said the Elixir is.”
He pointed into the dense, overgrown forest before us. It was familiar, to say the least, and I had to ask him to confirm he had the right place.
“That’s what we heard,” Lucil confirmed.
“It had better be here,” Pelorro grumbled. “We paid out the ass for that intel.”
Ligg nodded. “You can say that again.”
From the state of their guild headquarters, it was clear they’d sold nearly everything they had. The building itself was little more than a ruin, save Lucika’s room, and they lacked the funds to change that now. I doubted this World’s Eye person knew the finer points of their predicament, but I had a hard time rationalizing charging such a sum in the first place.
“Gh…”
Beside me, Soulgros twitched. I cast her an expectant look, thinking she had some insight on the situation, but she barely seemed to register Pelorro as he voiced the same criticism of World’s Eye that I had myself. In a few minutes, I convinced myself I was mistaken.
“I do not believe World’s Eye lied,” she finally said. “No informant worth their salt would lie to a paying client.”
Ligg nodded thoughtfully. “I guess you’re right.”
I didn’t use informants much myself, but her claim made logical sense. The only thing still on my mind was that she seemed to know this World’s Eye somehow—but as none of the others seemed to notice, it must have been my imagination.