Chapter 43: White Wood 9

Mehily despised Reysha. This was a simple truth. The Priestess had never liked the tiger girl. From the moment they had been paired together by the Adventurers Guild, the two of them had clashed. What kind of strategy should they use, how they were supposed to have their meetings after dungeon runs, even mundane questions such as which bread was better eventually turned into fights, with one party dickishly laughing and the other grinding her teeth in frustration.

It was partly her own fault that they were such a defunct party. Her declaration that her religious beliefs forbade her to work together with anyone who would tame or otherwise work with monsters crossed all of the Hunters and Tamers of the list of candidates.

The decision to force the party to boot the Rogue under the threat of Mehily leaving had not been one of malice, but she was genuinely done dealing with the redhead. Upon hearing that the tiger girl had lost her apartment, the Priest had even played with the thought of helping her out. Letting her back into the group wasn’t a thing that would happen, but the Priestess was still charitable enough to not let an… acquaintance starve.

Before she could come to a decision, her intense dislike made her hesitate on doing the saintly thing, Reysha had already fled into the wild. Mehily did feel bad about this, under the conviction that she had accidentally set the Rogue on her path to death.

She was a little relieved, but mostly irritated to a wrathful degree, when Reysha just turned up in the Guild again. In a pose that aimed to intimidate the entire room, no less. She hadn’t told the group’s Warrior to get all up in the tiger girl’s face, but she also had done nothing to prevent it. Yet again, not exactly a saintly thing to do. Something that she realized she had to pray for redemption for.

Her god instructed his followers that the only truly important temple was within. As such, she had taken her prayer at the loudest place imaginable. Inner tranquility had to be achievable even at the most chaotic of places, such was a Priest’s conviction. In a party, the healer always had to remain calm. Wasted magic or mistakes could lead to worse wounds down the line.

Her god, Jersoja, seventh of the thirty-three original gods and god of purity and the first priests, didn’t let her hear a whisper. Not even one of his angels was gracing her opened mind with a word. As a priest, her prayer was not just a sign of devotion, but an actual seeking of guidance by the divine. None such was given. The winter deity must have been annoyed with her in some way.

At the end of her silent prayer, a Guild employee had approached her with the news of Reysha’s condition. Given that they were the last real people to be in contact with the tiger girl, they hoped that Mehily and her party would be able to convince Reysha to go into rehabilitation. To find atonement, the Priestess, to the surprise of the other two members of the party, had accepted. “If I can save one girl from becoming closer to a monster, maybe my Lord will see it fit to answer my prayers,” she said.

With no other clue where she went, they had made their way to Birshia. Reysha had let the Guild employee know she was heading to the closest dungeon and the giant birch fit that description. They had arrived there, been informed that the tiger girl hadn’t passed and thus decided to wait at least two days.

Ultimately, that had paid off, although Reysha of course had to go in in the middle of the night, so they had to scramble into their equipment to chase after her. The new Rogue of the group had been the quickest on his feet and left the Warrior and herself a trail to follow. They had caught up with Reysha. Something was clearly off about her, as she didn’t notice the trio tracking her.

As much as Mehily disliked the Rogue, her keen senses had always been a point of fact. Especially her hearing should have made her able to make out the Warrior and his movements. Nothing of the sort, however, they just slowly caught up with her. The Priestess had been about to call out to the tiger girl, now close enough, when they all had witnessed the fight in the light of the sap.

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Still holding a grudge, the Warrior had prevented them from helping in any way. Not that Reysha had needed it, as she pretty easily disposed of the Woodsharper. Stood there for a second, as still as a shard of ice. Licked her hand. Then began the scene of her tearing the thing down in a wild craze. At that point, them keeping back was out of disbelief.

As adventurers, even just freshly starting ones, they had seen their fair share of blood and guts. This was something different though. They were used to the slaying of monsters, battle formations and controlled engagements that ended with some disgusting sights. Not a continued display of strings of muscle stretching and stretching until they finally snapped and the crazy, blood-soaked woman, cackling between chewing, eagerly stuffed her mouth with them. Her hands sliding over her curves, smearing the blood over the blue suit she was wearing, in a seductive fashion only added nauseating dissonance to the scene.

It was the simple sound of Mehily’s stomach acid pumping up her windpipe that made Reysha notice them. Whirling around with revealed, red-stained teeth, her eyes opened wide when she realized who was there. “You!” she grabbed the stiletto she had so thoughtless dropped before. “What… what are you doing here, you blonde cunt?!”

There was no white in her eyes, only grey, making the blue of her iris stand out in the shabby lighting even more. The tip her of her weapon pointed straight at the group and her entire posture indicated that she was about to jump. Her unoccupied hand was changing between clenched and stretched. Whenever her fingers were straight, her claws would make an appearance.

Mehily found her voice again after wrestling down her vomit. “We are here too get you off this dark path you tread upon,” she tried to state in a calm voice. “I know I was the one who indirectly sent you on it and for this I am…”

“Get bent,” Reysha interrupted, laughing wildly, but her tail whipping with anger. “I don’t need your fucking apology. I LOVE this, do you have any idea how alive I feel right now?!”

“Okay, I know you two have history,” the new Rogue of the party whispered to Mehily. “But there is no way we can let this… thing go free!”

‘You idiot!’ Mehily thought, the tiger girl could hear every word they whispered, those giant ears on her head were hardly for show. Such a sentence wouldn’t help anyone. With a mind quicker than her tongue, however, she didn’t manage to raise her voice in retort. Not before Reysha looked at all of them for a moment and then turned around anyway. “After her!” the Priestess finally got out.

They were much slower than the tiger girl, who navigated the spiked corridors with a mixture of certainty in her own reflexes and sheer recklessness. They would lose her in just a few corridors, this was without doubt.

Clutching the necklace that was her medium, she prayed yet again. She needed guidance, of any form. ‘This stray lamb has to be brought back on the true path,’ a voice reached down to her mind and filled her with strength. The angels heard her and the blessing of her faith spread to her team.

Where the redhead had been but a shadow before them a moment ago, now the entire path before them was filled with crystal blue, cold light. Their steps hastened as their bodies were subject to a sudden burst of power, burning through Mehily’s mana at an immense speed. Not that it mattered, just as long as they caught Reysha beforehand.

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