Chapter 512: 513. With His Compliments

“Are you alright?” Euryale asked.

“Huh?” Dallion snapped out of it. He had heard the question, just as he had heard everything else the gorgon had said in the last ten minutes, but his mind was still elsewhere.

The meeting with the general had gone somewhat better than expected. Dallion didn’t owe anything else, but at the same time he hadn’t gained anything either. With luck, maybe he would before they set off, but in exchange, he had agreed to the general’s demands.

“Yeah, sorry,” Dallion quickly added. “I’ve just been thinking about a few things.”

“You’ve been like that a lot lately.” Eury let out a slight sigh.

“It’s because of the plague,” Dallion replied. That wasn’t exactly a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either. “I think there’s a chance that the Star is behind it.” He paused for a moment. “I think I might have to face him.”

“Don’t be stupid,” there was a sudden hardness in the gorgon’s voice.

“I don’t want to, but I think that I won’t have a choice. I feel like he’s luring me to him. This whole thing about the plague, the sword… Maybe it’ll end up that the two are connected, but I fear that I might be walking into a trap.”

“All this time and you’re reckless as ever.” Eury crossed her arms, her snakes moving about constantly.

“It’s not like I’m controlling this,” he raised his tone slightly. “I’m not the one rushing after the Star to prove something.”

“That’s a lie. If you’re so worried the Star is behind it, don’t go.”

“What?”

“Refuse the mission and stay here.”

“It doesn’t work like that. I promised that I’d help out. Besides, I owe Hannah a lot, and—”

“See? That’s exactly what I meant. You keep claiming that you have no choice to hide that you’ve already made it, and the choice is to keep pushing forward.”

“I thought that was a good thing. Or did you change your mind?” I was always like this, Dallion thought. No, I was a lot more reckless in the past! This time I’m just dealing with the reality of it all.

“You’ve become obsessed with chasing demons. If it’s not one, it’s another. The chainlings, the copyette, the cultists… Even if the Star is gone, you’ll find something to chase after.”

“That’s…” Dallion paused. He wanted to say that it wasn’t true, that he was just doing his best to live a normal life as a hunter. However, even he himself realized it wasn’t true. Maybe he was obsessed with the Star, or was the Star obsessed with him?

The best way to defeat the Star is not to fight him, Dallion remembered the advice given. Maybe it wasn’t a bad idea to listen to it?

“I’ll go to bed,” he said. “It’ll be a long day tomorrow.”

The night was long and sleepless. The only consolation Dallion had was that Eury had joined him not long after. He would have preferred if she wasn’t wearing a blocker ring, so he could sense what her emotions were. Even so, knowing she was still there meant a lot.

I don’t need to face the Star, Dallion kept repeating as he lay, eyes closed. I don’t need to enter the sword. March will know what to do. All I have to do is be there, and also get the item I promised Hannah. Everything else is noise.

By morning Dallion had hardly gotten any sleep, but felt somewhat better. For one thing, he had convinced himself not bite off more than he could chew. A slight nagging feeling still remained, poking him from the back of his mind, but on the whole, he was determined just to fulfill his task for once and not recklessly get involved with powers obviously stronger than himself.

Euryale had already gone by the time Dallion opened his eyes. He had hoped to apologize for last night. It would have made things better. Finding a ready breakfast on the workbench in the neighboring room suggested that the gorgon felt bad about the matter as well.

You still should apologize, the armadil shield said. Guilt on both sides doesn’t mean the issue is forgotten.

I will.

You should. And the first chance you get. If you don’t, you’ll regret it. Trust me on this. I’ve seen it too many times.

You’re being dramatic again. it was just a thing in the moment. It wasn’t even a fight.

The shield didn’t have anything to add. Dallion waited for a while, just to make sure, then washed, had his breakfast, got dressed, and went straight to the Arena. The stands were outright packed. There were only four contenders now. Two of them were to continue to the final match, when the countess herself would award the tournament prize to the winner. Watching it was somewhat interesting, in the same way middle-school baseball practice compared to the world championship. Dallion could admire the execution, he could even be impressed by one or another attack, but on the whole, it seemed so unbelievably slow that he wished there were a way to fast forward the event.

A few dozen levels provide a totally different perspective, don’t they? Nil asked. Now you understand why nobles don’t like watching this longer then they have to.

Yeah.

The festival wasn’t created for the nobles’ amusement, but to increase their influence and squash any thoughts of discontent. Not all cities had them, but given the success of Countess Priscord, it was worth investing in.

By the time the winners were determined, Dallion couldn’t wait to get back to Eury’s workshop and make another leveling up attempt. The try ended in abrupt failure yet again, although Dallion did improve a considerable number of items, letting him hit the eighty level cap on guard and athletic skills, as well as up his music skills to sixty-seven. The effort left him quite exhausted, causing him to snooze off almost immediately after. Next thing he knew, morning had started yet again.

“Crap!” Dallion jumped up from his bed. While it was good that had finally managed to catch up on sleep, now was the worst possible time to do so. Hectic, he ran in the neighboring room, when he suddenly noticed that it wasn’t empty. Euryale was there, dressed in full traveler’s gear, as was March.

“Nice of you to wake up,” the captain said. “Five more minutes and we were considering leaving without you.”

“I slept an entire day?” Dallion blinked in disbelief.

“Just half,” Eury said with a stone-faced expression. “The final fight will start in a few hours.”

“Okay.” Dallion wasn’t sure what was going on. “I thought that…” he stopped. “Nevermind. I’ll go get dressed.”

Each and every one of Dallion’s items shared their opinion on what was going on, as Dallion prepped his backpack. The building guardian, too, turned out to be rather gossipy. Since Euryale still had her blocker ring on, Dallion only got to learn half of the conversation that had taken place while he slept.

For some reason, there seemed to be a change of plans. Instead of leaving at the end of the festival, which was slightly over a week away, it had been decided to go now, during the finale of the tournament. Supposedly, both the overseer and the Iceforge guild had given their permissions. All that was left was for the trio to make their way out of the city.

“I’ll have to take the hedgerels,” Dallion said as he finished packing up. “And Ruby.”

March looked at Eury, then back at Dallion.

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“Fine, but be quick.”

“Right. Where’s the basket?” he turned to Eury.

“On the roof along with the other cages,” the gorgon replied. “I’ll get it.”

“No, I got it.” Dallion rushed out.

It wasn’t standard practice to keep some of the hunting equipment on the roof of the building, but since the building guardians and both inhabitants had the skills and perception to notice if anyone was trying to sneak up there, it was suitable.

The metal basket was as in a good state as any. Dallion checked it out, did a quick mend-repair for good measure, then leapt back down, heading with it on the second floor. The moment he opened the door, all hedgerels gathered in front of it, expecting their obligatory treats.

“Not yet.” Dallion placed the basket on the floor. “Come along, hop inside.”

The creatures looked at one another.

“We’ll find you a new home.”

Several hesitated, though all the rest eagerly leapt inside. Despite the food, which had been difficult to find in the wilderness, they didn’t enjoy being locked in a small room. Now that hunger was a memory of the past, they were looking forward to wide open spaces.

“And behave during the trip, okay?” Dallion placed the top of the basket and secured it. The hedgerels complied. “Ruby, where are you?”

Nothing happened.

“Ruby.”

A patch near the corner of the ceiling changed color. The shardfly opened its wings, then fluttered down to Dallion. It was surprisingly slow for some reason, as if he lacked energy.

“Time to go into the wilderness,” Dallion urged.

That appeared to do the trick. Ruby flew two circles round him, then landed on top of the metal basket. Several seconds later, Dallion was outside again.

March and Eury were already there. Adjusting her gear, the gorgon handed Dallion his backpack. It took a bit of effort to arrange everything he was carrying—more annoyance than hardship. Once everyone was ready, the trip to the city gate began.

With the tournament finals about to start, the majority of the crowds had gathered at the Arena, leaving the streets half empty.

“Anything I should know?” Dallion asked, regaining his composure. One thing he didn’t like even after all his leveling up were last-minute changes, especially when they were accompanied by a rush.

“Fights have broken out on the northeast part of the empire,” March said.

“That’s the reason we’re leaving early?”

“No. The guildmaster let me know that there has been a development in Linatol. There’s no telling how long the sword will be there, so the more time we lose, the less our chances of getting it. It’s not ideal, but we don’t have a choice on the matter. We’ll get more details when we get there.”

Anything you can add, Nil? Dallion asked.

Afraid not, dear boy. Seems my original is a bit testy on the topic. For the master to ruin the guild’s chances in the following group competition, things must have been quite serious. Personally, I’ve never seen it happen in the past and the guild has seen a bit of turmoil.

Great…

As the group neared the city gate, Dallion noticed that Fire Sky was waiting there. She was dressed in full armor almost identical to March’s. Having both of them in full gear made it quite apparent that they were former imperial legionaries. Whatever had cast them out to Nerosal must have been severe enough to cause their fall from a rather prestigious position.

“March,” Fire greeted the woman. Dallion and Eury weren’t even given a glance.

“Fire.” March stopped a few feet away from her. “You’re not joining. The guild master decided.”

“He can dance on his hilt for all I care,” Fire Sky said with a slight smile. “With the things out there, you’ll need the extra help. And he can’t tell me where to go.”

“Till the county border.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Fire almost stood to attention, stopping the action mid-way. “Some of the boys are already outside. We thought you might say that.”

“Always so eager.”

“Just doing my job.”

“Dal, Eury, we’ll be having an escort part of the way,” March said. “That okay with you?” The question was directed towards the Gorgon.

“Are you sure there’s nothing else I need to know?” Dallion asked. The conversation so far didn’t build any confidence.

“You didn’t tell him?” Fire raised her eyebrows. “The poison plague has changed.”

“In what way? It’s moved onto people and animals?” Dallion hadn’t heard of any plant-based diseases affecting humans, but given the nature of this world, everything was possible.

“No, but it no longer affects Star-spawn. There’s a much higher chance of running across them now. There’s even talk of—”

“That’s enough,” March said in a sharp tone. “As I said, nothing has affected the province yet. We just need to be a bit more cautious. Let’s go.”

March went on. Eury followed, giving Fire Sky a slight nod as she passed. Just as Dallion was about to move himself, the Flameforger captain stepped in front of him.

“Here,” she whispered, putting a small pouch in Dallion’s hands so that Euryale couldn’t see. “The general sends his compliments.”

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