Chapter 93: Chapter 77 – A School in Need

"Not one step further!" Arenade warned, drawing power from the forest nymph staff to command living roots to her side. "How can we know you and Bardell aren't in cahoots?"

"You cannot, but it is precisely because I do not agree with him being a Knight of Color that I assumed the risk of meeting you," Estaline said.

Kanae nodded for Arenade to stand down, which she did so begrudgingly.

The drakeling knight was every bit impressive as Kanae last remembered her. Estaline no doubt became stronger since they met in Orturic, and although her equipment hadn't changed, her presence felt much more imposing.

"I wanna know why in the three hells did a known crime lord get inducted into the order? Don't the big wigs out there in Radevic know he runs the Outriders? What he's done?" Edina asked.

"They know. The order is not the same anymore. Now, they seem to value strength above all, and Bardell is no weak or foolish man. Which is why I came to warn you three: be careful. There is only so much I can do to lead him astray from your scent. If the time comes that the Protectorate uncovers solid proof that you are a succubus, I have little choice but to side with them," Estaline explained apologetically.

The three of them tensed up, sensing the seriousness in her tone. 

"Haven't I already proven I'm not a threat? Is there anything I can do to convince you?" Kanae asked.

"As Knight of Silver, I pledged my sword and body to the Order. Unless…" Estaline briefly tightened her gaze on Kanae, then equipped her helmet and turned around.

It was a knowing look. Kanae recalled the drakeling-specific skill called Loyalty Fixation. Was she telling her that was the only way?

The knight continued. "Bardell has been granted the mantle and title Knight of Emerald. Tread carefully. For when next we meet, it may not be on such friendly grounds."

Leaving them with those foreboding last words, Estaline began her trek back to Lograin.

"Yeesh. It's like she forgot we saved her life twice," Arenade remarked, scoffing in the knight's direction.

"I don't think she's forgotten. That might have been a plea for help," Kanae mumbled aloud.

Arenade and Edina traded glances.

"Anyway…" She flew up to the crystalback rhinodon to sit on its back. "Help me haul this thing back to the city."

With an army of undead soldiers at Edina's beck and call, they managed to carry the rhinodon back to the adventurer's hall to get the beast processed. The result was half a ton of thick hide and two tons of crystals.

"I'm impressed! I didn't think the three of you had it in you to take on something so high level in comparison!" Sellica exclaimed.

"You approved the quest expecting us to fail?!" Arenade reached across the counter to grab the centauress by the collar.

"Now, now! I may have let my emotions get the best of me, but it looks like you came out just fine," she said, failing spectacularly at calming Arenade down.

Kanae picked up the longest of the crystals that measured the length of her entire arm.

"Careful with that. Rhinodon crystals go for 500 gold to a pound," Edina said.

"That's almost a million gold in total for our haul!" Kanae choked on her spit. "Do they contain magic or something?"

Sellica shook her head. "No, but they are extremely resilient. The one you have in your hands might make for a nice sword."

"A sword, huh. Maybe I can finally get a real weapon…"

They sold everything to an exotic monster materials vendor inside the adventurer's hall, and Kanae brought the crystal to a weaponsmith to commission a shortsword out of. It was going to take a few days, and she made it extra clear to the smithy— to his confusion— to not make a damn whip.

Arenade was rummaging through her satchel when Kanae and Edina returned to her. It sounded like dull clattering.

"You swiped some crystals for yourself, didn't you? I can hear 'em from across a busy street." Edina grinned.

"What's the harm? These are too small to be worth much, and they're not for me anyway," Arenade said indignantly.

"Who are they for?" Kanae asked.

After a little prodding, Arenade led them outside the city. Beyond the walls of Lograin were pockets of communities that might as well be little towns and villages. Unfortunately, they didn't share the same luxuries of clean streets and beautiful parks.

Many lived in destitution. Cabins and houses were in such disrepair that their doors were unhinged from the rusted frames. Starving livestock roamed freely on barren fields in search of grass to graze on. Instead of stalls and stands, merchants hollered from broken windows of their own homes to sell goods, too afraid to display them outside for fear of having things stolen.

Arenade brought them to a red building that looked like a schoolhouse. The paint was peeling and iron-wrought fences had been knocked over. A group of maybe two-dozen children were playing outside, kicking around a partially-deflated leather ball. They stopped as soon as they saw them coming.

"It's Arenade!"

"Hiii!"

The party of three was surrounded in an instant.

"Hey, you little runts! I brought you something." Arenade knelt down to open her satchel, revealing coin-sized crystals from the rhinodon.

The children's eyes reflected the shining jewels as she handed one to each of them.

"Ooh, it's so pretty!"

"Thank you, Arenade!"

"Can I eat this?"

"No, don't eat it!" Arenade scolded harshly.

"Miss Arenade!" An older, bespectacled human woman with graying hair tied to a bun emerged from the schoolhouse. She wore a dark blue dress that was puffy on the shoulders and extended down to her ankles. A single clap of her hands corralled the kids to start heading back inside. "Recess is over, children. You will have to finish your kickball game after classes."

There was a round of disappointment from them, but they ultimately obeyed the teacher.

"This is Headmistress Marnie. She runs this school that's also a foster home for children in need," Arenade introduced the woman.

"Marnie is just fine. I'm no headmistress any longer. Normally, I don't invite strangers into the school premise, but if you're friends of Arenade, then I don't see any harm. Please, come in!" Marnie insisted.

Kanae entered the school, expecting a sight just like his days as a student. However, the place inside was in no better shape than outside. The floors creaked with each step, parts of the ceiling looked to be on the verge of collapsing, and rats crawled from hole to hole.

They ran into another dressed like Marnie, who appeared spitefully inconvenienced. She was also human, but unlike the headmistress, there was no gentleness in her demeanor.

"This is one of my instructors, Alisyn. The children should be back in class by now," Marnie said.

"Then I better not keep them waiting." Alisyn pushed back to enter a classroom.

From a brief glance when the door opened, the children sat on the floor since there were no seats and desks.

Marnie brought them to the principal's office, a modest room with few books on the shelves. Behind her desk was a window with a crack like something had flown through it. By the stack of papers on the table, she was in the middle of writing up lesson plans. 

"I'm glad you came by when you did, Arenade. With each passing day, it feels less safe for the children to even come to school." Marnie sighed.

"Is something going on?" Kanae asked.

"The school's been getting hounded by some thugs," Arenade began as she grinded her teeth. "

The headmistress nodded. "Arenade has been kind enough to come by every so often to threaten them away. However… Last night I received a threat that they would come in force today. I worry for the children's safety, but Alisyn assured me it would be fine. This school is the only bastion for a semblance of a proper childhood for those kids. Even though I told them to stay home, they wanted to come see their friends and— Supreme One forgive their lying mouths— learn, if you can believe it."

"Hold up!" Edina exclaimed, glancing at each person in the room. "Am I the only one that thinks it's weird? Why in three hells are thugs hitting up a school that's poor as dirt?"

Edina had a point.

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Why would they target this school?

"Is it… my fault?" Arenade asked ashamedly. "I've been providing the school funding—"

"But only the teachers should know that. Unless it slipped out." Kanae glared at Marnie accusingly.

"N-No, I would never!" Marnie gasped.

"If Arenade's been giving the school money, why haven't you used it to buy chairs and desks for your students, to repair the place, or even buy them a new ball to play with? What have you been using the money for?" she asked, one thin strand of patience away from charming the instructor to confess.

"I had a feeling things were a little fishy." Edina growled.

"You guys can't seriously think Marnie is suspicious? I've known her since we came to Lograin. She's the kindest woman in the world!" Arenade said, uncertainty growing in her voice.

Kanae turned to grab Arenade by the hand.

"And I've known you long enough to realize that your desire to help the poor leaves you vulnerable. There are people like Bishop Rudo who will take advantage of that. The only one allowed to take advantage of you is me, but hey— at least I won't betray you." Kanae winked.

Arenade turned bright red, shut her eyes to recompose herself, then opened them again to face Marnie.

"Tell us the truth. Or we have ways to get the truth out of you," Arenade said, squeezing Kanae's hand.

"I…" Marnie cast her gaze to the floor.

The door suddenly burst open.

They're here!" Alisyn warned.

"Get the students and teachers into the basement!" Marnie instructed, then to Arenade. "I know how it looks, but I've always put the children first. Please, protect the school, and then I'll tell you everything!"

Kanae let Arenade make the decision, and she agreed. They rushed out of the school as students made a break deeper into the building to hide. There were maybe twenty people outside with pitchforks and torches. Not an organized group, that was for sure. More like a mob.

"Whaddya think you're doing harassing a bunch of kids? Think you're tough?" Edina brandished her necromantic staff to raise a bone brute, putting the fear of death into the thugs.

"We heard one of them kids is a demon!"

"Protectorate's paying good money to sniff out demons!"

"We're the ones' who're starving. Y'all get outta here!"

"Heard? You don't even know for sure! This is just a witch hunt!" Arenade fired back.

"Maybe you're a demon!" Someone picked up a rock and chucked it at Arenade.

Kanae caught the rock before it hit her and let it drop to the ground. She walked forward to face the mob until they were only a few feet from each other.

"There's no demon here," Kanae said, placing an overleveled charm on all of them. "You're mistaken, so leave these kids alone and go home."

"Y-You're right… There's no demon here…"

"Yeah, what were we thinking? They're just a bunch of kids…"

As they began to leave, Kanae's two companions raced up to her.

"Did you just charm them, you crazy succubus?" Arenade asked.

"It was either that, or they get brutally hurt and still think there's a demon in the school." Kanae sighed.

Desperation for money was their impetus here.

They returned to the cheers and applause of children surrounding them. Kanae was smitten. It was like seeing a bunch of Teanas. She began to understand Arenade's sentiments.

With the danger passed and students back into their classrooms, they still had one thing to clear up. Marnie was waiting for them in front of her desk when they got back, hands folded together.

"About the gold Miss Arenade was giving us… First and foremost, we wanted to keep our students fed. The funds went to providing them meals. As you know, some children aren't orphans. They have families to go back to. All it took was one child, bringing a loaf of bread back to her family. Eventually parents started asking questions. One thing led to another and suddenly half the village found out we had a benefactor. Initially, all they wanted was some food, then it escalated. When I told them we couldn't keep giving them what they asked for, they started accusing us of harboring demons a few days ago. I cannot fathom where they came up with such an outrageous claim. I'm so sorry. I wish I had the strength to tell them no from the start, but…"

"And a few days ago was around the time the Protectorate arrived," Edina chimed in.

"We'll adopt them," Arenade declared.

"What?!" Kanae and Edina blurted out.

"You can't just adopt them all! Some of these children aren't even orphans. Besides, there is a strict screening process for prospective parents so they won't end up on the streets again. An example question: what is your source of income beyond adventuring?" Marnie asked.

"Erm… " All three of them hesitated to answer, shifting uncomfortably in their seats.

"We, uh… run a casino and brothel…" Kanae answered.

The instructor folded her arms. "Do you truly believe that is a proper environment to raise children? And as adventurers, will you have time to look after them?"

The Church of the Eminence of Sin, which also acted like a brothel, probably wasn't the best place either for kids. Kanae couldn't possibly tell Marnie about—

Wait a minute…

"Don't we have fanatics that will listen to whatever we say?" Kanae tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"Fanatics?" Marnie raised a brow.

"What do you have in mind?" Arenade asked.

The next day, Kanae brought willing members of the Eminence of Sin to the school. Adventurers, custodians, carpenters, and former soldiers volunteered to provide their services free or at low costs. Arenade was outside speaking with Marnie, whose jaw dropped when they came.

"What is all this?" Marnie asked.

"Allow me to properly introduce you to the High Priestess of the Church of the Eminence of Sin." Arenade smirked.

Kanae waved an arm across the group of individuals skilled in their own fields, each willing to lend a hand in her name. "These are people who have volunteered to protect and rebuild your school. I'm here to offer you a proposition: the Eminence of Sin will provide you everything you need. In exchange, I want you to enroll more students and spread the… good word of my church."

"Yes, I accept!" The school teacher agreed immediately, tearfully clasping Kanae's hands in gratitude. "Thank you so much… Thank you! These children will have a future because of you!"

Marnie led the workers into the building, while adventurers and former soldiers assumed their post outside to guard the school.

"I'm beginning to understand why I failed in my previous life. You can't just pour money into something and expect it to succeed. I wish I could have done better back then," Arenade said, gazing up at the shoddy school building.

"Maybe that's why the Supreme One sent you down here with me. Sounds like you got a second chance to do better." Kanae lightly bumped her on the waist.

"Oh, is that why I was sent down here? Not to serve as your sex slave?" She skipped a few steps away, but Kanae caught up and embraced her from behind, then pinched her chin between two fingers.

Arenade trembled under her gaze and grasp, unable to— no, not unable to anymore. Staring into the elven priestess' eyes, Kanae saw a desire, a willingness to give herself over. All of her.

"You ought to thank me. I think tonight, I want to have a full course meal of you," Kanae whispered.

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