Chapter 21: Chapter 21: Seeking Answers

When Emil arrived at the town, his bag had been filled with bones. But now, as he finished his shopping and exited the Emporium, it was instead filled with arcane supplies. But even the bag didn’t have enough room for the textbook after he put everything else in. So he currently carried the book under his arm.

However, now he didn’t have any more space for anything else he wanted to buy. As such, Emil had to make a slight adjustment in the order of his plans. He would add getting another backpack to his shopping list. It didn’t need to be big or anything too fancy. Just enough for him to have somewhere to put the clothes he would buy afterward. Once that was done, he would begin the next phase and seek information.

Approximately half an hour later, he had bought everything on his list. Emil had purchased a few pairs of different kinds of clothes. Like new socks and underwear, as well as both normal garments and winter gear. It was quite a few things to carry all at once, but he would manage.

‘Okay. I think I’ll head back to camp, before anything else. Just to get changed and drop some of this stuff off. Then there should be an inn somewhere around here. If I find one, I can get a warm meal and find out what the news is about the dig site. If they have any rooms available, I can get a bed to sleep on tight. Man, that’ll be nice.’ Emil thought to himself.

But he would likely leave his golem supplies outside the town. Instead, only bringing the basics into the inn and stored in his room. It would be a bit inconvenient to go back and forth between the camp and inn.

However, being able to keep his experiments out of the public eye would be more than worth it. Emil figured it wouldn’t take him too long to return to the town and find an inn. He imagined that he could likely still make it in time for breakfast. And so, he began the walk back to his camp.

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When Emil finished and walked back to the town, it didn’t take him long to find the building he was looking for. It was a homely-looking place, built out of wooden logs. Around the windows, there were carvings of animals in the wood. Dorothy’s Inn and Tavern was the name it went by. From the outside, it certainly seemed big enough to be both. The building itself was three stories tall, and even seemed to be one of the larger structures in the area. It looked like a nice enough place for him to stay.

Emil entered the establishment. Inside, several men and women sat at tables as they ate and talked. In the center of the room was a rectangular hearth, keeping everything toasty and warm. A few people glanced in his direction as he walked in, but then quickly returned to what they were doing. On one side, there was a bar counter with a man and woman behind it. He went over to the bar and sat down on a stool.

“You’re a new face. It’s not often we get fresh travelers around these parts, but the name’s Dorothy. What I can get ya today, laddy? Asked the woman. “We have a special today, lamb and veggie stew. With the morning chill, it’ll warm ya back up right down to the bone. It even comes with a mug of spiced mead.”

“That actually sounds perfect, thank you. But can I make a request? Thing is, I’ve been camping and traveling around in the wilderness for the past… month or so.” Emil began, deciding to adjust the timeframe of his story. “Would you happen to have any copies of the town newspaper from then to now? Just so I can catch up on any news I’ve missed out on.”

“Well, we probably have a few still around somewhere. Folks sometimes bring them in to read, and then just leave the paper behind at the table. We usually just keep them around as kindling for the fire. But I can see if we have that haven’t been burned yet.”

With that, Emil paid for his order. His drink was made and poured for him. After that, Dorothy then went back to the kitchen. When she returned, it was with a large bowl in both hands and a stack of newspapers under her arm. She placed down the stew first, and then the papers.

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“Here ya are lad. We had one going as far back as three weeks ago. Didn’t have each one for every day though, but it’ll give the gist of things that’s happened. Now if there’s anything else ya need, don’t be afraid to give me or my husband a shout.” After he thanked her, she went off to assist another table. While taking a sip from the mead, Emil began to flip through the stack.

Emil started from the day he left the dungeon, and went from there. It was three days later that the first headline appeared. “Group missing in exploration of dig site!” Skimming through the article, he read more into it. While it did mention that some of the missing people were students of Fire Light Academy, it made no mention of anyone’s names. Which did make sense to him.

It then talked about how an initial rescue team was sent it, and included a statement from the Assistant Director. One where he explained that they wouldn’t give up on finding the missing group, and would dedicate every resource to their safe return.

‘Well, I already know how that story ends.” Emil thought to himself as he moved on. There were a couple of follow-up articles in the proceeding days. They mentioned new efforts being put into the search and rescue. However, with each one, there also came more statements that questioned those that had set up the excavation. Specifically, some were even calling them out to take responsibility for allowing an entire group of fifteen to go missing inside the dungeon.

‘To be fair, nobody could have known about the ancient undead dragon imprisoned under it. So, not exactly their fault for not taking into account something they didn’t even know existed. Speaking of, it seems Alterum has either remained dormant or none of the search teams found its prison. Since these articles keep mentioning how every one of these teams keeps coming back up empty-handed.’

He continued to flip and skim through each paper, until he reached the last one from yesterday. The Assistant Director had apparently made a speech. In it, he said that they had remained fruitless in their search efforts. And that while they would continue to look, it would be under the belief of retrieving the dead so they could be properly buried. For with how much time had passed, the missing group’s rations would have run out. And by that point, they would have realistically died of thirst inside the lifeless dungeon.

On the next page, Fire Light Academy announced the names of the students who had gone missing on the expedition. And there at the top, was his own name. He wasn’t sure how to feel as he looked at it. He knew that if they ever released their names, his would be there too, that much was just obvious. But to actually see it still had a weird effect on him, one Emil couldn’t quite put into words.

The academy also announced a date for a ceremony to honor the dead. It would be held in one month, to give time and space for loved ones to grieve. They invited every student to attend, but also the friends and family of those who had lost their lives. Which meant that his own family would likely be there.

What would they do when the search teams eventually also gave up on finding the bodies. There was nothing there for them to actually find, after all. Would his and every other family simply hold funerals with empty caskets? It wasn’t like there was much else they actually could do. Emil put down the paper, and pushed the stack away. He took a large swig of his drink, before rubbing his eyes.

‘Okay, I wanted to know what the response was, well now I know. So that’s that, it’s over and done, time to move on.’ He tried to tell himself. Emil quietly ate the rest of his meal. He made himself focus on his food, attempting to stop his thoughts from straying back to the contents of the newspapers. But as that seemed futile, he instead tried to distract himself by planning out the rest of the day.

‘After I finish eating, I’ll ask if there are any dentists in this town. If there are, then I’ll get the directions. But even if the local dentist does have records of the people here with silver teeth, it’s not like they’ll just hand off that info to me. What to do, what to do.” He would need some time to think about how to approach that problem.

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