Part 26
A violet-haired girl tugged at her sundress, eyes darting toward the corner table. Jess tilted her head, following the subtle nods.
A beige-haired guy sat in the direction of her nods. Taking a sip of his cup — he locked eyes with the girl who was staring at her. The feeling of being watched by many was back.
"What?" asked Jess, still not catching the problem.
"One of them," whispered Cyeen.
The face of the noble was a shade of white and a tremble was visible on her hand.
Jess nudged her brother, tapping her throat then tilting her head toward the guy. Zoen had the same expression as Cyeen on his face. The demon placed a hand on their shoulders. She left the two — swiftly sliding next to guy.
"Hey, ya new around 'ere?" whispered the demon.
The guy fixed his hair,
"Sorta."
"Ya know, I kinda have an issue. Well, whateva I do I cannot reach a new level of powa, ya get me?"
His eyes lit up like lanterns.
"Of course, of course. Why don't you take your friends to a place we can sort it out?"
Jess nodded, signaling the rest of the group to meet her outside. The demon left the inn afterwards.
***
Four people walking to a specific destination — separated not to draw too much attention. They were going to be meeting up down under the ground soon. A basement basically.
The beige-haired guy was the first to arrive, leaving the keys on the door. Jess was second, Zoen third, and Cyeen last. After everyone was together, the door was shut close behind them.
"Finally!" he said, arms wide. "Some fellow players! I was losing my mind talking to those NPCs. The name's Vaules, friends." he welcomed the makeshift gang.
Dry smiles present on their faces as sweat trickled down each forehead. No one daring to talk.
Zoen took the initiative,
"Likewise Vaules, I feel like I'll get eaten each second I spend next to one."
The player laughed, he was overjoyed to finally meet some of his kind.
Cyeen opened her mouth, faking a parched throat. She coughed dryly a few times, pointing at the clay jug of water behind him.
"Oh man, my manners!" he said, turning his back to the group. "I gotta give it to you, you're great at hiding your identities. Even my detection skill couldn't pick you out." he said, pouring some water for Cyeen.
"Makez sense," came the reply — right as claws slammed him against the wall.
Violet threads snapped around his wrists. Zoen's knee drove into his stomach, dropping him to the floor. In seconds, he was tied, blindfolded, and shoved into a chair, arms wrenched behind it.
"Ah, should've guessed. Demons players don't exist." he said, letting out a sigh.
"Stay there." ordered Jess.
The demon nodded at the noble, prompting her to begin chipping away the player's shield with her knives.
Zoen began talking,
"Now, friend, give us answers only. First question: What do you know about Fragen?"
"Fragen or Wanity?" he chuckled. "Pffft, who am I kidding? You are asking about Fragen — you probably wouldn't even be able to tell them apart. Well, that wretched girl is a player who's loathed even among us players. When it's about killing, she doesn't discriminate. She kills both humans like us and 'exp depots' like you."
Zoen and Cyeen looked at eachother. It was obvious Vaules only had surface level knowledge. With a final stab, the noble broke Vaules's shield.
Jess's elbow connected to the guy's nose right after Cyeen was done with him.
"Ya think we playin' with ya, punk?" she hissed.
"I don't know, you tell me."
Jess struck his nose again, breaking it this time.
Zoen's voice cut in,
"Enough. Second question: How come only you players get stronger?"
The player spoke up, still not acting like a hostage.
"Such a curious little guy aren't you. Of course I'll answer if you're asking so nicely." He cleared his throat. "It's you. Killing you makes us stronger. Your deaths elevate us to a whole new level."
A horrible silence followed his words. Us..? Thought Cyeen, even her thoughts shaky. Jess's hands trembled while Zoen looked at the guy in horror.
If such a system did exist in Lianite — it would instantly demote the makeshift gang into mere prey. The noble didn't believe him, or rather, she didn't want to believe him.
Cyeen stepped forward.
"I think that's enough chit chat. I found a better way to access trustworthy information."
The demon grinned,
"Really?" she said, summoning a sword before lifting it up.
Jess was ready to split Vaules's head open. The sword descended, stopping right above his head.
"Fine, I ain't killin him, but he's not makin' outta here alive."
The noble lifted her eyebrow, no one had said anything yet she was refusing to take the life of the guy. Cyeen's eye followed Jess's, seeing Zoen with a stern look on his face.
Jess got behind Vaules, taking position to deal blunt damage to his lower spine. The demon opened her mouth,
"The monser ya playerz made a deal with izn't that fond of broken toyz now, is it?"
It was then that the player finally realised how desperate of a situation he was in.
"No no no, please! Anything but that! Please! I can get you anything you want, ANYTHING! Please, please don't let her get me!" he begged as tears dripped onto the floor and his nose turned into a mess.
The demon struck swiftly, cracking the ball shaped essence node buried in his spine.
A sickening snap — and his screams rose, although not from the pain. He knew what horrors awaited him.
Jess waved the other two to come close.
"Cmere, ya don't wanna see wha happenz next."
The demon covered the ears of her brother as they left the basement.
"What's going to happen to him, Jess?" asked Cyeen once they were back on the surface.
"Trus' me, I did ya a huuge favor by not showin' it ya." Jess answered, a disgusted look present on her face.
The noble stared at her — dumbfounded.
"Oh." she uttered. If Jess was thinking about her well-being then that was something she shouldn't be curious about.
Jess quickly snapped out of it,
"Anyway Cyee, ya said somethin' about... th-rust-worthi... information right? I disposed of 'im cuz I believe ya have a plan."
"Of course I do, it's me you're talking about." Cyeen exclaimed proudly. "But, if we will be going through with my plan, we'll have to get rid of our horses and valuables."
Jess smacked the noble on the head.
"Jus' spit it out idiot."
A counter punch was thrown. Cyeen spoke out after her punch was easily dismissed,
"Ugh, fine. I didn't want to do a grand reveal anyway!" she said, turning her head away. "We'll become players to sniff out Fragen."
***
The way back to Bami was calm unlike the journey from it. A day had passed ever since they returned to the roads once again. No banter, no petty arguments — just the steady beat of hooves and the weight of what they'd learned. Cyeen was sitting behind Zoen again while Jess followed from behind like the usual.
Their original plan was to rest in the inn that resembled "White Poppy" before searching for Fragen originally, but this world had its way to mess up plans.
I'll investigate that inn later. The noble thought to herself. Like the mansions in each duchy she visited being eerily similar with each other wasn't weird enough, they also shared one similar inn. The difference? One stood in a town while the other in the capital.
Although Cyeen had never paid attention to the town in Enidia, she was sure there existed an inn similar to those.
"Cyee!" Jess yelled from behind.
The noble turned her head back,
"Yes?"
"Question," the demon said. "Can ya stop bein' so cagey about the rest of yer plan?"
Cyeen looked away, rolling her eye. "I will make sure we discuss it with a calm head over tea."
Jess muttered something about nobles and tea, eyes going back to scanning the roads.
Zoen hadn't participated in this small conversation. The noble sitting behind him noticed something off about the guy — he had stiffed up the second Jess talked.
His robe was pulled on by the noble lightly to get his attention,
"What's the issue, Zoen? You've been distant since yesterday."
Zoen fixed his seating,
"It's nothing, Cyeen. Thanks for asking."
"Sure, then I will have to force you talk back in Bami. I can't have your bad mood dragging us down." was what the noble quickly gave back as an answer.
"Fine." He sighed, "Maybe a little something has started bothering me... more than usual."
Cyeen smiled. That was the first time she had judged someone's feelings right. Take that. She thought, aimed at the silent whisper in the back of her mind.
***
"PLAYER GUILDZ?!" exploded Jess.
Five people sat around the table took in how outrageous of a plan Cyeen cooked up.
"How are we even going to differentiate between player and real people? One wrong move and we will be hunted as players for a lifetime." Zoen spoke as the voice of reason.
Cyeen puffed out her chest, lifting her chin as she talked.
"You're right Zoen. Normally we wouldn't be able to tell the difference. But now, thanks to that idiot of a player, I have copied a skill that allows me to pinpoint a player. It does nearly drain my essence though." her eye observed the ones around her, seeing if anyone was amazed by her announcement.
No one looked to be amazed, a worried look ridden in their eyes.
Jess spoke up again,
"Alrite, okay, but how can ya say something like player guildz exist? How do ya know?"
"Obviously from the way he spoke. He kept saying 'us' like he was talking about an organization instead of all players." explained the noble. "Jess, you said when players reincarnate into our world they just... plop right in. We'll use that to our advantage. I'll teleport next to a player when I spot them and they'll take us to their headquarters or whatever they have. Perfect plan."
"What about us?" asked Zoen, pointing at himself.
"I'll think about it then. Any other questions? Nothing? Alright, it's decided. Cherry, Guela, could you hold onto our items while we're away?"
The married couple threw thumbs ups, the ex-pirate putting her whole body to it.
Cyeen nodded at Zoen. He slightly lowered his head, tapping his index finger against his forehead. That means wait, I think? She thought as her feet took her to the guest room.
In the mean time, Jess threw her arm around Guela, starting to talk about something. Zoen seeing her sister not intent on sleeping, followed the noble back to their room.
The co-pirate grabbed the handle of the door, twisting it gently. In there he saw; a girl with her legs crossed on top of eachother. The hand of the girl patted next to her, calling Zoen to her side.
"Go on, tell me. At least listen is what I can do." she said.
"I apologize for bothering you for the same issue twice, but..." He stopped, took a breath and continued. "I think I have long prolonged my usefulness. Even though you have close to no combat experience, Jess chose to sent you at that player. So I thought, 'Maybe my role near Jess has become irrelevant'. As I said before, sorry for the same topic."
Cyeen let out a gentle chuckle, covering her mouth with three fingers.
"You think Jess chose to throw me because she trusts me? First of all, that demon couldn't care less if I dropped dead this instant. You probably think she trusted me because you didn't hear what she whispered into my ears. 'Jus gather inforomation'."
A smile was forced out by him,
"Thanks Cyeen I—
The noble interrupted his words.
"You're a support, think like a support. A sibling would not discard another just because the sibling without many offensive skills can't muster up many offensive skills. Seriously Zoen, talk with your sister."
He lowered his head,
"I'll try." he mumbled, slowly laying on the bed.
***
A girl was inside the room, legs crossed on top of eachother (again). This time patiently waiting for a girl with two horns. Hours were spent waiting, but in the end, she was finally here.
The girl on the bed spoke out,
"Took you long enough. Back then on the way back — you didn't just ask that question for no reason, right?"
"Absolutely," said the demon who looked pretty roughed up. Or in her case, roughed someone up. "As ya might remember, I told ya only one eighth of me past. Let'z make it two. But thiz time, ya will tell me about yer past when I'm done."