Eren looked at the priest for a moment, then a small smile appeared on her face. "Seems like the gods were willing after all" The priest said nothing. His expression barely changed, but he turned his eyes away from her and began putting away the small items he had brought with him. Whether he was ignoring the comment or simply didn't know how to respond, neither of them could tell.
Eren didn't press the matter. Instead, she turned back to Shion and offered her an arm. "Can you stand?" Shion took it and pushed herself to her feet.
Her head still felt lighter than it should, and the world shifted slightly for a moment before settling back into place, but the warmth of the divine magic had already done its work. The pain remained, her muscles were exhausted, and she felt like she had fought for an entire day without rest, but at least the blood had stopped.
It wasn't the first time she had seen healing magic being used. She had watched priests restore wounded people before, back when she was a kid and more recently during her time around Trivale. But this was the first time she had seen a priest use that power on her. She didn't spend much time thinking about it, though.
"We need to call the guards," Shion said. "The job isn't finished until they're turned in"
Near the wall, the bandit leader had regained consciousness. The first thing he did was try to free himself from the ropes. He twisted his arms, pulled against the knots, and shifted his position several times, trying to find even the smallest weakness in the bindings. After a few moments, he stopped. Not because he had accepted his situation, but because he understood the reality of it. Missing a hand made escaping considerably harder.
The clerk approached the priest with a small pouch and handed him four silver coins from it. "Thank you for coming so quickly, Father" The priest looked down at the money for a moment. A slight displeasure crossed his face before he closed his hand around the coins.
"It was my duty" The words sounded proper enough, but the expression he made suggested he would have preferred a larger payment, especially considering who one of his patients had been.
Once the priest left, the clerk called for the town guards. It didn't take long for them to arrive. The events of the last few days had already put Reka on edge, and a group of captured bandits appearing at the Mercenaries Association was not something they were going to ignore.
As the guards entered and began taking custody of the prisoners, the clerk pulled the large ledger closer and dipped his quill into the ink. "Before we process the reward, I need the details of what happened" Shion and Eren exchanged a brief look, then began explaining.
"The farm was fake" Shion said. "A cabin hidden in the forest. The fields were maintained to make it look believable, but something was wrong from the moment we arrived"
"There was a sweet smell around the place" Eren added. "Strong enough to cover the smell of something rotten. We didn't have time to investigate where it was coming from"
"The barn, maybe" Shion said. "Or a basement" "By the time we realized what the place was, they attacked us"
The clerk wrote quickly while the guards listened.
"The building is damaged" Eren continued. "Parts of it may have burned during the fight. There are bodies both inside and outside the cabin"
Shion stepped closer to the map resting on a wall near the counter and pointed at a section of forest east of Reka. "It's around here. We can guide you there if needed, but the location should be enough for a search party" One of the guards looked toward the bandit leader, then back to them. "The contract mentioned Veylan the Red" Shion looked toward the female bandit. "Confirm it"
The woman did not hesitate. "That's him"
Veylan opened his eyes and looked toward her. For the first time since being captured, something close to genuine anger crossed his face. "You would betray me? After everything?"
The woman met his stare without looking away. "You murdered people who followed you for years. You left villages with nothing and called it strength"
A small silence followed. Then she looked toward the guards. "He was the one behind it. The farm was his idea. Travelers, merchants, farmers from the nearby villages; anyone who came close enough was a target. We took their goods, their tools, their supplies. If they resisted..." She paused briefly. "Most didn't leave"
The room became quieter after that. The guards exchanged looks, the clerk's quill slowed, and even Veylan stopped struggling.
The disappearances of merchants and travelers had been a growing concern for weeks, but now they finally had someone to answer for them.