Chapter 95: Quite a Handful

Morning light streamed through the large windows of the spacious room that served as the Artius family patriarch's study.

The light fell across a document Alegor was reading intently, his expression grave. It was already the third time he'd read it, but what it laid out was serious enough that he needed to carefully consider every action it required of him.

It wasn't until someone knocked at the door that he finally lowered the page. He invited his daughter Falme in, then clasped his hands and sank into deep thought.

"Did you send for me, Father?"

Falme approached her father's desk. Alegor remained deep in thought, his eyes closed. When she stopped in front of him, he finally let out a weary sigh and spoke.

"Falme, it seems Prince Valerius Phatar had been scheduled to visit our county while I was frozen in time. Were you aware of it?"

Falme gave a small nod.

"Yes. As I mentioned, Father, I had to handle your correspondence while you were in that state. However, he was only supposed to visit the count's city, so it had little to do with our barony." Falme clasped her hands and lowered her head. "Of course, you might have wanted to attend the event with the baron, but considering everything that happened, I thought it would be best for you to rest..."

"Don't worry, dear. I'm not blaming you for anything. I'm the one who should apologize for everything that happened."

Alegor reassured her with a warm smile, but his expression soon turned serious again.

"The problem is that it looks like the prince's visit is going to involve our barony much more than expected."

"What do you mean by that, Father?" Falme asked, her own expression beginning to darken.

"Apparently, the prince has been kidnapped."

"Kidnapped?!"

"That's right," Alegor confirmed, rising from his chair and walking over to the windows to look outside. "Apparently, his convoy was attacked by mercenaries. They struck so quickly that the royal guard had no time to react."

"That's terrible!" Falme exclaimed, covering her mouth with both hands.

Alegor nodded.

"That doesn't mean the royal guard was defeated, of course. Quite the opposite. Once they regrouped, they managed to follow the mercenaries' trail all the way into our territory."

"Does that mean the mercenaries are somewhere near Tirelia?"

The Artius patriarch stepped away from the window and turned to face his daughter.

"The baron has been asked to help with the search. We need to do our part to support him as well. As one of the city's knights, I'll lead our troops alongside the baron. As for you, my daughter, I need you to spread the word throughout our lands so everyone stays alert for any sign of them."

"I'll send out letters immediately," Falme replied, wasting no time before hurrying out of the room.

Alegor Artius turned back toward the windows and let out another sigh.

"I hope this doesn't get any worse..."

***

"Mm... ugh... wha... what's going on?"

Nerez opened his eyes groggily. Usually, it was the morning light coming through the window of his room at Tessa's inn that woke him. This time, however, it was a heel pressed firmly against his cheek.

That wasn't all. He could also feel pressure on his chest, and he'd woken up quite breathless because of it.

After pushing the foot away from his face and lifting his head slightly, he found two women in their underwear sleeping soundly in his bed. Cerys was sprawled facedown, while Ily lay on his chest.

"Why are these two in my room again? This is becoming a habit whenever they go out by themselves at night... And they reek of alcohol, as always..."

Nerez got out of bed, but the two invaders of his privacy didn't even stir and kept sleeping like logs.

Since neither of them had any intention of harming him, their presence hadn't woken him. That was deliberate. Otherwise, even a wolf hunting outside the city walls could wake him up.

Nerez rubbed his brow and, after getting dressed, gave one last look at his servants sprawled across his bed.

"Next time these two decide to ferment on top of me, I'm dumping a bucket of cold water on them... I need some fresh air."

***

Nerez made his way to the Adventurers' Guild, where he was greeted by Rin, the receptionist who had become something like his party's personal agent. Nerez thought of her as the equivalent of a personal banker, a role she could actually fill as well, since the guild had its own bank with no affiliation to any nation.

"A quest far from the city?" Rin asked, resting her index finger against her lips as she tilted her head. "And you want to take it alone? What happened to your party? What about Ilyra and that energetic new girl, Cerys?"

"I want a vacation from my vacation. So I need to get away from those two as soon as possible. What better excuse... I mean, reason, than a quest? If they're not here to take part, it's their own fault for sleeping all morning."

"I see..." Rin replied, without really understanding much at all. "Mm, the only quest available right now that's far from the city and can be taken solo is helping control the bedir population..."

"Bedirs?"

"Bedirs are small humanoid creatures, roughly the size of a child. They have wrinkled purple skin, and their glowing red eyes let them see in the dark," Rin explained, showing him a sheet with a drawing of the monster. "Don't underestimate them. Their sharp claws can tear through leather armor with ease."

"I see. Now that you mention it, I think I've seen those little creatures in the underw- back home. I never paid much attention to them, to be honest. Like a lot of other things..."

"But, Nerez," Rin warned, raising a finger to make it clear this was important. "There's no party-size requirement because the quest is designed so that multiple adventurers can participate separately at the same time. It's by no means an easy quest. Bedirs usually hunt alone, but if you come across a group, please don't take them on by yourself."

"Of course, don't worry. I won't be alone."

"A necromancer's summons don't count as actual party members. You should know that, Nerez," Rin scolded, as if reading his mind. "Bedirs can easily tear through a skeleton's defenses with a single swipe!"

"I-I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the warning..." Nerez said with an awkward laugh as he accepted the drawing Rin was handing him.

***

The quest was still within the barony, but it was really far from its capital, Tirelia. The city guards did a good job of keeping monsters at a distance.

"If it weren't for 'Veiled Trail', I would've had to camp out here..."

Nerez appeared beside the carcass of a rabbit, startling away the fox that had killed it. Hunger apparently outweighed fear, though, and it lingered near the carcass, waiting for Nerez to leave.

"The worlds really are full of animals that look remarkably similar to one another. Is it because of the environments they evolve in?" Nerez raised the sheet bearing the drawing of the strange creature known as a bedir. "And yet every now and then, something like this shows up..."

Nerez hadn't chosen the spot at random. He had sensed a number of presences in the distance that could hardly be anything other than monsters.

His hunch was soon proven right when his path led him straight to the entrance of a cave guarded by a group of bedirs.

"Bedirs have small, wrinkled ears, and Rin said they're really hard to cut off, so if I remember correctly, the right hand is what counts as proof of a kill. To think a hand would be easier to cut off than an ear... Still, will she believe I fought them one by one if I bring her a bunch? Maybe I'll just bring back a couple."

Nerez leaned back against the trunk of a tree near the lair and snapped his fingers.

Soon, a figure clad in jet-black armor rose from the ground: a Death Knight, the advanced form his skeletal soldiers had taken once the skill reached proficiency S.

"Judging by the presences I can sense, there have to be around two hundred..." Nerez paused his assessment to cover a sudden yawn. "One Death Knight will be more than enough. In the meantime, I'm going to catch up on the sleep Cerys and Ily owe me."

As if responding to those words, the Death Knight gave a deep bow and set off toward the creatures' nest.

"Kaa? Kakaaaa!"

"Kakaaaa!"

At the sight of the colossal armored figure approaching, the wrinkled purple creatures let out a series of cries, alerting their companions even as they rushed the Death Knight at impressive speed.

More impressive still was the Death Knight's sword swing, which cleaved several bedirs in half with a single motion.

"Kaaaak kakak!"

"Kaaaa!"

The creatures weren't intimidated, however, and hurled themselves at the intruder with even greater fury.

***

After a refreshing nap of about an hour, Nerez heard the creak of the Death Knight's armor drawing closer.

When he opened his eyes, he saw his servant carrying a rather worn sack it had probably taken from the creatures themselves. It was stuffed full of small, wrinkled purple right hands.

At the same time, the Death Knight held the body of a much larger bedir by the skull in its right hand. Nerez had no doubt it was the boss.

"Thanks for the souvenir, but we don't need the boss's hand. It'd cause too much of a stir, and the same goes for that whole sack... Just pick out five. I'll store them in my ring."

The Death Knight mechanically began pulling hands from the sack and tossing them down in front of Nerez. He knew his servant was only following orders, but watching it, Nerez couldn't help imagining the Death Knight was tossing them that way out of frustration at having all its hard work deemed unnecessary.

...

Once the hands had been stored in his ring and the Death Knight had sunk back into the ground, Nerez was preparing to take a second nap when the sound of galloping horses caught his attention.

"Sounds like they stopped somewhere nearby... Did they come to hunt bedirs too? Unfortunately, there aren't any left... The least I can do is let them know so they don't waste their time looking." Nerez headed toward the source of the commotion and the neighing of horses, but stopped after only a few steps. "I'll say the cave was already like that when I found it..."

Nerez nodded to himself and started walking again.

***

A group of armed men had stopped in a forest clearing. Their mounts were tied to the trees, and food was already cooking in a communal pot.

What stood out most about the group, however, was a young man with his hands bound in front of him. His gaze moved over his surroundings, most likely searching for an opportunity to escape.

"Don't even try it, Prince Valerius."

A disheveled middle-aged man with a tired face approached and crouched in front of the heir to Phatar's throne.

"Even if you somehow managed to escape us, which is impossible, by the way, you wouldn't survive a single night. According to the locals, this is bedir territory, and near their nests, the little devils hunt in groups. The last thing any of us wants is for anything to happen to you."

"You've got a lot of nerve saying that after kidnapping me." Valerius raised his gaze, completely unfazed by the hardened mercenary in front of him. "How did you pull it off in the first place? This must have been ordered by the Enlightened One. Support from the Church of the Sun would explain how you managed to catch my guard by surprise."

"You're free to believe whatever you wish, Prince," the mercenary leader said, scratching his head wearily. "But we're only here for the money. We have no interest in harming you, so please don't cause us any trouble. No one wants this situation over more than I do, and I want it to end without any further complications."

Valerius closed his eyes, making it clear he was done talking. After all, it was obvious he wouldn't get any more information out of the mercenary. At least not now. He would have to wait until he had the man behind bars.

The mercenary leader let out a weary sigh and rose from his crouch, then motioned to a young woman who was brushing down her horse.

"Clarile, give the prince something to eat and drink. We may be a lot of things, but we're not bad hosts, not even to guests who aren't exactly here of their own free will."

"Right away, Da... Captain Molder!"

The young woman untied the leather waterskin from her horse's saddle and ran toward the nearby stream, but stopped dead when she saw a figure emerge from behind a tree.

"Who are you?" Molder asked, his weary expression turning serious at the sight of the newcomer.

The rest of the mercenaries went for their weapons as well, including Clarile, who sprang backward with an agile leap and took up position near the others.

"I had absolutely no intention of getting involved in... whatever this whole thing even is." Nerez let out a weary sigh that could easily rival Molder's. "But then I started hearing words like 'prince' and 'Church of the Sun'. A commotion like that in this kingdom would be all that was missing to ruin my vacation once and for all."

"Vaca... tion?" Molder looked at the other mercenaries. They looked back at him, equally bewildered.

"Da... Captain!" Clarile, the most perceptive of the group, had a firm grip on the hilts of her daggers, a bead of sweat running down her temple. "Don't underestimate him..."