Talio was about seventy percent sure that only one of those girls was infected, and that the infected one was most likely Ari, though he hadn't ruled out Lexi completely.
"Well, let's see how things play out for now."
A voice came from his left.
"How, what plays out?"
The moment he noticed the Blonde standing beside him, Talio felt his patience wear thin. The familiar irritation bubbled up instantly. He swore loudly, deliberately drawing the attention of everyone nearby.
"Screw off, you blonde prick."
He stood up and walked away, deliberately bumping into Ari for the second time. This time, however, he put far more force into it, sending her stumbling and landing hard on her bottom.
Talio glanced down at her condescendingly and spat at her, then grabbed the archer girl by the hand and dragged her away to an empty section of the cavern.
The archer girl yanked her hand free and shot daggers at him, not that Talio could see it, but he could certainly feel it.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
'She really doesn't act like a noble at all.'
There was no point in hiding the truth. Lying would only strain their already fragile cooperation.
"I'm putting on an act. I'm trying to provoke the girls."
She raised her eyebrows at him, clearly skeptical, but ultimately sighed.
"That Ari girl is suspicious. The way she talks, it's confusing. It's like she knows what she wants to say but can't articulate it properly. It was even worse when she was explaining what happened to her group earlier."
Talio narrowed his eyes, a faint smile forming at the corner of his lips.
"Alright. Give me a second to do something to catch them in the act. Stay here."
She looked confused but nodded. Talio immediately turned and walked toward the creepy masked guy, whispering a few instructions to him. The masked man agreed without hesitation or question.
'He's way too weird for my liking… but for now, that doesn't matter. At this rate, we'll be stuck here forever if I don't act.'
On his way back, the Blonde stopped him. He opened his mouth to speak—
"I think you should eat some of the mushrooms. If you get past the texture, the taste is amazing."
The Blonde stared at him blankly. Talio only smiled, waved casually, and continued walking back toward the archer girl without looking back.
When he reached her, he grabbed her hand again and led her farther away, into a narrow stretch beyond the main cavern.
"You need to stop grabbing my arm whenever you feel like it."
Talio immediately let go, not a hint of embarrassment crossing his demeanor, a stark contrast to how he'd acted during the double date.
"We have a plan to follow. Sorry about that, but that's not our priority right now."
He unsheathed his sword and dragged the blade against the cavern wall, producing an ear-splitting screech that echoed uncomfortably through the tunnels. He sighed and whispered:
"Now we wait."
Eventually, Ari and Lexi both appeared. Talio smiled faintly. But before he could speak, Ari bowed slightly and spoke with a smile in her voice.
"Hello, my fellow infected."
Talio's eyes narrowed instantly. The archer girl looked at him in shock, her posture screaming for an explanation.
"First of all, I'm not infected. Second of all are you infected?"
Ari replied instantly.
"I'm not infected. However I'm quite sure you are."
Talio was genuinely confused now. Even without seeing expressions, he could usually tell when someone was lying but from what he could see Ari wasn't lying. Then a thought he'd had earlier resurfaced.
'Wait… did she actually do something like that? Also why can she speak so coherently now?'
Ari continued calmly.
"First of all, you're definitely face-blind in one way or another. I tested it myself after your interrogation with the Blonde. It's such a strange symptom for infection that it made me curious. But that alone didn't prove anything, maybe it was just trauma. However, after I saw you knocked out from eating mushrooms, I believed you weren't infected."
"You believed I wasn't infected?"
A gentle yet unsettling smile lingered on her face.
"You know, it's rude to interrupt someone while they're speaking."
Talio said nothing, so she continued.
"I approached you while you were unconscious and slit your hand."
A flicker of anger stirred within him, but he stayed silent.
"Even a small amount of exposed blood is enough for infection. I watched you after you woke up, nothing about you changed. Except when the ginger went crazy. You were pale then. Probably shocked by her power."
'What the hell is she talking about…? She's mistaken my expressions for something else.'
The archer girl stood frozen in disbelief. Lexi hid quietly behind Ari.
Talio finally spoke.
"If you really think I'm infected, why aren't you killing me?"
Ari hesitated, confused.
"Didn't the Queen tell you? If you truly don't know, it's because I signed a contract with her."
'Damn it. She really did.'
"What about your friend? And why would you sign a contract with a monster?"
Instead of answering, Ari drew a dagger and pointed it at Talio.
"You're not actually infected, are you?"
Talio smiled.
"It took you a while to catch on."
He glanced at the archer girl and gave a subtle signal. She nodded and fired an arrow toward the cavern, aimed towards the masked man.
Ari realized too late that she'd been trapped. Still, she smiled. She drove the dagger into her own heart and spoke to Lexi.
"It's all up to you."
Ari collapsed. An eerie smile spread across Lexi's face as Vis Mundana in the air began to warp. The archer girl stiffened in realization.
"Shit… this feeling. It's too familiar."
Bloodlust exploded from her.
"It's the same bastard who killed my group."
Talio sensed something go terribly wrong and tried to restrain her, but she was already lost to rage. He grabbed her arm then she lashed out instantly, ripping an arrow from her quiver and thrusting it toward his face.
Talio barely avoided it, but the arrow grazed him, carving a deep cut into his left cheek.
'Shit. This situation is fucked.'
It could have been manageable, if the archer girl weren't enraged. If the masked man had done his job, everything could've been explained. But...
'Life never goes as planned.'
The rest of the group arrived just in time to witness the archer girl smash Lexi's skull into the stone floor with brutal force.