Ash, the old man, is now in front of us. It seems he followed us for a while.
"Since when have you been following us?" I ask.
"Answer my question and I will tell you. How is that girl?"
He is not budging.
"She is fine and safe." I give him the courtesy. "Now, answer."
"...fine." The old man surrenders. "Since before you entered the house. I wanted to see where you have Leiva, but then that explosion happened."
"What a creep." Aurelia comments.
Ash only gives him a side eye.
I have to agree, his behavior is creepy and odd.
"What is your relationship with her?" I can already take a guess.
"You don't care about that." Ash answers. "Take me to her."
"Forget it. She is safe, you will have to take my word if you are not going to tell me who you are."
I shake my head while denying him the possibility of going to see her.Idon't want to take a risk and put her in danger just because of his word alone.
"Fine... We will do it like that." Ash answers. "But you seem to have lost your biggest lead... Or are you going to throw the towel now?"
"What do you mean?"
"You have your reward already. That captain said it." Ash points to the soldiers that are leaving with the man under their custody. "Yet he seems to need to say a few more things."
Now that he mentions it...
I had the sensation that the captain was not allowing me to have a word with him.
The way the man seemed to believe he was saving people, how he seemed glad that we were alive.
"I will be sincere, Amber. This is just leaving a bad taste on my mouth." Aurelia answers.
"Me too..." I say. "And we still have many questions... Like what the fuck did we find under that house?"
"What did you find?" Ash asks.
I explain to him. I doubt for a moment if that was a good idea, but I decide to do it
"Do you know what Cemillas is?"
"Cemillas..." The old man starts to scratch his beard. "Hmmm... Yes. I heard some of the adventurers say something. Cemillas seems to be the name of a local dungeon that has not disappeared."
He seems cooperative. More than yesterday, anyway.
But then, if that is true, why was the name of a mysterious dungeon in that altar?
"Wasn't that dungeon causing trouble around here? Maybe it's time we hit another one!" Aurelia slams her fist in the palm of her hand.
"I just hope no more otherworldly creatures." I say, but I do feel the same.
I wanted to go down a few dungeons already. So this is the perfect excuse!
Whatever is happening in that structure must be the answer to what is happening here!
"I hope you are not going in unprepared." The man says. "I don't know how experienced you are with them, but you would be extremely stupid if you don't go with the right equipment."
"I am going!" Lisa says with her fists in front of her chest. "I-I know I am not that good in combat, but I want to help you!"
"I guess it was time to get on with some dungeon crawling. Maybe this time we are not dealing with those horrors from before."
"Okay we need to prepare ourselves and-"
Then, something smacks me in the forehead.
"Ouch!" I pressed my hands where I felt the hit of pain.
"You idiot! You still need to pay attention." The old man starts yelling at me. "You are still not done with what is going on in this town."
"Grrr... You don't have to tell me twice!" I growled at him while showing my teeth.
We need to go check that inn the man said and speak with the mayor. Whatever he left for us there, must be important supposing it is not a trap.
"And pay attention to that Oswald guy." He says.
"Huh? Why him?" Lisa asks, confused.
She missed the exchange we just had.
"He didn't want me to talk with that man."
"And there is more." He says. "Don't tell me you have not noticed he has been following you?"
"Huh?"
"Now that you mention it... What a weird coincidence that he appeared right when that explosion happened, and then there was the guy we have been chasing." Aurelia answers.
Ah... I didn't think about that.
"He was around the school yesterday." Ash comments. "You went directly to check on Leiva, and you probably missed him. I saw several guards and him, hidden around the building while you went inside, following her."
I...
That is suspicious. He was there?
I don't remember him. And the response from the guards took a while.
Can I take this man's words? Are they the truth?
I am not sure if I should trust him. But I find it weird that we found him right outside the house when the explosion happened.
...
He received us when we arrived with the Movers. I doubt he was waiting for us… maybe he was waiting for someone else?
"We are going to talk with the Mayor, then to that inn" I answer. "Then we are going to check in with our friend, the chicken guy."
"Go. I will meet you outside the jail."
I nod.
Ash starts running to follow the guards.
"Why the jail?" Karina asks.
"I have the feeling that if we don't do anything, the chicken guy will not be alive by tomorrow."
"Your suspicion is that they are going to kill him?" Aurelia asks.
"T-that is horrible! Shouldn't he have a fair trial?" Lisa asks.
The Federation holds fair trails, or as fair as you can expect from any type of trial. They believe you should be able to defend yourself.
But I don't think this is an execution.
He is going to be murdered.
******************************
The choice first was to make sure of something I needed to take care of first. So, we went first to the townhall.
When the entrance is in my line of view, I notice there are more guards than I remember the day I arrived.
...
Bad feeling.
"Halt! State your business!" One of the guards yells when we approach.
"I am here to collect a reward from the Mayor."
The guard looks at another that is near him. Then both take a step closer.
"We have a situation going on. Orders from the Mayor, no one can go in."
...
That is a fucking lie.
Either this is a setup from the mayor, or he is inside of the building, dead already.