Chapter LXXIII

  “But how can you know that?” Mira asks, speaking with a hint of surprise for the first time after hearing the necromancer’s decration about the so-called Codex.

  “Because I know,” the mage replies, without actually answering, only deepening the confusion.

  “But how can we trust you then?” Mira presses, clearly demonstrating her disbelief toward Nero.

  “And why should you trust me?” the mage responds, as if the question were incredibly foolish.

  Before anyone else can speak, the mage continues,

  “Look. I don’t need you to trust me. And honestly, having a bit of doubt would do you good,” he says, his gaze sweeping across the hunters in a way that Kina doubts anyone could misunderstand the meaning behind it.

  “That said, you mentioning the temple reminded me of something that might interest me. So I intend to go there. But don’t fool yourselves—I don’t need you to get there.” And with that, the necromancer falls silent.

  “Hey, didn’t you hear Ketan? We know where that pce is! And we’ve already got everything pnned,” decres the rgest of the hunters aggressively, clearly fed up with the mage’s attitude.

  The priests, in contrast, exchange uncertain gnces, unsure of what to do.

  Nero lets out a sigh murmuring softly, “Well, I suppose I owe you one.” Without wasting any time trying to expin anything, he turns toward Kina and yells loudly, “Grumpy, come here!”

  Turning around, Kina sees the dark-haired youth who accompanies the necromancer. He seems to have just finished dealing with the innkeeper and is now heading toward them.

  “Yes, yes, what is it?” the young man asks as he approaches.

  “Get the map,” commands the necromancer, pointing to the top of the table, where he clearly wants it id out.

  Still moving, Grumpy rummages through the pockets of his dark cloak until he signals he’s found what he’s looking for. Once next to the necromancer, he pulls out the map and starts unrolling it on the table.

  “I’ve sorted everything out with the innkeeper. Got everything we wanted…” he begins as he unrolls the map. “… Well, everything we wanted in terms of supplies. I also got your new coat. They’re gathering it all up to bring to us.”

  Grumpy looks pleased with his results, even smiling, as he follows the mage’s strange orders without compint—until he notices the necromancer’s very unamused expression. Then his smile quickly fades.

  Noticing this, Nero says, “Good work, Grumpy. Seems like this time the problem won’t be your fault.”

  Strangely, tension visibly leaves Grumpy’s body, as if he just narrowly avoided getting in trouble. However, a new tension returns as he studies the group around him, although he doesn’t seem to pay much attention to Kina.

  “Alright, since you know where it is, point out the location of the Path,” Nero says, gesturing to the opened map on the table.

  The two hunters exchange gnces, until Ketan says, “Your map isn’t very detailed. I don’t think it shows the mountains precisely.”

  Kina, gncing at the map, has to agree—it seems to cover the whole continent with little detail. But something tells her that’s not really the necromancer’s intention.

  “I don’t need details. A general area will do. Just point!” says the mage again, motioning toward the map. “Or can’t you?”

  Once more, the hunters exchange tense looks. And the hesitation itself says a lot, even if the confused priests don’t seem to notice.

  Finally, the rger hunter steps forward and pces his finger on the map at JustCraig’s Peak. “It’s around here—it’s only two days away, after all!”

  Kina has to respect the hunter’s quick thinking. His choice is reasonable and clever. But the necromancer is unimpressed. As the hunter steps back, Nero pces his own finger on the map—also on JustCraig’s Peak—then slowly drags it to the right, toward the interior of the continent. He stays within the pteau they’re currently on and stops at a mountain range that borders it.

  “I’d love to know how you pn to get here in two days,” the necromancer says with irony. “But if you think a sacred temple is conveniently lost next to a popur location… well, that’s up to you!”

  Kina nearly ughs at the hunters’ exchanged looks in response to his jab.

  But that’s not the end of it. The mage turns to the increasingly confused priests and speaks again.

  “Look, if you want to go with the group that just coincidentally knows a pce vaguely simir to your generic descriptions...”

  He pauses a moment, thinking, then continues.

  “Well, that’s your call. But really, you should understand—they’ve never set foot there.”

  Hearing this, the male priest starts nodding slowly, apparently convinced, and signals to his companion.

  “Look here, boy. I don’t like what you’re implying about us!” the rger hunter bursts out, angrily pcing a hand on his hunting knife.

  This sparks rising tension. The hunters at the other table also stand up.

  Kina decides it’s time to act and starts reaching for her throwing knives. Under normal conditions, her first targets would be the two hunters at the nearest table—not because of distance, but because she suspects they’re the most skilled fighters.

  But everything suggests they’re about to go for the necromancer—meaning they’ll be occupied. Instead, she targets the two closest hunters at the adjacent table. That way, their allies will have to move past two corpses to engage, at least a psychological blow to the less experienced.

  Before anything can start, a loud bang echoes through the room. Turning toward the sound, she sees the inn’s guard has just smmed his warhammer on the ground.

  Wisely, the guard says nothing. He just stares at everyone—his message clear: if trouble starts, he will step in. For her and the necromancer, that might mean little. But to the others…

  All the hunters await Keran’s decision. He surveys the situation carefully.

  Kina can almost hear his thoughts. First, he looks at the biggest threat—the guard and his hammer. Even if the guard is as inept as Kina suspects, that hammer could ruin someone’s day with a single lucky blow.

  That means the guard will require at least three men to handle—maybe even four, depending on their skill.

  That leaves five or six to deal with other threats. Which probably means her. He’s looking at her now, clearly wondering whether she’ll fight.

  If he has any brains, he’ll assume she will—why risk it? This leaves the question: how many men should he send after her?

  From the way he studies her, he likely considers her a threat—so at least two. That makes her smile because those are exactly the two she pns to kill first with her throwing knives. In a tavern full of tables and chairs, she can use her size and agility to create space, isote enemies, and kill them one-on-one. She’d never send fewer than five against herself. Even if all nine came at her, their odds wouldn’t be great, for them.

  Then there are the priests with whatever abilities they have. But they are a bit stunned and shouldn't be active in the quick fight Ketan must be hoping.

  So that leaves—at best—four men to deal with Nero and his companion. Easy fight, right?

  But as she watches him assess the necromancer, she sees hesitation. Nero is the calmest person in the entire tavern—and that means something, whether it’s insanity or terrifying skill. That must be the question tormenting Ketan.

  Suddenly, the tension shatters with a voice.

  “Hey, hey, calm down. Just rex,” says Grumpy, Nero’s companion, as he slowly starts collecting the map from the table.

  With the map in hand, he begins backing away cautiously, making sure to face the hunters so he can see their movements.

  “Everyone rex. No need to do anything rash. If you want to fight, go ahead—but don’t drag me into it, okay?”

  Everyone stares at him in disbelief—his cowardice is obvious. He appears ready to abandon his friend to fight alone.

  The reaction surprises Kina. If anyone else here knows this would be a massacre for the 'hunters,' it’s her and the necromancer—but also this guy. And still, he’s backing away.

  Then, while still retreating, he turns to the priests. “You two—come with me, slowly and calmly. You’re in the worst spot. The middle is the worst pce to be.”

  The two priests gnce at each other, confused, not understanding anything.

  “Trust me. You don’t want to be there when the fire show starts.” Grumpy says calmly—then adds a little urgency to his voice: “Move!!”

  They begin to follow, a bit disoriented. The absurdity of the situation leaves everyone frozen.

  As Grumpy backs up, he speaks sweetly to the necromancer.

  “Nero. I think you should remember that I bought the coat—but I don’t have it yet. Just something to consider before you destroy this inn.”

  The ridiculous comment even makes some of the hunters break their combat stances, staring in disbelief.

  Nero, meanwhile, gnces down at his clothes, then gres at his opponents with irritation—as if they had just offended him.

  Kina almost ughs. Yes, the necromancer is powerful. One of the fireballs he used against Figor’s forces could easily wipe out this inn.

  But surely, someone capable of such artillery magic has at least half a dozen lesser spells more suited to this scenario. No one would be crazy enough to use siege magic indoors—right???

  “You too. You’re standing too close.” Grumpy’s voice interrupts her thoughts. It takes her a moment to realize he’s talking to her. Making a chill run down her spine.

  As the two priests start moving away, Keran finally snaps out of it. “Whoa, whoa, hey. What do you think we’re gonna do?”

  Even the other hunters look confused as he continues, “If you don’t want to hire us, that’s fine. I think it’s a mistake—but it’s your choice.”

  Though his voice sounds calm, even pyful, Kina still sees the tension in his body—like a coiled snake.

  The other hunters hesitate but quickly follow his lead after a few sharp looks. They begin to leave the inn.

  “Considering the situation, I’ll leave the bill to you,” Ketan says to the priests on his way out. They nod in agreement.

  With the problem leaving, Kina moves quickly to approach the necromancer.

  “Seems like a fun little adventure. You don’t mind if my companions and I join your little expedition, do you?”

  “Girl, I already told you—I don’t want any new friends,” the necromancer answers brusquely.

  “Oh, come on. A few extra people to distract your new companions,” she says, nodding at the confused priests, “so they don’t ask too many questions.”

  Nero immediately gets her meaning. After all, it wouldn’t be ideal for even dense priests like these to discover his true nature.

  He narrows his eyes in irritation. “I knew it,” he mutters—which she takes as a yes.

  “Then I’ll go get my people,” she says, walking away. She’s not worried about the necromancer trying to escape—she knows where his camp is. And thanks to the circus with the map, she now has a good idea of their destination.

  So she leaves the inn somewhat cheerful. Her mission wasn’t a success, but it wasn’t a failure either. She’ll now have more time and opportunity to talk to the mage and try to extract information.

  Once far enough from the inn to be unseen, she’s immediately approached by her aides.

  “So, Kina—how’d it go?” Kan asks her.

  “Not too bad. I found out some things. But more importantly—we will have the opportunity to find out a lot more,” she replies confidently, all things considered.

  Pulling her hood back up, she decres:

  “But first… we have a small problem to solve.”