Capítulo 72: - The Shadows of the Starting Line
The night was quiet and cold, and the sleep Lia desperately wished would come quickly, easing her mind as it pounded against her skull, evading her like a rabbit to a hunter.
It was a sleepless night for her, as she constantly fiddled with the rune circle etched like a brand, charred flesh marking its place on the back side of her hand.
Her mind wandered and wavered, her sleep still evaded her, and no amount of time that passed with her eyes closed could stop that.
This was they're last night here, in the inn, and she could only guess that the people of this town would treat her the same. The same as the restless innkeeper who argued with Rian about staying one more night, though it was written in their policy, the innkeeper refused to relent. The fight was still vivid in her head even hours later.
However, as she struggled to sleep, two doors down from her room, a man stood motionless in the center of a wide open room, the bed unmade, the windows thrown open, and the curtains falling to the floor.
Cain watched the world outside the window with little interest as his eyes passed between the body on the floor, cold and motionless, as it had been for hours. He waited, and waited, and waited until it felt like the night would soon leave him, the moon falling closer to the mountain's ridge.
But still, he stood there, unmoving, his mind wandering.
Finally, a man appeared in the window, crouched and quiet, his presence almost unnoticeable to the human eye.
Except to Cain that is.
"Kal. You're late."
The man nodded his head, apologizing for the late arrival.
"Never mind."
He sighed, crossing his arms and deep in thought.
"The Phantoms' presence here is almost gone. No doubt they've seen something amiss with their little friend here."
Kal dropped to the ground, his ears open to Cain's words as he checked the cloak of the dead woman - the same Phantom woman that Cain had killed earlier that morning. Katlina.
Finally, satisfied after taking a small slip of paper out from the cloak, Kal spoke, his voice soft and quiet, just like an assassin.
"Then I presume this matter is settled?"
"No."
Cain shook his head, his eyes passing through the open window once again, as he scratched his chin.
"I doubt the Phantoms will leave something like this alone for long. Possibly, they're preparing something behind the scenes."
"Possibly?"
Cain shook his head , sighing as he locked eyes with his friend. A loyal friend.
"The girl and her actions have somewhat…changed the fate I've foreseen. I still have a general idea of what's to come, and I only need a day of focus to see all the details and their possibilities."
Kal was hesitant, knowing Cain would never leave himself vulnerable, but the question still bugged him.
"But?"
Cain paid no heed to it, much to Kal's relief.
"But…The future is changing too much. Perhaps this girl is a double edged sword - something I have not yet foreseen."
"Would that be bad for you?"
"Normally no. However, considering my knowledge of the future, and the events that are yet to come, I know that she will one day rely on this skill from me."
He grew silent as his mind dwelled deep in thought, images of the past flashing over him of other summoners he led through battle before.
"But I fear that if she continues changing it so much with her actions, I may be without that knowledge she will so desperately seek."
"Then why not start limiting her growth. If it is as you have said, Lia will grow and become stronger, but if she continues to do so, her future will change too much. Much more for you to see."
Cain shook his head again, throwing out Kal's assumption.
"It doesn't matter if she gets stronger or not. She's just naturally attuned to mess with my foresight. How - I don't know. But perhaps this is just something she was naturally born with. I've just written it off as one of her perks."
"Perks?"
Kal questioned, unable to see the beauty in the lack of foresight, as it has helped Cain achieve many things with his past summoners.
However, Cain shook his head, unwilling to go any further in his explanation.
"Never mind that. What have you found?"
He asked, gesturing to the slip of paper Kal pulled from the dead corpse.
Cain knew Kal wouldn't understand the pain of knowing everything that is to come, both future and past tense. Doing so would mean that you would always be ready, prepared, and all knowing.
And for Kal, who cared only for the advantage in battle, he would never understand. His logic was too strong for that.
Though it wasn't the cause for Cain's vast knowledge, it was the cause for his mass boredom, as nothing truly surprised him any more.
But with this - this blur he was seeing, he could now enjoy the element of surprise for one in his long life. And he had only Lia to thank for this, as she was somehow contributing to this blur he was seeing.
Kal passed over the slip of paper, snapping Cain from his thoughts.
Unfolding it, he was met with a rather blunt and short report, something the girl - Katlina must have been retrieving when she left her room for the night, only to come back in the wee hours of the morning to find Cain in her room waiting.
'So unlucky, the little girl.'
He thought as his eyes passed over the dead corpse, whom he had no remorse for.
'Harm her, and death is a mercy I give only once.'
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K, I have heard word. Don't dally and delay. Hurry. Time is little, and we've lost too much of it already. Plant the seed where it is needed, and let our recipe and hard work flourish.
- G
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As his eyes read over the small words, both blunt and short, he couldn't help but frown in confusion.
'K - I can guess that meant Katlina, the girl. G must be her superior, or rather, the man behind all this.'
But what Cain couldn't figure out was the 'seed' they were speaking of. At first he thought this was talk of the Soul Stone he had found within the fortress, the same one contributing to the horde of goblins that threatened Lia's safety.
However, he soon crossed that idea off the list.
'Katlina must have received this letter when she left the night before. But Lia was already back in the town by then, or at most getting close. Even so, the goblin raid was over, so why is this 'G' person asking her to plant a seed that's already been planted?'
One thing stood out to Cain, and he instantly recognized the feeling.
Anxiousness.
The time was off.
'They're up to something. But what?'
He knew there was something going on, something that could potentially harm Lia if it reached her, but if that was the case, why were they still planning this out.
In his mind, these Phantom's would have assumed their 'Goblin King' plan had worked, and Lia would be dead. So why plan for something that would contribute nothing to killing her.
Unless…
'Are they after me?'
He didn't finish the thought as he handed back the letter to Kal, and gestured to the body.
"Get rid of it. I don't want Lia in any more of this mess than she already is."
"What about the Phantoms? Should I keep an eye on them?"
Cain shrugged, already deep in thought.
"If you can find them, by all means. But for now , keep a low profile. I've supplied Lia with another summons in the case that one of us is too busy to help her. However…"
His eyes were instinctively drawn to the window again, as a nagging feeling he knew well haunted him.
"...first I want you to follow the eyes that have been watching us. Quickly."
In a blur and with a gust of wind, Kal disappeared from the room, body in tow, as Cain caught sight of his body zooming over the rooftops, chasing after their eavesdropper.
One thought passed between his mind, as he felt the cold wind of the evening brush against his warm skin.
'She's already moving. It's time we move as well.'
***
The morning after was somewhat slow for Lia and her group. As Rian and Lukali stayed behind to pack up the rest of their things, Lia, who was finished already, decided to head out to the Hunter's Post to get word to Randolph.
Even though he had said previously that this was alright, Lia couldn't let go of her manners, and for that matter, headed off first thing in the morning to go see him.
When she arrived however, she was somewhat surprised.
Lines and lines of Hunters waited outside the Post, some Hunters on the ground readying their gear, others sharpening their weapons - swords, and spears. Axes and arrows.
The whole place looked like a war camp.
Stopping a nearby Post worker, Lia calmly asked him in a short, and quickly question, noticing the man was busy.
"Excuse me. Do you know where Randolph is?"
The young man seemed somewhat surprised that Lia was asking for directions, as he had no doubt been running errands all morning considering he looked exhausted.
"He's inside with Carlena, the receptionist master. They're discussing something important, so just a heads up, try not to disturb them."
And with that he was off, clutching the dozen or so papers in his arms.
"Thank you."
She called after him, before heading inside, dodging a few bodies and rushed past her in the opposite direction.
Like the young man said, the Hunter's Post was busy as Lia had seen it, even busier on the inside than the outside.
Near the counter, positioned in the corner of the Post unlike before, Lia found Randolph and Carlena balancing between a dozen or so people who argued with them. Several other Post workers were beside them helping out, though they hardly did anything but make a small dent in the numbers.
She patiently waited by the wall, hoping the numbers would thin out so she could speak to Randolph, knowing that it was best to wait her turn.
However , she didn't need to wait long as Carlena soon spotted her, and nudged Randoph in her direction.
"Lia."
He called out to her, leaving the packed numbers of Hunters at the mercy of Carlena who looked just about ready to turn the table over with their arguing.
"Randolph. You look tired…and busy."
"Huh? oh, right. It's been a busy morning."
"If you're that busy, I can come back later?"
"Huh? Oh, no that's alright. It's just normal Post working stuff, and I doubt those Hunters will last long against Carlena."
He laughed, scratching the back of his head, secretly thanking the gods that Lia showed up to give him a break from the crowds of people.
"What's the big rush all about?"
She asked, looking over the huge number of Hunters, a number she didn't think occupied the city.
"Oh, that. We've been organizing some groups to go after the stray goblins that might have escaped the fortress, and well…"
He shrugged when he saw the sheer numbers of people, all crowding around tables and chairs, desks and counters, all hoping for a chance they knew would come.
"A few goblins did all this?"
"Well, no. It's what we found while going after these goblins - who are quite vicious little buggers - that we found something else. Apparently the number of monsters in the forest has nearly doubled. And after checking it out late last night, a Post worker reported that they've already tripled their numbers."
He looked at Lia with a worried look in his eyes, the care for the city he loved taking hold of him.
"We've never seen something like this before, so everyone's a bit on edge. Hunters who've been stationed here live here, and are just passing through all want a chance at this fame, but…"
"But?"
"Well, at the moment we're not sure we can take in so many orders. Actually, no, that's a lie. We're fine taking this many people on, it's just that we might not have enough gold in reserves to pay everyone for the kills."
He sighed deeply, this morning's exhaustion taking over him.
"It's been one hell of a morning."
Lia smiled, knowing that Randolph was tired, but still he persisted.
Seeing that was busy, she decided to get straight to the point.
"Anyways, I'm here about that offer you've given me."
"Offer? Oh, that one."
He suddenly remembered the offer to board Lia up in the Post if she ran into any trouble with her current innkeeper.
However, his face soon turned sour as he frowned deeply.
Seeing this, Lia got worried, and quickly backtracked away.
"It-It's okay if you don't have room. We can find somewhere else to -"
"No that's not it."
Randolph stopped Lia and calmly explained the situation to her.
"Most Hunters here are either living in the city, or are passing through. We don't normally take up board with someone or their group, unless they're on Post business. That being said, seeing as though you're being investigated by both us and the city - curse Kara - any problems you have in room and living expenses should be covered by us, seeing as though we were the ones to start the investigation."
Lia found herself satisfied with the answer, thankful that she wasn't causing Randolph any trouble. However, that feeling soon faded away as her mind crossed over a fleeting thought, a question lingering in her mind.
"Then what's with the look?"
Randolph sighed deeply, rubbing his palm against his forehead.
"I just didn't think this would happen so quickly, seeing as the investigation only started, what two days ago? Kara certainly has a lot of dirty ways of getting things done."
He shook his head, a pounding headache already beginning to form.
"It may take awhile for us to officially register you here as your temporary living space, seeing as we've got all these people…"
A Post worker called out to Randolph from the counter, being overwhelmed and calling for help.
"I'm coming, damn it!"
He sighed again, this time reflecting his numerous hours of work, and exhaustion he had faced, since possibly early in the morning.
"This day is turning to sh*t and over again."
Lia felt bad about Randolph and Carlena, seeing as they had both helped her very much and had even stood up for her against Kara.
She felt she had to do something.
"What types of people are coming through looking for work?"
"Oh, just the normal type. Groups and parties looking to make a name for themselves in the town."
"So outsiders."
"Hm?"
Randolph seems surprised by the assumption, but when he thought about it, it did make a lot of sense. Most of the people here were from outside the city, and those who lived within the walls were a lot more held back in their request for work.
'They must think all they have to do is just wait. Then when all this dies down, everything will go back to normal.'
"Yeah, I guess you could say that. Most of them just want fame. They think they can make a name for themselves."
Lia smiled, a sight Randolph caught but wasn't surprised by.
"You have a plan don't you."
Her smile deepened as she looked up to Randolph, and locked eyes with him.
"I guess you could say that."
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A/N: I will be taking a break from December 25th to January 2nd in order to spend time with my family and friends for the Holidays.
I wish you all the best of Holidays, and we will return soon. I have several chapters already ready.
Enjoy.
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