Red hesitated and looked around. “We shouldn’t speak about this here.”

It didn’t seem like anyone was paying attention to their conversation, but the boy would rather not risk it.

Narcha grunted. “Let’s go back to the tent, then.”

“No.” the boy shook his head. “Let’s talk somewhere else.”

The woman frowned in suspicion. “Why?”

“Because I don’t want the others to hear our conversation.”

Narcha looked taken aback by his sincere response. Still, this only made her gaze more wary.

Red, however, stared back at her with his impassive and cold gaze, giving nothing away. A few seconds later, the woman nodded with some reluctance.

“Fine.” she said. “But this better be worth keeping from the others.”

Red nodded and led her away from the working soldiers. Only when he was at a rather isolated part of the fort and was sure no one was spying on them did the boy stop walking and look back at Narcha.

“So, what is it you wanted to tell me?” The woman asked with impatience.

“I met someone.” Red said.

The woman’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “Met who?”

“Our invisible guest from the meeting with the Baron.”

Red felt the woman’s fluctuation stir, although her emotional reaction was evident in her expression.

She paused for a moment, as if considering her words. “… Who is it, then?”

“A cultivator from the Crystal Sky Sect.” Red said.

Another wave of surprised passed by Narcha’s face, stronger this time. “Are they here to help us with the horde?”

Red nodded. “More or less. However, they also need my help.”

“Huh?” Narcha seemed confused. “How so?”

“They confirmed there is someone behind this horde, like we theorized earlier.” the boy said. “However, that person is using some special methods to hide themselves from this cultivator’s senses. That is where they need my help.”

The woman had an expression of realization. “They know about your powers?”

Red sighed. “They know more than just about my powers. I can’t tell how long they’ve been spying on me, but they saw the technique I used to get rid of your ghosts.”

Narcha’s face fell. “That… Are you aware of how much danger you might be in because of that?”

“I am completely aware.” the boy nodded. “Yet they told me they wouldn’t tell anyone about it and I find myself with no choice but to help them with this task, for all our sakes.”

“Do you trust their words?” The woman seemed skeptical.

“Absolutely not.” he shook his head. “However, they also told me some compromising information about them as a way to make me trust them, or so they claimed. I know not whether to trust them with it, but even if they were lying about it, this could still be a huge scandal to their sect’s image if it was to be revealed.”

Narcha frowned. “Are you not worried they will silence us after the fact to keep that information hidden?”

“That would be even worse for them, as the only way they would be able to keep their actions a secret was if they killed everyone in the fort.” Red said. “Not to mention, Hector is still out there, and even without him, we have someone in our midst with deep connections to the survivors of the Ocean Bearer’s Sect.”

The woman sighed. “Allen.”

Red nodded. “Indeed. We know his parents were important people in their sect, and I can’t imagine the death of their child or their master would be ignored by the survivors... Still, this is all just speculation. At the end of the day, this invisible individual can kill us all on a whim, which is why no matter how many assurances they give us, we can never truly trust them.”

Narcha looked extremely conflicted at this revelation. “Why are you telling me this? Why not let the others know as well?”

“Did you come here at Eiwin’s prompting?” Red responded with a question of his own.

The woman hesitated, but nodded. “She suspects you’re going to do something reckless and sent me to investigate. I couldn’t find you, though, so I just decided to wait by the tent.”

The boy nodded. “Then I need you to convince her otherwise, so I may act without issues tomorrow.”

Narcha frowned. “What are you planning on doing?”

“Something reckless.”

She glared at him. “And I’m supposed to just go along with that and lie to her? Why can’t we help?”

“You wouldn’t be able to help even if you wanted to.” Red said. “Besides, I’ll have my own personal protection. They won’t let me die as long as I have a use for them - that much I know for certain.”

“This is still too risky!” Narcha seemed unconvinced. “You’re still just playing with your life right now!”

“You’re right.” the boy didn’t deny her claims. “Which is why we need to inform the people back in town about what’s happening, too. That way, this information won’t die here with us, and we’ll have a guarantee for our safety.”

“That is a good idea, but our talismans… Wait!” her eyes widened in realization. “We can ask Orvin for his talismans!”

“Indeed.” Red nodded. “That’s where you come in. I imagine Eiwin is going to suggest sending someone to speak to Orvin about this exact matter, but I presume she’s going to do it herself. You need to insist on going in her stead and convince Orvin about this yourself.”

“This…” Narcha had a troubled expression. “You want me to convince both of them?”

“It shouldn’t be a problem to convince Orvin. You have more than enough justification in Hector’s disappearance to speak with our sect members still in town. The hard part will be to convince Eiwin, but even if you make her suspicious, it’s fine as long as you can accomplish what I asked of you.”

“This all seems… So elaborate.” she hesitated. “I’m not even that good at lying! Eiwin will see through me easily! What if she insists on it?!”

Red paused in thought. “You’re still feeling the effects of your possession, right?”

“This…” Narcha looked reluctant to speak about it.

“We do not need to talk about this right now if you’re up to it.” Red cut her off. “All that matters is that you can use it as an excuse. Here is what you should say…”

…

Ten minutes later, Red and Narcha returned to the tent.

“Finally!” Rimold threw his hands up in relief. “I thought we would be waiting here all night for you two!”

Narcha glared at him. “Don’t blame me! It was the kid who was taking his time!”

The rogue snorted and looked over at Red. “What were you even doing out there?”

The boy shook his head. “Just taking care of some matters.”

Rimold frowned in suspicion, but seeing that no one else seemed to mind Red’s behavior, he decided to let it go. He had learned over the past six months that the boy was full of mysteries and it was pointless to go digging into them.

The rogue looked over at Eiwin. “Can we start now?”

“Sure.” Eiwin nodded after giving a deep look at Red and Narcha. “We can discuss our strategies for tomorrow’s battle.”

The soldiers had brought along a few bed rolls and chairs to the tent, so the group sat around the room in various positions as they discussed their course of action. Unfortunately, there was not much to discuss about their battle plans that was not already said in the meeting with Captain Orvin.

They already knew their formations and each other’s combat style, but they didn’t really know what to expect from their enemy any longer. Red and his companions presumed the Baron would be the one to deal with the wolf tomorrow, and some of them even hoped for their elder’s return before then. However, before the time of battle came, the preparations they could arrange would be kept to a minimum.

Then the only thing they could plan for was their possible retreat and as the topic went in that direction, it was only a matter of time before someone raised the subject Red and Narcha were waiting for.

“Can’t we use Orvin’s talismans to communicate with our sect?” Rimold asked. “Ours might not be working, but we already saw he has a straight communication channel to the Baron.”

“I was thinking about that myself, but I thought it was better to approach the Captain about it at another time, when Gustav’s bodyguards were not in the room, more specifically.” Eiwin said. “We need to inform Master Domeron and Master Goulth about the developments out here. They need to be prepared for the worst.”

“Let me go talk to Captain Orvin about it.” Narcha suddenly interjected.

“You want to go talk to him about it?” Eiwin seemed shocked.

“What of it?” The warrior frowned.

Rimold snorted. “Didn’t you and Orvin almost come to blows countless times back in town? If we send you to speak to him, we will probably be denied!”

Narcha didn’t respond, instead looking away with a troubled expression, as if she wanted to say something, but was hesitant to do it.

Red held his breath in expectation. Now was the moment of truth.

Eiwin, of course, immediately picked up on Narcha’s expression. She frowned. “Why do you wish to speak with Captain Orvin?”

The warrior hesitated. Red thought that her gaze was about to wander to him and give it all away, but she held herself back in the end.

Narcha gritted her teeth. “I don’t want to speak with that damn old man! I just want to speak to Domeron and Goulth!”

“Speak about what?” Allen asked with genuine curiosity.

The warrior didn’t respond, looking away again an irritated expression.

Eiwin sighed. “You can go and report back to our sect if you want to, Miss Valt. Who does the talking doesn’t matter and if you want to ask something personal to the masters, then you may feel free to do so. That being said, are you certain you can convince Captain Orvin about this?”

“The old man might hate her guts, but he’s not one to put personal feeling in front of doing his job.” Rog said, scratching his beard. “She should be fine.”

The younger woman nodded. “You’re right. In which case, there is truly nothing for us to concern ourselves about… However, are you sure everything is fine, Miss Valt?”

Eiwin tried to probe her companion in a tactful way.

Narcha looked irritated. “I said it’s fine! I just need to ask them something!”

Eiwin seemed surprised at her outburst, but she just nodded. “Fine. Then go ahead - we will be waiting for you.”

Narcha left the tent with hurried steps, her anger being genuine as far as Red could tell. The woman didn’t like being interrogated or probed in front of everyone, so it stood to reason something like this would anger her. It all played to the benefit of the boy’s plans.

Rimold shook his head as he watched her leave. “This is a horrible idea.”

No one responded, and the group waited in silence for her return.

…

It came half an hour later.

Narcha flipped the tent’s flap up and entered their room. The woman looked far more relaxed than she was when she first left, but that was not saying much.

Immediately, everyone’s gazes turned to her.

“Did you speak with them?” Allen asked in eagerness. “What did they say?”

“I did speak with them, but…” Narcha hesitated.

Red’s heart skipped a beat. Did something go wrong with their plan?

“But what?” Allen urged her on.

“Domeron just said that Hector is definitely not dead, and there’s no way a monster or cultivator below the Spirit Core Realm could kill him.” Narcha said.

There was silence in the room.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Rimold frowned. “If he’s still alive, why hasn’t he come back to us or even attempted communication?”

“It means he is either wounded or just biding his time.” Red suggested, looking over at Narcha with a meaningful gaze. “In which case, we should do the same and wait, right?”

The warrior nodded back. “That is what Domeron said.”

Red felt relieved. With that, the boy’s plan succeeded without issues and he had another guarantee that the cultivator wouldn’t kill him after everything was said and done.

This, however, was the simple part. Now came the part where Red was supposed to approach a Greater Ring Realm monster without dying.