“I do, in fact, know exactly what is going on,” Ven answered.

Three pairs of eyes settled on him and demanded an explanation. Ven shrugged off their gazes and strode and sat down. He folded his arms and rested his feet with his ankles crossed on the table. Small flecks of mud sprinkled off the soles of his black boots and decorated the wooden surface.

“I don’t think he’s going to tell us,” Kelsey observed.

Helen let out an exasperated sigh. “It’s supposed to be difficult to get access to a consultation room, and I’ve never heard of someone being allowed to use one for a private conversation.”

Her eyes probed Ven for answers, but he said nothing. His silver mask and all-black attire revealed very little, so the girls had no choice but to give up until he felt like answering their questions.

They moved to sit down at the table, and then remembered that there were only two more chairs.

“You can go ahead and sit,” Helen said to the other two.

Ray grabbed a chair and plopped into it before realizing that Kelsey hadn’t followed suit. She shot a questioning gaze toward the priestess. Kelsey shifted uncomfortably.

“Are you sure?” She shot the masked rogue a pointed look. “Or maybe someone could give up their seat for a girl?”

Ven met her eyes and revealed a lazy grin. “Chivalry is dead.”

Helen raised an eyebrow while Kelsey’s face flushed crimson. She looked like she was going to blow a fuse but Helen placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

“I’m fine. Go ahead and take the seat.”

Kelsey huffed but acquiesced. She took the final seat and the group finally returned to their original conversation.

“Alright, what were you about to tell us before?” Helen asked, looking at Ray.

Ray took a second to gather her thoughts before continuing where she left off. “You were asking how three silver-ranked adventurers were killed by goblins,” she recalled.

Helen nodded and leaned against the desk. She tapped her finger as she expressed her thoughts out loud. “That’s right. It doesn’t make sense, no matter how I think about it. They did say there was an assassin at the level of a High Templar there, and the Shaman was probably more powerful than that... but they were silvers.”

Ray revealed a smirk. “Well, their deaths weren’t exactly conventional. I killed them.”

The tapping stopped. Kelsey and Helen stared at her with wide eyes and even Ven seemed surprised. His head turned toward her, his strange silver mask reflecting the dim light from the lantern above their heads.

“Wha…” Helen coughed out. “Why would you do that? And why are you telling us?”

“Good questions,” Ray nodded. “That’s where the situation gets really complicated.”

“You need our help,” Kelsey observed. “There’s no other reason to tell us this. Something outside of your expectations happened.”

Ray shook her head. “I wouldn't say things are entirely out of our expectations yet, but, as I said, things have gotten complicated. I have to ask for help because tonight marks five days after some goblins that I know happened to get killed.”

“Five days…” Kelsey muttered. “Why would that…” She clenched her teeth as she realized what was going on. “You don’t mean…?”

Ray confirmed her guess. “Sometime today, there will be goblins respawning in the temple.”

Ven dropped his feet to the floor and sat up in his chair. He leaned forward and clenched the rim of the table. The wood splintered and molded around his fingers.

Ray examined the indentation before turning her attention to the masked boy. He was quivering so much that the cuffs of his robes fluttered. The icy blue eyes just visible behind the slits of his silver mask shook as he opened his mouth and spoke in a low, trembling voice.

“Do you understand the implications of what you just said?”

Ray shook her head. “I don’t really understand everything, I’m just the messenger.”

He paused. “Messenger?”

Ray nodded and motioned for him to take a seat again.

He complied, though he sat tensely on the edge of his seat.

“The reason the adventurers lost was because a new god intervened in the fight,” Ray continued. “This god called himself Legion and declared that he would accept monsters.”

“By the goddess…” Helen muttered in shock.

“I don’t believe you,” Ven challenged. “There’s no way that a god of monsters would appear after all this time.”

“I heard his voice myself,” Ray shot back. “Edwin should be reporting it to the guild as we speak. This will likely become common knowledge over the next few days.”

“You said you heard his voice?” Kelsey asked, the corners of her lips tilting up.

Ray fought the urge to smile, but the corners of her mouth twitched as well. “I did.”

“What did he say?” the priestess asked.

Ray tilted her head as she recalled the message. It helped that the god himself was there to remind her if she made any mistakes but she remembered it word-for-word.

“Tell the world that there is a new god. Tell them that I am the God of War, the God of Harmony, and the God of Freedom. Tell them that I have taken it upon myself to be the god of all those who are oppressed and persecuted. Tell them that I will not stand for slavery, persecution of races, or the slaughter of innocents. Tell them that I will bring harmony to this world. Other gods have dubbed the non-human species as ‘monsters’. We will embrace that title and turn it against them. If these races are to be known as ‘monsters’ then tell all who hear my call to come unto me! Tell them that I am Legion, God of Monsters!”

Ven leaned forward until his mask was resting in his hands with his elbows on his knees. Kelsey’s eyes took on a dangerous light while Helen took a moment to chew on the words.

“No way…” Ven groaned. “After all this time, why now?”

“This is a really big deal,” Helen said at the same time.

“That’s an understatement,” Kelsey said. “But Ray, what exactly do you need our help with?”

Ray shrugged. “I need some advice from people who know the system. I’m thinking the goblins will be either captured or enslaved, but I can’t guarantee anything. No matter what, those goblins can’t die again for about a week.”

“So you need information about the slave system, as well as a method to protect the goblins for a few days?” Kelsey checked.

Helen frowned, her soft brown hair bobbing as she shook her head. “Under normal circumstances, I’d be jumping at the opportunity to help you out. Aren’t you worried that your god will excommunicate you if you get involved?”

“As expected, they didn’t make the connection. Tell the truth without revealing that you’re working with me.”

Ray decided to follow Legion’s advice and shook her head. “I’m not worried about it. I stayed in the goblin camp for a night and nothing happened.” Then she donned a hesitant expression.

“Your acting still sucks…”

“That’s why I don’t want to get you guys too involved. I just need advice and information. If there is an organization that controls the slave trade, I need to know who runs it and where I can find them and their products.”

Helen wavered under Ray’s pleading gaze. She clenched her fists and bit her lip, her indecisiveness facilitating a civil war between reason and friendship. She wavered under Ray’s pleading gaze.

“I’ll tell you,” Ven interrupted.

Helen flinched at the sudden, unexpected rescue. She looked down, refusing to meet Ray’s eyes as a drop of blood formed on her lip.

Ray thought to say something but Ven continued his explanation, so she set the thought aside.

“The four churches facilitate the slave trade. All proceeds go toward funding their growth and operations, including charity work, military operations, and proselytizing. In Cairel, the central figure behind the trade was Lady Eileen Vanis as the High Priestess of the local temple. However, as you likely know, she has been missing for two days. If she isn’t found, the new High Priestess will take charge of both the temple and the slave trade.”

Ray froze, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly open. “Sister Eileen was behind it? And she’s missing now?”

Ven nodded in affirmation. “So you didn’t know? Lord Maxwell Rovar, his guard Siegfried Lancaster, and Archmage Quincy Rambalt are all missing as well. There are some conspiracy theories that they all left together, but nobody is certain. A lot of people are afraid that this is some sort of preliminary attack by the United Federation.”

Ray recalled how desperately Max had tried to persuade her to stay in Cairel. He said she had to be in town. Was that a call for help? Did she damn her mentors by leaving to help Lexi and the goblin converts? Her heart started racing. What if she had stayed? Would they still be here? What if...

“Maybe, maybe not,” Legion interjected. “You didn’t know the future and even now you don’t know the details behind what happened. You should save your guilt and ‘what ifs’ until you have a reason to feel guilty.”

She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm her thundering heart. Once her breathing was stable, and her mind was clearer, she opened her eyes.

Helen and Kelsey were looking at her with concern.

“Conspiracy theories aside,” she continued as if nothing had happened. “If the leader of the slave market in Cairel disappeared, that means this is the perfect opportunity to rescue the goblins. If the townspeople are distracted and we move fast enough, couldn’t we get them out?”

Ven shook his head, the cowl of his cloak ruffling with the motion. “Depending on the method you use, you might say that it would be easier, but ‘easier’ and ‘easy’ are not the same thing. You still have to get an undisclosed number of goblins through an entire town of people who will either attack them on sight or otherwise draw attention to you.”

He was right. That was an impossible task.

Ray scowled. “Do you have any suggestions then?”

Ven nodded. “Consult Duke Jantzen and ask him to liberate them. If you gain his permission, there isn’t a single guard in this place that will try to stop you.”

“Jantzen?” Ray spat out, her voice twisting over the dirty syllables. “Is he by chance…”

“He’s Jantzen’s father,” Helen supplied. “He’s considered peculiar among noble circles because he is known to have held conversations with monsters. There was a rumor going around a few years ago that Prince Douglas sent the duke out here to reduce the number of conflicts on the border, though it’s just speculation. Nobody has ever actually seen him negotiating with monsters.”

“Do you think he would listen if I brought this issue to him?”

Helen nodded without hesitation. “I’ve spoken with him a number of times, and I can promise that he will listen, at the very least. I don’t know if he will choose to help you, but he is a decent man, and he has pride in his personal definition of nobility.”

“What do you think?” she asked.

She felt Legion sigh.

“It’s unfortunate that he’s the father of the man you and Lexi butchered, but he probably doesn’t know about your involvement. If they are telling the truth, it might be a good idea to get his help. You should approach carefully and feel out the situation first.”

Turning to face the other two girls, Ray voiced a suggestion. “Kelsey, Helen, since you don’t want to get involved anymore, why don’t you go look for a subjugation mission? Preferably one where we can leave the town tomorrow morning. If our trainers are gone, we need to find another way to get stronger. ”

Kelsey raised an eyebrow at the suggestion. “Why a subjugation mission instead of more training?”

Ray smiled, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. She clasped her hands in front of her mouth as she answered to hide her fangs that revealed themselves. “I’m tired of losing fights. I want real combat experience.”

The priestess pursed her lips as she took in the answer and then sighed. She reached out and grabbed Helen by the wrist, pulling the archer up with her. “We’ll take a look,” Kelsey said. “I’ll go with you this time too, but I’m still not interested in becoming an actual adventurer. You’ll need to find someone else to go out and kill monsters with you in the future.”

“Thank you.” Turning back to face Ven, Ray leaned forward. “So, how do I set up an audience with the duke?”