“I can take care of that for you,” Ven offered. “The process is fairly simple, but I can make use of my connections to get you in by this evening. Normally, you’d have to wait on a list and it could take anywhere from three to five days to get in.”

“That’d be great,” Ray replied. “We don’t have three to five days, I need to get in as soon as possible.”

Ven stood up and smoothed out the wrinkles on his cloak. He readjusted his mask and pulled back a few strands of blonde hair that were starting to peek out from underneath his dark cowl. Then he reached down and picked up the key off of the floor.

“I’ll take care of it, but I need to head out now to get you in by tonight.”

Ray nodded and rose to her feet. Helen and Kelsey followed and they moved toward the door.

“Is there a specific type of monster you want to hunt?” Helen asked.

“No, not really,” Ray said with a shake of her head. “It shouldn’t be too difficult, but we need justification for being outside of Cairel for about two days.”

Helen pursed her lips as she considered it.

Ven opened the door and then flinched.

“What about hunting a vampiric rabbit-bear…?” Helen started to ask.

She bumped into Ven’s back. Ray tried to peek over Ven’s shoulder to see why he had stopped. Raising up to the tip of her toes, she was barely able to see a familiar face waiting for them.

“Hey Astra, I thought you left?” Ray called out.

Helen froze, her eyes going wide with panic. “Did she overhear us?” the archer whispered frantically.

“How should I know?” Ray shrugged. “Is it a problem if she did? She helped us out, so she shouldn’t be a bad person.”

Helen let out a tired sigh. “You’re too trusting, Ray. When somebody offers you help, you should at least pause and consider ‘why’ they are helping you. Especially when you are in desperate need.”

“She’s right, and that includes when you know the person helping you,” Legion added.

Ray prodded Ven in the back and the masked rogue started moving forward again. After he moved through the doorway, she was able to get a clear view of Astra. She thought about what Helen and Legion had said and realized they were right. She had almost no idea who Astra Dunne was. The woman clearly worked for the adventurer’s guild, and the life insurance lady said she had an ‘esteemed position’ but was not the Guild Master.

Was she helping them on guild business? Or was it for a more personal reason?

Ven moved as if to walk by her without saying a word. Helen and Kelsey tried to follow and Ray shot a nervous look toward the woman watching them. Astra didn’t say a word as they walked past her and down the hall. Ray didn’t hear the clicking of high heels, meaning she wasn’t following them.

When they exited the stairway onto the main floor, several adventurers looked their way. Helen quickly strode over to the mission board and grabbed a piece of paper, and then the group of four left through the front door, ignoring the curious gazes on their backs.

Once they were outside, the fresh morning air rushed over them, sunlight reflecting off of glistening morning dew that layered the street lamps and the plants that some shops had in their windows. The faint trickling sound of water from the fountain in the center of the plaza underscored the hubbub of early morning traffic as farmers and merchants went about setting up stalls or delivering their wares.

Though it was still early, there were a lot of people moving about. There were adventurers moving to and from the guild, soldiers and guards making their early rounds, slaves performing tasks for their masters, and other normal citizens going about their business.

Ray raised an eyebrow when she noticed a tall, armored man calmly making his way through the crowd to the central edge of the plaza. To her eyes, his shoulders seemed stiff and heavy, and his confident gait looked forced.

“Isn’t that Edwin Weston?” Helen asked, pointing at the tall man.

Ven and Kelsey followed the direction she was pointing and noticed him as well.

“What do you think he’s doing?” Kelsey asked.

He reached the edge of the plaza and paused. They watched curiously as he took a deep breath before raising his arms. With a motion as if he was lifting something heavy, the stone beneath his feet slowly began to rise.

Many people stopped and stared at the man performing magic. Those who had urgent business continued to rush on their way, but there were dozens of people starting to gather around the makeshift stage Edwin was building.

As they watched, he raised the stone platform until it was over two meters high. The lone warrior stood on top, overlooking the throng of people gathering below him. His expression was cold and stiff. His blonde hair ruffled in the morning breeze, but he didn’t seem to care about the small strands fluttering in front of his face.

The shambling movements of the crowd, combined with the various conversations as people pointed at him and asked questions created a cacophony of unintelligible sounds, but Ray was able to pick out some lines from those who were closer to her.

“Isn’t that Edwin up there? What’s he doing?

“Is he going to speak to us?”

“Maybe he knows where the High Priestess went?”

Edwin Weston cast his gaze over the crowd. He seemed calm and collected, and a little bit angry as well. Ray had spoken with the silver-ranked warrior several times over the short time they spent together after their fight. He had seemed affable and easygoing then, but he seemed like a completely different person on the stage.

He raised a hand and the crowd gradually quieted to a low hum.

“Today, I am a messenger. As many of you have likely heard, my party and I recently accepted a request to subjugate a local tribe of goblins…”

The warrior recounted the tale, leaving out the exploits of Ray as per her request. He spun the tale as if the goblins had been abnormally strong and had managed to defeat a party of silver-rankers with the aid of a new god.

“This new god, Legion, holds my life hostage. He entrusted me with a message to deliver to you. He has declared himself as the God of War, the God of Harmony, the God of Freedom, and the God of Monsters!”

Edwin paused and the crowd shifted. Ray examined the faces she could see and hid a smile. Most of the people looked scared or worried, though some people had oddly amused expressions. They probably thought this was a prank or something. However, nobody dared to speak out. The implication that a god was watching over this speech was enough to make the most determined heckler hesitate.

Apparently, there was a history of Overseers smiting people who angered them. When the warrior had expressed his concerns to Ray, Legion had promised not to smite anybody in the crowd if they did heckle, but he also predicted that nobody would bother him during the speech. She relayed the message, but Edwin had still seemed a little worried.

After a few minutes into the speech, with no hecklers or divine smitings in sight, Edwin’s shoulders visibly relaxed.

He hesitated briefly before delivering his next lines.

“He has declared that he will stand on the side of all who are oppressed, and he will fight against slavery, persecution, and the slaughter of innocents. His final message that he has tasked me to share with all of you is that he desires to bring harmony to this world. He desired all who are called ‘monsters’ to come unto him and he will fight for you and he will perform miracles on your behalf!”

With that final declaration, Edwin waved his hand, and the stone platform sunk back into the ground. He took a thundering step forward, the ground around him seeming to rumble as cracks spread out from the impact. He launched himself up and over the crowd and landed in the entrance to a dark alleyway before promptly disappearing into the backstreets.

Ray revealed a wide smile as she chuckled to herself. She examined the reactions of the people around her. Most of the humans were still in shock. Those who had looked amused started to laugh nervously, but she could see the fear in their eyes.

“I have to give credit where it’s due, he put more effort into that than I was expecting.”

Ray nodded in agreement.

“Look at the reactions of the slaves.”

She turned her eyes toward the large, craggy frames of the trolls, the green skin of the orcs, and the animalistic beastkin. She found that they were secretly hiding around the outskirts of the crowd amongst crates and barrels along the side of the street and in alleyways. There were a few slaves moving around, translating the message into Orcish for those who didn’t understand English very well. It wouldn’t take long for most of the slaves in Cairel to hear the message.

Each slave reacted differently, but many of their faces lit up when they heard the translated declaration.

What happened in the goblin camp gave her insight into the plight of all monsters, and also taught her what the solution was. These people needed Legion, just like the goblins needed Legion, and just like she needed Legion. They needed someone who would be there for them, help and support them, and show them the correct path.

When their plan succeeded, she would be able to give them the hope that they were promised in Edwin’s speech. To make their plan succeed, she needed to meet with the duke.

She turned to address her friends and noticed that all three of them were still staring at the alleyway where Edwin had disappeared. “You guys okay?” she asked.

Kelsey and Ven jumped, startled.

Helen calmly met her eyes. “You didn’t mention that Edwin was on this new god’s side,” she observed.

Ray shook her head. “He’s not. Legion cursed him and ordered him to deliver that message. Under normal circumstances, I don’t think Edwin would ever consider going against the official stance of the Adventurer’s Guild.”

“So, Legion threatened him into subservience?” Ven clarified.

“You could think of it that way,” Kelsey interjected. “But you have to remember that Edwin was massacring Legion’s followers. I don’t think there is anything wrong with a god cursing those who harm his children.”

Ven and Helen stared at Kelsey for several seconds and the priestess started to blush crimson.

“What? Do you think I’m wrong?” she challenged.

They shook their heads. “I just didn’t expect a priestess of another church to be the one to say that,” Helen replied.

Kelsey snickered. “It’s because I’m a priestess that I can think that way. There are four gods and they don’t always agree on everything. This isn’t the first time a god has cursed another god’s follower, and it won’t be the last. The gods are great and all-powerful beings, but they are also our creators who love and protect us.”

“Bullshit,” Ven muttered so quietly that only Ray heard it with her superhuman hearing.

She glanced at the masked rogue curiously but decided to ignore it for now because there were other things that demanded her attention. With a clap of her hands, she drew their focus back to her. “Ven, can you still set up that meeting with the duke for tonight?” she asked.

He nodded. “Easily. I will go set that up for you now. Where should I look for you after?”

Ray tilted her head. She hadn’t thought about what to do in the meantime. She could go and train, or… well, there wasn’t anything else that she did for fun. She always spent most of her spare time practicing magic or swinging her weapons.

“Do you want to eat lunch at my place?” Kelsey asked.

“...huh?” Ray’s mind went blank.

The priestess smiled. “We’re friends, right? You can meet my siblings, and it’ll be a good place for you to lie low while you wait.”

Ray stared at her friend in shock for a few seconds, and Kelsey’s smile started to twist.

“If you don’t want to come, you don’t have to…” she muttered.

Nobody had ever invited Ray to their house before. Though to be fair, her only other friend was Lexi, and the former slave girl didn’t have a house anymore. A brilliant smile formed on her face as she gladly accepted the invitation. “Yes, I definitely want to go!” she half-shouted, drawing some attention from nearby people in the dispersing crowd.

“Shhhh,” Kelsey shushed her with a finger over her lips. “There’s no need to be so loud. It’s just lunch…”

Ray ignored her as she bounced on the tips of her toes. Her eyes were lit up with anticipation, and she was determined that there was nobody who would be able to take this from her.

Helen observed them with a faint smile before dismissing herself. “I’ll take my leave here then. I need to prepare some things before we head out tonight.”

“What kinds of things?” Ray asked, curious.

Helen shrugged. “Oh, you know. Potions, clothes, tents, explosives. The usual.”

Ray nodded in understanding. Those were all useful things for exploring and hunting monsters. The archer seemed to know what she was doing.

“I’ll visit Kelsey’s place to deliver the time of your meeting,” Ven said. “If you leave before I visit, leave a note so that I can find you.”

“Sure thing,” Ray replied. “Do we all know where we’re going then?”

With four nods, they separated into three groups. Helen headed toward the west side of town, Ven moved toward the cathedral, while Kelsey guided Ray toward the east side.

There was a slight skip in Ray’s step as she followed the young priestess through the crowded streets. Her jaw quivered with giddiness.

For the first time in her short life, she was invited to a friend’s house!