“So... the villagers all mentioned the same thing? About that sleeping beast in the mausoleum?” Rai asked the group for confirmation.

“Yep. They all said the same thing.” Sin replied.

“That’s worrying...”

“Hang on.” Feris said. “Did any one of them fuckers say anything else about the beast? Other than the rumbling at night?”

There was no reply.

They’d all heard the same thing, that there was a beast that slept in the mausoleum, and that the ground rumbled with such a strength that the whole village could hear it whenever they went to sleep. But not a single villager that they’d spoken to said anything else about it.

“Then that makes this a bit more difficult.” Rai said. “If we know there’s rumbling, but not that there’s actually a beast... then we’ll have to be on the lookout when we enter the House of the Brave tomorrow.

Was there anything else that the villagers mentioned about that place?”

“Those old hags wouldn’t stop yapping about the shitty undead! ‘The undead do this, the undead do that, the undead shat all over my dumbfuck flower farm!’ old bastards.”

“Wonderful, thank you for your input Feris. Does anyone else have any useful information?”

“Fuck you, monkey bitch.”

“Well, I heard something.” Came a voice from the back of the room.

Everyone turned in mild surprise to Hiron. Everyone else was sitting down in a circle in Rai and Sin’s room, but Hiron was stood against the wall near the door, alone.

“What’d you find, Hiron?” Rai asked him.

“This old farmer guy. He reeked of peasan-...” Hiron stopped himself, and cleared his throat. “Ahem. He talked about the undead getting more and more restless lately. The old man’s farm wasn’t too far out from the House, so he saw them every day. Normally, he said, the undead stay in the bounds of the House. They never step outside it. But one morning... he found an undead woman stood outside his doorway.

He also said something that made me think about it...”

“... About what? Tell us.”

Hiron looked at Rai, contemplating whether or not to actually bother.

“... Fine. He said that she seemed weaker and less energetic than the undead that mindlessly roamed around the House. When he opened the door, she was just stood there for a solid few moments. Then for no apparent reason, she just left and returned to the House. The farmer watched her go back, and said that she seemed a lot faster when she was back in the House’s immediate vicinity.

Now... this made me think. We know there’s a lich nearby. What if the lich was using the natural undead for its own experiments?”

“No fucking way...” Maya muttered under her breath.

The archaeology society shared her sentiment.

Hiron had a very clear and poignant point. There was a real possibility that the lich spotted in the area was trying to use the undead in some way, and that the changing behaviour in the undead that Hiron found out about was possibly related to the lich’s work, supporting his theory.

Rai thought about it for a moment. He knew Hiron wouldn’t bring something like this up without believing in it.

“Then... if we kill the lich, will the undead go back to normal?” Lina asked. She hadn’t spoken much this whole time until now.

“There’s no way to know. But... we might be lucky that we’re here before the lich was able to put its plans into proper action.” Rai said.

“Lucky?” Amy questioned. “We can’t kill a lich, Rai! The headmaster came with us specifically because that’s his duty. If they sent him, then what hope do we have against one?”

“We killed a leviathan.” Rai replied, confidently. “Who’s to say we can’t kill a lich?”

“You clearly know nothing about liches.” Tullian said. “They’re more powerful than all of us combined. A lich is only a lich because they were once a person that dabbled in black magic. Black magic is a lot more dangerous than you’d think, you know? It’s a shortcut to power, but at the cost of your soul. Liches are on the middle point of that scale... they are unbelievably powerful and command the undead, but they still contain part of the person’s soul. If a lich has settled here... then we’re going to need the headmaster’s help.”

Silence followed Tullian’s heavy words.

“Unless...” He added softly. “Unless that lich was early in its development. Then... maybe...” Tullian trailed off.

He sounded like he knew a lot more than he was letting on, Rai noticed.

“We can’t call for him since he’s off tracking down the lich in the area, so we’ll just have to hope he shows up... Besides, how do you know this much about liches?” He asked.

“... My mother had to kill one of her husbands before he became a lich himself.” Tullian answered.

It was like a cannon fired right there in the room. Tullian’s understanding was personal. To a devastating degree.

“Then... let’s avoid it.” Sin said.

“How are we supposed to do that?” Amy asked. “A lich can supposedly see through the eyes of the undead they spawned, so it would know we’re there once we step foot in the place... I think we should just avoid the lower floors, since that’s probably where it’s based. Let’s have faith in the headmaster’s ability and that he’ll show up there to exorcise it, then we can explore the lower levels after.”

“I’m not opposed to that plan.” Sin said. “If you all believe that the lich is too much for us to handle, then let’s have a vote. Raise your hand if you think we should avoid the lower floors and stick to the main part of the House for the expedition tomorrow.”

Sin was the first to raise her hand. She wanted to fight the lich, but she also knew the value of prioritisation. Sin wasn’t here to fight something, but to learn as much as she could about a civilisation long passed. This was to be an educational expedition, not a combat one. But a part of her secretly wanted to fight the lich, very much so.

Amy raised her hand after. Lina did the same. Tullian followed, then Hiron, then Feris, then Maya.

The one person that didn’t raise their hand was Rai.

“... Majority rules then.” He said. “We’ll avoid the lower levels and work our way around the House.

Did anyone find a layout of the House from the villagers? So far, we don’t know how the place looks on the inside.”

“I didn’t.” Sin replied.

“Me neither.” Hiron added.

“I didn’t either.” Feris said.

The others hadn’t seen or heard anything about the building’s layout either.

“Looks like we’re going in blind then.” Rai said. “Depending on how many ways there are for us to go, we’ll have to work it out when we’re there.

Alright, that’ll do for info gathering. Let’s all get a good night’s rest and be ready for the expedition tomorrow early in the morning.”

With that, the archaeology society said goodnight, and split off into their separate rooms.

After they all left, Rai and Sin collapsed in bed together.

“That was tiring.” Rai said.

“You did well, I think. The whole thing with Tullian, thankfully, seems to be dying down.”

“I’m glad he spoke up about the lich. I wouldn’t have known much about them otherwise.”

“They’re not in any of my bestiaries, so I wouldn’t have known either. It’s good he mentioned it. Amy seemed to know a little about it too.”

“The others seemed pretty satisfied with the outcome of the day though. Minus Hiron, of course. He doesn’t really care about much of this, which I completely understand. Besides him though, we got to learn a bit about the House before we go in, so it doesn’t feel like we’re going in completely blind at least.”

“Yeah. The info seems like it’ll be useful too, which is probably a good thing.”

“... By the way... why did you vote to stay on the upper floors?”

“That’s simple. We’re not here to fight. We’re here to learn what we can about the civilisation that used to live here ages ago. As much as I want to test myself against a Lich, that is.”

“You know... I happen to have a technique that nullifies magic.”

“That’s... a good point. But we can’t have you using it around the others...”

“I don’t plan to. But if an opportunity arises... then we’ll just have to see what happens, won’t we?” He said with a wink.

Sin giggled, and smiled at him.

“Just... be safe, okay? Antithesis will give you a good shot, but you don’t have to be a hero.”

“I know I’m not a hero.” Rai said seriously. “Liches abuse the dead, and I hate that with all of my being. That’s all there is to it.”

“That’s one thing I’ll always respect about you. Your love for life is so beautiful, Rai.”

“Not as beautiful as you.”

“Mm. C’mere.”

Sin smooched Rai, before they both cuddled to sleep.

These sleeping arrangements ended up working out well for them, as the blankets were thin, and they kept each other warm with their body heat.

The members of the society that slept alone on their single beds did not sleep well.