Day 20

"...So Old Cornelius had this idea, so haywire we just had to go along with it," Bess explained with a smile that betrayed just how much she held in her laughter, "So the next night, the lot of us gathered together... We snuck into Farneshold. And then we robbed them right under theit monster slaying noses."
"You did WHAT!?" Thomas shrieked.
The orc hushed, "Ay, that man's out of his mind, ain't he? For a group of nobody outlaws to take on the foremost fortress in Orderdom, oneupping them right under their noses... That takes cajones to even think up, much less attempt. And among them, monsters, from right in the smack of their territory. Can you imagine the look on the castellan's face when she found out common monsters from neaby forests got their paws on one of their beloved relics, and they weren't able to do a thing about it...!"
"...I've spent some considerable time imagining that myself." Simon nodded approvingly, "I'm surprised you'd be staying around long enough to see what they'd do though. Surely you'd realise it was only a matter of time before they raked the forest clean of monsters over a prestige loss like that."

"Ay... That's what Old Cornelius told us to do." The smile of her constrained laughter disappeared, as she looked uncharacteristically serious, "But he wouldn't go with us. So none of us scrammed. All of us stood with him. Bandits who follow orders? Bah! Sometimes it's like he's living in his own dream world! No, the only way to earn the respect and loyalty of us outlaws, is to win over our heart and soul. And since he did no less than just that, thet hell we are gonna leave him to his devices."
"They all chose to stay? Not one of them were cowardly and self-serving?" Ofelia asked.
"Those cowardly and self-serving enough to leave, but not cowardly and self-serving enough to live on their own in unfamiliar territory, were few and far between indeed. Some were sitting on the fence, but were convinced to go along. One was caught taking a bagful of our well-earned loot for himself, for his new life on his own three towns over. Rest assured, he was dealt with accordingly. We ended up letting him go... Letting him go into a minotaur nest. With a red bullseye painted on his naked body. Getting one over on us? Bah! Think twice about that! Only one human woman decided to slip out into the night with dignity, leaving nothing behind her apart from a note. The rest of us? We stood by our leader!"
"Now that's the kind of loyalty one would rarely find but in the most renowned crew!" Thomas insisted.
"And yet it ended so sourly." Simon reminded them.
"Ay. " Bess nodded once, "The moment the dragon was spotted, Old Cornelius ordered us to run. This time, it was in such a voice that it couldn't possibly be refuted. Even if our minds were not seized by the terror at the sight of such a horrendous monster."
Thomas curled an eyebrow, "And yet he didn't see fit to himself flee the scene?"
"Clearly he stood behind in order to valiantly face the monster in combat." Simon said.
The orc snickered, "I wouldn't be surprized if that's what he wanted to do, nor would it not have been inconceivable that he would be the one emerging victorious. And yet, if there was any chance he would perish, which indeed must have been what ended up happening; when he could have escaped safely with bandits and friends, I could scarely imagine he would leave us on our own so callously."

Ofelia pinched her chin, "From everything you told me about him, it sounds like there must've been a good reason why he stayed behind..."
"More importantly," Simon chimed in, "The Order doesn't, and wouldn't, use monster girls for their operations. Even if they did, why use it to destroy the people they have been tasked to protect? They've engaged in scorched earth before, sure, but this would only serve to make the monster slayers appear incapable of protecting their ward."
"So, this dragon attack is incidental to your little scheme? Something that would end up happening regardless?" Thomas asked.
"Maybe," Ofelia said, "But I've got a feeling that this Cornelius fellah knew more than he let on. Who was he exactly? Where did he come from?"
Bess leaned back into her seat and grabbed her goblet, the guests around her following suit.
She shrugged, "Who knows? He sure didn't see fit to tell us. None of us cared about what manner of man he was in the past either. How one acts in the moment? That's all that matters! All I can say for sure is that he lived the life of a noble warrior, but not a noble warrior of the Order."
"Ah, so sort of like the fallen slayers, like Simon?" Thomas pointed out.
"They rarely move out unless a situation most dire presents itself," Simon said, "And the Fallen Temple appeared oblivious to any such development."
"That leaves us with warrior traditions from mamono friendly states..." The expression of confusion and concern disappeared, as clarity shone from Ofelia's face at that moment, along with worry, "Bess... What was it you got from Farneshold when you broke in?"
"The plan was to swipe a handful of relics from their keep, but this turned out easier said than done. Heck, we all scarcely made it back unscathed with a single relic to our name. Even so, Old Cornelius called it a resounding success." Bess took another glugg from her cup
Ofelia leaned her arms on the table, pushing herself forward to look Bess straight in the eyes, "Bess... We need to see this relic. It's a matter of life and ****."
Bess scratched the back of her head and chuckled, "Gosh... That's gonna be a bit difficult. See, Old Cornelius inisisted not to place it along with any of our regular treasure. Instead he went out of his way to find a special hiding place for it."
"In the village of Lugarell?" Ofelia asked.
"...Aye? For a stranger you certainly know a lot about our comings and goings."

"Now, forgive an old sailor his presumptiveness, but I must say it sounds like you've got an inkling of what's going on."
Ofelia sighed, "You could say that again. Sounds to me like Old Cornelius was a dragoon... A dragon rider. If I'm right, then that means the dragon may still be here. in Order territory."

The stage coach slowed down and stopped, as the last clop of the horses dragging it settled. The carriage found itself on snowy hill overlooking an eerily still, snow-covered village, split into two equal parts by a frozen river yet connected by a stone bridge. What might have been a beautiful, serene image a peaceful village in a winter landscape left an unpleasant taste in the mouth, as if the travellers really were looking past the glass of a snowglobe containing a simulacrum of a pleasant village, and were expected to call it the real deal. No people could be seen outside, only shimmering statues encased in blocks of ice, as if frozen in time for all eternity. Trapped in their frozen graves.
"I will take you here, but no further." The driver said to his passengers behind, "From now you are on your own."
The passengers, two men and one woman, left the carriage to alight.

The red haired woman walked to the very edge of the hill, as she strapped her sheathed rapier around her waist, standing with hands resting on hips to look at the sorry image before her; what was very evidently the corpse of a settlement.
"The reports do not do the horrors of the sight justice." The monster slayer affirmed.
"T'was a gruesome day." The driver said with a solemn voice, "The day when no man, woman or child was spared the wrath of monsters. Do what you will with the creatures culpable, slayer. It'll never be 'nough to do justice to what has come to pass."
"If I, by obliging my oath, can prevent this from ever happening again..." The monster slayer sighed, releasing a spray of vapour into the air which vanished the very moment it was created, "...Then I will have done enough."
The monster slayer handed the driver two silver specie, "Return here in two hours, and take us to Farneshold then. Before that you will need to take our luggage there and have the servants move them to our respective rooms. Is that clear?"
"Crystal." The driver wrapped his boney fingers around the coins. Wilmore opened the luggage and, his suitcase resting inside, removing from it a single briefcase which he placed neatly in the corner, and closed the big bag. Leo rummaged through his own oversized bag, tossing his various clothes left and right, before he picked his own briefcase from it and tossed it on the ground. He jammed all the clothes he pulled out back into the bag in a disorganized pile, and slammed the suitcase shut with a sweater sleeve sticking out from inside. He **** the cover down with his entire weight before shutting the locks of the bag, sighing from exertion.

After strapping the bag back to the ceiling, he stepped down and looked down on the village. He peeled his glasses from the ridge of his nose, and rubbed his eyes with his knuckles.
"Why... Wha... What's all this? This really was done by just one monster!?"
Wilmore snorted, "Do not underestimate the ruthless of monsters, friend. There are no lengths to which they will not go to achieve whatever twisted ambitions steer their hearts."
"Steel your hearts, gentlemen." Said Sarah, "You have a job to consider the facts, and work out the conclusion you can draw from them. If anyone has the job to feel the weight of sorrow on their hearts for the atrocities committed by monsters... Then that inenviable task falls on myself."

Overlooking the stage coach riding off from the hill were two individuals and a white reptillian beast, larger than any elephant, hidden among the vegetations, larger than any elephant.
The white monstrosity curled her long, slender neck as she snarled , shooting a freezing blast from her nostrils that turned the snow beneath her into crystaline ice that shimmered in the sun.
The female human, a lean woman with long, chestnut coloured hair and cute, bubbly face stroked the nose of the dragon.
"Easy there, girl" She said sympathetically as her male companion, a slender yet muscular middle aged man with unshaved face and long dark hair, sneered at her, "Your time will come very soon."