Return to town.

It takes some time to traverse the forest back to the village of Gobiidae, but thankfully there's nothing the exhausted Grenmila can do as she hangs over Niki's left shoulder like a child. Zido follows behind and remains uncharacteristically quiet the entire trip. While the day may have been tiring, your party specifically is in high spirits. You managed to escape a caved-in dungeon, catch a pixie artificer, and defeat a spy. Though, you can't help but think about those two ALICEs. If Elok Daven has his own army of battle maiden robots, that doesn't bode well.

Additionally, Niki carries a bag filled with the remaining scraps of Elder Wood. It seems the weight doesn't affect her much. While you're not certain if that'll help Laira with her creation or not, it seems to be a rare and valuable resource you wouldn't have otherwise obtained without destroying an Elder Tree. You might be the Demon King of this region, but that would be pretty evil to do.

"Can I come out yet?" Fava grumbles. She tries to flutter her wings, but she's firmly wedged.

Eva looks down at her chest. "Stop that! It tickles. And we can't trust you yet. Remember, you tried to kill us with a big golem, and then you strapped Niki to a board and made us play a weird game."

"It was all a joke! And the golem wouldn't have killed you. I was testing to see if you were worth my time."

"That doesn't sound much better."

Fava puffs out her cheek. She wiggles a little more, but then out of frustration, she reaches down and drags her tongue over the skin of Eva's cleavage like a child would do to someone's hand over their mouth.

"Ew!" Eva shouts. "Fine!" She then plucks the pixie from her bosom and allows her to take flight once again.

She stretches her wings, her arms, her legs--it's been awhile since she was placed there. "Finally. Listen, I'm not so stupid to think I'd be able to for sure escape from you guys. I know you're frustrated with me, but... well, when you've been out here long enough on your own, it gets a little lonely, you know? And boring. I like being a hermit, but I also like having people to test my inventions."

Niki glares up at her. "Well, try to fly off now, and I'll snipe you down with the magic of my shield. We'll see how well you can fly with that rushing through your body."

Her cheeks turn pink. "What kind of threat is that?!" She hangs her head. "But I'll be good."

The distant murmurs of voices become evermore present as Gobiidae comes into view.

You spot Hartmut and his son Tedrick on the street ahead. It's little Teddy who sees your group before anyone else, and bolts from his father's presence to rush over towards you. He looks worried at first, but when he sees where his son is heading, his fears do rest.

"You're back!" the boy cheers. "You're all dressed different."

"Yeah. Formal time was over. We had some butts to kick," you say.

He giggles. "Wow. You're so cool. And the girls with you are always so pretty," he says with colour in his face.

Amara smiles sweetly. "Aw. That is so kind."

As Hartmut follows him over with Ramon slowly coming as well, he widens his eyes and picks up his pace. "Grenmila!" he calls out. "What happened? Is she hurt?"

Niki lifts her up and tosses her to the ground at their feet. "I hope so."

"Excuse me?" Ramon looks perplexed and disgusted. "How dare--" Then his eyes turn to Peony and he scowls. "You. Do you have any idea how long I was stuck there before somebody found me?"

Peony presses her finger against her cheek. "Oopsies."

Before things can escalate more, you step forwards and bluntly state, "Grenmila was a spy."

"A spy?" Hartmut asks.

"For another Demon King. William Cresswell, a human like me, but far southwest of here. It turns out she was watching us, using your town as a base and an alibi. The reason she wanted Peony to stay behind was so she wouldn't be caught trapping us in the dungeon. It was also her who poisoned and killed the Elder Tree deep in the woods. Something that did protect these lands."

"... Is that true? An Elder Tree is what brought us such good fortune against monsters in the past?" Hartmut looks to Ramon.

The lord slowly nods. "I reckon so. While I didn't know for certain, I had heard stories."

"But how can we believe this tale?"

Zido steps up beside you. "It's true."