Confused, then concerned

Oliver looked to Natalia questioningly while getting down and embracing Silvia. "What does that mean?"

Grutrod had a serious expression, "Judgin' by the lass' reaction, somethin' bad."

I felt like an odd one out, but Natalia responded before I could ask anything about Silvia. "It means that some magical event has caused an immense change, and that the forest is about to become a hotspot of monsters and dungeons." Silvia sobbed harder into Oliver's shoulder.

I didn't want to ask why this was affecting her so much, it felt insensitive. However, Grutrod answered the unspoken question, "She's from this forest, a long ways away, but still. It's 'er 'ome."

I gave a solemn nod, "My deepest condolences then."

She turned to me in a pause in her sobs, "You're a priest, you can purify it, right? You can fix it?"

The rest of the party was taken aback, Oliver looked to her. "Are you certain you want him to do something like that? You met him two days ago."

She looked past him at me, glaring into my eyes with determination, "If he can do it, I don't care."

I shook my head slowly, "I am sorry, something to the scale that has been stated is beyond me." 'Not to mention it is my own power, but I should definitely not bring that up right now.'

A look of anger overtook her, and she struggled to get out of Olivers embrace to come towards me, "You overcame the curse of a high tier monster, but you can't dispel some mana? How dare you! I know you're lying to me! You just aren't helping because-"

Grutrod interrupted her with a firm voice, "That's enough, lassie." He turned to me, appraising me for a few moments before turning back to her with a sorrowful look. "We both know that priests can be limited, and clearly 'is lord has the power of growth, meanin' that stoppin' it would be extraordinarily out of his skillset. This ain't something he could deal with, for all we know if 'eh tried 'is god'd kill 'em."

Silvia returned to sobbing into Olivers shoulder, and I took a step back. Noone broke the somewhat silence, the only sound ringing out being the young(?) elf's cries. It remained that way for a long while until it seemed that she had run out of tears, simply leaning into Oliver breathing heavily.

She sat back up and quickly stood in a single move, somewhat startling me. She had a serious expression on her face as she spoke in a somewhat trembling tone, "Well, then we should get ahead of this."

Natalia grabbed my arm to lift herself up before addressing Silvia in a concerned tone, "What are you talking about?"

Silvia's determined look only further cemented itself as she answered, "If this forest and the creatures within are about to start growing, then we need to take out the ones that are already dangerous before they get out of hand."

Oliver began to speak against the idea, but Grutrod grunted to quiet him down, "Although I'd much rather wait 'till there's an actual request teh do somethin' like that, I do agree with the point. If we let them get stronger, we won't be able teh handle 'em when they attack."

Oliver gave a look over to me, and I gave a confident shrug in response, "I can lend my support if this is what you wish to do." Grutrod and Oliver began to speak in opposition, but I raised my hand. "I was unable to prevent the main disaster, the least I can do to help you and the people of Wodegta, not to mention whoever else would be affected, is deal with the symptoms."

With that, the plan was sealed. The four of them made a plan of what they were going to do. Apparently, there was some monster they had a running grudge against, and they decided that this would be the time they handled it once and for all. I was looking forward to seeing and facing a creature that this party had fought to a standstill on multiple occasions, perhaps if I played my cards right, I could have another attempt at my ritual.

As we began to leave the clearing, we sorted into a line of sorts. Grutrod was at the front, with Silvia just behind him guiding us through the forest. Oliver was behind them, standing guard at the ready in the center of the party. Natalia was next, and I was last due to a mixture of my physical strength as well as just being the odd one out of their normal party formation.

After we had been walking for awhile, Natalia began to slow down a bit, tugging on my arm after she was beside me for us to slow down a bit. I complied, giving her a quizzical look. Once we were a good way away, she whispered, "There's something I need to talk to you about."