82 Conspiracy’s Business

While Snowman was busy worrying about how to clean this up, Teta and Lat were flying up above the town. Teta waved at Lat, signaling him to go down and investigate while he flies around to survey the damage.

Lat grimaced at that, irritated that the imp that constantly antagonized him was suddenly taking charge. But he knew that he wasn't the...quickest thinker when it came to tactics, so he swallowed down his disgust and descended. Besides, his small wings were tired and sore, so it's not like he did it because Teta *told* him to.

The weak yellow light faded as his feet touched ground before walking towards the doorway where the leader still stood. He was a tall man, with an intimidating face that had a nice little smile. Lat found it creepy.

"Uh, so, ya mind telling me what happened here?"

"On what basis are you qualified to know?" Lat reacted by fishing around in his pockets before pulling out his dog tags, pointing at them sheepishly. The tall cult leader's face darkened, but he still held on to his smile. His lips were simply tighter than the relaxedness they portrayed earlier.

"My name is Shret. This is my cult. A heretic stole our special item...you wouldn't happen to know what it is, do you?" Shret's form seemed to grow even taller as he towered over Lat. Creepy.

"Um oh would ya look at the time? I need to get to investigating more suspicious peeps, yer clearly a victim. Bye!" Lat dashed off as quick as his feet could carry him and disappeared from Shret's sight. The man mumbled a bit before going back into the broken house, his tail thrashing against the ground as he walked.

"Woo- someone's impatient. Sounds like a guilty mind if you ask me, heh." Teta heard it all while flying above the house, circling around it slowly in an attempt to not draw attention due to the noise his wings made as they flapped. Drifting along the air currents, he held his hand up to his eye to focus on the damages.

"Rough markings on the ground carried with a strong pressure...prolly wind. Though what I don't like is that oddly straight trail on the ground...doesn't match spell casting. Could be shape casting..?"

He suddenly heard the man speak again, almost mockingly. Although Teta regarded it as bait, he would still follow the order Alban gave him. It was time to listen to whatever information he could get, beggars couldn't be choosers after all.

"We were supposed to get it a week ago, and he was the one who helped bring it in. Still, he must've lost it...hahaha." Teta was uninterested after that, as all the monster did was laugh. For a whole entire five minutes. Staying around didn't appear to be productive, so the imp flew up even higher to look for his boss.

"Shit, I should probably look for that bastard little lizard huh. His wings are like the size of my hands..." He quickly found him and swooped down like a harpy, clenching the gheckla by the arm with his lower claws.

"What the hell, man! Did ya even fi-" He headed to the area he saw Alban at earlier hurriedly, roughly dropping Lat onto the ground before making his own landing.

"Oh, you two. Did you get anything?" Alban sounded a little bit livelier than before, which Teta immediately picked up on. Setting his posture upright with his fist held over his heart, he gave everything he saw and heard while looking at the surroundings.

"The guy you were chasing used wind, and you prolly got to him already seeing as there's markings of it on the ground. Apparently they ordered something a week ago, too."

Lat rubbed his back while casting angry glances towards Teta, who in turn pretended to be completely oblivious. Clearing his throat, he soon gave what he had to offer as well.

"The er priest or whatever called him a traitor. And he was super suspicious, so!"

"That is enough. I will be making a report, let us now return." Snowman's voice was perceived by all as she made her statement, to which the three nodded in silence. Snowman's head pointed straight at Alban for a second, before she turned and pushed a brick on the wall once again. The four left the town through the hole, just as they had entered.

As the group walked through the plains, Alban scrutinized the state of his body. He could tell that it would take a longer time than usual to regenerate the wounds, mainly because he felt more energy than usual rush to his neck. It seemed like something was gathering there, though he couldn't make out whatever change it was...

Though he had to admit that the skills from Macabre Artist were a bit handier than he had supposed. Art Gallery was more like an ultimate than anything, and he admitted to himself that he would have to explore the other skills as well. He then redirected his attention to the plains and walked obediently towards the barracks.

Meanwhile, Teta was staring at Alban's wounds. He had once thought that his boss was the strongest, though he grew out of it when he hit tier 3. Though he was at least determined to see his boss become the strongest, and he held onto the notion that he could do it too. Examining his damaged body though, it was apparent to Teta that he would have to do his best to support him.

The silence lasted until they arrived back at their room in the barracks. Snowman stood at the doorway, not accompanying them into the space.

"I will be making my report now. You may have free time to practice, though I ask you to not leave this room. Thank you."

Alban nodded at her and pulled up his panels, quickly finding the Quest gacha. It was time to pull some more quests.

—-

"Snowman, would you care to tell me what happened? You know I hate incompetent assholes, and you're only here because you're the best lump of shit we have to offer out here." The rude voice belonged to Dresden, as the two stood in a secluded area of the forest.

Snowman clenched her hands behind her back before letting go. Taking a second to call her mind, she persevered as she had always done. It was her job to withstand things like this, and she had gotten used to it after years of the same things everyday. 'This is not enough to sway me' she told herself. She told herself repeatedly until she believed it before talking.

"We have found suspicious cult activity, and an artifact may be involved."

"Ha, did I tell you to add your opinion?? Arrogant, are we? WELL?!"

"..."

"Well well well, you didn't fall for it. Good. You know what'll happen if you disobey. A job will probably be assigned to you tomorrow, you are dismissed. Buh-bye."

Dresden's form wavered before fading completely. Snowman stood around for a couple of moments, before looking towards the sky. It was a nice red night out, she thought.