Chapter 37: Hideout

"I'm not in the habit of training Princess'." Valentus dismissed. Lucia followed him persistently.

"Sword Saint! I didn't ask you to train a princess. I asked you to train a knight of the Empire." Lucia returned.

"I won't have much time to spend on you," Valentus remarked sternly. " We still need to track down Albaric and the other members of the court."

"I won't ask you to treat me differently than the rest of the knights. Just give me a chance. All I know is how to fight. It's the only thing I know I can do well. "

"Fine but don't expect me to go easy on you just because you're a royal."

"I wouldn't expect any less."

-----------------------------------

Lucia's training with the Sword Saint began with an unceremonious defeat. She knew she had no chance but she had tried anyway. The Sword Saint's mana was like nothing Lucia had ever seen. Of course, she knew he was the sword Saint for a reason. However, attacking him was like trying to cut through a brick wall with a butter knife.

Day after day, Lucia trained relentlessly with the Sword Saint. The rest of the time was spent either fortifying the door or chasing leads to find the missing court members. Lucia gave herself over to the training. While she tried to clear her mind of all the things weighing on her, inevitably she found herself returning to the same topic.

  Lucia had one thing on her mind. That was Clover. Seeing Clover day in and day out, the questions only grew.

She recalled their last meeting. " What if I told you there was a door in Ramelle and  I knew how to open it?"Clover had said these words to Lucia.

If the demons want the door open and they don't care which, it would make sense to encourage as many people as possible to open them. Was Clover a demon?

But, It didn't make sense. If Clover was working against them, why work so hard to close the door in the Empire? Moreover, Clover wouldn't try to have Lucia killed if the aim was for her to open the door. Although as Lucia recalled, the demon hadn't actually tried to kill her. It was more like he was using her as bait for someone else. 

Still, If Leila was telling the truth, Lucia should have been killed. Laurence clearly wanted her dead. Yet the demon had not killed her. Maybe the demons were making their own moves?

Finally, Lucia decided to confront Clover. The opportunity came when a new lead was brought to the group. Some of the family members of the missing court had arrived at the Capital. They had demanded to see their loved ones. The court gave a suspicious story about a monster attack.

Apparently, the members of the court were kidnapped by demons. At first, it seemed like just another lie. However, The demon Neri had been spotted on the outskirts of the Capital. The Sword Saint's knights tracked him down to a deserted mine to the East. There wasn't time to waste. 

A team was assembled. Lucia and Clover were to lead a team down into the shaft to find out if the members of the court were being held down there.  The instructions were just to scout not to engage if any demons were present. 

Lucia was surprised to find Clover was accompanying her. Clover had been mostly based at the door or the tower for the past few months. However, once Lucia had been selected to lead the mission, Clover insisted on going too. Lucia wondered why Clover had volunteered out of the blue. 

She decided to interrogate Clover the first chance she got. They trotted out of Fraxinus Great wood. Lucia came up level with Clover. The rest of the men remained a distance behind. Lucia felt confident they wouldn't be able to hear the conversation. As she approached, Clover turned to her with a smile.

"I'm so happy we get to spend some time together," Clover beamed. "It feels like lately, we hardly get to talk. The Sword Saint is so hard to please!"

"Yet, you choose to stay." Lucia pointed out. "We all do, I suppose." She added trying to soften her words.

Clover didn't appear to be shaken by the words. Pulling their head back, Clover opened their mouth to yawn.

"Yes. That's right. We all have a role to play," Clover exhaled sleepily.

Lucia resolved to go straight for the heart of the matter. In truth, despite her reservations, she still considered Clover a friend. She hoped she was wrong. 

"What exactly is your role in all this, Clover?" Lucia asked point-blank.

The question seemed to take Clover by surprise. They didn't answer straight away. The corner of Clover's mouth trembled with an unknown expression. Appearing to recover, Clover's eyes returned Lucia's firm gaze. Her green eyes rested on Clover's face searchingly.

"Am I still a hindrance to you? You want to get rid of me?" Clover replied. Their voice wavered noticeably. Clover looked to Lucia with watery, pink eyes.

"That's not what I asked." Lucia returned. 

"I don't know what you're asking," Clover responded stubbornly. Their expression changed from the usual smile and their eyes focused tentatively ahead.

"Why did you tell me about the door in Ramelle?" Lucia continued. 

Clover turned back abruptly to Lucia. Their brows were furrowed. Clover met Lucia's eyes brazenly.

"Isn't that what you wanted?" Clover said with rising agitation. "A way to get revenge?"

"Yes, but how did you know about it?" 

"I told you before, Lucia. I just know these things, okay?!" Clover replied, wounded. "Why do you always need a reason for everything? It's not fair to ask when you don't tell."

" I've never hidden anything from you. " Lucia retorted.

"Then the Prince, tell me you aren't in love with him." Clover jabbed. "Tell me he isn't the reason why you're asking this. One moment,  you're bent on revenge the next you want to save the Empire. Aren't you too greedy? You can't have everything."

"What does that have to do with..." Lucia started.

"Just answer," Clover interject. "What's more important? Him or your revenge?"

"I want to save him," Lucia answered reluctantly. Clover's eye twitched.

"I knew it," Clover muttered in a low voice. Clover's expression returned to normal. They gave Lucia a harmless smile. However, Clover's eyes remained icily cold.

"See, that wasn't so hard," Clover added. " Then, I will tell you how I knew about the door. It was the Cirillian wizard. He was the one that sealed all the doors across the continent. He destroyed the map of their location. However, before he finished I got a glance at his map. That's all."

Lucia still wasn't satisfied. Clover seemed to read her mind. 

"Why am I helping?" Clover rejoined. " I am only finishing what the wizard started. I do it in honour of him."

Lucia nodded. "I'm sorry but I needed to be sure."

  Had she been barking up the wrong tree? She felt guilty for questioning Clover. For the rest of the journey, Clover acted as if nothing had happened. The insinuations clearly hurt their feelings but Clover pretended everything was the same as before. Lucia felt somewhat relieved by Clover's chatter. But she worried if things would be the same.

The party arrived at the entrance to the mine. It had been abandoned years ago. The place was little more than an overgrown hole in the ground now. The timber bent unsteadily around the weight of the ceiling. It looked like it would collapse at any time.

Nevertheless, they perilously entered into the dark spiralling shaft. Lucia led the way. She held a lantern in her hand as they descended down further. The ceiling began to open up. The group came to an empty cavern. There were deserted worker's tools scattered across the ground and the remains of beds. One thing caught Lucia's eye. 

She picked up a strange-looking mask sitting among the rest of the discarded items. It was an old woman with a great gaping mouth twisted into a scream.

"What do you think? Was it left by the miners?" One of the knight's quizzed.

"It looks like the mask worn by the demon Neri. It's not quite the same though," Lucia answered.

"May I see it?" Clover asked. Lucia handed the mask over.  Clover examined the mask for a moment. 

"This mask carries demonic energy," Clover observed. "It looks like we're in the right place. What do you say? Should we explore further?"

Lucia considered the options. Although the mask had been found, it was evidently left behind. This could mean the demons had already left. If that was the case, they might find more evidence of where they had gone.

"We'll go on a bit further," Lucia decided. "Everyone be on guard. If anyone spots something suspicious make a break for the exit. Don't look back, understood?" 

The party continued down into the belly of the mine. The temperature began to drop. As they dipped into a narrow passage, the light began to flicker. Suddenly,  the flame was extinguished by a gust of air. Lucia raised her hand and ignited a flame in her palm. 

"There seems to be a path leading out up ahead," Lucia observed. The group followed her out. They emerged onto a narrow hallway. It was bricked up all around with no windows. The passage was clearly manmade. It didn't appear to be part of the mine. 

They followed the passageway up a flight of stairs. They arrived at the door. Everything was painfully silent. Lucia turned the handle. It opened up into a large grotto. It had clearly been lived in. There was a dugout where a fire had left char marks on the floor. There were makeshift beds. Bowls and pots lay strewn along the ground. There was a supply of food rotting in the corner.  The air smelled rancid.

The knights began to investigate. Lucia explored the maze of rooms. All of them were the same as the first. Clover approached Lucia.

"What do you think?" Clover asked, casting an eye over the room.

"I'm not sure," Lucia admitted. "It's not clear who was living here. It looks like they were here for a while though."

"It must be them, right? The demon was spotted near here." Clover reminded.

"The food supplies here, it's already stale. They couldn't have left that long ago. This is not an easy place to move people in and out of, there's only one way in," Lucia remarked. "There's no sign of a struggle. It's more like someone was living here than a temporary hideout. "

"Maybe they left in a hurry when they found we were on the way?" Clover suggested.

"Perhaps," Lucia cast another glance over the dwelling. Her eyes fell on a glint of metal hidden under a raggedy blanket. She pulled the blanket aside. Her eyes widened. She held up the silver ring to Clover.

"This! This is what that demon put around my neck. He said it was from his homeland. At first, I thought he meant the South. But, I think this ring is from the demonic dimension." Lucia declared.

Clover smiled with curious ambivalence. "Are you sure?"

Lucia came to her feet. "I don't think this is where the court members were being held at all." Her expression became dark. "I think this is the demon's hideout."