Chapter 25

  Anara

  Leuke jumps up as if he thinks he might be under attack. "C-Captain!"

  The Captain of the Guard is a young woman of about Leuke's age. I honestly somehow expected her to have engine red hair, too, but no, she's got raven black locks pulled back in a simple ponytail. She's fit and attractive like nearly everyone in Toleste seems to be, and despite the reputation that's preceded her, she's only about my height.

  This means Leuke actually stands a full head and a good chunk of shoulder above her. It doesn't stop her from storming across the room for him.

  I lift my milk from the table just in case.

  "You disappeared for months," she opens. "Nearly an entire season has passed since you just vanished one night! Where have you been?!"

  "In the Capital," Leuke answers quickly, though he amends it. "Then here and there, a little bit of everywhere ... Really, this was the soonest I could get back, honest!"

  "Months," she repeats as she reaches the table and grips it hard enough that I'm surprised it doesn't splinter. Ayre quickly follows my example and snatches his milk up, too. "All of that time, and you couldn't even find the time to write?!"

  "I tried," he insists, nearly leaning so far back in his chair that he's about to fall as he waves his hands before him. "But you know my writing! Every one I tried to send, they returned to me, said they couldn't complete the delivery! Here, I've still got them!"

  He puts his chair back down and turns about to start digging through his own bag, quickly coming out with a bundle of letters that he holds out to the Captain like a sacrificial offering.

  She takes them in hand and begins to flip through them. "It's no wonder they couldn't deliver them, Leuke. Your penmanship is atrocious."

  "Aha ha ha ..." Leuke gives a sad attempt at a laugh as he goes back to rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah ... Sorry, becoming a Hero didn't make it any better."

  The Captain sighs as she moves the bundle to hold it at her hip. "Well, I suppose, since you're here now, you can tell me all about it, yourself." She pulls a chair out from the table and sits down, placing the letters beside her. "Start by explaining what you're talking about with this Hero stuff."

  "Uh," he starts as he scratches his eyebrow, searching for the right words. "Well, that's how I disappeared! We all vanished from wherever we were and showed up in the High Temple, already changed into Heroes!"

  "We?" the Captain asks.

  "Yeah!" Now that the words are moving, they're flowing more easily for him. "Me and Rem, and three others. Tash, Benny and Sei! We all showed up completely naked! And the Emperor and Empress were there! And the priests checked our status with this little, black orb! Then they gave us rooms for the night, fed us this biiiiig breakfast, gave us fancy new weapons and had us fight a bunch of scarecrows! Then we got these neat custom coins!"

  He pulls his out, one side with the imperial seal, the other embossed with a sword, and passes it to the Captain.

  She turns it over in her hands, examining each side. "That's the imperial crest, alright. Anyone carrying something like this, I'd assume they had a lot of clout."

  She glances to me. For a moment, it seems like she's judging me, but she just asks me a simple question. "And you have one, too?"

  Rather than answer out loud, I reach into my bag and pull out my own coin, showing her first the crest, then flipping it around so she can see the gun.

  The Captain turns to Ayre, but the elf is quick to wave his hands. "I-I'm just an adventurer!"

  "Ayre's with me," I provide.

  She looks back to me as if evaluating what I said, then turns back to Leuke. "And since that was only the next day, I'm guessing they didn't let you go just yet, or you wouldn't have taken so long to get back here."

  Leuke nods in agreement. "Yeah, they had a whole bunch of stuff for us to do. They outfitted us with new gear like this armor," he knocks his armored knuckles against his pauldron for emphasis, "and showed us a bunch of the noble's quarter."

  He shakes his head. "I tell you, nobles must be really big fans of Heroes. The whole time I was in the Capital, it was like they couldn't spend enough time with me. They tried to shower me with a bunch of gifts, but I didn't have any way to carry them, so I had to turn them down. A bunch of noble girls wanted to show me their favorite places, but I know that means I'd have had to do the spending, and I didn't have any money on me, either."

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  The Captain's face is growing more intense, so I clear my throat and put in, "I think she's wanting to hear about what you did after you left the Capitol, Leuke."

  "Oh, right!" Leuke was oblivious to the tension as he shifted gears. "Well, first, they sent us to the edge of the Western Demesne. We got to see right up close what it looks like over there."

  At that, the Captain's expression shifts to one of concern. "Is it as bad as the rumors say?"

  That manages to sober even the swordmaster, who shakes his head. "It's worse. It's like looking into another world, and it's all wrong."

  She looks down at the table. "They have a tight control on any information about the Demesne. Even I can hardly get any information about what's going on, and you'd think we'd be one of the places where it'd be important to know."

  "I wouldn't know how to put it to words, anyway," Leuke admits. "It's just ... It's all wrong."

  He makes a conscious effort to rally his spirit, however, and gives a halfway decent grin. "But don't worry, Captain! That's what they summoned us as Heroes for! We'll get it taken care of! Nothing can stop us if we're all together!"

  The Captain does a visible head count once more. "But you're not all together. There's just two of you here."

  "Ehehehe ..." Leuke laughs nervously as he rubs the back of his head again. "Yeah, about that ... Apparently, there's a lot of little fires that need putting out, because they've been sending us all over taking care of that. Most of it's not very exciting. I actually only just met up with Rem on the way here!"

  The Captain turns back to me again. "So you're here for a different reason than Leuke, I take it? I'm also guessing your name isn't actually Rem."

  "Remmi Lee," I provide, offering my hand to shake. She takes it with just a slight look of confusion. "I'm the Gunslinger Hero. Tash is Tassim Miyan, Benny is Benarou Sendai, and Sei is Seina Bibe."

  "Wow, you're really good with names!" Leuke praises me with a big grin. "I could never remember all of that! It must be that massive Intellect!"

  "I doubt I'll get to meet them if they are so busy," the Captain tells me, "but I appreciate the names all the same, and I apologize for Leuke's shortening tendency."

  I wave it off. "It's fine. I get the impression it's a much bigger deal here, but where I'm from, it's considered friendly. I don't take offense." I finally set my cup back on the table, since it seems to be safe to do so. "Though, if I could ask, you haven't been introduced to me as anything but The Captain."

  Her face immediately pales, but she soon gives Leuke an accusing glare. For his part, the Hero is suddenly very interested in the sugar cookies.

  After a moment, she turns back to me again. She stands and gives a proper bow. "I'm Anara Pisca, Captain of the Guard of Giri Village. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Hero Lee."

  Now I'm the one feeling awkward, considering all I did was shake her hand. "Ah, sorry, I'm a foreigner to the Empire, so I still haven't caught on to some of the manners! I guess I shouldn't have been so casual!"

  "Not at all," Anara shakes her head. "As the higher station, it was up to you to introduce yourself however you pleased."

  "Well, I'm not accustomed to stations, either, so if you could just treat me like you would any other adventurer on a mission, I'd appreciate it. And, please, just Remmi is fine."

  Ah, that was another odd request, wasn't it? I can tell by the way she tilts her head. I'm too accustomed to dealing with Ayre and Yorin, who I'm closer with, and nobody in Dabun seemed particularly uptight, either.

  "Very well," she finally agrees. "You say you are on a mission. I asked about it earlier, but we got sidetracked with names. What kind of mission for an adventurer would see you come to the barracks instead of the local guild branch?"

  "I actually need to go there at some point, too," I admit, "but that's because I pick up jobs to do in my path. My actual mission is direct from the Throne. I've been charged with clearing dungeons up and down the border with the Demesne, and my next one is Ogre's Grotto."

  "Ogre's Grotto, huh?" Anara repeats with a thoughtful expression. "That's going to be a problem. Your Throne orders will get you through the mayor easily enough, but the oni aren't going to be nearly so receptive. Though I suspect you've already been told that if you're here talking to me about it."

  I give a quick nod. "Something about a conflict with the oni tribe in the area. Apparently, the mayor is trying to mediate it?"

  She gives a heavy sigh. "Yes, and for the record, I never said it, but that's half the problem. Do you know anything about the Huohi Tribe?"

  "Honestly, I've never so much as met an oni in my entire life," I confess. "I don't know a thing about any specific tribes, and all that I know about oni in general is that they're supposed to be really strong, and they drink really hard."

  Anara blinks at that. "I can't say I've ever heard anything about a drinking habit. Not more than any other race, anyway."

  I can only shrug. "Then I know even less than I thought I did."

  She gives a slow shake of her head to clear it and reset. "In any case, the Huohi Tribe has lived on lands neighboring Giri Village since before the village was founded. We've always had close, friendly ties with them, though. We've supported each other like neighbors ought, and for generations, you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who didn't look at them as just part of the village."

  "What changed?" I ask.

  "The assessment of ore in their hills," the Captain explains. "A rock slide exposed a rich vein, and what constitutes the money in this town wants at it. A lot of people getting big heads about growing the town over a mining boom into a proper city, too. And, of course, since it's what the money wants, it's what the mayor wants."

  "And this is just a guess," I put out, "but I'm betting the prospectors aren't looking to just stop at the one slide?"

  Anara crosses her arms with a scoff. "Settle just for being as rich as a noble? No, of course not. They're convinced the entire place is a cache of riches just barely hidden by a layer of soil. If they're allowed to go at it without a choke, they'll strip the Huohi lands bare."

  "Which the oni oppose."

  "Obviously."

  I sigh, starting to get a good idea of the obstacles ahead of me. "Alright, I know I'm going to regret this, but could you by chance lay out for me where the negotiations stand right now?"

  And Captain Anara obliges me.

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