"A mission, but... Right the situation in Lunhart ! It's perfect for the situation... Oh there is also the other thing up north..."
A monk seemed to think out loud, giving Nem a bit of information. Although he wanted to flee the church and didn't really care about their activities anymore, he still would be doing the mission for a while before running away. In his estimations, it was the safest way of doing things, after all, there was no way someone from the church would be watching all the time during a spy mission.
According to his limited knowledge in geography, Lunhart was a large city in the southwest. This world seemed to have a Pangaea-like continent, which was then divided almost entirely according to the cardinal point.
In the north were the cold and snowy Northern Lands, separated from the rest by a vast wasteland and high mountains.
In the middle, there was the Red Empire in the west, the Holy Kingdom of Clouds in the east and the Kingdom of Sydai somewhere in the center.
Finally, in the south were the tropical Southern Countries, separated from the superpowers by the Great Sea, large rivers and a rainforest.
Nem wasn't clear on their political situation, but it seemed the two powerful countries on the center had extended their territories so much that their borders touched on a very large scale, only leaving the north and south free of their control because of natural obstacles. One really had to wonder how they could manage such huge territories, since each of the two superpowers was roughly the size of the entire European continent. At least.
As for Lunhart, it was a city belonging to the South Countries, but close enough to the Red Empire that everyone there spoke alarian and dressed in the corresponding style. When he heard about it, Nem wondered if they switched their strategy to a sort of cultural conquest.
The important thing was that, although it was true that Nem's copper-skinned appearance was perfect for this location, and that Sydai was much closer to the south than the north, the mission would probably take more than a few months. The travel itself would be extremely long, since there were no such things as cars in this world, or even real trains that Nem knew of.
Even more, he would have to cross the rainforest one way or another, which probably wouldn't be easy.
"Lunhart is clearly the best choice. He'll join up with some Blessed of Darkness on the way." Father Okof turned to Nem. "You'll leave in tomorrow at first light, so say your goodbyes today."
'Well that doesn't sound ominous at all, thank you very much.'
Another monk suddenly seemed to have an idea.
"We can send someone else for the mission in the North, what was the name of the lass who keeps praying to the Goddess of War ?"
Okof looked at him with a severe expression, and the one talking covered up his mouth, embarrassed. The old monk facing Nem corrected :
"Lana is the best fighter and is smart enough for this mission, she is indeed the best choice for this mission, I agree."
Nem employed great efforts for his expression not to turn strange.
'Aren't they just getting rid of the annoying ones ? It reminds me, Lana should be a very devout believer of the Goddess of War and Disasters indeed...'
As his expression turned thoughtful, the monks quickly agreed to the choice, more than happy to finally use the orphans and get rid of potential problems at the same time. It seemed their consciences were clear, somehow. Good for them, I suppose.
"Nem, go fetch Lana, tomorrow, you'll both be escorted by Mr.James to the carriages. He will inform you of the specifics then." Okof gestured for Nem to leave and looked down at the papers in front of him, seemingly occupied.
As Nem went to open the door, he suddenly turned back like he just remembered something important.
"Oh right, which way is Lana by the way ?"
***
In a blink of an eye, it was already time to leave.
Nem thought back at the goodbyes he made yesterday. The children seemed genuinely sad to see him go and even Jane seemed a bit gloomy. Well, that was only at first thought, because when they remembered some of his teasing and the last "special lesson", nobody seemed to have much concern for him anymore.
Speaking of this instructor, Nem actually felt a bit guilty about the way he acted with her. In fact, he had just wanted to make her attitude friendlier towards him, but he got caught in the urge to test his new powers.
After observing Jane for a while, Nem had noticed the loneliness in her heart, and had tried to understand it, mainly to exercise his deductive skills.
He had asked himself why a young and energetic woman would want to work at a monastery lost in the mountains to instruct children on dangerous skills like killing and following people undetected.
Nem's supposition was that she had a certain yearning for children, maybe missing a nephew or little brother... So he had tried to act like a cute child, also honing his acting skills at the same time. Of course, he didn't actually do what he had told Joe : calling someone close to his actual age "mommy" would have been too much, and even a bit perverted. This was just a joke to see if he would actually do it.
Still, it left a strange and uncomfortable feeling in Nem's mouth, acting was a form of lie after all... But it wasn't something Nem could help, he needed to learn to act to survive, especially if he was going to become a spy for the Church of Peace, accorded only for a short amount of time.
'Anyways, it's time to put this behind me now, it's not like I actually feel bad about any of it. This is the best thing I can think of in this situation.'
As Nem stepped out of the monastery, his red eyes contemplated the blue sky, now sprinkled with white clouds and he breathed a breath of fresh air. He had been here for 2 months, and it was now the end of summer, yet the weather was not getting colder, and he was now heading for an even hotter region.
Not far from him were Mr.James, who seemed to wish he could be sleeping instead of being outside, and Lana whose eyes were excited and determined. She seemed like a hero from a fantasy-themed movie, and Nem pretty much considered her as such, considering her talent in fighting and straightforward character.
"Hello there, sorry to keep you waiting, I almost got lost this morning."
Both the teacher and student nodded at the same time, absentmindedly. The truth was that Nem actually found his way rather easily today, but he still said that to lighten the atmosphere. He really felt quite proud of himself.
'Even this labyrinth cannot contain me, I shall never get lost again !'
"Alright, follow me, I'll explain on the way."
Mr. James started walking towards the river, where the woods were less dense.
"After we walk for an hour across the river, they will be a few carriages waiting for us. They are friends from the Church of Darkness, so you don't have to worry about them. From here, you will be given the name of your mission contact. Remember to always do what they tell you to do, their mission is to make sure your mission succeeds, and they are the only ones with all the information."
The instructor walked as he talked and the children simply listened, perhaps because they were used to staying silent all the time. After a while, Nem finally asked a question :
"Mr. James, how long is it going to be to Lunhart ?"
"Just a few days, don't worry, the blessed of Darkness are specialized in travels, you would know that you went to class sometimes."
"Well, you can't have everything in life." Nem knew that he wasn't really serious about his, so he replied jokingly.
Mr.James clicked his tongue in annoyance while Lana kept completely silent and expressionless as usual.
Soon, Nem started noticing signs of activity in the area, and finally spotted the shadow of a person.
Quickly, he made sure Mr.James was distracted by the sight and dashed towards Lana. Surprised, she stiffened and bent her knees on reflex, prepared to fight. However, Nem was too fast and already reached her, he grabbed her shoulder and discretely handed her a scroll while whispering in her ear :
"Don't show this to anyone."
The girl's eyes widened as she relaxed slightly and hid the scroll in her clothes without thinking.
An instant later, they had already separated and continued to walk as if nothing happened towards where the shadow was, but it had disappeared already.