"Hmm… so that settles it…" Ivan exhaled before taking a sip of his drink. After their little test in the alley, he went ahead and asked everyone using telepathy to meet at the Adventurer's Guild. At first, it was difficult to assign such a meeting as only two of them knew where it was but after some instructions, everyone managed to make it.
As for why they didn't travel as a group, that was just because it'd be very suspicious for a bunch of cloaked and masked individuals to wander down the streets in a pack. The guild here was relatively empty for it being placed in the Kingdom, likely a sign of how many nobles and merchants occupied here rather than adventurers. The kingdom was the dream location for anyone that wanted to take it easy and bask in the protection of the kingdom, albeit very expensive of course.
It was no place for a hot-blooded adventure-seeking adventurer. Though on a side note many retired adventurers chose to settle down in this area. Anyways, because of the vacancy of the guild here, Ivan decided it'd be the best place to hold a meeting while being served commodities.
While it wasn't definite to say that the guild and kingdom were on bad terms, they often got into scuffles with each other regarding power and influence. In fact, there was an event in the past where the kingdom attempted to close many of the adventurer guilds out of fear of its influence growing stronger.
Though at the end that didn't work out, all it managed to do was strain the already strenuous relationship between the two. The same went for the Holy Church which would rather have the guild offer its services for free in the name of their Lord Ehit.
To sum it up, Ivan would be very surprised if someone from the guild ratted them out to the kingdom or holy church. If the guild decided to keep his gold rank status then maybe they decided to harbor them after all.
"So those with the 'devour' are dead people being manipulated like a puppet using dark magic?" Claire summed it up perfectly. Ivan nodded to her words. Even if the discovery was made quickly it didn't change the fact that the situation was dire. Killing the caster wouldn't even guarantee that those being controlled would be free of manipulation. The manner of control was also a spectacle Ivan wanted to uncover.
How did a necromancer use necromancy? What was the range of their control? Is there a duration? Was there a limit to how many people they could control? And many more other questions filled Ivan's mind. But of course, the best way to get the answers would be to interrogate the offender herself.
"And you think it's that hero with the necromancer class?" Ivan nodded again. It was a simple connection but the best one they got right now. Normally necromancers wouldn't even reveal themselves out of fear of prosecution so while Eri possessed the class there was always the chance there was someone else behind the scenes.
"I'd say that's an appropriate assumption~!" Tio chimed in. She had confidence that if her master ever got a hold of the girl he'd be able to make her spit out the truth within minutes.
"The problem is how to approach this now that we have 'the truth.' We could just rush in, kidnap her, force a confession, and have her undo her magic but that'd come up with its troubles. She's a prominent figure in the class, a part of the hero team that delves into the dungeon. Even if we convince the heroes that we're doing things with the right intent there's no guarantee that she'd release her spell. I reckon that someone like her who had deceived her class for what I assume has been years wouldn't exactly be right in the head. I mean everyone thinks she is a sweetheart and now it turns out she likely eradicated almost the entirety of a kingdom's army…"
They all looked down with thoughtful expressions. The most likely successful option would be to simply coerce her into releasing her necromancy using a drug. For a mage to release a spell it needed to be of their actions, she'd be more susceptible under those conditions. "Then that settles it, we take her, and make her release the spell."
It was rather simple. In fact, it's too simple. There'd be resistance from members of the heroes that didn't trust them but that didn't matter.
"Alright, once we locate and retrieve Aiko we'll begin working down the necromancer. Her life would likely be in danger if it were the other way around. As planned before Tio will take us to the top. Any defenses will be destroyed by me and Tio will transform back into her human-like form all before the alarms go off. We'll likely piss off the ants below and I have no doubts the Holy Church would call to the heroes for aid. If we show her that Aiko is safe and in our hands, they'll likely back down."
As with all things regarding this group it all boiled down to simplicity. Their goal was to just rush in there and rescue the believed captive. Even with the whole necromancer situation Ivan still believed it was the Holy Church that held her captive. As never in his note did Hajime say the church was affected by the 'devour.' They very well may be the accomplices to Eri's plan down in the kingdom.
Tio nodded before taking a sip of her drink. All that was left to do was wait. The dead of night was their scheduled attack. That meant they had several hours before taking the time to act. This city was surprisingly devoid of recreational activities. And rather than drinking alcohol Ivan needed everyone to be in the right state of mind if they were going against the church.
"You got the gear ready?" They all turned to Ivan. The next dungeon was the Divine Mountain they were about to raid. After taking care of the other situations then they'd take care of it. Despite it being super well known there wasn't much documented of the trials within. In fact, there was nothing documented at all.
It was likely a cover made by the church which sought to monopolize the ancient magic within. There was even a chance that a few of them possessed the ancient magic already, and if that were the case then that's all Ivan needed to take this extra seriously. Though he doubted that many of them could have the magic and keep it a well-kept secret.
He'd even go as far as to say that if any of them did obtain the ancient magic then they'd go around bragging about it and claiming to be an apostle of god as did Freid when they first met. If he thought about it that way then there was also a likelihood that none of them obtained the magic.
A prospect laughable to him, as if they truly did live on top of a mountain with a magic they couldn't obtain then it'd be the greatest joke yet. Maybe it was even something he'd rub in their faces the next time he met them…
"Let's check out the kingdom real quick just to make sure our trip here isn't in vain." The group nodded as it was better to do that than just sit around and wait for night to approach. It would be difficult to skulk around the well-guarded palace in broad daylight, but that sounded like fun in its own right.
Like a train they left the adventurer's guild in a single file line, they attracted a lot of attention as they went down the street but they didn't care. It's not like the zombie knights were going to attack them out in the open anyways. Though Ivan was a bit surprised that along the way they didn't meet a single 'hero.'
He thought that at some point a hero would hear about the ruckus the civilians were making about a group of suspiciously dressed individuals and enter the city to check it out. Honestly, though they held the title of heroes Ivan was beginning to wonder if they ever actually saved anyone.
The barrier likely left them with their guards down but they had yet to learn that the only threats in this world were not just demons, monsters, and beastmen, but humans too. After dozens of minutes of walking, they finally made it to what seemed like the entrance that headed toward the plot the palace was seated on.
As expected knights lined the walls, each standing as still as a needle without ever having broken stance even after the amount of time Ivan had observed them. None of them bent their knees, tilted their heads, or swung their arms. Odds were they were also zombies just standing outside disguised as guards.
Not minding them, Ivan and the others just leaped over the wall that separated the city and the palace and made a mad dash toward the fortress. The knights that manned the watchtowers didn't even bother standing guard as the kingdom hadn't been attacked in centuries. Never in their wildest dreams did they think a group of suspicious individuals would just jump the fence and rush in.
Ivan and his group went around the palace with minimal carefulness. First, they went to the surprisingly unoccupied training grounds. Then they went to the dining hall, dinner wasn't for another few hours so they didn't have to worry about being caught.
After a while, it just became a simple tour through the palace. Claire mostly led the group as she was the one who was the most familiar with the layout of the castle after years of having worked in it. And much to Ivan's surprise, the building he had as his atelier had been completely rebuilt and made to look just like how it was right before it got burnt down.
Even as they entered the atelier the group was immediately met by a podium with a golden slate imprinted on it.
"I see… Aiko must've requested a memorial be made in my atelier…" The slate simply had his name and birthdate. Aside from that, there was no heartfelt message or anything of the sort. Though that didn't bother Ivan, as this was enough to satisfy him as it was.
"Honestly, I wasn't even expecting to get anything other than a stone in the earth or something." In the whole class, the only one he had a relationship with was both Aiko and Hajime, aside from that his relationship with his other classmates was rather poor. He thought that'd be taken into account when he died, that perhaps they wouldn't give him much for being a ghost in their life.
"Hmph, though it's more suitable to say the Kingdom was eager to please the heroes if it meant getting on their good side." With that Ivan closed the door to his atelier, one last time.
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My brain hurts~ I don't know, it's like everything is out of focus. Is it because I'm hungry? Perhaps. I can't really think of anything else. The sun just started shining through my window and it's too bright! Damn you bastard! Who thought it was a good idea to have the sun!?
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