"I think we deserve a bit more of an explanation than that."
"Hmm, alright. You may not be aware of this, but Count Richter is in danger of losing his position. He gained his title through marriage, so he has more autonomy than most governors. Duke Avaritan wants to sit someone else in his position who is a bit more loyal to him. The only way for Richter to have a chance of maintaining his position is if the Duke loses the war against the fairies."
"It sounds like he could still lose his position even if that does happen."
"Of course. He's basically counting on everyone else dying in the woods. If there are no people left to take his position, then he's safe."
[It's strange to think about now, but nobles used to be an integral part of the military. This would be like having a billionaire sign up for the army. I don't think it's a very good plan, but I'll take any help we can get. Alternatively, this gets us much more involved than I'd like. I was hoping to maintain some plausible deniability, but that seems less and less likely. Even Jezabel may throw me under the bus should things head south.]
I walk over to Shinobu, who is still hiding under her blanket.
"Shinobu?"
"..."
"I know this is hard for you. If you don't want to involve him, we can always decline. I can understand if you don't want to owe him any favors."
"I should mention that Richter made no mention of you and seems completely uninterested in whether or not you return." Jezabel tries to cajole her into agreeing. I keep my mouth shut so as not to influence her decision either way. Jezabel continues, "even if he did, there's not much he could do against you. His whole plan revolves around the four of you stepping up to fight a war. On top of that, you'd have both the fairies and the Adventurer's Guild to back you up."
Shinobu pulls her head out from under the covers and looks up at the guild leader.
"Really?" she says with a twinkle of hope in her eye.
"Of course, we can't have anything happen to our strongest upcoming adventurer party. Remember, the guild was created to protect adventurers just like you. This is what we do." Jezabel ends with a fierce smile. It's as if she has the whole world wrapped around her finger. Shinobu looks down and thinks for a moment. I can see all the thoughts racing through her mind. Then, she hardens her expression and stares back at the guild leader with fire in her eyes.
"Let's do it."
"That's what I like to hear. Come to the guild tomorrow; we have some things to discuss."
"Me?" Shinobu asks while pointing to herself.
"Yes, all of you." We both turn to Jezabel in surprise. "Ha, don't look at me like that. This is a matter of course. What kind of guild master would I be if my own adventurers couldn't even walk through the streets?"
I'm sure she's planned this out because we have class tomorrow. Having her return like this will undoubtedly be quite the show.
"You've really got the Count under your boot, huh?" I inquire.
"Like you wouldn't believe." Jezabel sneers as she trots out of the cave. Silence soon fills the room. I glance over at Shinobu, who is sitting with her brow furrowed. I can tell that she's lost in thought. Feeling encouraged, I congratulate her.
"It's good to see you back to normal. I haven't seen your eyes burn like that for a while." I lightly pat her on the head before walking back to my side of the room. I still need to prepare for the day, even after being abruptly awakened. I gather a change of clothes and head outside.
Inari is waiting for me at the fort. Recently, Inari has been washing us every morning. She sprays us down with warm water, which cleans both us and our clothes. Another round of water magic pulls all the moisture off our bodies, and we can change without wetting our fresh set of clothes. I always ask her to wash the clothes a second time just to make myself feel better. The bitter cold makes it difficult to enjoy my shower time, but I feel very refreshed afterward. Sometimes I'll bring up my bedding or other things that have gotten dirty, but I don't really feel like it today.
Surprisingly, the leaves haven't fallen off any of the trees. If I remember correctly, this happens in my world because the leaves lose their functionality with the cold. The chlorophyll dies and changes color, while the trees just let the leaves fall off.
I head back to the den to give Shinobu a chance to change. She's standing near the entrance, bundled up in several layers of clothes. We're in the dead of winter, so it's important to do whatever it takes to stay warm. The heat of the fire beckons me over, so I start making breakfast. I plan on toasting some bread to go with our dried meat as the simple act of heating the food helps to raise morale. The den is actually fairly warm, all considering. It's deep enough that the ground acts as a heat sink, and we can pull some tree bark over the entrance to hold in the warmth. While we're all working out, the air stays at around sixty degrees Fahrenheit, which is warm enough that we don't get frostbite. I place a pan over the coals that are still burning from last night and add some kindling.
In less than a minute, a small flame is licking at the bottom of the pan, and the smell of warm bread fills the air. I hum softly to myself while the bread cooks as I wait for Shinobu to return.
"Hungry?" I ask as I offer her a plate.
"Thanks." She grabs the plate and sits next to the fire. I watch as she slowly nibbles the food. It's obvious she's thinking hard about something. She notices me staring and leans away.
"What are you looking at?"
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Talk about what?"
"It just looked like you were thinking about something. It wouldn't be strange considering how the day started."
"No, stop looking at me." She puffs up and turns around so I can't see her.
[Nice going, Nick. You can't even hold a normal conversation.]