Chapter 6
"Once again, I would like to introduce myself, I am the town mayor of Hurlk, Mayor Rotritoa"
He spoke. Right now, we are in the [Mayor's Office] with the 4 of us facing him, as he sat down in a wooden chair. His office has dark brown desk, with piles of papers and some junkies like accessories.
A long shade of orange brown cabinet is located at his right, with a light gray sofa, just a few distance from the cabinet, near room, with a small rectangular wooden table, with a see through glass. And a long sofa behind us, that could fit 5 person at most.
There's an expensive portrait upfront and behind me, painted in summer and winter silhouette, with a frame of evening jazz and musical play. The window is placed beside the sofa in his right, with white curtains covering it.
The office is quite, medium in size, probably could fit at least with 25 people at most.
"3 weeks ago, we, or to be precise, the townsfolk, were able to discover an abandoned Citadel just a few distance from us. The, ummm..... the black-"
"Peddler" (whisper)
"Oh yes, the Peddler. The Peddler girl with her father, was able to discover that Citadel ahead of us, as they wander around the place. They reported it right after, which we then took the opportunity to explore it, which unfortunately, didn't end well"
He then added
"20 strong, capable men, ventured inside that Citadel, with few volunteered adventurers, and never return. 2 days right after the discovery, we then asked for formal request to the guild, to help us reveal whatever that Citadel hids, but it seems, no one took it"
'No one?'
'That's strange, the receptionist spoke that this Quest was posted just the other day, for it to be this long...'
Sheryl whisperedly spoke
"Just wanted to clarify"
"Yes?"
"When you said no one, does it means this Quest was posted, long ago?"
"Indeed yes, it was posted for almost a week or 2 now, I can't really remember the exact time, but it is quite been a while since we asked for aid"
"That's strange"
"How so?"
"The receptionist told us that the Quest was posted, just yesterday"
"Receptionist in a guild, tend to see and examine what request should be posted, and not. They always make sure to only post what Quest are needed, and approved, with the exact date and time of the request. So for you 2 to contradict each other, seems to be suspicious to me"
Isabelle stated, as she glared at the mayor upfront. She's been a receptionist since the time I meet her, so she knows the ins and outs of being one
"M-my lie-I mean, your honorable, I am not lying per Se"
The mayor spoke in a shuttering voice, as cold sweat roll from his forehead, as Isabelle glare at him with an intense flare
"W-we have evidence in hand, that will tell our innocence"
As he said that, he then hurriedly took something from his drawer, and swiftly shown us a paper with the written Quest, of what we took from the [Inquisition Draft]. Isabelle then stood up and went over
"T-this is the written Quest we requested in the [Adventurers Guild], weeks ago"
He then nervously handed the paper to Isabelle. She then slowly read the written text, and carefully examined it
"How was it?"
I ask, as I looked at the anxious mayor
"....."
She then frowned as she looked at it, then rolled the paper back and handed it over to the mayor, before she spoke in a quite annoyed and displeased tone, as she looked at him with a frown
"..... If what was written was true, and you speak nothing but the truth, I would humbly ask for forgiveness and your consideration. It seems something might have cause some confusion back at the guild, for them to mislook this simple thing, apologies"
"W-well, we make mistake sometimes, so maybe they did also, hahaha haha"
In an awkward tone he spoke and laugh
'.....'
'This is so strange, really'
'I agree'
Sheryl and Natsumi whisperedly stated, as both of them can't seem to wrap their heads, to the situation before them. Isabelle then sat down, with a disbelief look on her face.
"Ahem! B-back to the topic in hand, as you can see, something is hiding in those ruins, and now inhabating that place. A scout of ours, 3 of them, tried to find some clues and such in that Citadel, and found some webs around the entrance of that ruin, so-"
"So you concluded that it was some {Cave Spiders}, who took shelter in that Citadel?"
"Indeed"
"I see"
"Presumably, we can't say for sure we are wrong, neither we are correct. But as far we can think of, that's the only monster we could recall"
"Where are those scouts now?"
I ask
"They might be at their homes"
"We would like to speak of them, if that will be alright, yes?"
"That won't be a problem"
....
"Ruby was the one who accepted the Quest we took, while Kath should be the one who were in charge to examine all those requested forms, last night"
"Which is something both of them, hardly to make such mistake"
"Yes. Though Ruby is still quite new, Kath was the one who is supervising her, and father sometimes, when he has the time, also inspect those requested forms, which will impossibly create such mishap"
"So the question will be, how?"
"I suppose"
After we have asked the mayor to where those scouts live, we then headed out. As we walked towards their place, Isabelle can't help but felt doubt in this situation
".... Should we cancel this Quest then?"
I ask, as I glance at Isabelle who was pondering behind me. Deeply lost in thought, she the looked at me and
"....?"
As she was about to speak, she suddenly halted, and then shook her head as she replied
"No, this Quest might be lurking some danger, which is why we needed to finish this. We already took it, and those people have already seen us accepting this Quest, with the atmosphere going on, if we can't solve this, it might go worse, and most of all"
She then looked behind her and added
"And something else is on work on this Town, with this situation moving, can we really turn our back from them?"
I then stared behind us, and saw the people looking at us, with anxious eyes. I then looked back towards Isabelle and respond
"I guess it can't be help"
"What is our plan now, darling?"
Looking up, I then replied
"We still have time before evening, so we should gather some of the [Nightshade Dandelions], while we investigate the Citadel, right after asking some questions to the scouts"
I respond towards Sheryl's question
"Should we also try examining the area around the Town as well? If the Quest was over 2 weeks now, those Spiders should have been lurking around the area, for quite some time now"
"I suppose, I will let you handle that matter Natsumi"
She then nodded to my words. The 4 of us then continue, as we reach the houses of those scouts. Information is crucial, and out time is limited, so we needed to know everything we needed to know, as much as we can.
....
"I am Senad, the eldest"
"I am Mernac, the middle sibling, nice to meet you"
"And I am Neman, the youngest, it is a pleasure"
As the 3 greeted and introduced themselves. Senad is a tall man, with a not buff body size yet with a broad shoulder, while Mernac was shorter than him, below his shoulder, with a thin body, and Neman was at shoulder length of Senad, with an average body size. The 3 has the same color of their hair, except that the eldest has lighter one, while the youngest has darker coat.
Sitting in a small house with 1 floor, 3 rooms, with a combine living room, [Dining Room] and a kitchen, and a simple fireplace, a small backyard with a garden, and a well, we then arrived to the place where the scouts live. As we sat down at the wooden chair, the 3 then started informing us what they saw, back at the Citadel
"The Citadel has 3 ruined structures, mostly built like a castle"
"Mostly?"
Isabelle ask
"The only one left standing there, that could be use as a base was the largest one, at the side. It has a castle like design, so we thought that the other ruined ones are like that"
"The other ruined ones can still be live in, but not as sturdy like the 2nd one, with a wide rectangular design, and 3 floors. It has some holes and other battered places, but it still usable"
As the middle child explained, and added the eldest words
"The other ones has 3 section each, forming a curve platform, and we assumed those where they stored thier weapons, foods, and some other stuff, as we saw some broken barrels, and shattered weapons around the debris. Those area are mostly at 2nd to 1st floor high. The 2nd, and last standing building, was, this is merely base outside of the building, but was built to be a refugee camp"
"They also have 3 wells there, with an underground area, but unfortunately, it was blocked by big pile of rocks"
The youngest stated
"The walls of the Citadel is encircling it, and quite tall, maybe at 9 to 10 meters at length, but most of the walls are already devastated, with 3 still standing [Watch Tower]"
"At which part you saw those webs?"
"It was surrounding around the area, but most of them are covering the inside of the 2nd building"
The eldest replied to my question
"Did you saw any monster lurking around?"
"We didn't, though it was unfortunate, but quite fortunate for us too"
"Any other thing you saw around the area?"
"Other than those webs around, and some creepy vibes in the area, we didn't"
"I see"
Isabelle quite dejectedly replied
"Do you saw any traps around the base?"
"None, though we can't say for sure as we didn't dwell too much in that place, so at some certain area, the place is clear for any traps"
Sheryl then nodded to the youngest words
.....
After the discussion with the trio, we then left the Town, and tried gathering some info inside the Citadel, and also to finish the [Gathering Question], which where we needed to gather some [Nightshade Dandelions]
[Nightshade Dandelions] is a light grayed Dandelion, which is mostly found in dim places, or areas where shade of light are rarely seen.
At 1st, [Nightshade Dandelions] was 1st thought to be found only at night, or during at full moon, not until someone found it near a cave, where blushes of tree covered the spot so much, that light of the sun didn't pass through.
[Nightshade Dandelions] could be use in [Alchie Craft], and also for [Magic Craft], where they could boost once magic for some percentage. Though taking too much of it, could rapture ones magic inside of our body, killing the user in less than a minute.
....
Walking for quite some time, as the place we are heading was located northeast of the Town. After a few minutes of walking
"That's huge"
We then spotted the Citadel in the distance
"Be observant everyone, we don't know what we will be expecting"