"We need to run!"
As expected, Snow's first reaction was to panic. There were, after all, over three dozen of them. Both she and Rain would be hard-pressed to deal with just two, let alone that many. And as far as he knew, those "heroes" that he was familiar with could only handle up to three to four at the same time.
On the other hand, how well could those so-called "Orthodox Heroes" fare?
Surprisingly, he saw neither carelessness nor overconfidence from the two. He expected to see them be alarmed by their numbers otherwise. But that wasn't what they were showing, either. Instead, they looked… baffled.
Hornet, on the other hand, had only a dazed look that he was quite familiar with – that of a drunken haze.
"If y'wanna run, go a'ead. With a' that mud n' shit on yer wheels, I'd be surprised if y'get a 'undred meters in 'fore those things getcha," she said, all the while slurring her words at random points. Rain looked down at his feet and understood what she meant. The thick mud would bog them down to a crawl. Not only that, but those things could run faster than their carriage even if they abandoned all of their luggage. Running from them was suicide.
Upon realizing the truth behind Hornet's words, Snow's face paled in fright. She looked like she was facing certain doom, which was understandable. After all, she hadn't seen Hornet's strength. That was the reason why Rain, on the other hand, wasn't panicking like his partner. Surely, she had the power to deal with all of them. Such was the power that he had witnessed from her back underground.
"I thought that village had almost eighty people?"
"... Maybe it's a separate group that tried to escape. I don't see any more of them coming."
"Well, that's… I'm sorry, then."
For some reason, Stain apologized to Rex. In response, she nodded with a bitter face.
He placed his book with the other stuff in the carriage and then walked towards their pursuers. Neither Hornet nor Rex followed after him.
Snow gasped as she turned with a desperate look toward Rain.
"What is he doing?!" she screamed. That question put him at a loss. The best way to respond was to simply tell her to watch. But before he could, someone else beat him to the punch. It was Hornet, who had just finished another massive swig from her gourd at that moment.
"Dun worry 'bout 'em, human. Y'should just watch how a real hero fights."
With those words, and with the time of the clash fast approaching, the two were left with no choice but to follow.
Stain walked without urgency. There was no uncertainty or anxiety in his steps. Instead, it felt like there was a sort of somber conviction, though not from his seemingly suicidal action. Instead, it was like he was burdened by a sort of duty. But even so, against such an overwhelming number of strong enemies in his way, his back appeared to be as big as a mountain even with his lean build.
As he stopped on a spot that gave him a bit of time to prepare, he pulled something out of a pouch that he had tied onto his waist. It was a coin, golden and with a polish that made itself known even from a distance. But other than that, it was unassuming, without even some mystical glow on its form.
In one smooth motion, he tossed the coin into the air and then placed both of his hands upon the handle of the curved swords on his waist. As he did, the coin traveled straight upwards. It reached its zenith right before their enemies were upon him. And as it fell back down–
The air exploded violently around Stain. It caused vicious gales of wind to cut into his surroundings indiscriminately, gouging the mud and soil around him. It spread in a fan shape towards the mass of corroded humans, engulfing them in a wild storm of sharp winds. But it was an unnecessary effect. Before the shockwave made contact with the group, the thirty-odd monsters had already been either bisected through their heads or had simply evaporated into a reddish-brown mist.
It all happened in an instant, at a speed so staggering that it seemed like Stain hadn't moved from where he stood at all. However, thick gray smoke started to snake out from the long slits on both of his sword's scabbards. The distinct smell of scorched metal and burnt flesh also suddenly permeated the air around them.
Six metallic objects then fell messily around him. They were curved blades, battered heavily and some had even snapped in half. All of them fit the profile of Stain's scabbards. And lastly, the coin that signaled the start of the "fight" landed. It, too, like everything else, had been cut in half.
"Holy shit…"
Snow took the words right out of his mouth. After seeing Hornet, Rain expected that Stain also had incredible ability. But seeing it still shocked him. He was able to destroy a group of enemies that would have taken a small army to deal with, and at a speed that was too fast to see.
In a way, an "Orthodox Hero" was more of a monster than actual monsters.
"What the hell happened?"
"I… I think he cut them all down?"
"Well, duh! I mean, how?"
If you knew, why would you ask, Rain retorted in his mind.
When Stain came back, he was immediately met with naked and unabashed admiration from Snow, who stared wide-eyed at him with sparkling eyes. Without even giving him a chance to speak, she immediately exclaimed, "Amazing! You took them all out in one hit!"
On the other hand, he looked lost, startled at Snow's energy, despite supposedly being sick earlier. Rain could only sympathize. He knew Snow well enough to be sure that her admiration wasn't pure at all; she likely just saw some possibility of making some money off of the situation.
In contrast to her excitement, Rex and Hornet simply looked at the scene of carnage with frigid gazes. Rain noticed their somber expressions and sunk into a contemplative state himself. Stain soon noticed how the situation had cooled, so he cut away from Snow and called everybody's attention.
"Come on, let's go. There's nothing else to see here."
Upon his urging, Rain sighed. He prepared himself to turn the entire carriage when the young hero gestured towards the direction they were headed towards originally instead.
"Huh?" he couldn't help but react. "Aren't we going to… Ilda Village?"
"... No? Or maybe you need something there? I wouldn't suggest going there, though."
"I don't, but…"
Stain took his book from the carriage and walked towards Rain while shaking his head. "It's too late. If a group so near the edge of the forest had turned, then the ones inside the village are all probably gone, too. And besides…" he hesitated for a moment. His eyes then gave Rex a sidelong glimpse as he finished, "You're the client. Not her. We're here to find your stone, not save some remote village. Right?"
With those words said, Rain saw how Rex clenched her fists hard.
**********
Fortunately for them, the taint of rust had begun to vanish from the area the closer they got to their first stop. Though the rust-laden clouds continued to loom ominously above their heads, their steps had become much lighter after the pungent, metallic smell had mostly disappeared from the air.
Rain thought that they would spend the time in silence after such an event, but to his surprise, all three of their hero-guides seemed to have put the event behind them as they spoke openly between each other as they did previously.
"So, what do you plan on using the Purging Stone for, anyway?"
At some point, the conversation drifted to an inevitable topic; one that he wondered why it hadn't been discussed earlier. After all, though they were "mere guides", Rain would undoubtedly mistake them as either overconfident or simply careless if they didn't even bother asking about it.
He gave Snow, who was occupying herself with interrogating a troubled Stain, a glance before turning to Rex who had asked him that question.
"I heard it sells for an insane amount of money. Enough to buy a country?"
Rex hummed with a disbelieving tone. "Is that so? If you need money, I could just give you some."
Ignoring the latter half of her statement because he didn't want to be indebted to royalty, did she doubt the worth of the item? Or, maybe she doubted its existence in the first place. There was also the chance that she doubted the sanity of a man who would hire heroes to look for something that might not exist.
"The Purging Stone. Wish Rock. Heart of the Fae Empress, or the Golden Dragon's Eye. I think it was once called the Star of Hope by the demons as well." Rex then started to list the many different names of the item in question. The way she said each name was filled with familiarity, like how an old priest could give a regular sermon. "First sighting is thought to have been during the Behemoth Descent a few thousand years ago, used by Belfor the Mad to defeat the Devourer of Minds. The second sighting was supposedly during the rise of the Calamitous Evil, who used the stones to smash the moons and blind the gods. And, that's it. The Behemoths were aliens to this world who had consumed worlds before their arrival. They were considered the ultimate beings with no weaknesses. And of course, the gods are omniscient. It's impossible to hide anything from them, as they are the ones who created the world. Yet, Belfor used it to defeat a Behemoth, and the Lord of Darkness used it to blind the gods."
Rex allowed herself a moment to drink from her flask before she continued.
"What I'm saying is, maybe the stone is just a convenient story people used to explain miracles?"
His eyes widened. To his surprise, he found himself staring at Rex's bright yellow eyes directly.
But the shock wasn't because of what she said.
"I'm surprised you know so much."
"It comes with the profession."
"What do you mean?"
"Because it exists. The stone."
It was his jaw's turn to react. She stated it as if she was absolutely sure of it, too.
Excitement burned in his chest. He wanted to shout in joy, but he was able to keep his voice down in consideration for the others.
Well, not really, but…
He turned towards Snow. She didn't hear them as she was still incessantly bothering the distressed Stain. Hornet, who was walking on the other side of the carriage, ignored everybody and enjoyed the alcohol that came out endlessly from her gourd.
A sigh of relief escaped his mouth.
"Is it a secret?" Rex suddenly asked. She had noticed what he was doing and inquired curiously. In response, Rain hurriedly shook his head and waved his hands.
"... No, it's not like that. She knows what we're looking for."
"Why did you look relieved, then?"
Rain scratched his head.
"Well… if she heard, then she would definitely cause a ruckus."
It was Rex's turn to look toward the commotion behind the carriage. They heard how Snow pestered Stain with questions like if he was willing to work with them for money, or if he could accept commissions outside. She also asked how much Coin paid them as heroes and other related things. While Rain was certainly curious about that last topic, Rex found everything amusing as she started laughing gently.
"Yeah, I get it. You're right! That's gotta be a pain. I'm surprised that she hasn't come to me, though. Not to brag, but my clothes do look quite expensive."
"I think she's scared of you."
"So you say. But what do you think?"
She stared back and locked eyes with him. Her darkened eyes emitted no sense of intimidation whatsoever. Though her style and knowledge of her real identity still somewhat frightened him a little, the short time he had spent observing her was enough to dampen the effect substantially.
The Rex in front of him acted completely at odds with the hundreds of rumors that spread about her notoriety.
After she heard his opinion, she smiled with a hint of ruefulness… and stopped the conversation there.
Rain felt a bit nervous. He asked himself if he said something wrong, but… he didn't think anybody wouldn't appreciate being told that they weren't a dastardly villain. Or maybe it was something else? Unable to make heads or tails of the situation, he, too, sunk into an awkward silence with only the commotion behind him left to ease the tension.
They continued their uneventful trek through the plains until they finally caught a glimpse of civilization. It was a community that was slightly larger than a simple settlement, but smaller than the villages Rain was used to seeing. It was surrounded by a flimsy wall that looked more like a fence, with a wide wooden gate located at opposite ends.
It was Telerne Village. Finally, they arrived at their first destination.
As the carriage stopped in front of two frightened, tired-looking sentries, Stain and Rex stepped forward and addressed them.
"This is the Monarch of Solycis, Ei–"
"Stay back!"
Stain, who took on the role of Rex's attendant, was interrupted by the guards who then pointed their spears towards them with panic-stricken faces. Rain and Snow gasped at the foolhardy actions by the unwitting two, and the former even half-expected their shoulders to lack a head the next moment.
But then, Rex released an audible sigh and walked past Stain. She stopped right before the spear tip of a particularly twitchy sentry and–
"---!"
With a speed incomparable to Stain's, but still faster than anybody could react, Rex pulled out her rapier and stabbed the guard's arms.