"Harvest season has come once again. And just like the last one, there's nothing. The fields are barren. The rivers dried up. The warehouse's empty.
Nelly has been complaining about how he could feed his family. We don't have money, either. Maybe old man Russo can lend us some. Prices in the nearby towns have gone up because of the bad harvests, though.
… I hope this doesn't happen again next year."
"Oh? What's that you got there?"
Rain felt an arm wrap around his neck. It was heavier than he was used to, so he couldn't help but recoil slightly. As he turned his head, he saw Stain looking curiously at the piece of paper on his hand.
"I don't know. I found it on the ground. Just caught my eye, I guess."
They were currently at one of the hastily-constructed ramparts in the village, which was made using the rubble from the nearby houses.
Similar to the state of their meager fortifications, the entire village was a visible mess. It looked as if they had just gone through a war. There was as much debris scattered about as there were either dead or injured bodies. And, there were a lot of the latter; as in, far more people than what a mere village should have.
"Refugees?"
"Sure looks like it."
Stain shrugged. His nonchalant attitude contrasted sharply with the tense, bleak backdrop of a post-battle settlement. Rain shook his head and turned to look at the people manning the defenses.
Similar to the guards they encountered at the gates, everybody was fidgety and on edge. A while ago he stepped on a piece of pottery and the sound of it breaking caused everyone in the vicinity to jump. Judging by their reactions and the thoroughly-battered defenses, it seemed as if their battles weren't something that had just happened the other night.
"Three or four days."
"How did you know?"
"I asked."
Stain laughed and pointed towards a spry little white-haired boy who was busying himself with handing rations to the tired soldiers.
"Apparently, there was heavy rustfall in this area around a week ago. A few days after that, they've been besieged occasionally by the corroded."
He then gestured toward a pit that had been dug a distance away from the fortifications. It was filled with the bodies of misshapen creatures that had been affected by the corrosion. The pile was mostly composed of animals, but there was also an unnervingly high number of corroded humans as well.
"So, the refugees..."
"Looks like it. They had been attacked just a few hours before we arrived. That's about the same time we were, too. Explains why they were all tense when we got here… Sorry. We're supposed to be looking for the stone, but here we are."
That was true. But Rain didn't mind at all. He was already grateful that people of their caliber were willing to help out in something he didn't even think was possible. And besides, simply knowing that the stone existed had taken a lot of weight off his chest. So, for the moment, that was enough.
"I don't mind. It's an experience. Still, how did Rex not know about a major rustfall inside her own territory?"
"That's what they're trying to figure out."
Earlier, after they arrived at the village gates, shortly after Rex stabbed a guard through his arms, they were quickly surrounded by the other soldiers in the vicinity. In true heroic, or maybe royal fashion, Rex simply displayed an expression of indifference even with a dozen weapons pointed in her direction. She demanded that the lord of the village come to her, which was quite threatening when combined with Hornet's lance spinning with a strange, scraping sound.
Eventually, a fat noble was dragged to the scene. His face whitened comically when he saw Rex and immediately ordered all the soldiers to stand down.
They were then escorted towards the lord's mansion with much commotion. The way the lord yelled at his subordinates to clear the streets as they passed, almost as if he was desperately trying to keep up his appearance, was honestly quite funny.
Afterward, inside his own mansion, the lord was throttled by Rex for answers. She didn't concern herself with why she was greeted by speartips. Rather, she was mad about not being aware of the situation.
"Wait, weren't you guys underground this whole time, though? How could she be informed anyway?"
Just yesterday, Rain was sure that the trio had been carousing. If the incident had only started a few days prior, then there was no way Rex could have received any reports considering that the capital of Solycis was far more distant than just a week's worth of traveling by carriage.
"Ever heard of "embassies"?" Stain asked. "It's something Rex learned and adapted from Coin."
He proceeded to explain the concept to the clueless Rain, whose eyes gradually widened until a look of enlightenment had completely stretched his facial features vertically.
"That's amazing. But, I don't understand… There's still quite some distance between here and the capital."
What's more, the "Twilight Dusk" was supposed to be a "publicized secret" known only to people who listen to the rumors. There was no way a noble of a small village would know about it.
"Wells."
"... Well, what?"
"Yup. A well. Or, wells."
"Is that a person? "Orwells"?"
Stain looked startled for a moment before he released a chuckle.
Ignorant that he knew he was, Rain wasn't aware of anybody else within the Solycis high government besides its ruler. Her reputation was such that nobody talked about anybody else. That was why he had no clue about anything that seemed like insider information.
"Oh. Right! We never explained it properly," he remarked and slapped his forehead. "We mentioned before that this village has an underground well, right?"
Rain nodded. It hadn't been too long ago since Rex said it, so it was still rather fresh in his head. Otherwise, he would have already forgotten what seemed to be a minor detail.
"It's not just a normal well. It's… something pretty cool. I'll tell you more about it when we get to it."
... That was it? That was the reveal–a cliffhanger.
Rain pouted with a very dissatisfied hum. But ultimately, he decided not to pursue the matter, as he would be answered later on, anyway. All he had to do was to wait until that time. So, he decided to talk about another topic, purely out of whim.
"... I wonder if they're doing all right? The girls, I mean."
"Don't worry. Hornet's with them. And the only thing scarier than a woman with a sword is a drunk woman with a giant lance."
"Well, I mean…"
Rex's notoriety was well-known. Though they were inside her own territory, it used to be her enemy until several years ago. Plus, Snow was with them. She was just an ordinary magician. What if–
"Funny thing. Though you might think she gets assassins often, that's not actually true. Dunno why," Stain explained. "Last one was, I think, three years ago? It's almost like the Night Shade aren't even trying."
He laughed at a joke that perhaps only he, among the both of them, could understand.
Regardless, Rain found the information interesting. The Night Shade was a clan of assassins with a flawless reputation. If he was telling the truth, then the normal question to follow up with was "why". Besides the demons who live in the frigid north, nobody else had as terrible a reputation as her. Somebody should have requested a hit on Rex at some point.
"Bah. I don't want to talk about her. We just got caught up in her mess." Stain waved his hands as if he was swatting away an annoying fly. "I'm more interested in you, dear Client."
"Huh? Why me?"
"When Rex asked you what you were planning to do with the stone, you mentioned that it would fetch a pretty penny for what it was worth. But that wasn't an answer. So, I wonder what you will actually do with it?"
Though Stain was reading a book while yawning, Rain felt as if the former's attention was turned squarely on himself. But there was no tension at all. Perhaps it was just a question to satisfy an itch.
"Ah. You don't have to answer that. I just wanted to get it out of my chest. I actually don't care."
Then, he suddenly waved his own concerns off just as quickly as he raised the topic. What a terribly aloof man.
He didn't seem to fit the gallant figure of a hero that annihilated a few dozen enemies in the blink of an eye.
"But don't worry. We'll lead you to it. It's our job, after all."
********************
After a light (free) meal courtesy of a pale-faced, haggard lord who looked like he had gone through a hell of a sermon, Stain and Hornet invited their two mercenary clients to a corner of the audience room on the first floor. Rain showed up with a tired expression of his own, while Snow looked absolutely thrilled to just be there.
"Dear clients," Stain dramatically started his piece. "We've gathered you here today for a very special occasion."
Hornet echoed his sentiments by half-sarcastically clapping her hands.
"Nobles have always held sway over the lives of us "mere" commoners."
True enough. Most of the nobles Rain had met treated the common people as nothing more than tax mules. Everybody had to mind their actions whenever they were in one's presence, for a single mistake could cost them a finger, or worse, their lives.
"And among their most feared instruments of forcing obedience is the threat of being placed in the dungeons. For most of us, the only time we will ever see one is when we're placed inside a cell. But now, with Rex's permission, we can go down there and take a look!"
…
"Is that your idea of a good time?"
"Yes."
Stain gave each of them an unlit torch and then guided them to the end of the hall, where a conspicuously heavy door was set on the wall. The single sentry stationed there looked no different from the exhausted soldiers on the ramparts. He took one glance at them, tensed a little, then sighed submissively. Stain didn't even have to say anything for the guard to take the keys out of his pocket and open the door.
With that, Stain boldly walked into the dark corridors of the dungeon with a cheerful "Let's go!"
Rain felt a cold, sharp hand pat his back. It was Hornet, who had a flushed face and disoriented eyes. She shook her head and shrugged, "Jus' go 'long with it. Th'man likes 'is dungeons."