"Disappointing."
Underneath the lord's manor, at the deepest crevice of an extensive network of caverns and pits, was a gigantic chamber with a conspicuous well built at a seemingly random side of it. Unlike normal ones above-ground with a pulley system and a bucket to draw water, that one only had the bare minimum of a circular frame made of bricks. There were no ceremonial effects or decor anywhere to be seen. The room was dark, desolate, and completely abandoned by time.
However, one could catch a glimpse of that area's history simply by using their eyes. Massive scars on the ground and walls could be seen with a torch on every person's hands. Deep craters, dislodged boulders, traces of blood, bare bones, and broken weapons were scattered about. That place must have been the setting of a great battle in the distant past, perhaps when the heroes of Hornet and Stain's caliber were even commonplace.
Because there was no way regular people could cause the kind of destruction present around them.
"Yes. It's unfortunate that things turned out as they did."
"That's not what I meant."
How much rust had accumulated on the tunnels leading to that chamber was incredible. According to Rex, that kind of deep underground corrosion shouldn't have been possible, given that the region had been entirely free of rustfall until recently. She said that she would look into the matter after everything was over. Fortunately for them, Hornet had done a thorough job of scorching the rust off the path, allowing them to safely pass through to their destination.
"I mean, I'm disappointed by your performances. All three of you."
Rain flinched from the incredible pressure that the voice delivered. Considering he wasn't the one being chastised, he could only imagine how terrible it must have felt to those on the receiving end of it.
And that would be Rex and Stain.
"You were sent there to retrieve the Purging Stone, right? And now you contact me just to say you've wasted all the tokens?"
Seeing the usually cold and steely-faced Stain and the "tyrannical" monarch Rex kneel on the dirt was a surreal experience. Especially for the latter, because there is the idea that a nation rested upon its ruler's shoulders; kneeling, or even bowing their heads, was tantamount to having their entire country submit.
"This is our first public commission. And you blew it. Imagine what kind of reputation we'll have once rumors start circling. Ahh, the shame...."
There was only one person Rain could imagine that could cow both of them like that. And sure enough, it was her figure floating on top of the well, like a ghostly apparition bathed in an eerie light.
Coin. The so-called "Master" of the heroes.
"We didn't foresee the rustfall and the general situation here at the village. So we had to make a choice between–"
"Oh, shut up."
"Y-yes!"
Stain immediately dipped his head lower than before. From the trembling of his shoulders and the stutter from his panicked reply, one could easily surmise his fear at that moment.
… How powerful or influential was Coin to be able to reduce a hero to such a state? Rain turned his eye to the well. An orb that seemed to reflect a reality that wasn't there hovered a meter above the well's rim. It was summoned by Stain after he tossed the last Binding Token he had down the well. Through it, he could see Bunny's familiar face, who stood with an unamused expression in the background. Beside her was a monster, a collection of dozens of giant centipedes and snakes that wrapped around and crawled on each other to form a misshapen human. It, too, "stood" in attention quietly.
Finally, there was Coin… or at least, it should be her. The voice was undoubtedly hers, and the small table he shared a meal with her looked the same. But her body seemed to be distorted. Unlike Bunny and the monster behind her, whose images looked nice and clear, Coin's seemed to be viewed through a terribly-made piece of glass. Her shape was inconsistent with what he remembered, and its outlines kept shifting around, unsure where they should settle.
Inhuman. But perhaps it should be expected. There was no way somebody who could stand above powerful heroes would be normal.
Coin released an exhausted sigh.
"Very well," she spat. "By the way, have you heard from Hornet?"
"... No… We haven't seen her since she released Ruin."
Rex had to answer Coin after a moment's pause, likely because she realized Stain had become too anxious and ashamed to reply.
Regarding Hornet, she had disappeared after the previous event. Rain and Snow feared for her safety, but Stain insisted that she would be fine and that it was normal for her to go elsewhere after a fight.
"At least one of you isn't completely useless," Coin sighed again. "Come back. There's nothing you can do now."
The disappointment in her tone was unmistakable. Failure was always disheartening, but it may mean something more for them. But what did she mean by one of them not being useless?
"Dear clients."
Coin suddenly called out to them. Rain's heart jumped, and Snow looked even more spooked than he was. But even with a lump in his throat, Rain managed to squeeze a reply of acknowledgment.
"I'm really sorry for this. It's all because of my stupid subordinates. Once you get back, I'll compensate you for everything. So don't give us a bad rating, okay?"
… Bad rating? What was she talking about?
He was about to say he didn't mind but managed to stop himself just before he could. Because that would be a lie. Sure, they still had Rex's promise of an obscene amount of money in exchange for saving the villagers. But that was for Snow… though he agreed to it. That wasn't why he hired them in the first place.
Should he complain? Or should he just respect Snow's wish? And what did she mean by "compensation?"
"Okay. Thank you."
That was all he managed to say. Snow, sure enough, was also fine with everything.
Good for her.
********************
Perhaps nobody expected they would be scolded like that, but the trip back out of the dungeon was quiet. It was a worse kind of silence compared to when they realized that the entire village was at risk of complete annihilation.
"Hey. Do something," Snow elbowed him from the side and whispered.
"Why me?!"
"You're closer to them!"
He sighed. That was a decent point. Snow spent most of her time there ogling at treasures and getting scolded herself, so he probably had the most experience with the group. So, biting the bullet, he coughed and opened his mouth.
"I've been meaning to ask… what is this place?"
Rain forced a conversation in an attempt to dispel the gloom. So, he asked a question that had bugged him slightly ever since they uncovered the entrance.
The caverns that led to the well were hidden in a way that was too obvious to be a secret but too inconspicuous to be otherwise. It stood at a gray area that made it difficult to ascertain its implications.
Upon hearing his question, Rex looked to Stain before she eventually shook her head and answered.
"It's a shrine," she said rather restrainedly. Being chastised earlier seemed to have affected the two heroes, particularly Stain. That was why he, who had always answered Rain's questions with a cold temperament, remained silent. On the other hand, Rex was likely far more used to pressure than him, given her position as a country's leader, so she was able to gather herself just enough to answer.
According to her, the well was called the "Dirt Eater's Bowl." It served as a way for people with Binding Tokens to communicate with others, typically those back at the Twilight Dusk. Not only that, but those wells also served as compasses. With the use of the same tokens that allowed them to talk over great distances, it could also be used to help them discern where they should go to meet a specific objective.
Thanks to the token's properties and the wells' creator, that was possible.
"Who made the wells, anyway?"
"The Lord of Evil."
Both Rain and Snow choked.
"Surprised? For a good reason, history doesn't speak too kindly about the Lord of Evil. And, it never will…."
A rare look of guilt spread across the monarch's face as she said those words, a detail that both mercenaries missed as they recalled the details of the individual in question.
Lord of Evil. Calamity Bringer. The Great Scourge. Different races and nations had other names for it, but they all referred to one particular individual; the strongest Demon Lord in recorded history. It was said that her ability was such that she threatened the heavens merely by existing, which forced the gods to act and sic dozens of heroes to eliminate her. This eventually caused the event known as the Heroic Calamity, where the armies of every race faced the demon lord and her subordinates in a climactic battle.
It ended with humanity's victory, and the demon lord died in battle… but not before taking hundreds of heroes with her.
"So this… is a shrine to the Lord of Evil?"
"Not exactly, but that's half-right… I guess. It's better to say that the wells are located in places where the Lord of Evil fought the hardest."
So those locations were of historical importance? Then why weren't they accessible to the public? Rain could imagine that those places could serve as valuable landmarks for propaganda against the demons. There is no shortage of ways to exploit such an area. However, it is half-heartedly sealed in a village in the middle of nowhere instead. He could only imagine that it was the same for every other location, as even he, who had looked into various legends and stories to find a remedy for their affliction, had only heard about it then.
"Why aren't these places open to the public, then?"
Rex immediately understood his intentions and answered solemnly, "Because they'll learn something they shouldn't."
Her reply stumped Rain. Shouldn't the truth of every matter need to be taught to others? Operating on lies and assumptions would only cause disasters. That was what he thought. But, when he bought it up, the only reply he got was a meaningful smile.
"We're here. Pack up your things, okay? I'll talk to the lord."
Before he realized it, they were already at the exit. As they finally came out, Stain walked away without a word while Rex dismissed the matter from earlier and waved them goodbye. Of course, when she showed her face, she didn't fail to elicit horrified screams from the people around her.
Rain stood there for a moment, processing Rex's words from earlier. There were a lot of details to go through, but their connections were vague at best. It was like they were fed with just enough information to stimulate their imagination but not enough to make a conclusion. It left him with an empty feeling.
"That's kind of strange," Snow suddenly remarked. She scratched her head and rubbed her neck before continuing, "Why did she tell us so much?"
"What do you mean?"
Snow wiped her muddy shoes on the floor and said, "I was kind of bothered by it since back then, but after today, I guess the suspicion just kicked in. They seem all too eager to answer our questions, even though these things have nothing to do with us. Look, they could have gone to the well without telling us anything, right? They wouldn't have had to wait for the passage to cool down after Hornet burned it otherwise since I'm pretty sure that Stain guy has some kind of magic that can solve the problem. If so, we could have escaped this village before this happened. But they insisted that we come along. Yet, when you started asking questions, Lord Rex always cut herself off before dropping anything big."
"That's a fair point."
Rain was thoroughly impressed. He had failed to consider that. What was even more impressive was that it was Snow who realized it. He didn't think she could deliberate so profoundly about matters unrelated to money. Not only that, but she was also able to put her thoughts into a long explanation without drifting off. Usually, she would just not bother at all.
"Hey. What are you talking about? How insulting!" she complained. "This is obviously related to money. The tokens they used are worth far more than the stone!"
"... How is that related to them feeding us info?"
"Because… it feels more like they're investing money into us… to make us ask questions."
It was then that Rain finally understood what Snow was implying. He swallowed his saliva and looked around, just to make sure that nobody was within earshot. But since there were still far too many refugees around them, he decided to drag Snow back into the dungeon and close the door behind them. There, Rain confronted her about it.
"What are you doing? N-no, not here. I'm not ready," she teased. Rain shook his head in exasperation.
"Idiot. That's not it… Do you mean… they orchestrated all of this to happen? Something like a test?"
After hearing his question, Snow took on a more serious look.
"Probably… not completely," she replied. "The disappointment from their master earlier seemed real. And… Lord Rex doesn't seem like the kind of person to agree to such a thing."
Rain sighed in relief. True enough, despite all of the rumors, the monarch of Solycis didn't feel like someone who would put her people in danger. It was either that, or she was exactly like the rumors suggested and were just acting really well. It was a conundrum, yet Rain felt more inclined to believe in the former.
"You really have to wonder, though; back when we were attacked by the corroded on the road, they barely hesitated to use a token to show off. But then they insisted on its value, and lord Rex even offered us an insane amount of money to use it."
"What are you getting at?"
She hesitated. Maybe because she wasn't sure about it, or she feared offending the kind of people who could upturn an entire landscape on their own, but Snow took a long time before she could gather herself and answer.
"I think… they had everything planned right until the rustfall last night."
********************
"Thank you so much for saving us."
The lord of the village, a noble, bowed down to a flustered Rain and Snow. He also took both of their hands and shook them vigorously. In his eyes, one could only see honest gratefulness. Regardless, it still made both of them uncomfortable. They had been conditioned to think that the nobility was at a place so high up that they might as well be a different species. Yet there, the lord lowered his head to them.
"Uhh… no need for thanks. We couldn't have possibly decided otherwise, my lord."
That was a lie. Rain would have seriously considered abandoning an entire village without Snow and Rex's pleas. Of course, he wasn't going to mention that.
"In fact, you should thank those two over there," Rain continued as he pointed toward Rex and Stain, who were waiting for them at a distance. "They're the ones who made an effort."
Upon mentioning that, the village lord bowed his head even further. The two were visibly baffled by their reaction until the former raised his head and said, "I can't.
"The young man may be fine, but the monarch herself is…."
He cut off his words at that moment and tightly shut his mouth. Even so, Rain and Snow knew what he wanted to say.
After expressing his thanks again, the village lord saw them off as the group left.
The group headed home consisted of Rain, Snow, and the two heroes, Rex and Stain. Hornet was still missing, and nobody knew where she had disappeared until that time. But while both heroes assured them that she had that kind of habit and that she was strong enough to fend for herself, the two mercenaries still worried about her well-being.
Other than that, their own doubts gnawed at their thoughts. Was it true that they were set up? If so, then did the heroes even plan to lead them to the stone in the first place? They likely did. Hornet's behavior practically proved it. However, they still couldn't help but dwell on their misgivings.
After an hour of traveling, the carriage stopped. The group had already gone past the ruined landscape by that point. Snow, resting at the carriage, sat up and looked at Rain with a questioning look. He had nothing to answer her with.
But then, Rex walked up to them and…
"I haven't thanked you two properly for what you did. Even though we failed, we did save many lives. So, thank you."
She handed over a small parcel. It was neatly tied up and looked pristine, with a bright red leather pouch and a golden button to seal it. Without a word, she returned to her position, and the carriage resumed on its path.
Curiosity gripped both of them as Rain opened the parcel with care. As they walked on, Rain opened the package, carefully avoiding damaging the exquisite material that protected its contents. Inside was a piece of half-burnt paper with haphazardly-written words that Rain immediately recognized the penmanship of. It belonged to the same person that he had kept finding diary entries.
But…
"Rain? What's the matter?"
"... Ah?! It's nothing."
"What does it say?"
"I don't know. It's too damaged."
He quickly hid the goods behind his back, a blatant display of guilt that he probably shouldn't have done. Of course, Snow promptly saw through it and glared at him suspiciously.
"Reaaaaally?"
"Yeah! I mean, nothing could possibly survive Hornet's attack, right?"
"Hmmmmm... Fine."
Snow yawned and went back to sleep. Fortunately, she was much too tired to pursue the matter. However, Rain wasn't that exhausted yet. He had trained himself to have a lot of endurance. So he had a lot of time to ponder.
He looked at Rex. She was talking to Stain about what kind of punishment they might have to endure after returning. At that moment, she seemed like an ordinary girl having an anxious breakdown with a friend.
She was also supposed to be their guide. And it was under her guidance that everything happened the way it did.
"... Whatever," he thought. "We'll just have to ask later on."