Chapter 17
Night market in Fountain Grove, State: Percival, Republic of Shantu, Continent: Barat Year: 2040, Planet: Grimoire
That night had gone from relatively calm to completely crazy, but Harper enjoyed every minute of it. He knew his siblings had just as much fun, other than Anara and Sapphire who'd become overwhelmed due to their empathic natures.
Harper contemplated all the activity and shook his head with bemusement. His sisters had retired early, but not until after they'd each selected specific supplies to take with them on the forthcoming journey. Not only that but they'd found some ready-made clothing that suited their preferences as well when traveling on the road.
Right now, though, Harper and the others were seated around a large table and eating a tasty meal. They'd found the restaurant that could hold all of them including the guards and Ms. Hermina. Even Anara and Sapphire found the energy to enter the small room set aside for their gathering. All of them chattered about this and that while eating thoroughly.
At last, Harper cleared his throat and addressed Hermina. "So, what else do we need to prepare for the journey?" He knew there must be something else that hadn't happened yet. Not only that but there hadn't been any further news about the academy. The last thing that Harper wanted to encounter was an expulsion notice right when arriving.
"Hmm, you're sharp." Hermina conceded. "With that in mind, I'll let you all know what the latest information I've received."
She gave them everything they needed to know.
Harper frowned. "So, we're all going into different departments and dorms depending on what majors we've chosen?" That was drastically changed from previous discussions.
Hermina nodded. "The only other change is that you won't be split into different districts. They've finally consolidated into one district within the city that'll be enclosed within a gated number of hectares." She shrugged. "Evidently this was ordered to prevent any predations from monsters." Hermina shook her head in disgust as she added. "Since the academy uses land that was primarily abandoned because of its uselessness in agricultural or mining cultivation."
"Huh, no wonder they were recruiting students with monster-combat experience." Harper frowned. "I thought that was one of the areas where non-human species lived with humans rather peacefully though?"
It was an unexpected development if that wasn't the case any longer. Harper was uneasy when he recalled the shared dream, they'd all had.
Hermina smiled. "The ones that're violent and prone to attacking are types that had gone feral and are diseased." She spread her hands. "The majority of species do live peacefully together. That also includes hunting the feral creatures regardless of speciation."
Harper blinked and winced. Hmm, that still was rather troubling for him right now. "I suppose I'll get used to this after a while." It bothered him to hunt others, even humans, which might've gone feral and rogue. "Is it a side-effect of some medication going wrong, I wonder?"
Hermina shrugged. "I don't know to be honest."
Well, Harper figured they could find out more information while traveling.
*
The empathic sisters winced as they listened to the conversation. This was definitely not going in the direction any of them wanted. Anara and Sapphire exchanged glances. It appeared that they would have to shed some light on the situation that faced all of them.
A sigh escaped Sapphire. "I heard that there was a virus that began corrupting some of the elements, magic, and leylines." She nudged Anara, alerting her to start speaking. Sapphire didn't want to be the only one breaking bad news right then.
Anara hesitated before revealing. "That also caused problems with mental states which is why monsters are evolving into feral creatures of high attack and defense." She finally stated quietly. "I was looking up information on that area and the surrounding cities." Anara shook her head. "It hasn't spread any further than those cities, but neither has a cure been found yet either."
Either way, it wasn't looking good for the future.
Jennifer looked at Anara and Sapphire. "Is that what you were doing while we were gone?" She looked discomfited.
"I think we all thought that you were just running errands and doing busy work while the rest of us were hunting." Holly was blunt. "I kind of felt bad for thinking that."
Uhm, well they weren't wrong about that assumption. Anara shrugged. "We were doing small things for Ms. Shiloh between the meals." She smiled faintly.
Sapphire furrowed her forehead. "I did some bookwork for her." She stated simply. "I also helped set up simple accounting forms." How the woman managed to stay in business as long as she had was a mystery to Sapphire.
*
Sherpa tapped his jaw. "I think it is safe to say that all of us probably need to get officially tested and certified as hunters and adventurers." He said at last much to everyone's shock. "We should form our own party so that no one can accuse us of stealing from other groups' profits."
That was a sore point with all of them since it had been a common issue.
From what Sherpa could tell, each of his siblings had a variety of skills that would cover a weakness and provide strength when necessary. He eyed their guards. "If you want to join us, you can, but it isn't an obligation if you're not comfortable with the idea."
There weren't that many people who would trust kids of their youth. Sherpa only tossed it out there so that Ms. Hermina wouldn't need to make it a forced deal through owed favors or some other nonsense. He didn't want them resenting him and his siblings because of favors being called in.
The guards cleared their throats while averting their gazes from Hermina who made a point of not even looking in their direction. She measured Sherpa with a sharp stare. "You definitely have a way with words. I'm glad that this is being discussed now, rather than later when crunch time occurs."
The guards relaxed when they realized Hermina wasn't going to be pushy about the subject. "Give us some time to think about whether we want to join the party or just be temporary guards." One of them requested after a few minutes. "We have families here in Fountain Grove."
Sherpa shrugged. "I don't have a problem with that." He knew their concerns.
*
Daryl listened intently to the conversations flowing around him. He knew what Sherpa and the eldest sisters were up to and admired their tactics. "I think we're also going to have to address the fact that none of us know our rankings when it comes to magic use and the type of what we can use." He mentioned at last. "I know we might get measured at the academy, but can we actually trust their equipment?"
Ms. Hermina looked at him in surprise. "Can you clarify what you mean by that?" She was curious, not angry, and wanted to know where he was coming from with that inquiry.
"I've been doing some digging into the history." Daryl wasn't impressed with what he'd heard about the academy. "It hasn't been around all that long and there are other academies that have much better conditions." He frowned. "Not to mention that the reason why those viruses happened was," This whole mess was directly caused by that academy from what Daryl could tell.
Ambrose glanced at Daryl. "You started this messy topic, might as well spit out the rest of it." He advised and gained a scowl from Daryl.
"Yes, I know," Now Daryl was hesitant to reveal what else he'd learned. "It was because some crazy idiots expelled from the academy and set those monsters loose in revenge." He'd done some independent research and from what he could tell it was a dead end, literally. "I'm not really sure what their motivation is other than probably trying to clean up the mess their actions caused."
Ms. Hermina frowned. "Yes, that does seem to be the case." She shook her head. "I'll look further into it in that case." She studied Daryl. "Did you find some alternatives?"
Daryl shrugged. "I did, but I'm going to research further before I nominate any possibilities." A faint smile curved his mouth. "Even if I did find others," There was one definite fact that they were facing that wasn't going to change. Daryl might as well inform them about it before he said anything more. "They would all have the same problems of dealing with those loose monsters right now."
The guards grimaced. "If we're going to be facing diseased monsters that's going to be a huge loss because none of what we harvest will be usable." They shook their heads in annoyance. "On the other hand, the bounties to clean up might be worth it though." One of the guards murmured.
Daryl grunted. "I haven't seen any mention of bounties on either the ones responsible for the problem, much less the monsters."
Hermina frowned. "Now that sounds as though someone deliberately avoided informing the government."
Daryl shrugged. "Yes, that is the impression I've gotten." Not good for anyone who went to that area in complete ignorance.