Fortunately, there had been a small village nearby just across the river so they had been able to find a resting place before the sun had set. The landlady was a sweet, older woman who lived in a small house beside the Inn. The Inn itself merely contained two floors and a limited amount of rooms for traveling people. Another fortunate thing came along when Hera checked Baron Jerudich's condition and confirmed the older man to suffer nothing serious, only a matter of tiny injuries. Still, after they had settled in an Inn, the Baron nonetheless insisted to be bundled in bandages.
"It hurts so bad! Someone get a medic!" The Baron writhe in bed the moment he entered his room. Concerned, Hera stepped forward to give the Baron an examination which was only received in surprise and utter rejection, "Nooooo! Stay back! You'll just end up making situations worse. Someone get me a real medic!" Hera was left flabbergasted by this childish and whining Baron, and argued "Baron, you can entrust yourself to me. I'll have you know I expertised in these fields since I was old enough to ride a horse!"
By now, the commotion had reached the entirety of this small village. Jayus had been leaning by the door, watching the baron push away Hera's attempts to perform a check until the landlady appeared upon hearing all the ruckus. As she approached their room, her translucent eyes smiled lightly at the duke.
"Is that man going to be alright?" She asked. She was evidently worried about the baron, might even be worried he would die in this room and scare away all her future customers. Jayus already expected it, with the Baron bleeding alot like that, it would be really alarming for my ordinary citizens. Although, Jayus wasn't fazed by these sort of things because he had already had his fair share of gore. Seeing that the Baron and Hera continue to meddle in an endless bickering, Jayus swallowed down the embarrassment he felt for the two grown men, and he said "The Baron will be fine. My butler is highly skilled, he'll be able to take care of everything."
And it seems like he was right. The landlady watched the little fiasco run for a bit before Hera had finally snapped and grabbed the bandages from the medical kit. Baron Jerudich seemed to notice the shift of tension in the air and reluctantly continued his complaints. "W-what do you think you're doing!? P-put...put those bandages down at once!!!"
But Hera acted as if he heard nothing. In a blink of an eye, the roll of bandages flew around like smoke from an incense burner wafting in the air and engulfing the entire room. No less than a second, the entire roll had disappeared and enveloped the baron. He looked like he had just been chosen to be spider food and rolled in a web, and he didn't look happy about it. Through his bandaged head, they could almost see a vein pop out in anger, "MMPH!!! MHMPMHP HMMMPH HMMMPP HPPMM!!!!!" Raged the baron, in which Jayus roughly translated into: GET! ME OUT OF THIS, YOU DAMN RAT TAIL!!!
"Whaaaat~? I'm sorry, Baron Jerudich. I can't hear you under all that." Hera taunted. The Baron couldn't believe he had to receive this kind of behavior from a butler, and he immediately snapped his head towards Jayus as if the duke would jump to his rescue. Jayus felt awkward, the baron looked at him hopeful for him to do something. So Jayus could only do the most reasonable thing to do in this situation. He shrug his shoulders. The baron, shocked out of his soul, choked on his own saliva. Well, what was Jayus suppose to do in this situation? Scold his butler? Not a chance. Jayus knew how persuasive Hera could be just to get his way. He was not about to cross paths with someone so scary. A few days prior, Jayus had refused to take a few tabs of medicine and yet, threateningly, with just a few words Hera had him swallowing those pills like there was no tomorrow. He still had vivid flashbacks of that day, that scary look that said: I dare you.
Jayus wasn't about to fire Hera either. That silly idea would never come true. Hera would have been too great of a loss for Jayus, and the entire estate would have been devastated.
The landlady stepped forward, "I apologize if I can't bring a medic or at least a herbalist to check up on your friend. The village is small, our people have to travel a few miles to Visaril Village just to see a doctor. I'm really sorry if there isn't much I can do." She lowered her head in humiliation, but the baron didn't seem to care for what she said and continued to muffle out words, aggressively. The bandages fortunately made him incoherent to those around, and unwilling to worry the nice old lady any further, Hera grabbed the Baron's face, forcing all the noise to stop and smiled at the landlady. "That's quite alright. We're very thankful for you accepting us this late already. We're very sorry about all the blood, we'll compensate you before we leave." Charismatic as ever, the landlady looked smitten by his words. Soon after, she left having made sure that the rooms were filled with blankets and pillows for the night.
"My lord should also head to bed, it's getting late. I'll borrow the kitchen to brew you tea if you'd like," Hera didn't even finish what he said before he akready had one foot out the door. Jayus bit his lip and looked at Hera, curiously, which earned a comfused look from the latter. But more tea? In the middle of the night? the word itself made Jayus recall the mountain of cups he drank just a few days prior, the taste of it still felt solid under his tongue. Even after all of today's meals still tasted like a hint of chamomile. Jayus wanted to refuse but the Baron had other plans. "Good idea, bring me some biscuits while you're at it."
Like an owl hearing the slight sound of a twig breaking in half, Jayus snapped his head back at the baron. It felt like death had come knocking at Baron Jerudich's door when he saw the hard look the duke had given him, and the colour on his face drained faster than a sinkhole. Jayus opened his mouth to respond, yet every muscle on his face twitched in agitation. "Whose butler do you think you're ordering around?" Although, this would have been a normal occurrence to others, Jayus couldn't help but feel a tinge of bitterness when Hera would be ordered around by somebody else. With every word he dropped, the room drew colder and colder. At this point, Baron Jerudich was going to die from freezing in fear. No, perhaps that would have been the better option than to die at the hands of the duke! A merciful death even. Still, Baron Jerudich didn't know what he did wrong. Usually when the Baron would meet up with other nobles, they would never have minded him ordering around their servants and such. What was so different that the duke had to scold him like this?! The already injured and mummified baron was now extremely confused, but more scared than anything. So cowering in fear and sinking deep into the bed like a tiny, shaking roll of toilet paper, the Baron managed to utter out "I'm sorry, My lord." before hiding deep into the covers. Jayus couldn't do anything much after that and only let out a heavy breath. Acting like this made him look pathetic. He couldn't bare to see how Hera would react now. Would he be scared? Grateful? Weirded out? Curiousity got the best of him and he slowly turned to see Hera's face react only to find no one by the hall. Hera had already snuck into the kitchen when he heard the Baron make demands. He wanted to act like he hadn't heard the baron at all as he poured the hot tea into a cup and serve it on a tray. Luckily, the landlady didn't mind him using the kitchen at all. Hera picked up the tray and set off towards the stairs when a shadow caught his eye through the kitchen window. Blue eyes flickered out the window and saw nothing out the ordinary, and yet he couldn't help that eerie feeling welling up in his chest. Through the forest, there was only trees stretching out in the distance until they faded in the dark.
Pensively, those red eyes never looked away once from the already frightened baron, sweating profusely through his clothes and bandages as he held on to whatever backbone he had left after the incident with duke a few days back. And just his luck, the duke had to be the one to find him again. Back then, he had barely managed to run away from the duke. His heart practically dropped to his stomach when he watched this tall figure make his way towards him as he sprinted first towards the door. If the empress hadn't called for him, then he for sure would have been caught by the duke. To his luck, the Duke had not contacted him afterwards. Baron Jerudich would have been in the clear! So why did the duke have to be the one to find him!? Is it a joke from the gods!? If so, then the Baron should have just been left to die because both routes would have been the same!
"Baron Jerudich," That terrifying voice which continued to torment the baron for nights on end finally spoke to him like death in front of his solid wood, intricate framed, shiny handles door. It scared him so bad he visibly flinched at his name and instinctively, as if it was the proper thing to do in front of this important figure, the baron dropped to his knees on the floor and answered almost immediately, "Yes, My lord?" and when he didn't get an answer, he scurried closer to the Duke's feet like a roach. "I'm at your service whatever it may be. I'll give you whatever you need!"
This answer didn't dignify him a response either. The baron was going to have a nervous breakdown. If things comes to worse, he might just pretend to faint... That's it! He'll pretend to faint! This might just get him out of this situation.
"I want to ask you what happened before we found you battered in the middle of the road. It's essential you don't leave any details...or else."
Or else what!? The baron cried, internally. Jayus spoke in all seriousness that the baron would actually faint for real. It was how those red eyes glowed dangerously in the dark and that posture hovering above him like some unreachable god laying judgement on mere mortals that terrified the baron.
I'm just a mere mortal. Please spare me! The baron sunk deep in the floor.
Jayus looked at the baron curiously. It was one thing to dip into the floor but suddenly the baron was being quite hospitable for someone who has been injured. Perhaps the baron grew up in a strict household. Jayus knew a thing or two when growing up in a strict household but he had been pretty sure each household was different than the other. There was not anything Jayus needed but the baron was casually offering anything. This confused duke only wanted to know the events prior to their meeting in case it helped with their investigation. Who knows, both happenstance might be connected. "Of course! I'll tell you everything!" The baron said.
"Actually, Duke Frasirr- I came on this trip with my... friend." The duke hesitated before he finally decided on the word. Truth be told, he had went on this trip with one of his courtesans, Yuri, but how could he explain that to the duke! Knowing how Duke Frasirr was, he would turn the whole carriage upside down if he ever heard the word. So the baron continued the tale with little white lies.
"She and I were on our way to visit her family in Vasiril Village. The entire trip had been smooth sailing when she felt a bit motion sick from riding the carriage the entire day." Wrong! The two of them had decided to have some quiet fun and mess around however, Yuri didn't like the idea of doing it in a carriage where the coachman might hear so they both stopped by the roadside and wandered deep in the forest.
"I was so worried about her so we stopped by the road side. I helped hold her up when she began profusely puking out and well... I guess my poor friend must have been so embarrassed because she went further into the woods by herself. When she failed to come back after a concerning amount of time, I decided to go check on her in case she might be in danger." The baron glanced up at the duke hoping he wouldn't notice this entire lie he made from scratch. "That was when I saw it, a disformed figure the size of a tree had taken hold of my Yuri-....uhm, friend. I tried to help her but there was only so little this baron could do. I'm not talented nor gifted with strength like the duke. So in the end, the only thing I could do was run and get help, that was when I was saved by the duke. I'm forever grateful for your kindness!" The baron cried. The baron was known for being the biggest con in history. Even now, everything he said had been a straight up lie. He and Yuri had both wandered deep in the forest with no thoughts and regards for safety, that was until they stumbled into the said creatures hide-out and sought out for food. Both of them had tried to escape when Yuri dripped on her skirt. She had called for the Baron for help, only to kicked back and used as bait for Baron Jerudich to escape. That was when, scraped and bruised, he ended up on the road the duke and Hera were on. At this point, who knew if Yuri was still alive. One thing is for sure, the baron could care less. So with his head on the floor, he silently prayed to god the duke wouldn't suspect a thing.
The duke was silent. After hearing the baron out, Jayus was sure this was the same creature the empress had sent him out to capture. Baron Jerudich didn't know what kind of expression the duke made either. Oh no, did he suspect him?
"I still have one question," The duke spoke, glancing up at the young Frasirr, the baron wondered what that question might be.
"Are you sure you didn't do anything to your friend while both of you were there?" The Baron's blood ran cold. Does this mean the duke is on to him? As the Baron contemplated every outcome of this situation, the duke wondered to himself. Maybe something they did prior triggered something to call the creature. If it did, Jayus could use it to lure out the monster. "I-I didn't!" The baron answered rather defensively.
"Then did the creature want something with your friend? You managed to come out without any severe injuries after all," The duke asked further, curious if the monster only truly kidnapped woman. If so, is there anything unique in particular about the Baron's friend that the monster would choose her?
"No! I mean... How should I know! Perhaps the monster preferred woman!" The baron was sweating more and more by the second. But the duke wanted more answers. Jayus was about to ask another question when a loud roar shocked them both to their senses.
Outside the Inn, Hera stood facing the dark forest. He had seen a shadow move within the woods, he was sure of it. Raising the palm of his hand, he reached it out facing the forest. For a moment, everything went still. The trees, the bushes... Almost like the world stopped breathing. That's when a motion in the dark caught Hera's eye and with a flick of a hand, a blue light shot out of his finger and hit that dark figure, forcing it to growl in pain. This must be the monster the duke has been looking for.
"I can't let it get away." Hera set out to run after the monster when a hand grabbed him still. Surprised, Hera turned to see Jayus already by his side. "I'll go after the monster, I need you to watch over the village for me!" Jayus said with great urgency. "The monster must have moved to another location when he couldn't find what he wanted in Vasiril anymore. I'll make sure it doesn't come back here," Jayus nodded in confirmation at this. If Hera stayed behind, Jayus wouldn't need to worry about bystanders getting dragged into trouble. With that in mind, he made haste catchinf after the monster hiding in the forest.