Camin looked at the ceiling.
"It seems I'll be staying in this place a while longer." It wasn't the same inn, rather he had been invited to stay with them. Not that he planned to go back to that inn anytime soon.
"Let's head down." He stood up and started downstairs to the reception area which doubled as a bar.
"Hmm?" Despite how late it was, the place was rather lively. Almost every seat was filled with countless Hunters drinking jovially. It seemed like the news about the mountain had riled everyone up.
Despite being dimly lit and maybe a little stuffy, that did nothing to subtract from the atmosphere. Fighting, betting, wrestling, the place was truly lively.
"Oi! Camin, come hear!" Camin looked over to see Baron's group, waving him over. Or rather, an oddly jovial man.
"Hello everyone." Camin let out a smile as he took a seat next to Baron.
"Yes. I don't believe you are acquainted with everyone right?" The same jovial fellow spoke out again with a loud voice.
"No, I'm afraid so. I'm rather new to this area so I don't know much. I'll leave my care in your hands." Reaper scratched the back of his head smiling sheepishly.
Of course, it was nowhere near the truth. He understood each person who sat at the table intimately.
"Alright, don't worry! Leave it up to me. I guess it's only right to introduce myself first, hehe." The jovial fellow finally seemed to calm down, lowering his guard and putting on a warm smile.
But this only made Camin's blood run cold. Had he chosen the wrong group to infiltrate? They were much too vigilant.
"They call me Cole." It was short and to the point, unlike his usual display. But Reaper knew that despite his outward showing this man was probably the most dangerous in their group.
He was their brain and their brawn. Some would even say the reason for Baron's absolute control of this area was due to this man alone.
Reaper looked the man in the eyes and grinned but quickly concealed it. It wasn't yet time.
Cole raised an eyebrow, seemingly having caught on but said nothing in the end.
"This woman here is Jean. Don't bother trying to court her, I have tried continually and failed." One could hear the pain in his heart as he spoke with a deep sadness, but all that earned him was a roll of the eyes.
"Court her my ass. The best you could do was wash her feet." The last member of the group snorted.
"Jean Foster." Jean snorted. Ignoring their dick fight.
It was a simple gesture but all the members on the table narrowed their eyes. This was the first time she had shared her surname.
They weren't even aware she had one. The significance of this action wasn't lost on them.
In Diagram, there was little else more important than one's name.
It meant that out of everyone seated here, he was the only one she acknowledged enough to give her name.
"Heart." Camin raised a brow but then returned the gesture.
Truthfully she was the one he knew the least about. Well... relatively. All their pasts seemed cloudy. But that wasn't relevant. He didn't believe it would provide any unknown variables.
But reaching this point he couldn't help but sigh 'Maybe I really should have chosen another group.'
"It seems someone has fallen in love." Cole pried a bit. But Jean simply ignored him.
"Watch your tongue." The last unknown member spoke up, also being a woman.
"Hehe. This one is Jack." Cole smiled, "And of course, you know our dear boss Baron."
"...The Ripper huh," Camin muttered to himself, earning a cold glare from Jack. Maybe only the two of them picked up on what he meant.
'This one is dangerous.' Internally she was shaken that he picked up on something so obscure.
"Well, are you ready to finally seek out this Legend?" Jack snorted.
How many years had they been here? Why had she never seen a trace of this so-called 'Legend?'
But all of them understood her perspective. If there was anything to find they should have seen it by now.
"Hmm… Legend?" Once again, Camin muttered to himself, audibly.
Catching on to his confusion Jean spoke up, "Right, you said you were new here, you wouldn't know."
"This place has a legend known as 'The Weeping Goddess.' 100 years ago, while hiking in the mountains, a man claimed to have heard sorrowful cries, and as the intensity of the sobs rose, so too did the snow."
"Soon enough this whole area was covered by snow. And this snow was so spitefully cold that it took a whole year to melt, but as if cursed, on the same day every year, the same downpour of snow and hail would cover the mountain and its surroundings once more."
"But no matter how we searched we couldn't find the woman nor any trace of any mythical creature."
"But recently there is news that the woman has been found."
"Hmm… I see. So they foundfor the place, instead of the person." Camin muttered to himself. But of course, he did so intentionally.
He had heard this story before. Rather than calling the legend 'The Weeping Goddess' it was more accurate to call it 'The Goddess's Sorrow.'
It was a purposefully misleading name to make them look for the person, rather than the place. Why did he believe so? This was one of the effects of a [Fracture].
It would purposefully mislead the minds of people making it difficult to find.
And this was what he had spent the better half of the year figuring out. Legends were rarely based on assumptions.
But as if having heard a revelation all their eyes widened, and in turn, silence fell.
Naturally, they weren't the only ones who heard his words.
"It's...possible." Baron was the one who spoke out first.
"Heh, sorry I was just thinking out loud. Don't pay me any mind." Camin scratched the back of his head, but he had already sowed the seed he wanted.
This should ensure that more people choose to participate this time around. Nobody knew what exactly they were looking for, but if they worked under the assumption that it was a place...
'It seems things will be interesting this time around.' Jean's lips curled into a smile.