Chapter 107 - Horrid Smiles

"It was believable?" I mutter, watching Eniyala float steadily towards me out of the corner of my eye while fidgeting in a panic.

"I helped create the scenario, and if I didn't know better I'd think it was real," Yauln whispers back. "Remember, there's one more part."

It's kind of funny that she thought I would forget such a cringey part of this story she wove.

I stomp my foot down on my tattered poncho. 'I'm sorry, old friend.'

"Goddammit! He already left! That motherfucker can use some kind of Illusion magic or something. Wasting my damn time!" In mock anger, I kick the poncho off the roof, watching it flutter to the ground. Any evidence leading to me has been scrubbed away, including even Mana traces, courtesy of a flying black chicken.

Of course, the theatrics have also attracted the attention of the passerby below, who move away from the cloak and begin muttering among themselves as they stare at me.

Finally, one of them asks the question. "Who on Puria are you?"

Biting my cheek in embarrassment, I puff out my chest. "I'm the Sword Saint! The person I was chasing is who I believe the next Assassin Demon is, and they're the ones responsible for the string of random deaths around here! But I guess I chased the coward out of here, so you guys should be safe!"

Dead silence. I'm about to jump off the roof headfirst to end my suffering when the frozen streets explode into commotion all at once. People who don't believe it, others in awe, and some not even understanding what I've said. As the chaos ensues, the fire lady literally lands on my head, nearly knocking me off anyway.

"You fucking dumbass!" She yells as she clutches tightly to my body, hanging onto me like a koala on a thin branch. I pat her head, as I can't move anything but my wrist. "Sorry it took so long."

She unlatches herself, a hint of red on her face, and punches my shoulder. "What the hell?! Why are you revealing yourself now, when you could easily get yourself killed?? You may have surpassed most of us in Level, but you aren't invincible."

I shrug. 'Cause I had to,' I think to myself. "The Demon's showing up now, right? If he's doing something like this, we gotta step up too."

"You fucking idiot…" she replies forcefully, but doesn't argue further. I smile wearily at her, before turning to Yauln. "We should probably go, huh?"

Shifting back to bird form, the woman grabs a human in each claw and takes off, a werebeast right behind her. Eniyala's look gives away that she's still troubled, but I can only hope she'll forget about it, as I crush the now empty vial in my hand discreetly.

'Hopefully this can be over soon, and we can have small, meaningless adventures again,' I wish in my mind.

With the graceful wings of the Hybrid carrying us, it only takes us a few minutes to get back to the hotel — I mean, inn — I hadn't seen in three months. Most of the repairs for a certain hole through the wall are complete… At least until we crash through the flimsy boards blocking the hole, Yauln flying circles through the room a few times before setting us both on our hands and knees.

"We're probably going to have to pay for that, too," Eniyala notes, standing and brushing herself off.

"Oh really? Did you guys split it or did you rock-paper-scissors or something?"

She looks down at me maliciously, a small smirk on her face. "We used your money. You did it, after all. What the hell is rock-paper-scissors?"

I ignore her question as the color drains from my face. "You didn't."

A large hand claps on my shoulder. "It was the first time I had seen this lady express anything that wasn't an unamused face, and it was an incredibly unsettling laugh."

"M-my hard-earned Gold??"

"Oh, and we've been using it to afford the suites we're in now, too."

"…"

This woman would be the death of me. I was absolutely certain of it.

As I mourn the loss of probably most of my profits, Yauln steps to the door.

"Well, let's gather everyone up there then. I have some information to share." The woman looks at me staring expressionlessly at the floor. "A deal is a deal. Even if it didn't work out the way we expected. And… we need to move quick. A source of mine told me that apparently, the Stringmaster can track us."

Eniyala drops the smirk and nods firmly. "I'll let everyone know," she replies, pulling out her phone.

* * *

The Aggressive Werebeast, whose name was Pantholeo, had to carry me over his shoulder to the suites, which in the end only worsened my grief as when we entered Eniyala's room, I instantly went to check the storage cube to see over half of my Gold gone.

"It's not that serious of a plight. Really, it's just money," he tries to console me.

"You dumb lion. You could never understand hard-earned money."

As said lion clenches his fist and tries to control his breathing, Eniyala calls out, "it's not hard-earned if you just beat a guy's ass, you know."

"He was several Levels higher than me!" I complain in response. She peeks her head around the corner to the bedroom and rolls her eyes. "That's literally the story of your life, dumbass."

"… Shut up."

Eniyala flips me off, but before it can devolve into a brawl the door flies open, and three vastly different figures burst through the door — a large man, a short, almost stocky woman, and a rolling ball bouncing between the two.

"Klum!!"

"Pii!!"

They rush towards me like a raging wave, and my excitement turns into horror as they speed up.

"Guys, wai—"

I was too late to warn them as they swarm onto me, and unable to properly balance myself, we roll in a ball until we hit the bed, falling apart onto the floor. Panko nuzzles my side while Termi immediately grabs my collar and begins violently shaking me, Lynsel trying to calm her. In the midst of it all, Yorun and (surprisingly) Ro enter in gloomy fashion.

"What the hell were you thinking?! Are you a fucking idiot? Don't reply to that, I know the answer already."

'She's picked up on using hell now too, I guess.'

As Termi continues to tear me a new one, I spot Yorun hunching over as he sees me, clearly dejected that I had returned. 'Fuck you too, buddy.'

Finally, after getting her fill of amusement, Eniyala steps forward. "Alright, alright. Birdie here has something to tell us, apparently, so listen up."

Termi slowly crawls off of me, and Panko hops onto my shoulder, rubbing his cheek against mine before getting comfy. "Thanks, buddy. I'll get you some treats when I can."

"Kree?" the little Roller pokes his head at me in curious delight, and I scratch his favorite spot under his chin.

"Now that you're all listening," Yauln begins, looking at each of us equally. "The Stringmaster has each and every one of his 'toys' after you guys. His plan is to bring back enough demons to give enough power and chaos that will allow the Demon Lord to rise again."

"We've heard that whole cliché ass plot. Why is he after us and where is he?" I butt in.

"Why the hell did you need Klum for three months? That couldn't have been related." Eniyala says at almost the same time.

The oversized chicken seems irritated at the questions, but addresses Eniyala first. "I needed his help tracking down the Assassin Demon. He made himself a target, but…" she trails off, but not before glaring at Pantholeo and Yorun scoffing at her statement.

"What? Why are they reacting like that?"

Pantholeo jumps in to save the day, funnily enough. "The Assassin Demon and the Stringmaster are working hand in hand, so it's definitely related. It's just funny that he thinks he can track him down."

In reality, the first half of what he said was true. It was only rumors among the Figurines apparently, but in the shadows, the Assassin Demon lurked, guiding and leading the Stringmaster where he wanted him.

But I wasn't planning to track anybody. I had placed a target on my back, but hey, people were calling me the Assassin Demon anyway, right? He had stayed enough on the downlow that I doubted he would show himself because of a little grudge.

Since Eniyala is clearly satisfied with his answer, Yauln turns to me, pulling my attention back in as well. "Skipping ahead, I guess… You guys are an obvious threat. He knows that at least two of you are Saints, and as he's working with the Assassin — supposedly — it's clear you're going to be coming for him anyway."

"Well, aside from being targeted anyway, trying to unleash demons on the world is a great way to get noticed by people with 'Saint' in their title."

"As to where he's at… that's a little harder to answer. There's three or four locations that we know of that he moves between. If you're willing to buy a Manamap, I can mark the points for you."

Before I can respond, Eniyala chirps, "oh, sure! He has the money for it."

I sniff back tears. "I mean, I was going to say yes, but thanks for answering for me…"

Yauln smiles a bit; although she's clearly trying to hide it, she's evidently failing. "Alright, then why don't you go ahead and ord— hrrk!"

An eerie silence falls onto our shoulders as the woman freezes, her head dropping low. Pantholeo jumps up, his body stiff with fear. "Ya-ya…?"

"So, so naïve and stupid, my dear Pantholeo," Yauln says, her voice scratchy and odd. She turns her face up, and the expression on her face grips my heart in a cold embrace.

The woman I had come to know well in the past three months had the same smile that Astil Mafo did as the Stringmaster.