Chapter 35 Have Some Faith

  “Thank you, again, Lord Darkness and Lady Hellfire, if it were not for you, none of us would have survived the trip.” The lead merchant thanked the duo profusely as the weary caravan moseyed its way into Safeharbor.

  Isaac hummed his agreement but his eyes were on the prisoners and his mind was still out in the wilds of the Innerworld. Lenna was only half paying attention as well as she still half expected another ambush or some kind of long range magic attack to attempt to silence the pair of guards.

  “This adventure has opened my eyes.” The lead merchant went on. “I believe that trips through the Innerworld will no longer be a service that I offer. The cursed place, no offence meant of course, is far too deadly for normal people like myself. This is a realm of heroes, monsters, legends, and demigods. Normal folk like myself and my caravanners are meant to be under the light of the sun and moon.”

  “To be fair,” Lenna began. “a normal trip through the Innerworld does not involve a demigod slaying squad waiting in ambush.” She shook her head. “If it were not for our presence, then your caravan might’ve only been attacked by the first group.”

  “Even so, my Lady, I must state in no uncertain terms that we will never enter the Innerworld again. We plan to leave such places, routes, and trips to braver and less sane folk.” The lead merchant went on. “Though we wish all of you well, we will not be tempting Fate by attempting a second round trip.”

  “Suit yourself.” Lenna commented.

  The guards at the gate of Safeharbor had been checking every single person for doppelgangers or shapeshifting magics which had slowed their entry into the city by a minute or so per wagon. By the time every wagon had entered, and the caravan had safely arrived at the stables and loading yard where they would await the adventuring team who would take them back to Sapphirestone, Edward was already there waiting for them with Guard Captain Tim.

  “Edward, Tim.” Isaac greeted the two older men and gestured towards the pair of treacherous guards who looked utterly exhausted. The two men had been drug behind the lead wagon for days. They had barely been allowed to relieve themselves and were only given sufficient water to keep them walking. Derb’s kneeguards were scratched up beyond all recognition as he had given up walking at one point and just let the wagon drag him behind it. Trevor didn’t have that luxury as it would have put too much of his weight on his shoulder that hadn’t been healed properly. The bleeding had been stopped by one of the cheap potions that the guards all had on them, but that was all. The potion had barely been enough to keep the wound from reopening.

  “I have orders for you, all the way from Lua and Gilgamesh.” Edward told the pair without preamble. “Lua warned Gilgamesh and Catastrophe about an impending apocalyptic threat. She then told the Guild Leader to assign you two as her support for the mission. That is all that I was told. If you want answers or have questions, you will need to, and are permitted to, go to Central and ask the Guild Leader yourselves.”

  “Apocalyptic?” Isaac wondered. “Isn’t it a bit early for us to be saving the world? And why can’t any of the other demigods do it?”

  “‘Apocalyptic’ just means that it requires more than a lone demigod to handle.” Edward explained. “Though, if anything requires more than Catastrophe, it must be a very powerful individual. I cannot fathom any army being able to survive her for more than a few minutes. But as I said, I have no answers for you, but the Guild Leader does and is expecting you to show up and demand them.”

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  “I feel like kind of an arrogant ass for saying this,” Isaac began. The fact that those words had come out of Isaac of all people’s mouth had nearly caused Edward, Tim, and Lenna to all faint in shock. It was only the anticipation of what ridiculousness that he was about to spew that kept them all on their feet. “but it is kind of a bad time right now, we are chasing leads on Aria and Claus’s killers as well as getting ready to go and try to convince Izen, and by extension the crown, to abandon Outpost Charles. The people there need to be evacuated so Contantis has less opportunities to ambush caravans. Honestly, Ben’s End should be temporarily abandoned as well but we all know that that will not happen.”

  Edward, Tim, and Lenna weren’t even surprised by what Isaac had said. It was very much within the realm of expectations, to tell the world that it could wait and he would deal with an ‘apocalyptic’ level threat later. It was that lack of shock that allowed Edward to continue the conversation seamlessly: “We will be taking up those tasks in your stead.” He told Isaac and Lenna. “You and I are of the same mind when it comes to Outpost Charles, and I will instruct all adventuring parties to capture any drow that they safely can. Alexander and I will go and retrieve the captives if we have to but we absolutely need inside knowledge on what Contantis is planning and asking about the caravan protected by the goliath and short wood elf is easy enough to tack onto the rest of the suite of questions we have for them.”

  Isaac couldn’t argue that Edward had everything covered. He could still bring up something that most people would understand very well but would probably still not get him out of going to see the Guild Leader. “I made a promise to someone in Outpost Charles. The next time I arrive there, I will be dragging them back with us.” Isaac explained a reason why he couldn’t take a trip to go deal with some dangerous problem that he had no information on.

  “Well, just get back before we officially start an evacuation. It won’t be soon, bureaucracy is never fast.” Edward shut him down instantly. “The sooner you get going, the faster you will get back, and the higher your chances are of fulfilling that promise.”

  “Isaac, I know what you said, but Edward is right, as long as we get back in a reasonable amount of time, they won’t have been moved yet so your promise will still be valid.” Lenna stepped in. “And not only can he and the rest of the adventurers handle everything for a little while, but the raids might stop for the time being. After such catastrophic losses, I expect that the remaining council members will be hesitant to allow any other raiding groups out. There might not even be a raid before we get back, depending on how long it takes. And none of that is even considering the fact that Lua intervened directly in order to get our names on this bounty.”

  “Also, with this being an apocalyptic level threat, the payout for it will be whatever you want that the Guild Leader can grant, within some level of reason.” Edward explained. “Those bounties get paid out in favors and I-owe-yous from the Guild Leader. Something like that is worth more than a dozen double platinum level bounty completions.”

  Isaac sighed. He had been soundly defeated using logic, bribery, obligation, and pack tactics. “Fine. We’ll get Lenna a new sword, clean up, get some rest, and then head right out.” Isaac grumbled. “Can you handle the bounty and loot and just deposit our earnings directly?” He asked Edward.

  “Sure.” Edward confirmed. “Was there anything that you wanted to keep?”

  “The adamantine.” Isaac informed him. “We already have everything with adamantine on it in our possession though so everything else can be sold.”

  Edward nodded. “Understood. What about your monster loot?”

  “It’s all in the two Bottomless Boxes behind the lead merchant’s seat.” Lenna informed him. “I ran out of space. I have all of the equipment from both ambushes in my Bottomless Backpack with me. I’ll transfer everything to Shamesh and he can deliver them to the Guild Hall before we leave.”

  “Good.” Edward replied. “Then, in case I don’t see either of you before you go, good hunting and enjoy your next adventure."

  “Thanks.” Isaac replied with equal parts sincerity and sarcasm.

  Edward chuckled. “I know this isn’t ideal, but Lua and the Guild Leader are not ones known for abuse of power. There must be a good reason why the two of you were called for specifically. Have some faith in your goddess and trust that she sees things that you don’t. She’s older than Primatia after all.”

  Isaac nodded in understanding and acceptance of Edward’s advice. “I’ll try.” Isaac replied honestly. “And thanks.”

  “Anytime, friend.” Edward said with a serious nod.

  “Then we will be off, see you around.” Isaac waved Edward and Tim goodbye and Lenna offered them both a deep nod. The duo needed a bath and to see Stan for a new sword. The next question was, which one were they going to do first.

  Amaranth Serentia V'Nova Wexler