Sure, Chrissy and Pete were pleased to see she was still alive, and Kris even gave her a cheeky wink—which did something particularly interesting to her insides—but the rest of them? Well, if they were not outwardly hostile, they were certainly a little cool.
"Why the fuck has she shot up more levels than we did?" Okay, so Hild was maybe a touch openly hostile.
Lorelei ignored the Guide's words and did her best to keep her voice polite when answering the Valkyrie. "I think because I soloed a spider away from the rest of you, I ended up gaining all the XP from the kill."
"Well, that's bullshit! You didn't kill it yourself, did you? That fucking petrol tanker blew up and wiped it out! We had to kill three of those fucking things face-to-face. Shit!" Hild shook her head at the unfairness of it all. "Life's just so fucking easy for you, isn't it? I guess it's something that at least you didn't nick any of our XP gains from those kills."
Lorelei had a vague memory of a sense of loss when her Guide had been temporarily switched off: she was now regarding this as a Golden Age.
"Actually, if you run the numbers on the XP share, we have all received . . . " Steffan began.
But Lorelei could see where that was going and dived straight back in. "Anyway, it's not like I'm that far ahead of you, is it? You're all Level 6 now, and one level probably doesn't make that much difference in the grand scheme of things, does it?"
Lorelei didn't need to be the avatar of the Goddess of Luck to realise that the moment she said these words, the Guide's ticker tape would snap into life.
Is there any way we can dial down the sexuality of the metaphors? Lorelei thought silently. You seem to have come back from interrogation a touch . . . repressed.
Sure. Whatever. Lorelei was doing her best to read the scrolling message and to try to keep up with the discussion over the next steps for the group. It appeared they were moving out soon. But no one seemed to be able to agree on the direction.
Well, that didn't seem so bad, Lorelei thought. And it did make sense of the slaughter she had witnessed at the Botanical Gardens. If Level 7 was where the scaling of strength slipped up a notch, it explained how just a couple of higher-level party crashers had been able to wreak such destruction.
As she read those words, Lorelei became aware of a series of purple dots showing up on her Map. She could now see Vendors, apparently. Lorelei chose not to share that information with the rest of the group. Hild was already staring daggers at her and Michelle . . . well, the Veiled Stalker had actual daggers . . .
Lorelei scrolled onwards.
Lorelei nodded at that.
"So, what do you reckon, Lorelei?"
Lorelei grimaced as she realised she hadn't been listening to what Zorrobar had been saying. All the eyes in the group were locked on her, some expectant, some resigned.
"Sorry, just run it by me again."
Pete was shaking his head. "Hild thinks we should cut wor losses, gan back te the toon centre and try a different route te the cathedral. Michelle's in agreeance, an' Michael's backin' her up coz he's a reet knacka. Steffan's not sure either way, but the rest of us think that's pure shite. We've come this far, an' want te follow the motorway till the next junction. So, me, Kris, and Zorrobar are Team Press-on. Hild, Michael, an' Michelle are Team Track-Back. Steffan's Team Indecisive. We need ye te be the decider."
Lorelei moved her lips as she made sense of what the Tank had said. "What about Chrissy?" She turned to the Chameleon Courtesan, who was still wearing her Robin Hood costume. "You didn't vote?"
The young woman shrugged. "I don't think it matters. We have a quest to reach Lichfield Cathedral. No matter which way we go, the System is going to do its best to make that journey a nightmare. There's no 'good choice here'. Whichever one we pick will be tough, so I don't see the point in arguing."
"Can I just point out that was what I was saying!" Steffan whined. I wasn't just being 'indecisive'!"
"Whatever, go play with your spider." Michael's voice was dripping with condescension. And poison. Most definitely poison.
"But none of that matters until we hear what our glorious Level 7 thinks, does it?" Hild added. "What words of wisdom will we receive from Fortuna's Herald?"
Lorelei dismissed the message and looked both ways down the motorway. On the one hand, she could understand the impetus to retreat and seek an alternative route to the cathedral. Where there were three hidden foes, there were more than likely going to be others. In fact, hadn't Fortuna said there were a couple of Level 10s lying in wait just up ahead? That would get gnarly. But on the other hand, was there something self-defeating about getting this far and then turning around and retracing steps?
She couldn't help but think that Chrissy (and Steffan) were right that whichever way they chose to approach the cathedral was likely to be a challenge. To think that there was an 'easy' mode they could turn on was simply for the birds.
"Look," she said, "turning to face the small group, "I agree with all sides here. Ideally, it would be great to retrace our steps and try a different approach. But what Chrissy says makes a lot of sense. This quest is supposed to be hard - I don't think we'll find a road to the cathedral with no bad guys on it. We've just managed to take out four Level 10 monsters - "
"Some of us worked harder for that than others," muttered Hild.
"- and we've come out the other side stronger than we were before. I think we just keep going the way we are, take all the precautions we can and see the journey as the System's way of helping us level up. What do you think?"
There wasn't much more to be said after that.
Hild grumbled a little but was happy enough to take the lead when they began trudging their way back through the upturned cars and burned-out vans. Whatever enmity she felt towards Lorelei didn't appear to get in the way of playing her role for the team. As long as that continued, Lorelei thought she could put up with moaning.
So, they walked on, seeking to put as much distance between themselves and the remnants of that battle as possible. Hild and Pete took the lead, with Steffan's spider coming up the rear.
Just as the sun began dipping down, casting long shadows around the walkers, Lorelei thought she could just make out a willowy Lady in Red, giving her the thumbs up.