The Betrayal that Was(n’t) – Part 3

We arrived in Adaville two days after leaving Petra. I wasn’t exactly looking forward to going from the fresh and crisp mountain air to the pungent smell of black liquor permeating the city, but alas—I had to do what I had to do.

After disembarking, Fianna, Chloe, and I went directly to the Mining Guild to sell off our earnings from the expedition.

“Oh, it’s you, young prospector,” said the same old man who taught me the <Prospector> skill before. “Have you come to upgrade your skill? Or—”

“Nah. I came to sell off some gemstones.”

“...Is that right,” he said, with a tone that suggested he didn’t think my skill was going to be useful for anything other than lining his own pockets.

Ah! Too bad for you. I have secret knowledge of this world you can’t even fathom!

“So, what is it?” He said as he led us inside with a dismissive tone. “Did you find a singular diamond someone forgot in a cave somewhere, or—”

“I found these.”

I deposited a leather bag on the table, right in front of his stupid frown. The sound of the gemstones clanking with each other, and the couple of gems peeking out of the opening, was enough to get the man’s eyes bulging out.

* * *

“Ah! The look on his face was priceless!” I said, still chuckling to myself.

“The Mining Guild is well-known for tricking young adventurers into paying for their skills. It’s how they can keep calling themselves the ‘Mining’ Guild despite mostly importing gemstones from elsewhere,” Fianna said. “All the mines around here are inaccessible at this point. I bet that man hasn’t seen a raw gemstone in decades.”

“And best of all, the amount of money we got is…!”

Chloe was right. I had it all secured in my pocket, the weight of the coins being almost unbelievable.

Sixty-one Gold coins and thirteen Silver. It was a mind-boggling amount of money.

“Your gamble definitely paid off,” Fianna added, with a satisfied smile.

No wonder she was happy. I’d already paid her the 10% I promised—6 Gold and 4 Silver, rounded up. We were still left with fifty-five Gold—more than enough to pay for the Diviner to restore Yzara’s title.

“I hope that's enough money to get Tanney back to full power.”

Fianna looked at me, eyes wide open, as if in complete shock. Then, a genuine smile broke through her taciturn face. “So you figured us out, eh?”

“It’s not like you tried to hide it or anything. It was a bit baffling why you’d even take a gamble on our idea, to be honest.”

“I suppose. I’ll make sure this money gets used properly. Thank you once again, Takashi,” the elf said, extending her hand.

“No problem!” I said, as I replied her gesture.

“This is where we part ways for now. Stay safe out there, you two.”

And with that, Fianna disappeared back into the crowd.

“She turned out to be quite a nice person, didn’t she?” Yzara commented.

“Yeah. A bit stuck-up, but she’s nice. I’m going to miss her a bit when I leave.”

“And what about me?” Yzara asked with a teasing smile.

“I’ll miss you too, don’t worry.”

“Eh-eh. I sure hope so, otherwise I wouldn’t be helping ya. So, are we gonna do it now?”

“Yeah. No point in waiting. Let’s go meet the Diviner one last time.”

* * *

I had a rocky start in this world for sure, but things started looking up after making it to this city. In fact, things were going a bit too well, and I had this creeping feeling I wasn’t going to get out of this situation that easily.

That feeling turned out to be right on the money. We were happily strolling through the plaza in front of the Temple of the Seven, when suddenly something struck me as deeply wrong.

“It’s too quiet.”

When we visited the plaza before, it was teeming with people. But now, it was completely deserted, except for yours truly.

Yzara looked at me, sharing my suspicion, but before we could try and formulate a plan—

From all the side streets came an army of guards, all dressed in full chainmail armor and carrying some musket-looking guns. However, they didn’t come to attack us; instead, they created a wide circle, blocking our movements.

“Soldiers?! What the hell do you want?!” Yzara said, raising her voice way more than her priestess garb would suggest.

“Explain yourselves! Who sent you?!”

“That would be me.”

It was a voice I recognized, coming from the main avenue leading into the plaza.

No way. No way she…!

The person was let through the encirclement to stand right in front of us. She was tall and beautiful, with hair hanging over one shoulder. She had a stern look that didn’t fit her, and I could tell there was something else there.

Something more sinister.

“Eh. Ya finally revealed your true colors, huh?”

We had been trapped, and by none other than the governor of Adaville herself.

“Marielle. So you are our enemy too.”

Hearing her name, she only let out a sinister smile.