Chapter 16: Suspicion.

The scouts' forge smelled of burnt iron and wet wood, reminding everyone of recent battles.

Harpya was alone, carefully cleaning what remained of the butcher's axe, when Isz arrived through the back door.

Harpya: "Where have you been? We searched everywhere and couldn't find you. I thought they had killed you."

Isz: "I was imprisoned. I went to confront that damned Gray directly."

Harpya, surprised, replied:

Harpya: -Are you trying to die? How did you get out of prison? Don't tell me you escaped from there.

Isz: -No, they spared me due to a lack of units, but on the way I received important information and I need your help.

Harpya is confused.

Harpya: -What do you want? Are you going to fight them?

Isz: -No, we're going to Volny on a secret vessel. Volny has a different government, less church influence.

Harpya: -How did you decide this? Do you think they'll just let all the scouts escape? And your childhood friends? You're going to abandon them when you spent the whole trip talking about reuniting with your friends.

Isz: -They've become corrupted, I don't have time to convince them otherwise, I'll just save whoever wants to listen to me... So, will you help me?

Harpya thinks for a moment, but knows Isz is right and decides to leave as well.

Harpya: -Alright, I have contacts in Volny and we'll go there.

Isz: -Is your contact trustworthy?

Harpya: -Yes, it's Princess Ida. We've been exchanging letters since her promotion ball. I'm sure she'll help me.

Isz took a deep breath, looking at the butcher's axe.

Isz: -Great, do you have any ideas to complement the escape plan?

Harpya: -I'll steal the dream compass from the church, then we'll coordinate with the people who want to escape.

Isz: -What is this dream compass?

Harpya: -It's a relic that the church has kept secret. It indicates the location of an immaculate relic in Volny. Even though the kingdoms are allies, Vein, for some reason, hid this compass from Volny. If this relic is as the legends say—that it fell from the sky at the hands of a cosmic being—we have to get it from the church.

Isz: -And how are you going to do that?

Harpya: -It wasn't me who had this idea, it was Father Norbit. He's also suspicious of the church. He came to visit me yesterday and I explained the situation. I hope he's trustworthy.

Harpya goes to the cathedral of relics, where Norbit had already retrieved the compass.

Norbit: -Harpya, hide this very well. No one can know you have it, you hear?

Harpya: -Thank you, Father Norbit. But what are you going to do?

Norbit: -I'm going to avenge my children.

Harpya is frightened and asks: -What's happening to them?

Norbit: -For some time now, the children from the orphanage have been getting sick. They go to the castle and never come back. I asked Nina what's going on, but she just changes the subject or cries out of nowhere when I mention Gray and the orphans.

I've been studying the Saint Gorb Bestiary and discovered that there are rituals for the Voice of Lust that involve children's blood. I think that's what's happening in the castle.

Harpya returns to the forge and gathers all the remaining scouts and explains the situation. Then they agree to escape at night in a few days. Kana is also notified and begins to monitor the routine of the guards who are stationed near the ports.

In the castle, Gray speaks to Nina, placing his hand on her shoulder and saying, "Are they ready, my Nina?"

Nina felt her stomach churn, but fear of Gray kept her silent. Trembling, she simply nodded.

Gray: "Very well. You know it's for their own good, don't you? Afterwards, come to my office; you look very beautiful today."

Nina is frightened and returns to the orphanage. She locks the orphans in and doesn't let anyone go to the castle.

Orphan: -Nina, why don't we go to the castle? The priest said the queen is throwing a party for us and you were invited too.

The child looked innocent and Nina said the party was canceled.

She talked about what was happening to her and the abuses of the church with the Grand Alchemist Jako, who makes a decision together with Norbit.

Gray, still in the castle, hears an unknown voice saying that they could begin the purge and that she and her chosen one had already made portal runes so that demons and monsters could enter the city. She would fulfill the agreement by transforming the queen into a Lith and giving power to Gray.

The queen agrees and gives the orders: divide the scouts into small groups to ambush the city, leaving only a few units inside. Those loyal to the church would remain in the city along with the alchemists.