Let me know if you spot errors
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Later that day in another part of the empire.
Cameria entered the tavern after being asked to meet after work. Admittedly, all she actually did lately was manage their guild house, sort out equipment, supplies and so on. Hardly anything you can call important since it can be left up to their agent (the person who personally reviews requests for them and helps manage the guild house).
But Cameria finished all her work with the help of her teammates in just a few days so she was overexaggerating when she said she had a lot of work. For the time being, she'll just go out and hunt monsters to make sure she's not rusty by the time the big day comes.
Upon entering, she spotted a woman with long blonde hair sitting in the corner, reading a book. The slap of her bare feet against the floor made the woman aware that she was approaching so she looked up.
"Thank you for coming." Alice put down the book she was reading.
"Mhm." Cameria sat down in the booth, "Very rare of you to invite me out."
"…As a martial artist who fights with her body as her weapon, I can understand the need to be barefoot, but why are you barefoot even in your casual clothes and outside work hours?" Alice commented.
"Don't you know Elves are naturally in tune with nature and yearn for the close connection we have with it? How can I bond with nature if I'm not constantly touching it with my skin? Using nature, I don't have to sharpen my warrior sense at all." she shrugged. It's not a total lie.
"The wind is still nature, isn't it? Wouldn't simply feeling the wind"
"Tch, why does it bother you!? Do you hate feet or something!?"
Anyone who saw the scene—Cameria's feet plopped up right in front of Alice—would find Alice to be in the right for bringing it up. But Cameria has never been one to care about "manners".
"…Forget I said anything." Alice sighed, "Did you hear what happened? A Kaiju-type was spotted in the Eswick valley."
"Hear it? I could feel it—a presence so demonic, it could rival the God of Death." the color drained from her face and sweat dripped down her chin as she recalled that frightening roar.
"…Before Daraia could mobilize us all to head there, the Kaiju was apparently defeated by a small group."
"What a bummer. We can't reap the rewards. Imagine the riches that would be coming our way if we fought the Kaiju."
"Well, I wouldn't be so sure we would win. The information guild said there were unkillable monsters there that can regenerate from any injury so we would just be tiring ourselves out."
"Wha…"
Alice chuckled softly, "That was my exact reaction… Imagine how powerful all of those people must be… Actually, I don't have to imagine since the informant I met with told me about one of them."
"???" Cameria leaned forward, expectant to hear who it was. Alice leaned closer as well and whispered, "Arnold von Berkley."
"WHAT?! He fought the Kaiju!?"
"It may just be rumors but where do the basis of those rumors actually lie? We'll have to wait for him to give us some answers." Alice finished her sandwich then continued, "It troubles me how SS-rankers like us would not have been able to stand a chance against those monsters."
"If they're undying, what does it matter who fights them? What I'm wondering is how they killed all those monsters then if they're undying? Some secret magic?"
"Well, the Archmage was fighting alongside him from what I heard so that may be the case." She stared out the window, noticing it was noon, "Anyway, did you hear about Daraia's decision to storm the palace and demand the emperor give her support to blow that floating mountain on the Wood Elf Country's shores?"
"I-I've been busy so I haven't been keeping up with most things." She shrugged as she lied through her teeth. All she's been doing lately after finishing the very underwhelming guild work was laze around at their guild hall.
"Now that you know, what about you? Do you support her?"
"My answer depends on what dangers the dungeon holds. That Kaiju and its unkillable minions didn't come out of it, did it?"
"No, eyewitnesses said it's because of demon cultist activities. This threw every church across the country into a panic as this is something they should've been aware of. There was one man, a priest, who warned them of cultist movements but since he couldn't provide evidence, they chose not to listen. He also said that strange creatures came out of portals that the cultists created and are still at large so stopping them is the only way for the churches to redeem themselves. That same man now has millions of people standing behind him after what occurred in that town. People are already organizing protests against the churches for their incompetence. As such, that's a whole other issue from the Guild Master."
"Geez, two massive movements at the same time following two tragedies is crazy."
First, it was Nuaria City, which resulted in the deaths of many, and now it's the Kaiju and its minions which killed thousands but wasn't as widespread as the first one.
"Indeed. With the Empire sending aid to the Republic to help there, imagine how frustrating this could be for the monarchs who have to think of their citizens' best interests. How will they appease the people who lost their families? Some even had their families turned into demonic creatures, which had to be put down by soldiers."
Alice's fists trembled as her frown deepened, "Tragedies that could've been prevented if only they listened."
"It all depends on Arnold how the masses will respond."
"?"
"Don't look so confused now. Remember how he was the superstar of the Nuaria invasion? He killed S-rank monsters like they were nothing, saved the students from the academy and recently fought and won against a Kaiju demon, which are said to be on a demon lord's level. I haven't heard anything yet but I just know they're worshipping him as if he's our new messiah—which in a way, he is. Stand behind him and you will never have to fear anything ever again—that's what I heard in the tavern the other day from people who were supposedly his citizens."
If he reveals his identity as Nova, he would have more influence than any public figure in this world, even the Archmage. And with the recent developments with him threatening to kill the Hero, even the ones who were mad at him will stand with him as said Hero did nothing while people were being killed and experimented on.
"…The man who threatened to kill the Hero and won against the emperor's most elite—is now celebrated as a messiah. You would think he orchestrated it to be this way."
Cameria laughed, "A single guy doing all that? Let's not get ahead of ourselves." she leaned back, a grin forming. "Whether he meant to or not… he's become the center of everything. The new moonlight that brings hope."
"You're thinking of using that, aren't you?"
"Wouldn't you?" Cameria said simply with a shrug. "People will flock to anyone even remotely connected to him."
"…And we just happen to be."
Her smile widened.
"Exactly, hehehe."
"Shouldn't your concern be more with what more we could do with his support?"
"Agh, stop thinking about monsters! I meant we could elevate our influence throughout the empire and spread it to other countries. SS-rank has its own limits, you know! If we become bigger than the other SS-class parties, we can monopolize quests that come in. Think about it, how often do we get quests that require our abilities? Two every few months at most! Even if we're paid boat loads of money, we're not contributing much to the people."
"…You make a fair point. But can't you simply just accept quests lower than SS?"
"…."
"I knew it. Money is all you care about. I don't blame you but I suggest we finish the Elf Queen's quest first then speak about our plans later. Speaking of her, someone came over to our guild to tell us that she wishes to meet with every party leader who accepted the quest. I assume it's to give us more details that wouldn't fit in an official adventurer contract letter."
Or she has a few secrets she can't put in a contract.
"Good idea. I've never been at the roots of the World Tree so I wouldn't know how to navigate that place so she'll probably give us all maps of the terrain."
Such vital information will be important to predict what they might face.
A lake of miasma-infested waters? Corrupted monsters.
A mini biome of strange trees not growing aboveground? Treants.
Rivers that connect to the sea? Mermaids and sirens.
It's an adventurer's duty to know about the mission in clear detail otherwise they can't plan for it properly. Cameria and Alice have been in the business for years so they know how important is it to know the terrain before setting foot in it.
The deeper levels into the roots are the least documented due to how many explorers went missing. No one attempted to continue that journey since they feared the fate that awaits them. And just like that, many years went by and the roots still remain a mystery.
And since humans are expendable to Elves, they're the perfect subjects…
Cameria and Alice spoke about other unimportant things unrelated to adventuring and ended their meeting without issue about an hour later.
Both were looking forward to meeting the man who had become the empire's new moonlight.
But to Alice, this new path Arnold is taking is quite strange.
"Moonlight (Hope) of the Empire" and Arnold von Berkley don't go together.
She had already accounted for variations, for minor deviations that could occur from chance or interference but this wasn't one of them. This felt like something had skipped ahead… or rewritten itself entirely.
Could there have been an intervention that changed him somehow...?
The thought settled uneasily in her chest.
It seems she will have to wait for an answer, perhaps a moment where he slips up to prove her suspicions correct, unless she intends to test him herself.