I handed a map of our current location to Q. Even if it reaches Peter, I doubt he can send any help in time to help us. But at least we have some sort of failsafe should we perish. I don't wish to have my corpse eaten by the beasts if we don't make it.
We will just have to make do with the three of us. And for that, we need to infiltrate and slay that pack leader quietly. We had performed our scouting around this den for some time, and there were no other potential beasts that showed authority over the others. That should be the mastermind that we were looking for. But—why am I having doubts? The facts are there, but my gut is telling me otherwise. It didn't emit any strong aura, nor does it look any stronger than the Chaplain Beast. Perhaps it's just hiding its true strength from us.
Alright, what are our options? When it comes to infiltration, my guild is the best. Unfortunately, I can't use Conceal here because the den is smack dab in the middle of a steep circular ravine. There's just no way I am going to survive a direct fall from this height.
I 'could' wait for the gate to open for me to sneak in using Conceal, but that rocky gate is really tall and the gap they open to let those beasts in is way too small for my liking. The chance of me failing and getting discovered is just too high a risk.
Our only option is to kidnap some of the hooded beasts and disguise ourselves as them. According to Lily, they speak the human tongue, so we might stand a chance at sneaking in if we were to lower our hoods to avoid detection.
Now, all we have to do is wait for some unlucky hooded beasts to leave the den. Hopefully, we are able to interrogate them for information should we have the chance. Now is all just a waiting game.
***
Finally! Some unsuspected fools were foolish enough to be caught by us. Too much time was wasted waiting for someone to leave the den. Thankfully, there are just enough hooded robes for the three of us. Now, let's see what I'll need to do for them to talk; I'm going to love watching them squirm.
We tied their wrists, and they seemed to be obedient enough. But why do they seem to be terrified of us? I was expecting them to be much more aggressive or even trying to bite us whenever they could. On first glance, they barely resembled humans, as their bodies were covered in fur with elongated limbs. One of them had an elongated jaw, while the other two had bandages wrapped around their faces.
"Listen carefully, each of you will only get a single chance. If I don't like any of your answers, all of you will die. Do I make myself clear?" I warned them.
"A— aa… aren't you here to help us?" whimpered one of them, who sounded like a male.
"Help you? Why should I? Weren't the three of you chosen to serve that… thing," I spat.
"W— What? No! We were forced to serve them! We were brought here against our will and forced to drink that stupid blood of his. We are not his servants. We are actually rejects that managed to maintain our sanity instead of outright turning into those—four-legged beasts," she shivered.
Her tone showed signs of fear, and I was surprised their voice still sounded human, unlike reptilians who had 'sss' when they spoke the human tongue.
"I don't like your response. That's strike one. You, what do you have to say?" I pointed to the one who asked us to help them.
"W— what?! No, no, no— we are telling the truth. Please! We just want to go home. Please, please, please." The second one started sticking to my leg and kissing my shoe.
They must be desperate to submit this easily. Can't imagine what rough experience they had gone through to behave like this.
"That's strike two," I spoke and turned to the one with the elongated jaw.
He looked as though he had given up hope and had resigned himself to his fate. His eyes were completely unfocused when he spoke aloud. Rose and Lily were tugging at my clothes from behind, but I ignored them. These two were always quick to judge and naive when someone acted innocent enough. I would not be fooled by these beasts who were cunning enough to use strategy to attack us.
"We—we're…we're gonna die, aren't we? This guy just won't believe us. To be dragged all the way here, turned into monsters, and worked like slaves for those beasts just because we retained our sanity. Oh Lord, free me from this curse, I want to go home." The third one quivered and started crying as he stared up into the sky.
Alright—that looked legit. His eyes were lost and he had definitely given up on hope. Hard to imagine anyone lying like that. Not to mention he wasn't even looking at me when I glared at him.
The first two were already bawling their eyes out before I crouched to speak to them. How young were these three before they were forcefully turned into beasts? Guess I was being too harsh in pushing them to a corner like that.
"Two final questions. Why were you sent out here, and when are they expecting you to return?" I asked them.
"Huh? Uhh— probably tomorrow? We were tasked with hunting food, but we have no hunting experience before," said the female beast as she wiped her tears.
"What food do you hunt? Humans?" I asked another, contradicting myself.
"Animal meat. Raw, bloody meat is what we… I mean, the beast likes," shunned the male beast.
It was midday now, so we have the rest of the day to hunt games for our infiltration and perhaps some for dinner. Morethan enough time for us to prepare ourselves, and perhaps we can extract more valuable information from them. No, they must. I need to know more about this— cult. I was already misled into assuming that they were voluntary servants; I don't wish to make a mistake in murdering innocents if I can help it.
"Alright, I've made my decision. You'll live, but only if you provide us with more information about this cult. We'll do the hunting and take your place tomorrow, so we'll be needing those cloaks of yours. Do you agree with the terms?" I alternated between the three of them.
The three of them nodded after agreeing with each other. They were crying tears of joy as they thanked us for sparing their lives. These three are certainly younglings from the way they behaved. I felt bad for pushing them earlier, but I needed to be sure. Curious to hear their stories later.
***
We caught a little too many games than what we needed. A little worried that they might question us when we bring in this many games tomorrow. We were supposed to be newbies at hunting. The three little beasts followed after us in learning how to hunt, but I doubt they can put any of the techniques into practice. Truth be told, Rose was the one who did most of the hunting; her extendable rapier was practically a cheat code to hunting. Just a twist of her rapier and the bunny is dead, pierced through the neck within a split second.
I was expecting today to be the day we sneaked in. But that might raise suspicions from the gatekeepers. Best not to deviate from the norm should we wish to infiltrate successfully. Hate to see things going wrong after coming so far.
Inu was still following us around, sticking to Lily like a pet dog. He didn't say much but Lily was certainly uncomfortable with him following her around. But she let it slide as he didn't disturb or annoy her; unlike yesterday.
Seeing that we had nothing else in store for the day, we decided to camp at a nearby cave that we stumbled upon. Getting more information from those three was important as we needed to understand the objective of this cult. We sat by a campfire and had our conversations while Rose made stew with some of the game we hunted. If only we had some po - tay - toes. Y'know, boil em, mash em, stick em in a stew.
The three of them surprisingly remembered their human names: Aria was the name of the female, Nick was the male, and Lee was the one with elongated jaws. They weren't from the city; they belonged to one of the many different tribes that lived on this continent. The beasts kidnapped them in the cover of darkness and brought them here. Who would have thought that the beast was kidnapping people and turning them into beasts instead of outright devouring them? This was the reason why no one sought out to search for them. What's the point in searching for devoured flesh and bones inside the beast's stomach?
'Rejects' was the subject the pack leader called them. Not only were they able to retain their sanity, they were basically useless in battle due to it. The 'Perfect' beasts were those mindless ones, ready for war. I asked them what the objective of the leader was. To wage war with the humans? Is the leader himself a beast-born, or was he human?
According to them, the leader spoke human tongue, so there is a high chance that he was a human before. But his motive remains unclear. What's the reason for him to attack humans in the first place? Did someone inflict a horrible curse on him which turned him into a beast? Guess we will have to interrogate him directly should the opportunity arise.
They continued by telling us what their jobs were. They usually tend to the needs of the four-legged beasts. Whether it's to clean them, feed them, or anything else you can think of. They were obviously terrified at first, but none of them had ever been harmed before. It would appear that the beasts considered them allies rather than foes. My assumption is that the blood from the pack leader had altered their minds to only attack humans.
Rose handed a bowl of stew to each of them, which they gladly accepted. I thought of continuing to dig more information from them but held back when one of them started crying upon eating the stew. He said that it reminded him of home, of his mother's cooking who he had not met for close to a year now. Lily comforted him, but the other two also started to have teary eyes upon taking a bite. We tried our best to comfort them before I continued with my questions.
Seeing that they had calmed themselves, I asked them the reason as to why they had not fled when they seemed to have plenty of opportunities to escape. They mentioned that many had tried and were killed immediately after trying to do so. The leader was capable of killing any of them without so much as lifting a finger. It would appear that by drinking his blood, some pact was formed, and the leader can sever that pact at his will should anyone choose to betray him. Such is the strength of his blood pact.
What strong blood powers the command of these many beasts? Does this beast commands those beast at the east too? Or is there another one there? Damn it, so many questions yet not a single answer.
Will these three end up dead if he discovers that they're the ones who betrayed him? We have no way of assuring their safety once we head in. Will the leader know about it and snap them out of existence? We have no way of preventing him from doing that. Damn it—we need to think of a way to ensure their safety.
"So why aren't you three dead yet? If the leader is so powerful, shouldn't he already know that you're giving us valuable information to now? Does he even keep track of who leaves the den?" asked Rose.
I was stumped, and so were the three. Now that's a good question which they have no answer for. They suspected it might be through smell, but there's no way of confirming it. They were shown what would happen if they were to try to escape, which is how they came to fear it in the first place.
I asked them to elaborate further and they said a couple of the sane beasts tried to escape when they first joined the cult and the leader killed them with a wave of his hand. I asked them how often does this occur and they said only once so far. Every once a while some beasts tried to escape and the leader would kill them off.
"Does it only happen when new, sane beasts were forced to join?" I asked them when I realised something wasn't right.
The three of them turned to look at each other and tried to recall when it occurred. Each of them sort of remembered that those beasts who tried to escape seemed to leave at broad daylight when the leader was preaching to the new beasts. Now that's way too sus, even for me. Showing what would happen if you chose to betray him, as if on cue, does not lend credibility. Were those beasts actually dead, or were they just acting? Why would you choose to flee in broad daylight? That's just suicide.
Rose, Lily, and I discussed the best course of action for the infiltration mission. Our plan is simple: eliminate the scent from the cloaks, infiltrate, and assassinate the pack leader. We must not allow the leader to summon help of the other beasts who are kept inside a cave within the den area. From what we were told, the leader's shelter is located in the middle of the den. Thank goodness we do not need to sneak inside the cave filled with beasts just to locate him. I will attempt the assassination on the leader, while Rose and Lily will eliminate as many beasts as they can within the cave silently.
"You might want to sneak in tonight instead. You can utilise the cover of darkness to hide your identities better," said Inu out of the blue.
"Won't that raise suspicion from the gatekeepers if we head back this early? I asked.
"Will it? Their main purpose is to catch food. Who's to say they cannot return if they catch earlier," he shrugged.
I gave some thought to his suggestion. What he said is actually true. Why can't we infiltrate using the cover of darkness? All we have to do is show them that we caught some food, and that should grant us the way in; at least, that's what I hoped.
"Is there any particular reason as to why you're still with us, Inu?" asked Rose with suspicion.
"I'm just here to ensure Lily is safe. I'll leave after that," he puffed up his chest.
"Excuse me? I don't need you to ensure my safety. You can run along now. Shoo, begone," Lily waved Inu away.
"Aww… don't say that, Miss Lily. You're going to hurt my feelings," he tilted his head.
"Good," whispered Lily beneath her breath.
"No, it's fine. You can stay, Inu," I told him.
Lily gave me a death stare that pierced through my very soul. I rubbed her back and winked at her. If what I suspect is right, we need him in the upcoming battle.
"Are you sure? Let me be clear that I'll only protect Miss Lily alone," he wagged his tail with delight.
"Yeah, it's fine. You can stay with us until it's over," I assured him, which made him hop with delight.
"Zen… What are you doing? Are you trying to annoy me by keeping him around?" whispered Lily into my ears.
Rose leaned in closer to listen to our conversation, and I explained that Inu might be instrumental in the coming battle ahead. Whether it's for better or worse, we might need him. Call it a hunch if you will.
She sighed and warned me that it's because she trusts my instincts that she's willing to entertain my request. She made it clear that she's not going to be responsible for Inu should anything happen to him. I told her to let him be; should things go the way that I suspect they will, Inu doesn't need any protection at all.
Now that all is said and done, it's time for us to prepare ourselves for the infiltration mission. Let's ensure that we eliminate the leader as fast as possible once we get in. A couple of hours till night arrives. Maybe a short nap to calm my nerves.
***
Everything is in place. We had rubbed strong-scented ingredients on the cloaks to mask our smell. Let's hope the gatekeepers don't have any ideas about who's cloaks we stole them from. We can just tell them that we fell into a bed of flowers or something should they ask us what happened.
The three little beasts will be staying in the cave until the mission is over. I doubt the three of us have the time to keep them free from harm if we wound up getting surrounded by thousands of beasts. This is our only way we can hope to keep them alive if our assumptions are correct. Otherwise, the pack leader might sever the blood pact, and they will end up dead before we know it. But they were content with what we decided for them. Despite them pleading with me not to kill them, they were happy that someone was willing to help them, even though they might not make it. I really do hope they'll be alive after this is over.
Inu hid behind Lily's cloak, which she almost punched me for making my decision earlier. I better pray my hunch is right, otherwise I would rather let the leader devour me than taste Lily's wrath.
We got up to the gate unopposed, and thankfully it was raining. Hopefully, this would mask our scents further. We were supposed to knock three times and slam our palms two times. A secret code, perhaps?
"Who goes there? Ah, I see that you have returned. Got the goods? Well, that's quite a lot of games you got there," shouted the gatekeeper over the sound of the rain.
"What's the password?" he asked us.
Ohhh… fuck.