Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 729: The Mystery Of The Letters

As the sun began setting, Raven and Choux returned with a mountain of beast carcasses. Some had giant holes through their flesh, while the others had died of more subtle injuries, like an arrow to the heart or the neck. And even though all beasts killed by Choux’s rifle were cauterised thanks to the heat of its projectile, the blood-soaked meat was still better for the soldiers than anything from their rations or the water that they’d been provided.

Skinned, butchered, then sprinkled with salt and some medicine, the flesh was placed in a giant pot that only Arche could move and nobody else. Placing it on fire, the meat was boiled in its own blood as well as the juices of fruits to make the bloody taste more tolerable. The scent alone reminded the main party of their monster flesh-eating days–the thought of which brought a faint smile to Raven’s lips.

But there was no time to reminisce as Melenai had called for him and his party to follow her into Meimei’s workshop. Her work on their special equipment was still ongoing; even so, she wanted to see them again and check a few things before putting in the final touches. Bringing Reina along with him, just because he felt like she would find another smith’s work interesting, Raven followed the servant with the elves, Erika, Amedith, as well as Liliyana right behind him.

Meeting them at the end of the main hallway, Melenai stood waiting for them. Once they caught up to her, the horned bard dismissed the servant and led them forward. On her way to the basement, however, she decided to pry a little about how much the group knew of the poison and the person behind it.

"Did you find the culprit yet? It would be a shame if your army is unfit for battle after coming all the way here."𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"Maybe you should tell that to the giants," Aria complained, suspecting Melenai to be in on the act if the giants in fact were behind this.

"Oh, trust me, I have tried."

"What?"

Looking back at Aria, the bard pursed her lips with a look of pure frustration on her face.

"Making the army wait by the gates, I told them to stop with the games back then, but they’re just..." Shaking her head, she heaved a sigh. "I don’t know what, but I’m glad they have no children, but they act like it themselves."

Such a firm dislike towards her master surprised the party, so much so that Raven wondered if Melenai could, in fact, work with them instead of the moronic giants. But before making up his mind, he decided to reach into his pocket and take out the letter from the mysterious informant.

"This should answer your question," handing her the letter, Raven gestured for her to start walking down the steps again, "It has all that we know as of now, nothing new, but we’re gonna find out who’s behind this one way or the other."

"I hope you do," turning around, Melenai led the group down into the empty basement. There, taking a moment, she stood still and was left aghast by what she was reading. Someone had warned them already, but who? It wasn’t her, then who could it be? Surely not the traitor that was in their army, nor anyone from Frazer’s group, then...who?

"I can sense a strange aura from this letter," she whispered, lifting her gaze to match Raven’s.

Staring at him, she waved the letter in front of him.

"Whoever wrote this was scared, almost as if their life was in danger just by writing this."

"You gathered that from the letter?"

"I’m a bard of words, remember? I can tell a lot more from words, even breathe power into them, but this one’s masked with something else. Something corrupt that’s hiding who this thing truly belongs to."

"Hmm," taking the letter back, Raven quickly stashed it in his pocket again. His eyes lingered on the demi-human girl; her power seemed far too useful to be left under the giant’s care. "The writer hid their identity from someone like you then, how would they even know?"

Shaking her head, Melenai waved to the party to follow her to the back of the furnace.

"I doubt they do, as the aura and the fear–it’s almost like they’re two different people." With her back turned to everyone, she guided them to a secret passage in the ground behind the furnace wall. Getting down on her knees, she lifted a trapdoor. "Anyways, Mei is waiting for us downstairs, let’s get there and be done for the night."

Climbing down a creaking flight of stairs, the bard led the party through an underground cave with a spiraling path going further and further downwards. In the middle lay a pit of lava with the base having a small workshop in the corner. Echoing from there was the sound of metal being hit with a large hammer. The din of the sound forced the party to cover their ears.

"I never liked this place, makes my hair all wet and sticky from the sweat," Melenai complained, but the descent was far from over.

"What is she even doing in a place like this?" Reina asked, unsure why anyone would choose to work here.

But to answer her question, Melenai didn’t have to say a word as the screeching sound of a monster erupted through the magma. And then came a beast rising from the pool of fire, its skin made of red burning rocks. A beak rose from the magma, then came its shackled wings and claws. Bound to the pool with chains as thick as Arche’s fingers, the forever-burning phoenix turned its head towards the disabled girl working around the fire.

"Get down and cover your face if you don’t want your eyelashes to burn!" Melenai exclaimed and did exactly as she’d advised the others.

For what reason exactly? The flames that came out of the phoenix’s mouth to burn the steel subsided all doubts. However, instead of hiding with their body to the ground, Raven placed a bubble shield of darkness around everyone. And through its transparent surface, he watched the small frame of Meimei and her floating gloves forging the steel in a phoenix’s fire.

"Well fuck, I might have to move my workshop here too," Reina huffed, a bright smile on her face and a heart racing like a child waiting for its birthday gift.

But for now, she had to simply settle for another smith forging weapons and armor that she had only heard of in legends. Only a few steps and a bit of waiting, and then the legends would be in their hands. Still a secret what the equipment would do, however, the party was still kept in deep suspense. A day or two more, but after seeing the forge, everyone knew that it would feel like they’d been waiting forever...