[Deus Terra] Chapter 45: A quick talk and a report. (Patreon)

“Are you sure we should?” Arthur asks, a sheepish smile forming on his lips. “What about… the other thing the captain asked us?”

Lianne’s body tenses. She purses her lips and takes a deep breath. Her eyes turn to the ground, as if she’s looking for something to say.

“Look,” Arthur starts. “You can’t deny you’ve been acting really cold towards me. I don’t know if I’ve done something to offend you, and if I have, I’m at least thankful you can put that aside and work with me. Still, I want to know what I’ve done that you’re so distant.”

“…” Her eyes rise from the ground, yet they don’t turn to him. She looks to the side, towards the crops. “You’ve done nothing to offend me. But that we’re in the same brigade doesn’t mean we have to be friends.”

“…”

The distant tone supports her words. And those have the effect of leaving a cold feeling in Arthur’s chest. He opens his mouth to retort, but slowly closes it. What could he say to that? In a way, she’s right. They don’t need to be friends to work together.

Still, Arthur can’t help the sense of dejection. If he’s done nothing, it means Lianne rejects him by nature. But why? Are they somehow incompatible? Lianne doesn’t even know him. Is it because he’s a country boy and she’s a noble? The sense of dejection quickly becomes irritation as he ponders.

“Okay then,” he says, his voice cold and detached, a surprise even to himself. His face hardens into a stoic façade to hide his frustration. “I won’t waste any more of your time.” He bows to Lady Lianne, the noble girl and his senior knight. “Let’s report back to the captain, then, Lady Lianne.”

He doesn’t see her face, but hears her click her tongue and walk towards the inn with heavy steps. He doesn’t need to guess if his words and gestures annoyed her, but at this point he doesn’t care. Why should he waste effort in getting along with someone who doesn’t reciprocate that desire?

It’ll be fine so long as they can still work together.

He follows Lady Lianne from about 10 steps behind this time. His steps are slower than his senior’s, but just as heavy, and his shoulders stiff with a strange and unfamiliar tension.

***

Lady Lianne reports everything they found to the rest of the team, gathered once again in the same private room of the inn. Arthur stays silent as she tells them of the village’s defense methods, its origin, the words of the locals and the warnings and suggestions of the guards.

Captain Erik hums. “I expected to find wolf, bird and bear type monsters, but hearing of goblins is worrying.”

Arthur purses his lips. He wants to ask why, but at the same time he doesn’t want to speak, lest the others notice his bad mood. He doesn’t know how Lady Lianne was able to keep it out of her voice during the report, but perhaps she really doesn’t care enough to even affect her.

“Any idea how they slipped in?” Lady Eliza asks.

“The northern side of Zaphiel Wall is its weakest point, if you had to pinpoint one,” Sir Erik groans, scratching his head. “But that’s only because it’s right next to the sea. Would goblins be truly daring enough to swim past the wall? They’re foolish, but not suicidal. Why would they come to human lands?”

‘Wait. If I have my geography right…’

“Wouldn’t that mean they passed close to Yellowseed and Paz Village?” Arthur asks, his worry overriding his irritation.

Sir Erik takes a moment to check his mental map, then nods. “You’re right. But we didn’t hear any reports.”

“If they came swimming, then they can’t be that many,” Sir Edward confidently points out. “The sea and the monsters in it would’ve taken most of them.”

“But they reproduce quickly,” Sir Luis adds. “If a single female survived, then in three months there’ll be at least 15 more goblins ready to take up arms.”

Sir Erik closes his eyes, staying silent and pensive for a moment.

“It’s worrying, but that’s not our main mission. We can look into it as a as we search for strong monsters and report our findings, but we can’t make goblin extermination our priority.”

“The compost barrier should keep them out as well, at least,” Lady Mary-Beth says. “Should we keep an eye out for the plant needed to make it as we’re in the woods?”

“Yes. If we’re there anyway, we might as well bring back the key ingredient to keeping the village safe. I’d heard about this, and I think Clock Tower is already researching ways to grow this plant out of the forest. I haven’t heard of any success, though.”

“What do we do from here, captain?” Lady Lianne asks.

“I don’t want to waste time. We’ll go do some reconnaissance at the edge of the woods and come back before it gets too dark. We’ll start our exploration in full tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir,” they answer.

“And by the way, how did the other task I gave you go?” Sir Erik asks with a small smirk.

Tension returns to Arthur’s shoulders while Lady Lianne also stiffens.

“W-We’re… making progress,” she lies. But Arthur keeps quiet, not denying nor supporting her statement.

The others clearly see through the two, however, and let out a collective groan.

“Goddess, give me patience,” Sir Erik prays. “Didn’t really think you’d come back as best friends, but I didn’t expect it to get worse.”

“It’s alright, captain,” Arthur says with a small, forced smile. “I’ll do my best not to hold any of you back. We’ll be able to work together.”

His words don’t seem to comfort the captain or his teammates that much. But he can’t do much more. He convinces himself that, even if Lady Lianne wants to keep her distance, she’s still a teammate. He’ll support her, protect her and fight with her to the best of his abilities.

After that, they’ll just go their own ways until they need to fight again.