Chapter 85: Prelude to Battle (Patreon)

The door clicked shut, and the footsteps in the hallway gradually faded into silence.

Astrea left with Alise and Kaguya, intending to deliver the intelligence Artorias had brought back to several Familias they trusted.

Miach had called Naaza downstairs as well — she needed to recheck the curse-dispelling potion stock and prepare Artorias's next dose.

Before leaving, Ryuu replaced the basin of water by the bed, which had gone cold.

She carefully checked the bandages, confirming none of the sword wounds had started bleeding again, then set a small dish of pills within Adi's reach.

"One pill every half hour. If he starts running a fever, gets chills, or his vision blurs, call Naaza up here immediately."

Adi noted down each instruction.

"Understood."

Ryuu's gaze shifted to Artorias on the bed.

"And you — you are not getting out of bed."

Artorias leaned against the pillow and didn't answer right away.

Ryuu waited a few breaths. "Answer me."

"I'll try."

"Not 'try.'"

"Fine. I won't get out of bed."

Only once she had the promise did Ryuu pick up her wooden sword and step out of the room. When she shut the door, she left a narrow gap, so anyone outside could hear if he called.

Only Artorias and Adi remained in the room.

Morning sunlight slipped through the gap in the curtains, cutting a bright band across the floor. A pot of purifying herbs sat on the windowsill, its tender green leaves stirring faintly in the breeze. Outside, the street was slowly coming alive — vendors calling out, carts rattling over the cobblestones, the clang of a smith's hammer — all of it drifting in through the window.

Adi cleared the used medicine bowl onto the tray, then picked up a clean cloth and wiped away the traces of medicine at the corner of Artorias's mouth. Her touch was very light, and she took care to avoid the scabbed wound whenever the cloth came near it.

"Tired, Mister Artorias?"

"No."

"Then close your eyes and rest a while. There's something in the medicine to help with sleep — once it takes effect, your body will recover faster."

Artorias's eyes followed the sounds drifting in from outside.

"Adi."

"I'm here."

"Don't you have patrol today?"

Adi's hand, mid-motion arranging the medicine bottles, paused for a moment.

"I'm on in the afternoon. Someone else covers the morning shift — my sister already adjusted the schedule for me."

The "sister" Artorias referred to was Shakti.

The Ganesha Familia was increasing its patrol presence across the city. Astrea's intelligence hadn't been made public yet, but Shakti had clearly already received part of the warning and had quietly shifted defensive strength toward several key districts.

Adi set the curse-dispelling potion at the very edge of the bed, closest to hand.

"Once Miss Naaza is back, I'll hand off to her. You don't need to worry about no one being here."

"That's not what I'm worried about."

"Then what is it?"

Artorias glanced at Tensa Zangetsu, resting on the cabinet by the bed.

The pitch-black magic sword lay flat on a soft cloth along with its sheath, only a step from the bed. After two days of rest, he could barely raise his right arm — actually gripping a blade to fight remained wholly unrealistic.

"Lady Astrea has to reach out to other Familias. Kaguya and Alise have their own tasks. The Ganesha Familia has to rearrange its patrols. The Miach Familia is still preparing medicine for my injuries."

Artorias looked down at the bandages wrapped around him.

"Everyone's doing something. I'm the only one lying here."

Adi sat down at the bedside, hands resting flat on her knees.

"You've already done a great deal."

"That was before."

"What happened before doesn't lose its meaning just because it's past."

Adi turned to face him fully, her expression serious.

"You saved Thors and Lia from the Dis Sisters' hands. You brought back word of Evilus's stronghold, their movements and timing, and news of two high-level adventurers. Without that intelligence, none of us would even know danger had already reached our doorstep."

"But there's more I could do."

"What you need to do right now is heal."

Artorias braced a hand against the bed, as if trying to prove he'd regained some measure of mobility.

The instant he put weight on his right shoulder, a sharp pain shot through the carefully wrapped wound. His movement stalled, and a thin sheen of cold sweat broke across his forehead.

Adi immediately caught his back, steadying him.

"Please — lie down."

"I just wanted to sit up a little straighter."

"That wasn't the face of someone who just wanted to sit up straighter."

She resettled the pillow and helped ease him back against it. Once she confirmed the shoulder wasn't bleeding again, Adi's usual gentle smile faded.

"Mister Artorias, your body can't take any more strain right now. Miss Naaza was very clear — the curse is still lurking in your magic-power pathways. Exhaustion and open wounds will only speed up how fast it corrodes you."

"I won't fight."

"You can't even walk the streets."

"I could scout."

Adi's brows drew down slightly.

"You can't even make it to the window right now."

"That's why I wasn't planning to go out in human shape."

She fell silent for two breaths, her eyes fixed on his face.

"Mister Artorias."

"Mm."

"Please don't tell me you've already worked out a way to sneak off."

Artorias looked away.

Adi got her answer from that alone. She drew a breath, swallowing back the reproach rising to her lips.

"What exactly are you planning?"

"Change back into my original form."

"Your original form?"

"A rabbit."

Adi blinked, caught off guard.

Artorias raised his one still-usable right hand, and a black-red power surfaced at his fingertips. The spiritual pressure was far weaker than at his peak, and it moved sluggishly. Purple-black curse markings rose along his wrist in response, briefly choking off the flow of power.

He paused to steady his breathing.

Fine points of black-red light gathered along his arm, drawing inward toward his body. Artorias's outline began to shrink, and the loose patient's robe, no longer filled out, slumped down onto the bed. A few breaths later, a small, snow-white rabbit wriggled its way out from among the fallen clothes.

A thin splint was wrapped around the rabbit's left foreleg, and its body was bound in miniaturized bandages as well. Near its right shoulder, a patch of white fur had been shaved away, exposing a stitched wound.

Shifting into this form hadn't made the injuries disappear.

The advantage was that with the smaller body, the strain of moving was considerably reduced. Artorias tried taking two steps across the blanket, keeping his left forepaw off the ground and balancing on the other three legs.

Adi stared at the white rabbit in front of her, unable to speak for a long moment.

Artorias tilted his head up to look at her.

"Like this, you could take me out."

Adi reached out with both hands and lifted him off the soft bedding. She checked the bandage on his right shoulder first, then touched his hind leg lightly with a fingertip, confirming the transformation hadn't worsened the injury.

"This is the plan you came up with?"

"Mm."

"Does Miss Naaza know?"

The white rabbit's ears pressed back slightly.

"Not yet."

"What about Miss Ryuu?"

The ears pressed down further.

"Not yet either."

Adi set him back down beside the pillow and braced both hands on the edge of the bed.

"Then you're not going out."

"I'll stay hidden. No one will see me."

"Being seen isn't the only problem."

Adi pointed at the splint on his left foreleg.

"Your injuries haven't healed, and the curse hasn't been lifted. If you run into danger, you'll have trouble even fleeing on your own. Evilus is already watching you — if they notice you, you'll become a target all over again."

"That's why I want to go with you."

"I don't have the strength to protect you in front of two Level 5s."

As Adi said this, her fingers pressed down against the bedsheet.

She'd only just risen to Level 3 and hadn't fully mastered her new strength yet. Against the Dis Sisters, all she'd managed was to stand in front of Artorias and use [Ghana Avimutta] to hold Vena's curse-casting at bay.

If Tsubaki hadn't arrived with an armload of magic swords when she did, they might never have gotten Artorias back at all.

Adi wouldn't doubt her own path because of that — but she wasn't going to ignore the gap between them, either.

Artorias raised his right forepaw and touched the fingers she'd pressed against the bedsheet.

"I don't need you to fight them."

Adi lowered her eyes.

"Then what do you want to do?"

"Watch the streets." Artorias braced himself up on his hind legs, sitting beside the pillow.

"Evilus knows the Guild and Ganesha Familia's shift-change schedule — that means someone's been watching the patrol routes for a long time. That person might not join the attack directly. They probably have a normal identity the rest of the time."

"We've already begun investigating quietly."

"Adventurers get noticed easily when they investigate."

The white rabbit's ears stood upright, swiveling slightly toward each new sound drifting in from outside the window.

"I can hear footsteps farther away than a human can, and I can smell traces the Dungeon's monsters and curses leave behind. I remember the Dis Sisters' scent. I remember a few of the people at that stronghold, too."

Adi watched him without interrupting.

Artorias went on:

"I can hide in your bag. You do your normal patrol route, and I'll watch the surroundings for you. If I spot someone suspicious, I won't get close, won't fight — I'll just note their location and description."

"Miss Naaza won't agree to this."

"We can ask her first."

"Miss Ryuu will object too."

"We don't have to tell her."

Adi raised a finger and tapped it lightly against the white rabbit's forehead.

"No."

Artorias rocked back slightly from the tap, then steadied himself.

"Then we tell her."

"She'll keep you in bed."

"I'll think of something else."

Adi looked into those golden eyes.

Rabbit and woman stared at each other across less than half an arm's length.

Artorias didn't look away, and his upright ears held their angle. Adi couldn't read much expression on that face covered in white fur, but she could feel his resolve clearly enough.

She knew Artorias wouldn't sit quietly and simply accept being protected.

If she kept refusing, he might really slip away during a shift change. In his current state, acting alone would only bring greater danger.

Adi let out a slow breath.

"I can offer a compromise."

Artorias's ears tilted forward slightly. "Go on."

"Let Miss Naaza examine you first. If she agrees you can move around in this form, then we'll talk about the next step."

"All right."

"Patrol time is capped at two hours. You don't leave the bag, and you don't use Hollowfication or Getsuga Tensho."

"What if we run into an enemy?"

"I signal, and nearby Ganesha Familia members come running. You only observe."

"What if there's no time to signal?"

"Then we retreat."

Adi leaned in closer, her tone more serious than before.

"Mister Artorias, this is the most important rule. If we run into danger we can't handle, we leave immediately. You are not to hold the rear guard, and you are not to draw enemies away by yourself."

Artorias fell silent for a moment. "And if there are ordinary people nearby?"

"I'll do my duty as a Ganesha Familia member."

"Then I'll do what I can, too."

Adi's brow creased again.

The white rabbit raised his right forepaw and pressed it gently against the back of her hand.

"I'll follow your lead first."

"First?"

"Follow your lead."

Only then did Adi nod.

"And you don't jump out of the bag on your own."

"All right."

"If you're in pain, you tell me."

"All right."

"You drink the medicine Miss Naaza prepared every half hour."

"It tastes awful."

"No negotiating on that one."

The white rabbit's ears drooped.

Adi's expression finally softened a little. She reached out, lifted Artorias, and set him down on a folded cushion beside the bed.

"I'll go get Miss Naaza."

She walked to the door, then paused and glanced back.

"Please stay right there."

"I won't run off."

"I hope you remember what you just promised."

The door clicked softly shut.

Artorias lay flat on the cushion, listening to Adi's footsteps fade down the hallway. A moment later, Naaza's voice rose sharply from downstairs.

"He wants to follow you on patrol?"

Adi seemed to be explaining something.

Naaza's voice came again.

"Absolutely not!"

The white rabbit buried his face in his forepaws.

It seemed getting the compromise approved would be an even harder negotiation than expected.

The next morning, southeast district, Orario.

"Morning, Miss Adi!"

The bakery owner lifted the lid off a tray fresh from the oven, and the warm smell of wheat rolled out into the street.

Adi stopped in front of the shop and gave her usual smile.

"Morning. You opened a bit earlier than usual today."

"Lots of adventurers passing through lately. Selling out early means I can close up early too."

The owner used wooden tongs to pull out a golden-brown loaf and slipped it into a paper bag before holding it out.

"Here, fresh out of the oven."

Adi waved her hands quickly.

"I'm on patrol duty right now — I can't just take things."

"It's just a loaf of bread. You all chased off that troublemaking adventurer for me the other day — consider it a thank-you."

The owner insisted, pressing the paper bag into her hands.

Adi had no choice but to accept it.

"Thank you. If there's trouble again, come find us at the guard post nearby."

"Got it. Why are you carrying a pack today?"

"Medicine and record books for the patrol."

Adi adjusted the bag at her hip with a natural, easy motion.

Beneath the half-open flap, a pair of long white ears vanished from sight in an instant.

The owner noticed nothing out of the ordinary and turned to greet the next customer. Adi left the bakery and continued down a less crowded street.

A dozen or so steps later, a faint rustling sound came from inside the bag.

A small white head poked out between the flap and the buckle.

Artorias was curled up inside the bag, cushioned in soft cloth, his left foreleg fixed against his chest and a small pouch of curse-dispelling potion tied to his back. To avoid pressing on his wounds, Adi had specifically removed every rigid divider from inside the bag and lined the bottom with two extra layers of soft blanket.

The cost was that she'd had to move all her usual gear onto her belt instead.

Shortsword, signal flare, potion vials, and record book lined her waist, clinking faintly with every step.

"Why'd you duck back down just now?"

Adi kept her eyes forward, voice low.

"That shopkeeper bowed his head."

"He was just picking up the paper bag."

"I thought he'd seen me."

"Then please don't poke your head up so high."

Artorias rested his chin on the edge of the bag, showing only his eyes and ears.

This was the compromise the two of them had reached after a long negotiation.

Naaza had firmly opposed it at first, and only granted a two-hour outing allowance once she confirmed the rabbit form put far less strain on his injuries. She'd also mixed up a faster-acting suppressant, insisting Adi give it to him the instant the curse showed any reaction.

When Ryuu heard the news, she said nothing for a long while.

In the end she hadn't stopped them, only handing Adi a magic stone signal marked with the Astraea Familia's emblem, and insisting they stay strictly within districts under Ganesha Familia control.

Artorias's job was to serve as a second pair of eyes.

Adi went about her normal patrol, careful not to draw the attention of any watcher who might be nearby. Hidden inside the bag, Artorias used his keen hearing and sense of smell to track what was happening along the route.

The two of them had already covered three streets.

So far, no sign of the Dis Sisters.

"Four people in the alley to the right," Artorias murmured.

Adi didn't turn her head, only glanced into a shop window under the pretense of browsing merchandise, using the reflection in the glass to study the mouth of the alley.

Four adventurers in leather armor were gathered inside; two of them were exchanging coin pouches. Another had a wooden crate of blue liquid beside him, unmarked by any trade association mark.

"Is that contraband?"

Artorias sniffed the air.

"Ordinary stamina potion, mixed with a little stimulant herb. The smell is faint — it probably isn't very potent."

Adi noted the alley's location.

"I'll hand it off to the team behind us."

As she passed the corner, her right hand made a subtle signal against her belt.

The two Ganesha Familia members stationed farther back caught the signal and split off at once. One headed toward the nearby guard post for reinforcements, while the other stayed behind to watch the alley entrance.

Adi didn't stop walking.

During an investigation into Evilus, any enforcement action that was too overt risked spooking the real target. Ordinary contraband dealing could be left to her colleagues — she needed to keep her patrol rhythm steady.

"Can you smell the curse?"

Adi steadied a fruit cart that was about to spill as she passed. "It's hard."

Artorias's nose twitched slightly.

"There are too many smells on the street. Spices, herbs, metal, sweat, and adventurers just back from the Dungeon. Vena's curse has a scent like rotting flowers. If we're close enough, I should be able to pick it out."

"What about Zald and Alfia?"

"Zald smells of iron and wine. Alfia barely leaves any scent at all."

As he said this, Artorias's ears suddenly turned toward the left.

Adi noticed the shift but kept her pace steady.

"Found something?"

"Someone's following us."

"Direction?"

"Left rear, about thirty paces back. Light footsteps — they've been tailing us since near the bakery."

Adi stopped in front of a fabric shop and asked the owner whether anyone had been causing trouble in the area lately. During the conversation, she used a bronze mirror hanging by the shop door to check behind her.

A dwarf man in a round cap stood off to the left rear.

He was cradling a coil of rope, haggling with a street vendor. His clothes were flecked with sawdust, and an ordinary carving knife hung at his waist — he looked like a woodworker from a nearby workshop.

Adi had run into him a few times before.

"That's the carpenter who lives on the south street. He walks this route every day."

"His footsteps really have been following us for a while."

Artorias paused. "There's something else — he smells of the Dungeon."

"A carpenter could buy Dungeon materials too."

"The scent is on the soles of his shoes."

Something flickered in Adi's eyes.

Ordinary residents rarely went into the Dungeon. Even if he'd bought materials, monster fluids shouldn't have worked their way into the seams of his shoe soles.

She didn't turn to confront him, only exchanged a few more words with the fabric shop's owner before accepting the patrol log book the woman handed over.

"Someone pried open a warehouse window yesterday afternoon?"

"Lost a few rolls of cloth and two crates of dye. Common goods, not worth much."

The shop owner wiped her hands on her apron.

"I wasn't even going to report it, but the spice shop next door got hit too."

"What did they lose?"

"A few sacks of scent-masking powder."

Hearing that, Artorias's ears rose slowly upright.

Adi wrote down the time and the items in the log book.

"Please keep the warehouse locked from now on. We'll increase patrols through this area."

She closed the book and handed it back.

After leaving the fabric shop, Adi turned north along her planned route. The dwarf carpenter didn't follow any farther — he walked off with his coil of rope down a different street.

Artorias poked his head up higher, fixing his gaze on the dwarf's retreating back.

"He didn't go back to his workshop."

"That road leads to the old warehouse district."

"Should we follow?"

Adi touched the signal flare at her waist.

Notify her colleagues first.

She walked over to the nearby patrol post and handed off the details she'd just recorded to the members on duty. Two Level 2 adventurers changed into plain clothes and entered the old warehouse district from different directions.

Adi didn't join the pursuit.

She continued toward the central street with Artorias, greeting familiar vendors along the way and occasionally stopping to help clear a crowded bottleneck.

Hidden in the bag, Artorias studied every face that passed.

A girl selling flowers.

A beastman pushing an ore cart.

A group of adventurers just back from the Dungeon, arguing over how to split their loot.

An old man dozing in front of a tavern.

On the surface, the street showed nothing out of the ordinary — everyone moving along the ordinary rhythm of their own lives. If Evilus really had planted an informant among them, that person might have maintained the disguise for years already.

Adi bought a small bag of carrots.

She pulled one out, broke off a small piece, and passed it into the bag.

Artorias looked at the carrot piece offered up in front of him. "I'm not hungry."

"Miss Naaza said you need to keep your strength up while you're in this form."

"The food she gave me was an herb cake."

"Carrots taste better."

Artorias bit down on the piece of carrot.

A crisp crunching sound drifted out of the bag.

Adi raised a hand to shield the flap, so no passersby would notice. Once Artorias finished, she passed in a second piece.

"Adi."

"What is it?"

"Do you really enjoy feeding a rabbit that much?"

Her steps faltered slightly.

"This is so Mister Artorias can keep up his strength."

"But you looked pretty happy when you were buying the carrots."

"The vendor gave me a discount."

"Your face is a little red, too."

Adi tucked the rest of the carrots back into the paper bag.

"No more after this."

Artorias stretched out his right forepaw and pressed it against the edge of the bag.

"I'm still not full."

Adi didn't look at him, though the corner of her mouth curved up slightly. She broke off another small piece of carrot and slipped it into the bag.

The two of them continued some distance along the central street.

Ahead lay the main road connecting Babel to the southeast district. The road widened noticeably here, and the number of adventurers passing through increased along with it. The Ganesha Familia had set up several temporary checkpoints at the intersections, ostensibly to maintain order ahead of an upcoming event.

Adi stopped beside a fountain and bent her head to check the patrol map.

Artorias suddenly stopped chewing.

His ears both turned toward the northwest at once.

The first sound to reach them was distant, a dull thud like something heavy striking a wall. A moment later the ground trembled slightly, the fountain's surface rippled, and a few drops splashed over the stone rim onto the ground.

Adi looked up.

Adventurers on the street began stopping too, one after another, all turning to look in the same direction.

The next instant, an explosion tore through Orario's usual noise.

BOOM!

A column of gray-black smoke rose above the northwest district. Windows in nearby buildings rattled in succession; startled horses reared, dragging their carts into roadside stalls. Screams and shouting drowned the street in an instant.

Adi cinched the bag tight and drew her [Sacred Oath] from her hip with her other hand.

Artorias poked his head out from the half-open flap.

The column of smoke was rising from exactly where the old warehouse district stood.

It was also the direction the dwarf carpenter had walked off toward.

A second explosion followed close on the first.

This one was closer.

A wave of scorching air swept over the street, whipping Adi's silver hair. Artorias stared at the smoke billowing outward, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

A familiar scent of rotting flowers threaded through the wind.

It was Vena's curse.

A strong sense of foreboding rose in Artorias's chest.