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Chapter 241: INTERLUDE. Precipice

Rey might’ve not been the best in tracking, but he was better than these mortals. He had experience and the sharpness of vision that was enough to notice even the smallest trails of the passing party. A rock that was moved by a leg instead of wind. A batch of moss that was stepped upon and didn’t yet return its previous volume. The moisture that should’ve been covering a leaf of hanging over the stream bush, but was gathered by someone’s sleeve.

It was a slow process, though, even for a god. Then the darkness came, and though it wasn’t an obstacle, it was a show of how much time had passed since the beginning of the search. He was glad when the trail left the rocky ground and returned to the softer plains, where tracks stayed visible for longer. To Rey’s surprise, the heretics circled back, away from the mountains completely.

‘So this all was to make us drop the trail… Well, well, well. I wonder where you truly walk.’ Rey thought, intent on soon finding it out.

By the morning, he still didn’t know, but he found the party itself. A dozen and a half people gathered close to each other to save the precious drops of warmth against the early spring’s chilly nights. They made no fire, but that didn’t save them from being found after all.

There was only one sentry, and he prowled around the camp, looking into the darkness as if he could see. Rey—the new name felt more and more fitting the more the god thought about it—didn’t risk it and didn’t approach from the front.

He wasn’t sure what to do next. Interrogating them would be the quickest option, but following them, or giving them an item with a scrying spell on it, like the mirror Rey gave to Devourer, might uncover more.

It was possible to do both, though. Rey looked again at the sentry. The man was covered from head to toe, but his clothes didn’t seem to fit him well. His sleeves were rolled up at his wrists, as if they were too long. His cloak was a palm length shorter than it was normal to sew them, showing the tops of his boots, and fell weirdly on his shoulders. On the top of his head it created a strange lump, as if the man’s hat, or maybe hair, didn’t fit under the small hood.

A strange person, and more so… The way he moved, his silhouette—Rey felt like he saw them already. Which wasn’t strange as he saw many people in his life, but how many of them he met recently enough and had enough relevance that he would still remember them now?

Suddenly, as if (and maybe not as if) attracted by that attention, the sentry turned, looking in Rey’s direction with inhuman, red on yellow, eyes.

The realisation made Rey freeze on the spot in surprise, and that gaze passed over him. The cloak of God of Rogues blended with the darkness of the night, making him practically invisible if he stayed still.

When the sentry moved away, apparently eager to believe that he must’ve been imagining things, Rey sneaked closer to the sleeping people, leaving a few small trackers in their possession, and left.

He was very, very curious why the Master of Sin was here, in the mortal realm, instead of wandering over Hell in the search of more talented recruits for Devourer’s almost-done army. Rey knew Devourer wouldn’t have sent him that far, losing contact and risking his valued servant’s life, if this wasn’t important. Important enough to keep this a secret from him, apparently.

And Devourer managed to do so without alerting him. Of course, Rey couldn’t watch his every move at every point of time, and he was more and more convinced, as the time passed, that Devourer found about the tracker, but now he was sure.

Either way, Rey decided that other gods better don’t know about this. Even Ashe… Especially Ashe—she won’t be able to just live the heretics be, she’d go there and blast them into smithereens if she knew about their position.

She was ready to blast something when he told her they lost them. Raw magical power left her in waves, making her hair and clothes float as if underwater, and heating the air so much that for a moment Rey thought he returned to Hell.

“Calm down, calm down, Ashe! It’s not the end of the world. They are mere mortals, and we know about them now. We even have descriptions. They won’t hide for long.”

Ashe growled, heating the air a little more, then took a deep breath… and calmed down. The oppressive aura she released dissipated like it was never there, and the anger on Ashe’s face turned into a mix of exhaustion and frustration.

“I can only hope so… My templars will search for them, but I don’t think this matter will stay secret for long now that the regional guard was also involved… I don’t know what the criminal will do when they find out.”

“Who knows? It might lure them out of the hole they hide in,” Rey mused aloud. This idea sounded like a great turn in his game of creating a scapegoat. This entire investigation business was certainly in its last breath as it was. Especially with the Master of Sin in the mortal realm.

Ashe flashed a ferocious grin. “When they appear, just call me! I will be the first to appear, and you know you can trust me to not be his secret co-conspirator.”

From anyone’s else lips this statement would’ve sounded like boasting that brought forth anything but trust, but Ashe could say things like this with so much sincerity that even the cynical God of Rogues believed her.

Well, it was easier to believe since he knew who was truly at fault, but even if he wasn’t…

“Sure.” He smiled back, for once feeling a little bad about lying. “We will show them.”