Even a man as serious as Artyom had a guilty pleasure for dirty gossip. But he didn’t feel a lick of shame in this case because it was actually intel; incredibly important intel.

  …Supposedly.

  Lensa had ditched Tommy and the others to protect her father, leaving them to fight the horde of undead on their own. The undead were low leveled, and with Artyom and Neitra’s strength, the hero was in no actual danger. But it was the act of abandoning him and her priorities being askew that rubbed the other three ladies of their little clique the wrong way. And they were headed to the church to talk to her about it.

  They most certainly weren’t happy.

  Artyom certainly was.

  It didn’t take much effort to keep himself hidden from the three women. He blended in amongst the various crowds looking for evening dinner and deals at the large outdoor market, and ducked behind buildings once they’d gotten to the outskirts of town. At one point, he had to wait a few minutes for the others to cross the open plains between town and the church, but as soon as they were inside, Artyom activated his speed and silence spells and skulked over to the front.

  “Bat’s Hearing,” he cast on himself as he placed an ear to the door.

  “Hey there, Lensa!” said Xerica in a peppy voice. Her voice was muffled through the thick slab of wood, but still audible.

  “Oh, you’re all back! How did it go?” replied Lensa, sounding surprised at first but quickly settling down.

  “We made enough progress to make Tommy happy if he asks about it later tonight,” said who was most likely Ecole, sounding disinterested as usual but a tinge frustrated.

  “And to think we wouldn’t even have to deal with this if it weren’t for our latest leech,” replied Lensa with a groan. “How did he even manage to get past the test we gave him?”

  “I knew it,” thought Artyom to himself with a sneer. “But that’s honestly not surprising.”

  “Speaking of him,” continued Xerica in a sickly sweet tone. “You’ve done a wonderful job today keeping him from filling Tommy’s mind with any more bright ideas.”

  Lensa squeaked.

  “Alright, what the heck Lensa,” said Daisy, slamming her hand down on a hard surface. “Why did you ditch Tommy and leave him to that jerk?”

  “I-I had to protect my father. From the undead! He’s a priest, after all, and it’s this church where I’m praying to the goddess for guidance.”

  “I see, I see,” said Xerica. “And was part of her guidance to prioritize him over us?”

  “N-no…”

  “So then why did you ditch Tommy? The goddess asked us to keep him safe and guide him in his quest, it’s her will. You as her cleric should know this more than any of us.” Xerica’s words could be considered almost doting, if it weren’t for an inexplicable pressure behind them.

  “Wait, is that aura?” wondered Artyom before activating his own defenses to the sensation. He immediately felt his back straighten out and his heart begin to calm. “Guess it is. It’s nowhere near as strong as the boss monster I fought, or even mine, but I shouldn’t be surprised a spellcaster of her caliber has control of more than one element.”

  “Well- I mean… h-he was in good hands,” continued Lensa, obviously affected by the aura to some degree. “Even with how weak t-the other two are, they’re still more than enough to deal with the undead.”

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  “That isn’t the point, Lensa,” replied Xerica as she turned up the magical pressure. Everyone else in the room began to groan, and Artyom would have too if it weren’t for his own magic.

  And then she abruptly stopped it with a sigh. “The point isn’t to defend Tommy from physical threats, but from their bad influence. You’re not just supposed to be protecting him. You’re also protecting the four of us.”

  The room rang with silence at her words.

  “Unless…” Xerica continued after a beat. “You don’t want to be part of that group any more?”

  Artyom couldn’t help but pump his fist from where he was crouched.

  “W-wait, who ever said anything about that?!” said Lensa frantically. “We’re a team, all of us together! That’s what the goddess intended. I’m part of this team!”

  “I dunno Lensa,” said Daisy in a mocking tone. “Are you? Do we have to do to you what we tried with our latest member?”

  Something in the lavender haired girl must have snapped, because her tone suddenly turned frigid and a different sort of pressure went through the air, something entirely unlike aura.

  “If you ever dare you’ll face the goddess’ full wrath,” said Lensa in a biting whisper. “And whatever sword skills you were blessed with shall turn to ash in the face of what I shall do to you.”

  “For the love of the goddess Daisy, you really need to know when to keep your mouth closed,” said Xerica in exasperation. “Lensa, you’re just like the rest of us, so we’re not going to do anything of the sort to you.”

  Artyom had been trying to modulate his aura and magic to fight off the strange pressure unsuccessfully, but he felt it disappear on its own after the fire mage spoke that last time.

  “We mean we’ll send you to be the one to patrol the frontier villages if we can’t convince Tommy to forget about this ridiculous idea,” said Xerica. “We know that out of the four of us, you’re the most devout. But be careful where that devotion lies.”

  “Yeah,” said Lensa in a soft whisper.

  The four of them remained silent for a while after, soaking in everything that had been said and processing it all. Which was why everyone, including Artyom, was startled when the door to their room opened and someone walked in.

  “I-I apologize for interrupting you, but I think I know what this conversation is about,” said Lensa’s father. He sounded out of breath, likely from being subjected to the aura, but spoke with a surety that hadn’t been eroded by the emotional assault. “She chose to protect me over joining the hero earlier, and it’s all my fault.”

  “Father! You don’t have to apologize for anything.”

  “No no, Lensa, I do. My presence here is creating a dilemma, I can clearly see that. You need to prioritize the hero and his holy quest over my wellbeing. I can protect myself or at least run away if worse comes to worst, and such a scenario hasn’t even happened yet! Besides, the goddess watches over me so have faith in my safety.”

  The man said it so easily that Lensa immediately relaxed and her own newfound confidence reflected in her voice. “You’re right father, I should have more faith.”

  Artyom couldn’t help but also take note of that infectious confidence. It made sense for a man of faith to have such… well, strong faith. He’d lived a long life, and even in a Fairytale world, likely gained enough wisdom to give him confidence in his worldview. But at the same time, that confidence also reminded Artyom of a man who knew something he wasn’t letting on.

  “Another consequence of us being stuck here is that each undead attack is pulling the team further and further apart. Not just because of me, but Lensa as well. Maybe her father is the culprit, and this is what he wants? Cause enough of a rift to get his daughter to come back home instead of going on all of these dangerous missions.”

  The theory was sound, any good parent wouldn’t want their kids running around doing something dangerous. And even if the threat of danger wasn’t actually all that high in a Fairytale world, the Dark Lord had been operating in a way that has shown plenty of people how bad the world can be. It wouldn’t be too far a stretch to believe the old priest was one of them.

  But what kind of culprit comes out and tells the target not to do the very thing they’re trying to stop? Maybe one trying to throw everyone off.

  Artyom vigorously shook his head. He couldn’t help but feel that the old man sounded sincere, the same way Rotte did. This was supposed to be a Fairytale world, after all, and he’d only applied this level of mind games to Gilded and Grimdark worlds. Would it apply here as well where everyone was sincere with their motivations, even the villains?

  It was a conundrum, and Artyom felt ironically out of his depth in a place that was supposed to be simpler and easier to work in. But for what he had, the best option was to check the hard facts first instead of overcomplicating intentions to cross out suspects. He’d have to think of a way to do so for Lensa’s father, but in the meantime, would be doing just that for Rotte tomorrow morning.

  Hearing everyone inside beginning to move after the conversation ended, Artyom quickly got up from his position and snuck over to the side of the church to wait for them to leave so he could follow them back.

  Time to pretend nothing happened, and find out the truth.