Chapter 889: 889: Seliadot's Goal?

After escaping the tower, we headed towards the Adventurers Guild.

Bryne had suggested that we should explain the situation to the various organizations.

If things continued like this, the chaos from the events at the Sanatorium would spread to the rest of the city. That could cause the town's defenses to fall apart if left unchecked.

Sophie and Fran were put in charge of informing the Adventurers Guild.

That was because many adventurers loved the saintess, and Fran's alias might come in handy too. They seemed to be the perfect pair for stopping the spread of confusion at the Adventurers Guild.

The only problem would be Prear. I have no idea what that old man is after, which is a cause for concern.

There can be no further doubt that Filuria conducted inhumane experiments and attempted to sow discord throughout the city. After explaining the situation to him, I would expect him to cut all ties with the Sanatorium.

But adventurers need to consider the reality of the situation. They still needed the Sanatorium's support in preparation for the looming antidemon hordes.

After escaping the Sanatorium, we had about half of our original members. Miranleil and Bryne already split off to report to their own organizations.

The only ones left with us were the adventurers, Nelsh, and one member each from the beastmen and dragonkin.

Along the way, Fran and Sophie explained what happened while they were apart. Fran went first.

「So you followed the tunnel you found into the Sanatorium basement?」

「Nn.」

Fran then told Sophie about how she found evidence of Filuria's misdeeds in the underground room after she fended off the antidemon attack.

「So she captured someone from the Dragon King Syndicate and tried to enslave him. Also suspicious glass cases with people inside......」

「All of them had life-aspected mana.」

「That's the experiment Filuria was talking about, right?」

「Nn.」

「Filuria...... Just how long have you been plotting this?」

Sophie glanced behind with an expression of sorrow. The tower in the distance looked as beautiful as ever.

「What about you, Sophie?」

「Nothing as flashy as you guys.」

It seems that right after we split up, Sophie and Nelsh were entrapped in a ward.

Filuria had tricked them into entering one of the warehouses, before activating the ward to prevent them from leaving.

「I was too careless. I never expected her to lock me up so blatantly.」

Sophie and Nelsh tried to break the ward and escape, but they were unsuccessful.

After Fran heard this, she voiced her confusion.

「Then how did you escape? Wasn't Seliadot watching you two?」

「No, we weren't being watched. We escaped because......」

Sophie went silent for a moment, then she glanced at the people around her.

Was her method of escape something she couldn't say out loud? Maybe she had some secret technique?

「You disabled the ward?」

「I guess you could say that...... Yes! I used my secret technique to destroy it.」

「Destroyed? That's amazing.」

「Y-Yeah.」

We know firsthand how tough Seliadot's wards were. Unless we used a special skill like Magic Disruption to disable it, we would need an enormous amount of force to challenge one head on.

At the very least, you would need destructive power on the level of Miranleil's strongest technique. I was surprised to hear that the support-oriented Sophie managed to unleash an attack of that caliber.

However, it seems Sophie's abilities weren't the only reason for her escape.

Sophie put her hand lightly on Fran's shoulder.

『Can you hear me?』

「Nn? Sophie?」

『Don't talk for a while and just listen to me.』

I could hear Sophie's voice too. No, I guess I wasn't hearing her, but her voice was like... echoing in my head?

This wasn't telepathy, but something more like transmitting vibrations through her hand on Fran's shoulder. Kinda like bone conduction. I could hear her too because the vibrations reached me through Fran.

However, this had the disadvantage of Fran being unable to talk back.

『You see, there was actually a note left in the corner of the room. It said the ward would be weakened after an hour, so I should destroy it and run.』

「!」

『And that note came from Seliadot.』

So Seliadot was helping Sophie from the shadows...... That's why she accepted Seliadot's suggestion to retreat.

『I don't know what she's trying to do, but she might not be our enemy...... So I just want to wait and see for a bit.』

You're saying Seliadot was not just a simple adventurer hired as a bodyguard? Did she have some purpose for joining Filuria? She did say something about not letting Filuria die.

I thought she simply meant that she needed to protect her employer, but what if she needed Filuria alive for some other goal?

「Anyways, let's do what we can.」

「Nn.」

「I can't let this city be destroyed because of Filuria's schemes. I'm partly responsible for this since I failed to realize her true intentions. So, please Fran... lend me a hand.」

「I owe you. Now it's my turn to pay you back.」

「Thank you.」

Fran had not forgotten how Sophie saved Nadia. To her, this was worthy of a great debt of gratitude.

It seems she already decided that she would help her friend Sophie as much as possible.

She had the slavers, her mortal enemies, dangling in front of her eyes. Yet Fran kept her cool and held herself back for the sake of her friend. The old Fran would have definitely struck at Filuria, getting ourselves entangled in a fight with Seliadot.

This was a sign of Fran's growth. Things weren't anywhere settled yet, but I still felt a bit touched.