Chapter 103 - Basket Full of Loose Ends

They drilled us on all the details about this entire debacle, separating us into different interrogation rooms. In my room, I was being grilled by Vect and Vesht, plus a stranger in a uniform I didn't recognize. I told them about Farina's little request to check out incidents at the manor. I explained the strange incident at the training hall with Noah and Adhara and the trap that did nothing. We went over what we found at the manor, the strange dungeon cores, the people we found in the basement, the dungeons we encountered in the manor, and all the monster parts.

They were a little put out with me that I didn't immediately report the conversation I had overheard, and they apparently weren't keen on my magically induced migraine and subsequent drugged unconsciousness as an explanation.

A lot of things happened in a hurry, and things got jumbled in my head. I suppose in the end that wasn't any kind of excuse. I'd just file that as a learning experience, I guess.

We went over how we found Sasa and Lele, the dryad attacks, the descent into the undercity, the rows on rows of more bound victims from lands and species unknown to us. The things we all went over and the questions we answered ranged the entire breadth of what had happened to us in recent memory.

They kept at it till the sun began to set. We were all tired, annoyed at the questioning, and hungry. None of us had eaten since the breakfast that Manya had made us. There might have been rations in there somewhere, but my memory wasn't treating me terribly well.

"Are you absolutely sure you didn't ever actually see the Magister?" One of the strangers asked me firmly. He was a youngish human man, clean-shaven, right down to his eyebrows. There wasn't a bit of hair on his head, which, coupled with his constant scowl, made me think of a very pissed-off egg.

"I'm sure. I heard her voice, but never actually saw her." I sighed, putting my head in my hands. "You've asked me this dozens of times, and I don't know what to tell you! I just saw Felestil and Carter! The magister talked with the dryad queen, or at least I think it was the dryad queen. And then I had to get out of there."

"Did she make any comments, or did you find anything about something called the Falling Star, or the Starless Wisdom Cult, or anything of that sort?" He asked.

Now, those raised a red flag in my mind, because they were completely new terms to me. Something was nagging in my mind about them, but I couldn't quite place it. Something from that drugged-up dream about my core? Nah, couldn't be.

"No, she didn't. I don't know what those are." I said, leaning back in my seat.

"The less said about that, the better, I think. Thank you, Interrogator Lex, I'll take it from here." Farina said, stepping out of the shadows. I had been very sure she hadn't been there earlier.

"Yes, Ms. Firenze." The bald man said and quietly left the room.

I was deeply confused.

Vesht and Vect spoke amongst themselves for a moment, too low for me to understand.

"Could you two leave us? I wish to speak to Ms. Marchesi alone for a moment." Farina looked at the two firmly. They both looked startled for a moment and left. I hadn't seen that reaction from them in Farina's presence before, which wasn't helping my growing sense of unease.

Farina sat down in front of me, took off her beret, and then her glasses, setting them on the table.

I didn't like this, but I decided to play it as confidently as I could.

"So, I don't suppose you want to tell me what exactly is going on, Farina? It seems you've been hiding things from everyone, not just me." I folded my arms in front of me and gave my best serious look.

"I can tell you a few things. I don't really work for the school. Well, I do, but it is in fact a façade." She said, emotionless in her tone.

"Obviously. What is that façade hiding, though?" I cocked an eyebrow at her.

"That is need to know, but in short, I work for the Mortal Kingdoms Alliance itself, in a sort of off-the-books capacity as it were. I won't really go into many of the other details." She maintained her tone and her eye contact with me.

"Even if I ask nicely?" I smiled at her, trying to act unfazed.

"Even then. I personally want to thank you for your efforts and explain a few things." She relaxed a bit, her shoulders untensing. "The manor house was in fact part of my family history. At first, when I hired you, it truly was a personal matter, but evidence that had been brought to me kept leading me to think it was connected to my professional role."

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"And why me? Surely there are more trained persons than me, and less greedy too."

"Convenience. You have a mercenary mindset that is easy to manipulate for my purposes. No offense." She bowed her head.

"All offense taken, but I'll ignore it right now. So I kept getting wrapped up in this, because I was convenient and greedy?" I scoffed.

"Exactly. And you and your team seem to be talented in your fields. If you can apply yourselves and focus your skill sets into your career paths, you'll be forces to be reckoned with. At this point, however, you make very good deniable assets." She admitted to me.

It kind of bothered me to just outright hear it. It was the nature of the business, though I supposed. Dungeoneers, while they provided the important service of keeping dungeons under control, were still just one flavor of mercenary.

"I don't much enjoy being used like this, Farina," I said firmly, my anger bubbling up to the surface.

"Understandable. While I normally would ask you questions, I'm certain I wouldn't be able to answer them." She sighed, putting her glasses back on.

"I'm going to guess you're going to want me to keep quiet about what we found. All the documents, the conspiracies, the harpies, and all that, yes?" I was starting to guess what Farina wanted to discuss with me.

"You're sharp on the uptake. Another reason why you're useful. And you keep your mouth shut very well." She smiled at me.

"Sometimes too well." I grimaced, thinking of the chewing out I had gotten earlier.

"In any case, I'm glad you understand. You, of course, will receive all previously promised compensation from me, Lord, and the school itself, which will be deposited in your accounts by the end of day tomorrow." She pushed her seat away from the table and stood, holding out her hand.

I took it, sealing the deal.

"I take it you're going to disappear now that your cover is blown with Walther and the rest?" I guessed. Some part of me would be sad to see her leave.

"Of course not. Now it just means I don't have to worry about being sneaky. I rather enjoy my secretarial work. It's a nice break from subterfuge and skullduggery." She let out a little laugh.

She turned to leave and stopped as she reached for the handle of the door.

"Truly, thank you for all you did. Your slaying of that dryad disrupted a dark plan that's been building for a long time, and you saved a lot of people. I'm just sorry we can't publicly praise you for it. The panic from knowing what really happened would be...problematic." She said with a sad sigh in her voice.

"What are you going to tell people?" I said, standing as well.

"Freak dryad outbreak whose pollen, a known mind-controlling substance, caused knights and mages visiting for political purposes to temporarily, along with much of the populace, to fall under the dryads' sway. The brave sanitation guild was able to flood the undercity with a perfectly safe alchemical substance, which purged the roots of the dryads." She said, without looking at me.

"A good enough explanation, I suppose." I shrugged.

"Oh. One last thing. If you so much as hear a single peep, a whisper, or a passing conversation about the Magister, the Fallen Star, or Starless Wisdom, you come tell me. Immediately. I do not care what time of day or night it is. You run, and you tell me. Understood?" She locked eyes with me, giving me a stare that felt like it was going to burn the command into my soul.

"Absolutely, miss ma'am, sir, ma'am!" I said with a mocking salute, trying to cover up the absolute fear I felt at her look.

She squinted at me for a long second and nodded. She opened the door and held it open for me.

Outside, I saw two feathery figures. It was Sasa and Lele, the two harpies we had saved from the manor, and their inevitable fates as magical reagents.

The two lunged forward and wrapped me in their wings, which were warmer than I expected.

"Alta! Savior of Sasa and her egg! We are much glads to see you! Lele said, eagerly.

"Yes! Egg safe and healthy, and you save us! Much happy glads!" Sasa was equally eager.

"I'm just glad to see you are doing well! And your egg is safe and well! This is great news!" I said, gently peeling them off me.

"Yes!" Lele cleared her throat and began to speak slowly. "I sorry, my Mortal Common is not so good. But I try."

Sasa nodded. "I wish to tell you that we wish you to be...what is word...Nest Friend? Egg guardian?"

She said a few words to Lele that I had no hope of understanding.

"Ah! Yes! Word is godmother? Of Sasa's egg! We would be the honor if Alta says yes!" Lele did her best.

I was familiar with the concept, at least amongst elves and humans, but I had no idea about Harpies.

"That seems like a big responsibility? Are you certain?" I asked, honestly flattered to the hells and back.

"Yes! Very much! And! And! We staying in Raven stack! As dipper mats!" Lele said excitedly.

I took those words into my brain and rolled them around for a bit. "Oh! You're staying in Revenstahd! As diplomats?" I asked.

"Yes! That is word. We were coming to try to become Mortals like Elfes and Humans and Kobolds! We don't want to be hunted anymore, and we want to do trade and go to schools and other stuffs! We are the only ones left, so we must finish what we started! For our families, to remember Sasa and Lele mates!" Sasa explained, her expression was determined. Lele nodded, her expression matching.

"Well, you have my support! Just let me know if you need anything!" I said, patting them both on their winged shoulders.

"Yes! We do need something! We hungry! Want food! And...what is word...booze? The water that makes one's brain dance!" Lele beamed excitedly.

"I think I know just the place! Let's go meet my friends, and we'll go as a group!" I smiled and led them to where I was sure my party was.

And I was right, they had all waited outside for me, as I was apparently the last to get interrogated. They all looked like I felt. Tired, haggard, hungry as a demon in heat, and ready to call it a day.

"Let's party you lot! We've earned it! Let's head to Manya's inn and eat till we're sick and drink till we can't stand!" I shouted to the heavens.

They joined me, with Smitty howling to the skies above. I wrapped an arm around Eira, who gave me a big kiss, and we made our way through the remnants of the earlier chaos that we thankfully missed during our little adventure.

I really hoped Manya's inn was still there. I hadn't really considered that.

I also realized we all stank to the highest of the heavens. Screw it, I was too tired and hungry to really give two halves of a damn.

That would be a problem for Tomorrow Alta!