Chapter 80: Through The Sewers 2

POV Eliza

“Please be careful from now on and don't touch anything. I'm going to open the door now.” <Tamina>

Tamina went to the door and picked up something in her bag. It appeared to be a tool. A lock pick? Were there no keys to the door? In any case, it took Tamina about 5 minutes to open the door. She then heard a soft click and the door opened. Must be a complicated lock. Behind the door was a long corridor lit by two candles. We entered the corridor and closed the door behind us.

At the end of the corridor, which was about 10 meters long, there was another door. Strangely enough, Tamina didn't go to this door, but pressed on a piece of the left-hand wall between the two candles. The wall gave way and swung outwards. Behind it was another long corridor with a door on each side. There was also a door at the end of the corridor. This corridor was dark and only a faint glow of light penetrated under the two side doors.

“Please don't try to open the two doors. You'll set off traps.” <Tamina>

She waited until I was past the two doors and took a candle. The wall behind us closed automatically. Then she opened the door at the end by pushing it aside. Behind it was a large, dark room. I could make out enough to see that there were some tables with chairs in the room. There were two more doors at the front. Otherwise, the room was empty.

Tamina closed the door and deftly walked around the tables and chairs to the door on the left. There she knocked three times.

“It's me, Tamina. And I'm not alone.” <Tamina>

Shortly afterwards, a small window opened in the door at eye level. The room behind it was illuminated. Two sharp eyes were visible in the window, looking at Tamina. As I didn't know what was going to happen, I stayed in the background as much as possible. The voice that spoke to us belonged to a grown man.

“You know you're not supposed to bring anyone here. You also know what's going to happen to her now.” <Man>

“Please, Elem, no, let me explain. She saved me when I escaped from the guards. She has nothing against beastfolk, and more importantly, she knows the goddess.” <Tamina>

The man widened his eyes and looked in my direction. He was literally staring at me. I turned appraisal on him, but couldn't recognize anything. I had forgotten again that I couldn't see anything in others unless I had the skill on advanced.

“Step closer, girl.” <Elem>

I approached him and stood next to Tamina.

“So you know the goddess?” <Elem>

“I only know one goddess and she rules over the moon and the night.” <Eliza>

I put it like that because my gut told me I shouldn't mention Luna's name. But I couldn't put my finger on why.

“Well, you're not one of them. If you had called the goddess by name, you would have behaved disrespectfully and made yourself suspicious. None of us simply call the goddess by name. Only the Lumos servants do that, even if they always spout insults.” <Elem>

“I would never insult the goddess.” <Eliza>

The man seemed satisfied with my answer, because he relaxed noticeably. The viewing window closed and we heard something heavy being moved on the other side. Then the door opened and I saw the room. It looked like a guardroom to me. A table, a chair, a cupboard. Next to the door was a heavy beam that could be used to lock the door from the inside. There were dice, a jug with a cup and two knives on the table. Another door led deeper inside. The man himself was in his forties and had a full beard.

“Okay, Tamina, then explain exactly what happened to you.” <Elem>

Tamina then explained how she was supposed to carry out her mission that night and was discovered. She was shot while fleeing and fell off the bridge into the river. I rescued her there and pulled her ashore. She lost consciousness in the process. When she regained consciousness, she was lying in a shelter in the middle of the forest. I was then able to reassure her that I had no animosity towards beastfolk and had even provided her with food and water. Through me, she had then found out that the guard checks had increased considerably and that almost nobody was allowed into the town. This meant she had to choose this entrance. She had taken me with her as a thank you, as I wanted to go into the city. However, she was very careful on her way here and had only made the most necessary light. As a result, I couldn't follow her path at all.

The man just nodded. Then he spoke to me again.

“Let's come back to you. How do you know about the goddess? As a human here in the Empire, you shouldn't even know, because the Lumos Church forbids such knowledge.” <Elem>

“I've already told Tamina. I grew up among beastfolk and therefore have no animosity towards other races. There were also many people in our community who traveled far and wide. As a result, there was a lot of knowledge available to us that is hidden from the ordinary citizen of the Empire. I can't say exactly when I first heard about the goddess. It was a very long time ago, at least 10 or even 15 years ago.” <Eliza>

I actually couldn't say exactly how long ago it was. Probably before my rebirth, whenever that was. But I had never met Luna, as was normal in typical reincarnation settings. The man looked at me more intently again.

“Do you believe in the goddess?” <Elem>

“Yes, you could say that. I definitely don't believe in Lumos.” <Eliza>

The question was difficult to answer, especially if you came from Earth. At that time, there were many philosophers and scholars who dealt with this question unable to find a reliable answer. I also knew that Luna existed. But I couldn't tell anyone about it. That's probably why the term believe in Luna came closest.

“Fine. So there are others who haven't lost their faith. But wait a minute, you were just talking about the past. Does your community no longer exist?” <Elem>

“It no longer exists in the form I knew it. Several years ago, soldiers attacked us and we had to flee. Fortunately, we had a warning time, so no one should have been killed, but unfortunately I don't know where the others are or what happened to them. At the time, my master and I were responsible for laying false trails and creating distractions. Unfortunately, I was separated from her and have been struggling through life on my own ever since.” <Eliza>

“That's terrible.” <Tamina>

“It's fine, it could have been a lot worse for me. I'm a scout after all. I was able to escape, but that certainly wasn't possible for every community.” <Eliza>

“What do you mean?” <Elem>

“I'm actually an adventurer in Tyros and last year I also met fugitives there who were hunted down and driven away by imperial soldiers. From what I understood, they had casualties too.” <Eliza>

“Last year near Tyros? Tell me more about that.” <Elem>