Frozen Hell (Part 6)

"I gotta say, that's quite interesting," Alex commented. "Sooo, you think that it was just an accident that you've obtained it?"

"Possibly." Leo shrugged again. "I really have no way of knowing, but I figured at the time that it wouldn't do much harm to keep the feather with me."

"Well, seems you got that right."

After discussing about the origins of the feather, the group turned towards their rooms.

"Guess we'll do this tomorrow again?" Leo asked, referring to their search quest.

"Tomorrow, huh," Judy couldn't help but grumble. "I think I'm at my limit here."

"Don't worry." Leo held out the phoenix feather insurance. "Next time, I'll lend it to you guys if any you ever feel too uncomfortable."

"Thanks Leo," Alex breathed a sigh of relief. "That'll definitely be quite helpful."

"Hope you won't feel too cold, next time," Sarah gave a small warning.

The group waved their hands together as they each went in to rest their bodies for another day.

Closing the door, Leo sighed while scrutinizing the feather in his hands.

'I wonder if there are more secrets you're withholding from me...'

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The next morning, the group silently overslept as a result of their hard exploration during the previous day. That, and the experiment which Leo made his friends go through, contributed to their lack of energy which caused them to continue resting soundlessly on their beds. Fortunately, or rather unfortunately, this peaceful moment wouldn't last for long.

Without warning, a wolf-like howl suddenly echoed throughout the entire manor!

Leo, who was resting his cheek on his pillow, nearly fell out of bed when he heard the loud noise. As a result, he instinctively grabbed onto his sword before jumping up in anticipation of some kind of attack.

However, when he looked around his room with drowsy eyes, he didn't find anything to be on guard against.

'What the heck...?' Leo scratched his head.

A few moments later, once again, another loud howl resounded in his room, nearly startling him off his feet. The sound traveled like a rumble of thunder during a heavy rain, but it contained traces of a person's voice that Leo was able to barely distinguish.

"Is it... the chieftain?!"

Because they only interacted once, it was a bit difficult for Leo to accurately determine whose voice was making that terrible noise. Nevertheless, after the howling came for yet a third time, he eventually decided to leave his room to assess the situation. If Namur's life was being threatened, Leo would do his best to protect him.

Racing out of his door, Leo met up with the rest of his team who appeared to have had the same idea.

"Do you know what's happening?" Judy asked in apprehension.

"I'm not really sure," Alex replied. "But let's check it out."

They headed through the hallway and made their way into an area of the second floor where the howling appeared loudest. Once the group got closer, they found themselves tracing its source back to the chieftain's living room. But before they could attempt entry, someone already stepped out of the front doors.

"Walter?" Leo exclaimed after seeing the butler exit the room.

Walter turned upon hearing his name called and immediately went into a straight posture.

"Yes, adventurers?" he asked.

"Is there something wrong with Lord Namur? Is he hurt?"

The butler's body became slightly rigid as he quickly turned to shake his head.

"No, no. The chieftain is fine." Walter sighed in resignation. "At least physically."

The team exchanged confused looks with each other.

"Then," Alex spoke carefully, "his life is not in danger?"

"Not at all," Walter replied succinctly, trying to end the conversation. "Now if you'll excuse me, I hope you'll leave this matter be."

With that said, the butler walked away in the opposite direction, his movements noticeably stiffer than before.

The team stood stunned in place as they couldn't comprehend the situation.

"Well, that was... surprising," Alex said.

Beside them, the room continued to release howls that reverberated across the manor.

"What do you suppose happened to the chieftain?" Judy asked while covering her ears.

"He sounds a bit... anguished." Sarah glanced at the room's doors.

"Come on, we shouldn't stick around too long." Leo gestured for his friends to leave. "Now that we're awake, let's get ourselves dressed first.

"This might just happen to be an extremely personal matter we shouldn't get involved in."

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By the time they left and got themselves geared up, the sounds of howling gradually ceased, and the group managed to eat some breakfast before descending to the first floor.

After heading downstairs to go on another expedition, the group encountered Walter again. This time however, instead of preparing to drive them out to visit new locations, the butler was greeting them with a bag of coins.

"What is the meaning of this?" Alex demanded.

Walter made no indication that he heard him.

"My lord has decided that you adventurers have made sufficient enough contributions for our land. Thus, we no longer require your services and are prepared to hand over the quest's reward."

The entire team became dumbfounded. Ignoring the fact that they unearthed a strange formation spell, throughout the whole three days scouring different locations, they had not brought back a single thing that could be considered a 'contribution' to the land. The butler's words almost sounded like mockery.

Walter stepped aside and directed the group to the entrance.

"If you will please, I will escort you back to Victoria City--"

"Are you kidding me?!" Judy furiously cut him off. "After all the time we've pushed ourselves in this barren wasteland, you want us now to leave?! Are you disrespecting us?!"

Walter bowed his head as he spoke, "You are mistaken. Let me repeat, my lord simply feels that this quest has already been completed enough. Asking anymore from your group would simply be unnecessary."

Before Judy could continue shouting, Leo held a hand to stop her. Taking a step forward, he took the opportunity to confront Walter.

"We appreciate the lip service," Leo replied before indicating to his team. "But I hope you understand that our group requires a more thorough explanation for why you desire to send us all away.

"If you keep insisting on getting rid of us," Leo raised his voice as Walter was about to interrupt, "then I'm afraid we'll have to cause a small bit of trouble for you."

Walter frowned as he studied Leo's calm expression.

"What are you intending to do, adventurer?" he asked with a hint of a warning.

Leo put on a casual posture before responding, "We can simply refuse the reward and stay here till we get a reasonable enough explanation to leave. Of course, we could also send word to our guild that you've supplied misinformation when registering your quest notice."

"Misinformation..." Walter softly repeated.

"Yes, misinformation." Leo nodded as his face gradually became more stern. Due to the recent happenings around this manor, and the chieftain's reclosed disposition, he had already developed suspicions about the main objective of their quest. "It appears that you and your chieftain haven't carefully read our guild's guidelines. Apparently, it is an offence to withhold important info that could be vital for completing a particular quest. This also applies for any malintent to deceive the hired adventurers into doing anything ulterior.

"If we take this up with the guild, an investigation might be sent forward."

For a moment, silence accompanied the first floor before quickly being broken by the sound of Walter's clenching fists. Baring his wolf fangs, the beastman butler towered over and glared at Leo, who was in turn coolly gazing back. Both sides remained in this standoff until someone finally intervened.

"We aren't here to cause trouble!" Alex hurriedly tried to disperse the tense atmosphere. "We only arrived at this place to do a quest.

"Now whatever might've happened with your chieftain, we only hope that you'll simply be more honest in working with us. My teammates are just upset by all the hours we've spent trudging through the cold."

Taking a few seconds to calm himself, Walter finally sighed and relaxed his hands. He no longer chose to keep his posture straight anymore.

"I suppose it's pointless to keep it a secret at this time." Walter relented before continuing, "My lord chieftain's daughter is missing."

"Daughter?" the team tried to recall if they had heard of any mention of the chieftain's family.

Walter's eyes contained traces of sorrow as he explained, "Some time ago, the chieftain's only child had gone on a long exploration following clues connected to a supposedly ancient vault of magical artifacts. But along the way she unexpectedly went missing, and since then the chieftain had made several attempts to locate her whereabouts.

"When things became desperate, we decided to hire you adventurers as a part of our search efforts."

"Why didn't you reveal this earlier?" Leo demanded.

"We didn't want our competitors to learn of this knowledge," Walter answered. "The Frozen Plains, as you have already witnessed for yourselves, is a grueling place where only the most tenacious can survive. Although we have established a proper system here, it doesn't prevent other members of our tribes from attempting to exploit the wealth and lands we've obtained."

"I see... So what you're saying is that news of your chieftain's missing daughter could affect his position."

"That is correct," Walter confirmed.

Sarah suddenly raised a question from the side.

"That formation spell which Leo found... Did it provide any help in locating her?"

Walter glanced at her briefly before solemnly nodding.

"Yes, it has, but it was only a rough indication..."

"Then let's go retrieve her!" Judy announced. "You should've let us know from the start. Things would become much easier with our capabilities."

But despite the encouragement from her, Walter continued to remain solemn.

He slowly spoke, "Our own personal mages were already sent to that spatial array to verify any traces of the chieftain's daughter. And we have indeed gained an estimation of her whereabouts, however..."

Walter drifted off, and stared up into the ceiling.

"The formation spell has been confirmed to lead into the Frozen Hell."

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