1694 Kayara
"I wonder when we'll get to meet face to face."
Eren murmured to himself as he ended his conversation with Alephee. It seemed she was occupied with her own matters, so he decided to give her the time she needed to sort things out.
"Hehe. Don't worry about her. She'd be fine. To be honest, unlike you, I'm glad Alephee isn't here, Erni. She spent a lot of time with you. Now it's my turn."
Reen chuckled, fading from her seat and merging back with Eren. It felt like a spectral hug before she concealed herself within him.
"And here I thought you two got along well," Eren said, smiling wistfully. 'We do, but that doesn't mean I don't envy her,' Reen replied in his mind.
"Grand Knight Eren? I thought you had company."
Eren didn't know when but someone had sneaked up behind him. When he turned around to greet, he saw that it was none other than the auburn-haired innkeeper.
"Hi there, Miss Kayara. Please drop the formalities and call me Eren."
Eren greeted Kayara with a charming smile. He gestured with his hands to take a seat in front of him. "I indeed had company. She is my artifact spirit. She's a bit of a shy person, you see– doesn't like to interact with anyone other than me."
"I see," Kayara came to an understanding as she sat on the chair. She wasn't surprised by the fact that Eren was in possession of a Hex artifact. Although the Hex Artifacts were rare in Labh Salem as well, one could still get access to it for the right price.
"So you have a Hex Artifact. No wonder you were able to survive the encounter with Helenbora coven," Kayara commented as she looked at Eren with an inspecting gaze.
Eren didn't say anything regarding the matter. He knew that the innkeeper was connected to the temple in some way. But he didn't know that the intel about him was also shared with her. It meant that Kayara was not some regular innkeeper for the temple. At least that wasn't the only thing she did.
"Is there something you wish to say to me?" he asked curiously as he looked at Kayara. He regretted the fact that Alephee had suggested using his Sin Series powers against random people in Labh Salem. Otherwise, his information gathering would have gotten much smoother.
"Yes," Kayara nodded before explaining.
"Eren, I believe you must have been briefed about our situation. The Helenbora coven has given us a big blow by killing some of our crucial Templars. We can't just fill the spots left behind by the deceased with random nobodies. It will take some time for us to get things back in order.
As such, we will have to use external force to keep things in order. We are going to hire mercenaries and rogue entities to get rid of the demonic entities present in our region."
Eren reclined in his chair before responding.
"Yeah. the Archpriest Jivem mentioned something like that. He was very persuasive to hire me as a mercenary for that very reason as well.
It seems the region around the parish is riddled with demonic activities. And the Ishgaar's Templars' branch in Brol lacks the manpower to get rid of them completely for the time being."
Kayara used her Spectral Screen option to generate a regional map in front of her and Eren before explaining further.
"You have met up with Grand Knight Akel Aaloom earlier. He, you, and I will coordinate with each other to take care of any the threats directed at the Ishgaar's Templars. Helenbora coven was a wild entity we weren't expecting. However, the temple also has other forces to worry about.
This is why I'm here. We are going to start in a few days. I'll be relieved of my innkeeping duties and sent on-field for the Templars' missions when that happens.
The three of us will leave Brol together. However, we are free to act on our own. Unless required, we'll move separately and clear a few known targets. We will meet intermittently after every few days to discuss our progress so far."
Eren caressed his chin as he processed Kayara's words. Being from Anfang, he was used to moving and completing missions in a team. "Why can't we move as a group right from the start?" he asked, trying to learn about the reason for the kind of plan Kayara had laid out for him.
He didn't mind taking care of the demonic entities by himself. However, he preferred to have more information about the situation before he made any moves.
"Ishgaar's Templars have always preferred working alone, Eren," Kayara answered and paused for a bit before adding further.
"Plus… we… we also lack the manpower," Kayara said honestly.
"This was why we used an oracle to get this information about our targets. The temple has spent a huge sum of Menaka's Runes to get this strategic intel about our enemies. Of course, it has its limitations. So we need to act carefully.
Besides, dealing with the targets on an individual basis also serves us well. This way, we will be able to save time and prevent the demonic entities from forming a joint front against us. It would also send a strong message to those wretched demons."
'Oracles! I wonder how this intel gathering through Oracle works. From the witches' memories, it seems like it is something that one can't take casually. The sum they would have expended might be in the hundreds of thousands of Menaka's Runes.
The Ishgaar's temple must be really desperate to get rid of the demons surrounding them. Are they expecting something big to happen in the near future? It wouldn't be about the potential successor of Aleph's divine throne, would it?'
Many questions popped into Eren's mind like wild mushrooms as he thought about Kayara's plan. On one hand, the temple's predicament provided him with a perfect opportunity to test out the waters of Labh Salem.
He could use the temple's enemies as his test subjects in order to get used to using the Mesh. he would also get paid by the temple for something he wanted to do as well– hunting down demons and using them as a ladder to elevate himself.
However, he was afraid about helping his potential enemies. He wasn't sure if God Ishgaar was hostile towards the true inheritor of the Elder Ichor even now. However, he didn't want to find the answer to that question by himself. After all, some questions were better left unanswered.
Kayara thought that Eren was worried about battling against strong demonic entities in an individual capacity. She thought she had spooked him a bit with her briefing. As such, she cleared her throat before adding further.
"That being said, the Ishgaar's Templars know how to work in groups when they need to. We won't leave our comrades and allies behind if they ever happen to be in some kind of danger.
We could also form a group to deal with a threat that we wouldn't be able to handle all by ourselves. But for that to happen, we will need to know more about each other.
Thus, the meetups we would do will serve as a way for us to get to know about our fortes and weaknesses. So don't worry, Eren. I will provide you with the right set of information, resources, and guidance to make your hunts as easy as possible."
Kayara started briefing Eren about the tasks he was supposed to undertake in the nearby regions to Brol. She explained to him the strategies they could implement to lure out the targets. She also told him about the secret hideouts of Ishgaar's Temple they could use.
'No wonder that priest was so hell-bent on asking for aid from me– a total stranger from a neutral continent. These Templars already were in deep shit even before the Helenbora coven showed up at their door.
The witches just aggravated the symptoms that already existed in this region. I have to say that these demons have done a fantastic job shaking the foundations of such a well-established temple.
Now I just need to make sure that I benefit while these two sides fight each other to death.'
Eren thought to himself as he listened to Kayara's explanation closely. He could tell that it would at least take him about three to five months to clear the regions to complete the tasks assigned to him.
He didn't know if Kayara had played it fair while assigning tasks among three people. But he lacked information to question her distribution of the work. So he stuck to asking her about the details of the missions.
Eren told Kayara that he'd need about five days to prepare. He told her about the "accident" he had when he encountered the Helenbora coven, which was supposedly the reason for him being deprived of the Menaka's Blessings.
As such, he needed to start from scratch and buy back the Skills he had lost. He knew that Kayara knew about his incident. So she didn't find it surprising that he needed five days to prepare.
