Aurea nodded as a greeting, hearing her name. "That is very much on the cards...This attack may have been more organized than you anticipated." She looked around at the wounded. "You may want to consider quarantine, at least for those with open wounds. Have them under guard if you still have any to spare...Anyway..."

She crossed her arms it the same manner as previously and her gaze moved back at both the captain, and Sir Dreimon. "Tell me about previous attack. Where did it come from, what stopped it? And the knight that has been arrested earlier today. Have you had time to interrogate him?" The questions were a bit odd, specially given it wasn't the most appropriate time, but the sooner they figure it out the better. She could swear that as soon as the beasts retrieved his body, that was the moment they began their retreat. Why would they need that particular person however? For a meal, plenty of others would suffice. It wasn't a savage, hunger-fueled raid. It had some purpose.

As soon as Lera had caught up, she was gone again, Aurea not having a chance to exchange a word, so she just briefly looked over her shoulder as the girl left.

As she jogged toward the shopping district, Lera slipped into an alley way, concealing herself within the shadows. She fiddled a bit and pulled out a pouch. Tough hide that was probably enchanted, she couldn't help but be awed by its craftsmanship. Beautiful cursive patterns that seemed to cradle it, like roots from vines. She missed home. Haven't been back in decades.

Then she opened it, revealing a deck of cards. She gave it a shuffle and pulled out 3 cards. All 3 steel cards had beautiful carvings on them despite being paper thin, with colors that almost popped within the darkness. Then she looked at the cards' lettering. Bold font, like ancient grimoire's. She pulled out one more card, but it was blank, revealing her face like a polished mirror. Her face was sullen, worn down by the day.

"So one more revealed itself." She put everything back and popped out of the darkness, careful not to be spotted, "Time to get back to work."

"If they come back, stay inside." Rhea tapped her bloodied arrows against her leg before turning and walking away. Her pace was rather slow, her eyes switching between Aurea and Lera. Aurea could take care of herself, but Lera seemed more suited to running away, not fighting on the front lines. Not like Aurea, at least.

By the time Rhea made it to the town hall, Lera was already wandering off to do whatever it is Lera's do with their down time. Lera seemed to be in a hurry, which was probably a good thing. Rhea slung her bow across her back and put the arrows in her quiver before knocking on the door before leaning against it, staring at Sir Dreimon and Aurea. "There's obviously something at play here. Taking a few minutes to ask the knight questions might prove useful." Rhea shrugged, "I don't think putting the gate back up is going to do much if they come back. It could be more helpful to set traps and pitfalls instead, to use the open space as sort of a kill funnel."

The ranger took out her dagger and started picking dirt out from under her nails before adding, "I wonder what sort of monster that fellow they took will return as. Nocturn was his name? Perhaps he will be an owl." Rhea let out a soft laugh, "I'm willing to bet he's still alive, and I have a feeling the mayor knows why he was so important to the Lycans, especially after Nocturn told him about the infection." She pointed the dagger at Aurea, and then at Sir Dreimon, "Someone in this town has information, and might be playing for the other team."

Aurea turned her head to look at Rhea, now standing in the doorway. Knight's expression haven't shifted at her sight, and simply listened to what she had to say this time. "You're not wrong...we should perhaps see if the traps outside were of any use, have them ready again. Although it wasn't the ground forces that caused us problems, really...Also, Nocturn, who's that? Have they took someone else?" She spoke with her usual monotone voice, as she turned the rest of her body to the ranger, and lowered her hands.

Aurea's body tensed a little at the words 'other team'. "Infection...? You don't mean Lycanthropy here do you...care to elaborate on all this?" She just so slightly tilted her head.

Rhea shrugged, "I'm really not sure, I was half awake for most of it, which is why I insinuated that we should be getting answers right now through whatever means necessary." For emphasis, Rhea flipped her knife and made a stabbing motion with it. "I'd talk to the mayor and that knight that you mentioned if I were you two. As for me, I'm going for a walk to look for dinner." She gave Aurea and Sir Dreimon a not so innocent smile before shoving off from the doorway and making her way toward the gate.

Her plan was to take some time to check the area outside of the gate, most notably where the boar was hit and disappeared, and then check the forested area to see if any enemies weren't in the best condition to retreat. This journey of hers was definitely proving to be quite the shit show. Most of her thoughts kept trailing off to how she planned on demanding they get paid more for all of the extra help.

Rabbit scratched his head a couple of times, showing absolutely no emotion. In fact, he almost regretted that the exciting event had came to a close.
Walking outside, he picked up his book and wandered off, nodding at Lera and Aurea once.

Visage smiled as the priestess recognized the girl. He shrugged off the soreness from his fall. "We're sealed in here and safe, but the temple above us is glowing and full of spinning cogs. To be quite honest, I'm more than a little curious about what is going on here..."

He sighed, prepping a cup of coffee for the girl, handing it to her gingerly. He smiled softly at her. "I'm terribly sorry to have scared you, dear, but the lycans were coming, and it was either scare you or have both of us end up in a very, very bad situation. I would also love to offer you some sugar and cream with this, but such is just slightly beyond my abilities right now."

"Cryptic." Was all Sir Dreimon had to say about Rhea's statements before she went on her own. "Aurea, on the knight, I have not received reports of the interrogation as of yet. Supposedly I was going to but then the attack had occurred. Also, I have been asking around as well, it seems as though the Grand Constable of this city has been missing for some time. No one knows where he is."

The mayor appeared from the townhall just behind them, accompanied by two of the archers.

"Ah, Sir Dreimon, Aurea," Roderique greeted, holding his side tightly. "I hope you're better off than me. This night has taken its toll on the city once more. Have you seen Nocturn? That poor boy. Did his best to fend off the lycans. Left one city to get some peace only for some other threat to follow."

The mayor coughed, slowly, then hard. One of the archers caught the old man before falling over. "I will need to do my duty for now," the mayor frowned as he nodded to the archer who released his grip. "Where are the rest of the--?" The mayor fell completely this time, Sir Dreimon now the one to catch the frail old man.

"You need rest," Sir Dreimon pressed. "You're injured."

"I am fine, Sir knight," the mayor replied. "Leave an old man to his duties."

"You're the last one we need dead right now," Sir Dreimon said as he looked to the archers and then at the mayor again. The archers then proceeded to usher the mayor back in with words that were made to keep the old man complacent that the city would survive the night. As the mayor was quietly placed back inside, the Knight Captain looked to Aurea.

"Looks like a busy night will be ahead of us."

Lera came back, supplies at hand. She laid them out on a sheet for those who could use them and began to treat the wounded the best she could. She spotted Sir Dreimon as well, giving out orders for those with open wounds to be quarantined right after treatment. Aurea approached the woman and knelt down as to not talk down to her while she worked on the wounded. The knight had asked for a favor and Lera simply brought her hand to her chin in thought before agreeing but only after she had done her job. Aurea nodded and instead of waiting, she helped Lera.

It didn't take long for everyone to receive medical aid, as it wasn't just them. Lera padded her hands on her clothes and lead Aurea to the shop. After a bit of questions thrown in the air and a few preferences as well, Lera came back from the backroom and handed the knight a package. With the favor done, Aurea simply said her thanks and went on her way, excusing herself due to her own errands.

Aurea sandwiched the package between her arm and herself and began to walk towards the townsfolk, asking around for information.

=-=-=-=-=-=

Rhea felt a cool breeze waft towards the city. She walked towards the structure where she struck the wereboar with her explosive arrow. She stood at the blast zone pensively, staring at the black circle that marked the heatwave that came from the explosion. She then noticed a familiar trail, the hoof of the massive lycan. Looks as if it tried to resist the shockwave to inevitably be flung out of the resulting smoke cloud. Her head rose up as it followed the general path of the trail which lead her to a broken down house. Moving towards it, she had found it was a lucky hit. The structure had simply been an empty storage hut and from there, the trail moves to the west of the city

Deciding that she could follow the trail a little later, she moved on towards the gate and scoffed at the efforts of bringing it back up. She walked through the working men and women and found herself beyond the broken gate. She had found few lycanthrope had fallen in the pits, skewered by the spikes below but only a few, it seems after the one mistake, they had leapt over them, avoided the rest. Other traps seem to have been tripped as well. Hidden bear traps had shown wererats struck deep in the head an arrow, but like the rest, after the first few, the rest were avoided, tripped in advance.

If this told Rhea anything, it was that the lycanthrope were not feral in the slightest.

A tiny owl flew past Rhea's vision and into the town searchingly for several minutes, before finally perching at the right place.

[TIMESKIP : Morning]

Aurea had been awake the entire time, standing by the gate as she waited the sun to come up. The warm splendor that was the sun's rays was comforting despite her slight numbness to it. She looked to her notebook¹ and felt a bit content that she got some information. The rest of the party was back in the townhall, given mats and pillows to sleep on; Rhea however, had taken the sofa again. Everyone had already woken up from their slumber, a bit drowsy and tired from the night prior.

Roderique then came along from his quarters down the hall and tapped his staff.

"Good morning everyone," he said. "It appears that during our sleep, a messenger had arrived in the form of a tiny owl and relayed a message to me. It seems to have come from the other fragment of your party, Visage and co. They say they'll arrive in this morning alongside a survivor and the silvered weapons. It seems you'll be whole again in a few hours."

Sir Dreimon appeared from the front door and approached the party who sat around the room. "All those who are suspected to be infected have been placed under quarantine. Since the old barracks had been destroyed², we placed them into a big enough house south of it. Traps seem to work for the first time before they learned how to counter it as well; so we'd have to think more creatively if the traps are to do their job better." He crossed his arms.



Visage offered the coffee but the girl shook her head. A muffled voice spoke from deep in Esther's arms but it was too low to be understood.

Esther nodded to the dwarf. "I must be the only familiar face she's seen for some time," she said as she combed the girl's hair. "How long have you been running, girl?"

The girl didn't respond and instead just curled into the Order member's arms. "We will talk in the morning then."

The occasional sound of footsteps above echoed throughout the night, ceasing only at first light.

[TIMESKIP : Morning]

By morning, everyone under the church had slept soundly, if not a bit disturbed by the noises above during the night. Rudolph had finished his work and had slept soundly near the the divine flame, the weapons placed neatly on a nearby table by the forge.

Esther and the girl had slept in a corner near the entrance, Visage had slept near the entrance as well, albeit on the opposite side of Esther. Mari had made her own space in underneath one of the lamps. The monk had been in a lotus position since his shift last ended which meant the disciple of Soramaru was the last to be awake.

"Greetings fellows!" He said as he stabbed his sword onto the ground. "Daylight has arrived and Soramaru has promised us another beautiful day of life! Blessed be our souls!"

The man had stood at the very center of the room his entire shift and was eager to leave.

FOOTNOTES
¹: Information you found out was in regards to three things. First was the sudden disappearance of the Grand Constable, he was last seen during the last attack on Thornfell and people have been asking where he has gone. No one could answer this and the questions remains in the air. Secondly, the last attack happened when the Constable had returned from the forest after assisting the last hunter party from the wilds. He seemed injured but otherwise healthy. The injury he complained of was hidden. The remaining party members were slaughtered during the attack. Thirdly, much like before, the night came earlier than expected.
²: The old barracks held a prison for usually for small-time criminals as higher class ones did not stay alive for long according to Thornfell law. In any case, the prison below it housed the mad knight for that night.

After a nice, relaxing yawn, Lera was in tip-top shape, she hoped.

Three-hour deep meditation, the secret art of sleep substitution! Sleep sure is nice, but guess I gotta be practical at times. She looked at her luggage. The duffel bag seemed to grow a bit larger than before. She puffed her chest out of pride, before returning to her calm facade. Sitting nearby a pillar at the side of the room, she gazed at everyone else, seemingly encumbered by last night.

Sir Dreimon marched in , and with the same concern he displayed last night, he gave us a briefing. Party reunion, quarantine, and ineffectiveness of traps.

"What about poison? If we had no fear of bystanders being caught by them, we could use it with the traps to murder the lot of them lycanthropes," The young adventurer gazed toward Rhea, "However, I think the ranger in our team is best suited for that area of expertise."

"Oh my, then why speak up in the first place?" Lera gave Rhea an indignant glance, visualizing her standoff-ish tone and snobbery. Bah. Negative thought. She probably wouldn't say that out loud. Forgive me for my foul slander, oh Goddess; and begone, Shriek! Then her mind wandered elsewhere, leaving behind a blank stare into a world beyond.

Rudolph woke up with a grunt. He slowly shambled to his feet and stretch, groaning as his bones popped back into place and his muscles ached. "Too early fer yer jibber jabber laddie." The dwarf yawned, scratching his chest under his beard. "Tis time to head back ta town. Now help me wrap these babies up while the changeling puts down the door." He wrapped the blades in oil-stained clothes to preserve them, bundling them together. The dwarf had forged long into the night, using every last dreg of iron and silver to create swords, spearheads, hammer heads, ax heads, and arrowheads and bullets. The weapons would be finished in town, where he could properly grip and bind them all.

Aurea stood at the gates whole night, hardly moving around. When she wasn't on the way, the night seemed to drag on for even longer. She knew it wasn't natural at all. People need sleep, but she definitely considered it somewhat useful, and a good riddance. When the sun had finally raised over the forested horizon, she found herself facing it with eyes closed, savoring the moment. Feeling of warmth was a rather rare sensation for her recently, yet every time she felt it, she realized how much desired it was at it. The knight wasn't even sure how much time had she spent like that, leaning her hands on the sword in front of her, before the city began to wake up from its slumber, and some guard has came to replace her in duty.

The woman has made her way to the towns hall, picking up her bundle from the nearby post on the way. She had once more pulled out a notebook out of it, reading it briefly, and writing down some more few things. When she put it back away and raised her head, she was already by the hall, observing the mayor walk in. She had entered right after him.

"Good to know they're not dead...just slow." Aurea exclaimed walking across the room, hearing the news, and neatly placed her belongings on the windowsill. "Good morning." She then added, as if suddenly remembering the proper order of things. Listening to Lera's idea, she spoke up her mind. "Outskirts of the city is too big of an area to effectively cover, we would need to lure them to one location, and since they apparently do not fall for the same trap twice...have them affected all at once. And there's more complication to that, I am sure." The knight too, looked towards Rhea, knowing she'd explain it better...or prove her wrong.

Rhea shrugged, "poison could work, but I doubt it would be as effective as you're hoping it would be. Is it even our concern? This isn't the task we were all brought here for, and once the rest of our party arrives I suggest we get started. Assuming they're still alive from sending that message and make it here, the town should be more than capable of handling itself with the resources our party is bringing them."

She sat up and crossed her legs, "My time is rather valuable to me, and it should be to you all as well. If the mayor and Sir Dreimon want us to stay another night to see what happens, then that is something they need to pay us for." Rhea sighed at Aurea's remark, "Killing the alpha would be a good start. It might not be a permanent solution, but isn't that why we were called in the first place? To go see what happened that caused this stirring?" She turned and looked at Sir Dreimon, "I'll tell you what. You give me a big bag of gold and I'll kill that boar."

Aurea frowned at Rhea's response. Money...of course. "This town barely makes it's ends meet as it is right now. Caravans don't make it in or out, how much can they pay you, you think?" It seemed as if she started preaching again, but then. "If we were to get rid of the problem permanently, or mellowed it down to manageable point however...I bet they could pay you solemnly for your additional services, once they're able to pick themselves up. Long term, you could say." The knight crossed her arms and looked at the ranger, getting the message through just with her stare alone. If Rhea and the rest won't do it, she will. "In the end, you'd earn more, for not doing all that much more work, when you think about it. What is it few more bodies for you? Would that sound fair?" Her knowing glance swept across the room from mayor and Sir Dreimon, to the rest of the party.

"What's the point of killing a few of them when they could just come back the next night with their numbers completely replenished? If they don't have gold to spare, I'm sure they can think of something to take it's place that would be worth my time and effort. I've got people back home who are suffering every day that I am gone, who can't fend for themselves and are hoping that I'm not coming back empty handed. Every day that I'm not there it's only going to get worse, so if I'm left to pick between these people and my people, it's going to be a very cold night. You can't save everyone, Aurea."