Not the "Support" you were expecting

Chapter 27: Missing - the villagers. No, not that kind of missing. (Iso's POV)

A.N.: Yo, here's the next chapter, yay, although a bit short. Two comments answered my question last chapter. Both of the readers are from royal road. They basically said I should do what I want and gave me some tip for the story. Shout out to cryptor and CarrotandStick.

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"Are you Isoide Shinu?" A man, who looks like he is in his 30s, asked me this as soon as we entered the inn we were staying at. The man is sharply dress in a navy-blue long coat and black breeches. "I've been waiting for your return. I have a letter for you, a reply for your report about the half-lich."

A few months ago, I made my report about how I defeated the half-lich. They doubt it at first because they haven't heard of defeating the undead with healing spells. It was back up and clarified by Ruke in his own report so they at least considered it but didn't bother to reply.

"Where are my manners." The man continued looking at me with nonchalant eyes. "I am Relim Brewridge, an honorary baronet." He straightened himself up with pride

"Oh, uhm, I guess you know my name. I am Isoide Shinu" I replied hastily and unreadily, still surprised at the sudden question and greeting of the man. "These are my party members, Yonshi Furan and Lorlasar Taltel" I continued saying while pointing at Yon and Lors respectively.

Yon and Lors nodded and bowed at the baronet. Relim looked suspiciously at Lors but eventually turned back towards to me when I started asking. "How come they only replied now? Do they have some questions about my method?"

"Actually, the letter doesn't concern about your methods. Don't get me wrong, our magicians already experimented on it and are now researching your method." The baronet explained. "Would you mind discussing this over tea while sitting?"

I got the hint and we went towards one of the tables in the waiting area of the inn. We got some tea but only Relim touched his.

"Anyways, as I was saying, the letter concerns, instead, your friend, Ruke." Relim's atmosphere turned heavy. "The man you were with went missing, along with the inhabitants of the village where he lives."

"The letter contains information of the village's current situation and an optional quest of investigating it. The quest only got posted this day in the Adventurers' Guild. The officials saw it fit to personally inform you because they think this might be related to the half-lich"

"The higher ups think the ones behind the half-lich will be targeting you next or are targeting you since then. Why they haven't attacked you yet, I don't know." The baronet finished explaining.

Relim handed me the letter across the table. Yon and Lors looked at me with concern. "With that, I'll be leaving you with the letter. I have another appointment and I think my time is already spent enough"

***

The letter didn't have much details about the situation of the village. It just said that the village was disarrayed with some houses destroyed as if something big swept them. Attached to the letter is the quest paper which shows a map where the village was.

I was frustrated about the situation and concerned about Ehrhard, Nara, Jushar, Ruke, and the other villagers. I was lying down my bed in our room holding the letter. I was upset that I didn't got to check on them these past few months.

"Do you want us to come with you?" Yon asked firmly, sitting on his bed. Lors looked at me with serious eyes. "We would gladly help you out and find Ruke and villagers. We have also known Ruke in our travels albeit shortly."

I got up, glad that I have my part members behind me, ready to support me. "But what about scouting where the goblins came from?" I asked back in concern.

"That could wait a while longer." Yon said casually, trying to get back to his old atmosphere.

"Em ra geb biñs reb il neml" Lors gave his own serious opinion the matter. He said it is foolish to wait to gathering information for Eler. I couldn't blame him, the more time that pass, the more Eler might be getting stronger.

"Then how about we split up then? I could go and scout where the goblins came from." Yon suggested, trying to keep up the atmosphere. "You and Lors could go investigate the village. 'Cause you need a companion to support and Lors can't go alone cause of you-know-what"

"That's reasonable" I said. Lors also nodded, showing his agreement. "So, that's our plan for tomorrow, I guess." My worries and anger now partially subsided because I know I'll always have these two at my back.

***

A few days have passed since we separated and started our own journey. Lors and I bought two horses for 2 gold coins from the money we got from our previous quests. Our journey started smoothly, rarely encountering weak monsters on the way.

However, the nearer we got to the village, the more frequent and stronger the monsters we encounter. We are currently fighting one such monster right now.

"I invoke your name oh deity of light. Guide your people in this dark hour. Illuminate them with your radiance. Put your divine lamp to our feet and light us on our path, [Flash]!" A blinding light showed coming from my hand. "Now, Lors, finish it."

"Nir hudulimak" Lors gladly went in and killed it. The body of an orc heavily fell down. This was the last of the orcs we encountered. We barely manage to win the fight. Orcs were at least D+ ranked (equal to Lors) and we encountered four of them.

We were a little crippled because Yon was not here so Lors did the heavy work and I just supported him. We sustained heavy injuries, especially Lors (AN: Lors is carry lol). Many times I thought I'll be dead but Lors was there to defend me. So I tried my best to protect him also.

"The sun is setting down already. Should we check the bodies thoroughly first or quickly dispose of them?" I asked Lors looking at the dead bodies of the orcs. They didn't have much. Just some iron clad leather armor and some blunt weapons.

"Rilhol" Lors picked to quickly dispose them, the practical choice. I got the items that we could probably use but most I left behind. We gathered the bodies in one place and I burned them with fireball.

"That settles it" I said after "Let's go find a place to rest. We're near the village. We should soon see the farmlands."

And they left (switching to 3rd POV). If only Iso and Lors have thoroughly checked the bodies of the orcs, they would have noticed a symbol tattooed on their shoulder. A very familiar, very important symbol....

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A.N.: Thanks for reading. Tips and corrections are appreciated. The release of the next chapter is not yet set. I thought summer would be my freedom but guess I'm wrong.

Kiyuwer clue: Rel could mean thus, does, or dust. Fun fact, I tried using google translate to translate the phrases from lors to english, the results are interesting and funny.

i.e. "Ib il e wuki odr lifwod malr ig re bemfl ot re rakeyogl" was detected as Uzbek language and got translated as "This is a very important part of our lifestyle". It's not really what it means although it is still funny. Real meaning of that is supposedly "It is a very old symbol used in the times of the dragons."