Darkness. The light of a single lantern peered through it, revealing several folding screens dispersed randomly around the room. As the light shone up their surface, they revealed silhouettes sitting behind them.

  One of the figures tapped their foot against the ground three times before clearing their throat.

  “Gentlemen, I am pleased to see that for once, everyone took the time to come to this meeting… I must admit, I had felt quite lonely last time when none of you thought it appropriate to inform me of your absences”

  “You should have known I wouldn’t be here, didn’t I send a letter to invite you to my fourth daughter’s wedding? You’re supposed to be her godfather, and you didn’t even show up”

  “As for me, I was going to come, but my… Girlfriend informed me of her pregnancy at the last moment”

  “You have a ‘girlfriend’ at your age, you old fossil?”

  “What is the matter? Might you be jealous that I can have a relationship while you wallow in misery?”

  “We have barely begun, and you fellows are already at each other’s throats. Settle down for a moment. We have important business to discuss… Or have you forgotten what His Majesty informed us of already?”

  The room quieted down as the men stopped bickering, and a weary sigh came from the man who had tapped his foot and started the meeting.

  “You are right. As you are all aware, the risks of a war breaking out between Rootriska and Heldinot are mounting. His Majesty wishes for us to demonstrate our loyalty by preparing our own personal armies to join the fight if necessary, but that is not all… Most of us here are at the heads of prosperous businesses, or the leaders of famous families with heroic lineages…”

  The man took a pause, seemingly too old to speak for lengthy periods of time.

  “...Many of us here have stakes in other kingdoms, such as Heldinot. So do not be surprised that His Majesty is a bit worried that some may side with the enemy instead of Rootriska if push comes to shove”

  “Well, yes, that is a perfectly understandable worry, but His Majesty could simply summon us and have us sign a loyalty contract pertaining to the war itself… I am the one who designed the contracts the crown uses, so I know how effective they are”

  A man who sounded younger than the rest–In the sense that he was probably in his sixties instead of his eighties or nineties–Spoke up with certainty in his voice. He had full confidence in the contracts that he had created. They were a combination of several types of binding contracts into one, latching onto the soul, spirit, mind, and even specific organs of the one signing them, amongst many other things. Completely breaking or nullifying the contract was nigh impossible.

  The only way to avoid repercussions was to not break the contract, and never sign it in the first place.

  “You try to solve everything with your contracts, but His Majesty has another vision for things… If he made us sign contracts at the slightest problem, wouldn’t that show that he is weak, paranoid, and incapable of controlling his subjects? This does not project strength and authority toward other nations… This will only make him a target of ridicule and weaken the country's position on the continent as a whole”

  Replied a much older man, his silhouette was hunched over as though his spine would break if forced to stand upright.

  “Mmh… This makes sense”

  “In any case, may I know the reason why the tensions are mounting? This is abnormal. Didn’t His Majesty marry one of his sons to a Heldinotian princess? I had heard that she was pregnant as well. What could have happened despite this successful political marriage?”

  “Ah… There are… Suspicions on both sides of foul play… You see, it is called into question whether a human and a beastfolk of the princess’s kind can have children in the first place, and also… The prince is accused of having extramarital relations with several other Heldinotian princesses. This is all a big scandal, you see?”

  One of the dark figures rubbed their temples.

  “Are we really risking piling mountains of corpses over such drivel? Even if both accusations are true, who cares? Just maintain the political alliance, act like nothing is happening! This usually works… Hell, it worked when that prince of the old regime was literally impregnating every woman in a five-kilometer radius!”

  “From what I can tell, our prince and their princess are actually quite fond of one another. I suspect that both rumours are false and that a third party is trying to instigate chaos by using the fact that either party would be quite strongly hurt by the rumours concerning the other”

  “Huh… Since when did political marriages result in a happy couple?”

  “Since forever, love is something you manifest through hard work, not something that just pops out of nowhere”

  “I strongly disagree with this notion”

  A figure turned its head slightly, speaking up for the first time since the beginning.

  “Excuse me, gentlemen, but I would like to bring up another topic”

  He waited for a few moments, but no one raised any objections.

  “I have been told that Mister Nebulo sent ten of his knights into Louwoods, which is definitely not within his jurisdiction. Is this true?”

  Another silhouette who had remained silent until now moved, visibly holding a cane.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  “I did indeed do that. Why do you ask?”

  “I was merely wondering why. You usually only send out people when there is something to be acquired to help in your research”

  “It was a personal matter. Have you not heard about what is occurring in Louwoods?”

  No one said anything.

  “Oh… Could you be talking about the rumours of a monster making its home here? One of my sons mentioned it during dinner”

  “I wanted to verify something, but alas, it will have to wait, my knights met their doom, and it is not like I can deploy anyone else whilst His Majesty wishes for us to have our armies on the ready… My forces may be modest, but I doubt I can just get a pass because of this”

  The man who had begun the meeting scratched the side of his face.

  “Yes, The Mother Beast, was it? I do not know what you would want to verify with this, but it reminded me of something else of importance… You must all be aware of the sightings and attacks of uncommon creatures across the continent. It all started about a year ago”

  Everyone nodded.

  “We have mostly managed to cull the problems, but I have bad news, my men discovered an Abyssal rift that had seemingly been used already… In other words, a being of the Abyss crawled out, and we don’t know where it went”

  Several gasps rang out, but someone shrugged.

  “What is the big deal about this? Don’t we have several such creatures going around every year?”

  “I know that many confound Abyss and Deep-Sludge, but they are completely different. The latter is but a mere shrivelled-up and malnourished version of the former. We encounter Deep-Sludge Infested Creatures every year, but we haven’t dealt with a genuine Abyssal in centuries… And no, I don’t mean abyss as in deep in the ocean, I am talking about the realm”

  “I swear, we should clean up our vocabulary. Why do so many things overlap with one another?”

  One man leaned forward.

  “I must admit, I have no knowledge of the Abyss or its inhabitants, just how dangerous is a rogue abyssal?”

  “Like with most things, it depends on the specific individual, but if it can spread abyssal corruption, it is a problem equal to an all-out war against Heldinot, and if it can spread it in a good quantity… Then it is even worse than that”

  “Mmh… I have a prototype for an item that can detect abyssal matter”

  “...Is there anything you don’t have a device for, Mister Nebulo?”

  “Yes, I could not fix the most important thing in my life–Hold on, I’ll go get it right now”

  The man stood up with his cane and limped away into the darkness. The sound of a wooden door soon followed.

  “Say, what was he talking about just now?”

  “Didn’t he have a little sister who’s dead or something? Probably that”

  “Aherm, I wouldn’t refer to his deceased sister as ‘little’... I think I remember something about her putting a knight trainee into a coma…”

  The wooden door sounded out again, and Nebulo sat back down.

  “Here it is, it works like a compass, but instead of north, it points to where abyssal matter is… It’s only a prototype, so it is rather imprecise, though. But it should be able to detect an abyssal just fine”

  “Very well, thank you for your cooperation, Mister Nebulo. I’ll hand it over to an adventurer I often work with”

  ___

  “This was a terrible idea, Hilene”

  “We won’t get far if you get scared at the slightest trace of abyssal corruption. Lord Felgion was quite clear about what we were going to be dealing with”

  “Abyss is no laughing matter, my mother used to tell me horror stories about it to get me to sleep…”

  “I see that your mother disliked you as well”

  “Shut up, Yeldt!”

  “Likewise, Hortus”

  A group of four people was standing around a broken carriage, on the ground, a mutilated corpse lay. The person had been torn apart, and their body was covered in a layer of dark substance that shone blue under light.

  “Hey, looks like good news though”

  “How so? That guy is deader than dead”

  “I am not talking about that, see the abyssal matter? It’s withering, the abyssal can’t spread abyssal corruption properly, it is degenerating and will turn into Deep-Sluge at worst, or just go away at best”

  “Huh… Looks like it tried to corrupt that man, and correct me if I’m wrong, but carriages usually have something pulling them, and I don’t see any other corpses”

  Hilene, the leader of the group, rubbed her chin in thought as she listened to the fourth member’s rather obvious remark.

  “...Good point, Gontra. It might have succeeded in corrupting the animals or beasts that were used to pull this carriage”

  “Heheh, I am the smart one”

  Gontra casually flexed her arm. She was a type of troll, so the spectacle was rather impressive as her arms were thick like tree trunks.

  “You are certainly smarter than our resident ranger”

  Yeldt looked up at the trollish shieldbearer, his pointy ears slightly reddened.

  “Damned knife-ears, bringing me down to try and get laid…”

  Hortus clicked his tongue. He and Hilene were humans, but they got along just fine with the elf and troll, even if it might not look like it at a glance.

  They were an elite adventurer group, to the point that calling them adventurers was a bit insulting, as they were completely different from those who scraped by performing odd jobs. They were closer to mercenaries and were employed regularly by a lord, and not just anyone at that.

  Lord Felgion had the largest army just behind the crown, and had a complete monopoly over the business of high-end alchemy, not just in Rootiska but across several surrounding nations as well.

  And so, this risky job was paid an exorbitant amount, which would be enough to turn a peasant into a lesser noble overnight.

  Hortus led the way as they used the abyssal compass to find and follow trails left by the creature they were after.

  “Hold on a minute…”

  He stopped and pulled out a map.

  “What’s the matter?”

  Hilene walked up next to him and looked at the map as well.

  “We are heading into Louwoods, right where there is another strange creature residing! What sort of coincidence is that?”

  “Who knows, maybe the abyssal was looking for some company?”

  “Very funny, Mister Long Ears”

  “Or maybe the monster of Louwoods is also an abyssal”

  Hilene wondered aloud, but eventually just shrugged.

  “Let’s find out”