Nateaser: Reborn As My Love Interest

Gorgon - Chapter Sixty Five

"No, well um, They released her." She confessed. My jaw dropped. Dio? Released the target, after she was successfully captured?

"Wh-what? Why?" I demanded, feeling as if the ground disappeared from below my feet. "Why would he do that?"

"It's a long story, so you better wait until the end before you start writing your report," Omerta said with a big sigh. She adjusted her black hair and then gave me a summary. "They fought the humans but were cut off from the rest of us, which was lucky, because I got to fight the Elder, and they captured the Princess. They would have never stood a chance otherwise. Well, I almost died too."

"So you're saying, your betrayal of the commander enabled the mission to succeed?" Avalon asked, with his eyebrow raised. He remained silent until now but listened intently. "That is quite an odd claim, but go ahead and enlighten us."

"Again, I have already sorted this out with my Captain, and I have no reason to answer those questions." The witch pulled her nose up, and I had to intervene again. Then she reluctantly continued. "Anyway, we all ended up in Nateaser one way or another. Both the Captain, his captive, and the other humans as well. We were forced to sit around a large table and exchange information."

"This makes absolutely no sense." I shook my head, but I needed to know the rest. "Okay, so let's assume, I believe that a random village in the middle of nowhere had the means to force you both to negotiate. And?"

"We did have the means." The huge orc bodyguard claimed. "For one, all of them were on death's doorstep, and two, we had um, authority."

"Hana, let me do the talking, okay?" The witch requested, shaking her head. "Anyway. Yes, we sat down to talk and clarified a few misinformations. Ones that got leaked to the Demon Lord by the Elder."

"Please, do tell." I was losing my patience. And the number of questions I had only grew. "What was that misinformation?"

"First of all, the Princess was in no way a threat to the Lord. She could not cast banishment at all. She is a seer who can reveal people's true names thanks to her natural ability. She can feel their presence once attuned to them." She told us confidently. I had a hard time believing that but let her continue. "The one that banished Gamma, the Demon Lord's brother was a court wizard called Lambert."

"Wait, Lambert? The chef that this Gomel fellow looked forward to meeting?" The Fire Witch jumped up, and now I had to sit down. Another hundred questions took shape in my head.

"So you let go of the Princess without proof, and this Lambert is in this village?" I asked, at the end of my wits. "Why didn't they bring him back as ordered then? I mean Dioneras. They left without him?"

"Yes, well, that was part of the agreement," Omerta said, in a cryptic voice. She was not telling me something, and avoided my gaze too, looking at that big orc next to her. They nodded at each other, and she continued. "The thing is, the Goddess of Luck returned."

"Your jokes are starting to get out of hand, Omerta," I warned her, not considering for even a second that she was serious. "How would we miss such an important occurrence? And what would it have to do with this?"

"I'm serious. The whole reason why the Princess and Lambert set out was to confront her." She explained, without batting an eye. "Or do you think, the most important Crantan noble would just come out here for a little picnic? No, she felt the presence of the Goddess, and we all ended up here. Nateaser is under the protection of Alexandra now."

"So where was she, when we arrived an hour ago?" Avalon asked so that I didn't have to. Yet I didn't feel like she was trying to lie.

"It is a long story. Again. But the important piece is that she's out, trying to find the victims of the old capital." The witch told us. Now she looked straight into my eyes. "She claimed it wasn't her fault and looks for evidence now. Lambert attempted to attack her and failed, so he became a hostage in the village. You could say, he is in house arrest."

"It is to guarantee he can't threaten the Demon Lord either. And my sister is here as an ambassador to the New Order, but also to oversee his captivity." The orc claimed, which explained a few things. But I couldn't ignore one specific part of what he just said.

"Your sister. Are you referring to Omerta? Are you by any chance Hank, the Gladiator?" I asked, struggling to keep my jaw from hitting the floor. No wonder he was that big, and odd-looking. He was a legend.

"He's the one the Champions tried to recruit but disappeared?" Ember seemed curious too. "That legendary Hank?"

"I prefer she, or they. And I left that name behind as well." He explained. Or they did. "Call me Hana instead. And I retired."

"Hana um well, it's a great honor to meet you regardless." I stood up and bowed my head to him. Them. I was so confused, and more and more questions came up again, but I had no chance to ask them.

I heard some yelling, and the whole camp seemed to be upset by something. It took me a moment to figure out what the scouts were shouting, and I did not like it.

"The lizards are coming. Shield wall to the south. There are loads of them." I heard it now, and I couldn't believe it. We slowed down after the bridge incident, and I thought they stopped following us, but now, only half a day after we finally reached our destination, they were back at it again. And more than that, this was far beyond their borders.

"Lizards? Did you piss them off by stealing their pack animals or something?" Omerta asked, looking to the south. "I never heard about them appearing this far to the north yet. And they are willing to chase an entire company too? These guys have guts, I have to give it to them."

"Guts? They have thousands of guts!" Avalon yelled, getting ready to take command as well. "We had to fight our way through the highlands to get here. We haven't seen them for a few days, but they still haven't given up on us. How many are there?"

I jumped on one of the wagons to observe the situation but did not like what I saw. Not in the slightest. This was the most lizardmen I have seen so far in one place, and they were relentlessly rushing right towards our camp at the crossroads.