"It is as if he had been swallowed by the earth," Artio cursed.
Everyone was equally worried, just as anxious for news, but there was none. No sign of the visitor, not the smallest clue. Absolutely nothing. He had appeared in Tenakk, and then, he had completely vanished.
No one knew anything, and all the clues about travelers had ended up being false. There was no sign of him. They didn't know what his level was now, they didn't even know if he was still inside the kingdom, or if he was alive. It was frustrating to invest resources in that search and get nothing, but they couldn't stop doing it.
They had groups in many dungeons, in many areas suitable for training, in cities, and walking through villages. They had even sent reconnaissance squads to remote forests, but they had obtained nothing.
Elsa and Ricardo had long since risen from the table. Once the pending issues were discussed, the meeting had ended as usual, in a contest of complaints and regrets of nobles after a few too many drinks.
"Really? Not a single clue? Nothing?"
"Nothing. All we can do is to stay alert and wait. And to keep preparing for the worst," Elsa confirmed.
"How is plan B going?"
"Better and better. This state of affairs is perfect, everyone is becoming scared, they are afraid he'd be planning something. Not having news feeds fears," the woman smiled mischievously.
"I just hope it won't be necessary," Ricardo sighed.
"It would be a shame! After so much effort..."
He shrugged, while a funny giggle emerged from her mouth. Maybe, she was the only one who were enjoying it.
The situation in the resistance was strange. Without news, nobody knew what to do. Some planned to act to force the situation, expecting for their savior to appear. Others began to doubt, to think that, perhaps, they had come back too quickly. But none dared to take the first step, either forward or backward.
It hadn't been that long, but, once he had appeared for the first time, they had expected him to do so again soon. However, they knew nothing about him, what he was doing, where he had gone, what his plans were. The only positive was that the nobles were the same or worse, and that they could make mistakes. Therefore, they were sharpening their knives and waiting for their opportunity, since most of them had more than enough reasons to desire revenge.
What they feared the most was that the visitor were captured or murdered. And they were also worried about certain strange movements of money, discrete preparations in the palace and actions abroad. They didn't know what the nobles were preparing, but the secrecy with which they were doing it couldn't mean anything good.
"Oh, come on, you know I can't give you more for those mushrooms. They haven't even matured yet," the merchant refused, while her long blue hair was falling down her back.
"Pretty please, Lati, don't be like that. At least one more silver. And I'll invite you to dinner!" the adventurer pleaded.
"It's tempting, but no," she replied bluntly, but with a smile that had stolen more than one heart.
The man finally gave up and accepted what the attractive woman was offering him. She was tough but fair, and very friendly to everyone. She always listened patiently to the adventurer's stories, and even asked for details, as if she were really interested.
She always greeted everyone by name, willingly accepted invitations to drink and seemed to be one more, even explaining stories she had heard here and there. However, until now, she had been very clear about more intimate relationships, becoming someone desired but unattainable.
At first, they hadn't believed it when she had said that she had been an adventurer in the past, and that she had left it because commerce gave her more money and less risk. But, after seeing her knocking out a somewhat drunk adventurer trying to get too intimate with her, no one had doubted her word anymore.
She looked at a new adventurer who had just arrived. He looked like a magician because of his dress, and his level was between 30 and 40. He was wearing a hood that covered his face, which she couldn't see clearer since he didn't approach her stall.
If she wasn't lucky enough that he got close, she would have to verify his identity later, as she had done on many other occasions. She had already lost count of how many times she had stumbled on somebody, or coincidentally coincided, to ensure that none of them was him.
She sighed and looked sideways at another merchant who, like her, wasn't what he looked like. She suspected that he was a spy of the nobility, or a murderer, and she was sure that his level was much higher than what could be perceived. She suspected that he was using an artifact to hide his level, but he couldn't fool her sharp eyes, whose experience were wide in those matters.
She didn't plan to do more than keep an eye on him, for she didn't want to attract attention, and it was advantageous to know who the enemy was and to keep him under surveillance.
So, she kept watching, as she had been doing for more than a month, without complaining or neglecting. It was still their best clue, as there was no news regarding the visitor's whereabouts. It was frustrating, but she was confident that they would find him, either there or elsewhere.
She watched as the new adventurer was talking to a group of four in their twenties, and that, after a while, he went with them to the dungeon.
She frowned. This group of adventurers was somewhat naive and inexperienced, so it was easy for them to trust who they shouldn't. But she couldn't interpose, she had no right to it nor could she become a judge. She liked them, they reminded her of times gone by, so she promised herself that, if he did something to them, she would make him pay, whoever he was.
She guessed that the fact that he had been accepted so quickly was due to him being a healer, because that is what the group was looking for. They wanted to enter deeper in the dungeon to level up, they had the enthusiasm and expectations of all the young adventurers, of being stronger, of approaching their idols.
She watched them walk away and enter the dungeon, out of her reach. Unfortunately, she couldn't protect them all, save them all. That's why she was there, waiting for the one who could do it.