Rise of the Living Forge

Chapter 94: Pants

Arwin lowered the key and let it rest against his side. “You don’t have to say anything. Things are secret for a reason.”

A small laugh slipped from Anna’s mouth and she shook her head. “That’s sweet of you, but there’s no need. I think our lots are thrown in together at this point. There’s no reason to hide this any longer. I won’t claim that we’re revealing all our secrets, but I think we can tell you this much.”

“What are you talking about?” Reya looked from Arwin to Anna in confusion. “Hiding what?”

“Rodrick isn’t a warrior,” Arwin said.

Anna nodded. “Was it that obvious?”

“Not initially. I only just figured it out. An empowered attack isn’t that uncommon for a warrior, though the energy probably should have given it away. A glowing control break was what woke me up. Rodrick looked more like he was blessed rather than drawing on his own power.”

“Hey, you hear that?” Rodrick asked. “I honestly thought you’d figured it out a bit ago. That makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside – although that might actually just be the remnants of Anna’s magic.”

“If you’re not a warrior, what are you?” Lillia asked. “A paladin of some sort?”

Rodrick’s smile slipped away. “I used to be. Paladin of Light, specifically. I didn’t make it all that far down the good path.”

“Why would you hide that?” Reya asked with a frown. “It’s just a class, isn’t it? Is paladin really rare or something?”

“Not particularly,” Anna answered. “The problem is that Rodrick is no longer a paladin. Paladins have tenets that they’re required to follow. Those are what give them a large portion of their powers. Rodrick broke his tenets.”

“Which is a really roundabout way to say I’m a Fallen Paladin,” Rodrick said. “And nobody wants to work together with an oathbreaker. Anna came up with the idea to just pretend to be a warrior if we ran into anyone else. It wasn’t half bad. A Fallen Paladin really isn’t all that much better than a random warrior. I don’t have access to any magic. All I’ve got are the abilities I got at Apprentice 1 and 2. Any new ones I get are basically just normal warrior stuff.”

“Why did you break–” Reya started, but Arwin set his hand on her shoulder and she bit off her words. “What?”

“I don’t think that’s our concern,” Arwin said. “If they wanted to share it, they would.”

It’s a good question, though. Rodrick doesn’t strike me as the kind of man that would break his tenets.

“It was nothing good,” Rodrick said with a heavy sigh. “And it’s nothing I care to pollute today with. It isn’t something that will crop up, I can assure you of that.”

Reya shrugged. “So you’re basically just a warrior now?”

“Functionally,” Rodrick said with a nod. “I just can’t get any more paladin abilities. Once I reach Journeyman, I’ll hopefully get a class upgrade that lets me leave this all behind.”

“I feel like we can do that,” Reya said hesitantly. She sent a look at Arwin, then frowned. “I don’t know if I see why this is such a big deal. Is being a Fallen Paladin that bad?”

“Yes,” Anna said. “The most common defectors to the monster horde are Fallen Paladins. You don’t Fall because you made a tiny mistake. It’s really serious – and Rodrick’s life would be in serious danger if anyone ever found out the truth. People might think he is a spy.”

“I’ll never breathe a word of it,” Reya promised, pressing a hand over her heart. “I don’t think most people like thieves anyway. Even it isn’t my class, I don’t think anyone in Milten thinks of me as anything but.”

“Thank you,” Anna said simply.

“Are you really just a normal healer, then?” Arwin asked.

“My class isn’t anything special. We met in the Adventurer’s Guild,” Anna replied carefully. “My class is nothing more than a plain Healer. I’m lucky for it. If I’d had anything more, the guild likely would have put a lot more attention on me and it would have been far harder to slip away.”

“Well, if we’re on the topic of secrets…” Lillia sent a glance at Arwin. He shrugged in response. Rodrick and Anna had to find out about their past at some point, and now was as good a time as any.

“You’ve got a really unique class,” Anna said. “It was kind of obvious. I’ve never seen magic that lets you fly around on wings of darkness and control the shadows like that. You must have an immense amount of magical power as well.”

“I do have a powerful Unique class, but that’s not really what I was going to bring up,” Lillia said. She mulled over her words for a second, then seemingly gave up on trying to find a better way to string them together and sighed. “We actually knew each other long before this guild came into being.”

“I knew it!” Reya exclaimed.

“Did you work together before leaving the Adventurer’s Guild?” Rodrick guessed. “It wasn’t hard to tell Arwin wasn’t a big fan of them from the way he spoke. It’s half the reason we figured throwing our lot in together with you would be safe.”

“Not exactly,” Arwin said. Every word that came out of his mouth suddenly felt awkward. There didn’t seem like there was any good way to actually say what he wanted to say without sounding ridiculous. “Lillia was on the other side of the war.”

“She defected from the monster horde?” Anna’s eyes widened. “That makes a lot of sense, actually. You aren’t just a big fan of monsters at all. You’re a literal demon.” This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“No way,” Reya breathed. She stared at Lillia in disbelief. “Are you really? That wasn’t just makeup?”

Lillia nodded. A flicker of worry passed over her features and she swallowed. “I am. But–”

“Then your tail is real?” Reya asked. “Can I see it?”

“I – what?” Lillia blinked in confusion.

“Oh, is that disrespectful? I don’t know demon customs or anything. Sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude.”

“No, it’s not disrespectful,” Lillia said. She looked around at the others, but aside from some mild amusement, neither Rodrick nor Anna looked all that put out by her revelation. “I… didn’t think any of you would take it that well.”

“The guild already thinks I’m working with the horde,” Rodrick said with a shrug. “And I know you. Don’t particularly care if you’ve got a tail or not – though I think Anna would have my head if I went around asking to see it.”

“Damn right,” Anna said. “Feel free to show me, though.”

“Hey, that’s not fair,” Rodrick protested. “If she’s going around showing her tail–”

“I, ah, think I’ll probably keep that for a later time,” Lillia suggested lamely. She sent a desperate glance at Arwin. The wind had been completely taken from her sails. He suppressed a laugh.

“Lillia wasn’t just a random demon,” Arwin said, raising a hand to get everyone’s attention before the conversation could derail so badly that it would be irrecoverable. “And I wasn’t just a random member of the guild.”

Realization finally set in on Reya. Her lips pulled open into an o and she looked from Arwin to Lillia.

“No way.”

“What? What is it?” Rodrick asked.

“I was the Hero of Lian,” Arwin said. “And Lillia was the demon queen.”

Rodrick chuckled. “Ah, of course. I should have guessed.”

“Rodrick?” Anna said quietly.

“Yeah?”

“He isn’t joking.”

Rodrick looked back to Arwin. The smile on his face slowly melted. Arwin could practically see him thinking through the fights they’d been in together and putting the inconsistencies together.

“Nine Underlands,” Rodrick muttered. Something passed through his eyes and his expression darkened for an instant before he brought it back under control. “What in the world happened? The Hero can’t be out here. He’s – wait. You aren’t the current Hero, are you? You’re the one that died before him.”

“I am,” Arwin said.

“What are you doing here? And how did you possibly come to start a guild with the – what, former demon queen? Shouldn’t you both be King Ranked or something like that? Why are you pretending to be Apprentice Tiers?”

Arwin read the unspoken question on his lips.

Why did you let Zeke die?

“Because we aren’t who we used to be. The guild was playing us,” Arwin said. “They control both sides of the war. Lillia and I were both betrayed – or saved. We don’t know which. And, in the process, we both lost our classes. All we do know is that the guild and the monster coalition are intentionally keeping the war running.”

“Slow down,” Rodrick said, his brow furrowed. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and blinked furiously. “You’re telling me that… what, everything is just a giant conspiracy? And that you and the demon queen faked your deaths, losing all your strength in the process, to start a guild in the middle of nowhere?”

“Not exactly. We didn’t have a choice in the matter,” Arwin said. “And I never planned to start a guild. Do you recall how the papers said we both died?”

“A massive magical explosion, wasn’t it?” Anna asked.

Arwin nodded. “It was. The thing is, it didn’t kill us. It just threw us across the kingdom and we both somehow landed here. All the magic ended up warping my class and replacing it with the smithing one I have now. Lillia–”

“I became a tavern keeper,” Lillia finished.

“That’s awful,” Anna said. “If people found out–”

“We’d just be killed.” Arwin shook his head. “And I’ll be honest, I’ve been fighting my entire life. There will be a time when a reckoning comes to the guild, but I’m not throwing my second chance at life away completely for revenge before I’m ready for it. I’m just a smith now.”

“Do you miss them?” Rodrick asked, and there was something more to his words than just mere curiosity. “Your powers. I mean – damn. You were at the peak. The strongest warrior we had. And now…”

“Not for a second,” Arwin said. “I’d trade them all away a thousand times over. This is everything I’ve ever wanted. And I don’t think Lillia and I were actually as strong as we were said to be. The guild intentionally kept us weak. We were figureheads. Actors, not true warriors.”

Rodrick fell silent, a contemplative look passing over his features.

“It feels like someone had to have done this intentionally,” Anna said. “The chances of you and Lillia both showing up in the same city seem impossibly low.”

“They do,” Lillia agreed. “That’s why we think it’s possible someone saved us. Unfortunately, we have no idea who. Or why. To be honest, we’ve got more pressing problems to deal with.”

“I understand how difficult that probably was to share,” Anna said, bowing her head in appreciation. “Forgive me if I steal your promise, Reya, but not a word of it will ever leave my mouth. I swear it.”

“As do I,” Rodrick said. “You know what? As far as Heroes go, you’re a good enough sort. And if you’re actually the Hero, I’m pretty sure my loyalty is meant to be to you anyway. I never got good enough to get pulled into the army, but I’m sure that was somewhere in the contract. I didn’t read it.”

His words cut the tension and Arwin let out a burst of laughter. “Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me.”

Despite Arwin’s amusement, he hadn’t missed Rodrick’s reactions throughout the conversation. He’d been surprised by the reveal… but not in the way that Arwin had expected. Rodrick had been wary.

More than just a mere paladin, I’d say. I get the feeling he was a little higher up in some order than he cares to admit – but I don’t think that’s any of my business. I trust him and Anna, and they clearly trust us if they’re giving us this much information. I’m not going to push for more unless Rodrick reveals it himself.

“I can’t really believe I’m sitting here next to the bleeding Hero and his greatest enemy,” Rodrick said. He let out a whistle. “Did you realize you were betrayed before you met again?”

“No,” Lillia said. “We had no idea.”

“So when you saw each other again, did you start going at it with your crafter classes?” Rodrick asked as he covered a laugh. “I wish I could have been a fly on the wall for that.”

“Surprisingly, no. I think we were both fed up with fighting to the point where we didn’t care anymore,” Arwin said.

And I don’t think I could even try to fight Lillia anymore, even if I wanted to.

He shook his head to clear it and coughed into a fist. “Anyway. We shouldn’t sit around here forever. Now you know.”

“Are we really supposed to just… go back to doing dungeon stuff now?” Rodrick demanded. “I want an autograph!”

“No,” Arwin said.

“No,” Lillia said.

Reya, who looked like she’d been about to ask for the same thing, cleared her throat. “Can I at least see your tail?”

Arwin rolled his eyes. In spite of his best efforts, he couldn’t keep a grin from his lips. This was what a guild was meant to be. He’d just dropped a piece of information that could have shattered people’s worlds and nobody had been tripped up for more than a few seconds. It didn’t matter who they were or where they’d come from. A Fallen Paladin and a healer on the run, a thief with more enemies than there were seconds in the day, the demon queen and the Hero of Lian – none of it mattered.

They were a guild.

“Come on,” Arwin said, jerking his chin toward the ledge. It had been a bit since the fight, and he’d recovered enough energy to move around normally. “Let’s go see what that hoard has waiting for us. If we’re at all lucky, maybe it’ll have some pants.”

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