"Fireball!" Boom. Another gang of bandits ground into the dirt. Lina Inverse sighed. Gourry sheathed his sword. The dust settled, and they began walking again. "Lina, where are we going?" Gourry asked. "...I'm not really sure, Gourry," Lina responded quietly. Gourry looked at her oddly. "You're not sick, are you? You seem kinda... I dunno... depressed." "I'm fine, Gourry." Lina sighed quietly. Truthfully, she was a bit depressed. There just wasn't anything to do anymore, besides blow up little bandit gangs. No Dark Lords to defeat, no quests to go on. Amelia had gone back to Seiruun a few months ago, to visit her father for awhile. A couple of months before that, Zelgadis had left to try to find a cure, acting on a dropped clue from Xelloss. The trickster priest was probably off irritating him, but who knew? "We'll just head to the next town and find an inn to stay in," she said. Gourry nodded in agreement, and they continued on. *** The inn owner was in shock in a corner of the kitchen. His funds and his food stores would never recover from this blow. He was ruined. And Lina and Gourry weren't even half done with dinner. Fifteen minutes later, they leaned back in their chairs and let out satisified sighs. "Weren't we lucky to find an inn with an all-you-can-eat special?" Lina grinned. "Yeah! I'm finally full." Gourry ate one last bite of chicken, following it up with a gulp of ale. "Lina! Gourry! I've finally found you!" At the shout, both of them turned to look at the door. Sylphiel stood there, her hair in a mess and breathing heavily, as if she had been running. "Sylphiel, what are you doing here?" Lina asked, sitting up and waving the waiter over. "Four more plates of food, please. Our friend will want something to eat." Sylphiel smiled in gratitude and sank into a chair, letting out a sigh as she finally rested her legs. "I've been looking for you two for a week and a half. You're the only ones who can help us, Lina-san, Gourry-sama," she said as the waiter set the plates down. "Why don't you explain why you were looking for us while you eat, Sylphiel?" Lina suggested. Sylphiel nodded, and in between bites of food, began to tell her story. "Recently, I've been staying at the temple in the city of Varsiun. I've been trying to raise funds and find some people to help me rebuild Sairaag. It's a nice city, the ruling family is very benevolent. "However, a few weeks ago a small cult appeared. They seemed harmless, since there were so few of them, so the king decided to leave them alone and see if they gave up on their own. "They didn't. In fact, the cult grew. Finally, the king sent a guard troop to their headquarters to ask them to stop recruiting or leave the city. The guard troop never returned. "Two days after that, the cult stormed the palace. There were thousands of them, much more than we had estimated. The king and the rest of the royal family are being held, we don't know why. "What we do know is enough, though. They want to summon their god into this world. We think their "god" may be a Mazoku who has gotten them under its control, but isn't powerful enough to fully manifest in the physical realm. It's using them to perform some sort of ritual to bring it here. "That's why I came to find you, Lina. You've dealt with Mazoku before, and though this one is weak, it has many followers. You and Gourry-sama can defeat them and liberate the royal family, I'm sure." Lina thought for a moment, then looked up and smiled. "Are you going to be rewarded for our skillful use of power and talent to save the city?" Sylphiel blinked. "Ano, well, I'm sure you will be. The royal family are the ones captured, after all." "Then we'll do it. Ne, Gourry? We'll be set for money for awhile, and we'll get something to do other then blow up little bandits!" Gourry looked at her blankly. "What are we doing?" Both Lina and Sylphiel facefaulted. "WAITER! Bring us some more food so I don't get hungry while Sylphiel repeats everything she just said to this moron!" *** The next morning saw three figures leave the inn and head south toward the city of Varsiun. It also saw another, smaller figure follow them at a distance, taking care to remain unseen.
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