"Help?" Dorian asked. Guess I'm not the only one surprised, I thought, wondering more and more about the relationship between Miss Ciel and Dorian. "Indeed," Ciel replied, "there are reports coming in of a group of bandits razing a small border village to the north-east. The thing is, something feels very odd about this. And as you can attest, Dorian, when something feels off to me, it probably is. My best guess is that it is either some terrorist faction, or Laquis special forces. Both of which you are well versed in, 'dealing with.' In any case, you both will not be alone, I've sent a small detachment of competent men to investigate the remains already so you will have some assistance. Just in case you need some identification I have a letter prepared. I also have horses ready to ride." What does she mean by Dorian being well versed in dealing with Laquis special forces? Every moment I'm with Dorian I get more and more questions... When will I get some answers?

****

     "Alright, you've got some things already prepared for us, and considering how antsy you are right now then I guess this can make up for the incident at the ball. I'll do it, but you better hope it isn't Laquis, cuz that's a can of wyrms that's better left unopened." I turned to Clarys, "You can stay if you want, but I'm going. If this is the worst-case scenario then you'll be better off here though." I want her to seriously consider this. This isn't goblins, or gnolls, or any other beast. The enemies we may find ourselves dealing with are people. They think, and plan. I wouldn't hold it against her if she backed out, but I wouldn't stop her if she agreed. In any case, it was her choice so I waited for her answer.

       After a few moments of deliberation, she looked up to me with the eyes that I liked in our first meeting. "I'm going with you," she declared firmly. "Alright, then let's head out then," I said calmly. 

       As we headed out I gave out one last remark to Ciel, "Remember, this makes us even!" We were out of the courtyard before she could give an insult back.

      "You two are close aren't you huh?" Clarys asked while on the road. It had been a sort while since we headed towards the village and the question finally came out. "You wanna know just exactly how we met and became so close don'tcha? Not satisfied with the stories we told?" I replied, semi-mockingly. "Well, you two were just reminiscing then. You probably left a lot out. I wanna know the long story." She really wants to know. Later.

     "I'll tell you another time, when I'm sufficiently drunk, comfy and ready for a long story. Right now though, we need to get to the village. What was its name again? I forgot." "It's called Border's Brook. Don't tell me you also forgot why we wer-" I cut her off with a hand raise. "Monster's coming. A big one, from our left up ahead." Lo and behold, a few moments later, a hulking beast came charging out while chasing after a wounded elk that faltered when it reached the pathway, enough for it to catch up and kill it. It was a river troll, an ugly thing that likes water and damp areas. 

      It soon noticed us after we landed on the ground. It roared at us and started charging towards us. I told Clarys, " I'm going to distract it. You use your {Mana Wave} on it when its backs exposed. This is another test, try and make it thinner and shorter so I'm less likely to be hit." I didn't wait for confirmation as I charged in response to the troll. It tried to punch me with its right arm so I dodged to its right to get out of its hitting angle and let Clarys line up a shot on its back, which had considerably less fatty and thick skin than the front. I gave it a little nick on the underside of its arm as I passed it, angering it further.

      It was about to take another swing at me when it stumbled, stunned. Clarys had hit it with her {Mana Wave} on its back. It tried to look over at Clarys but I took the opportunity to slice at its open neck, severing the spine and effectively killing it. "Ugh, I hate trolls, they take an eternity to kill," I groaned, rolling it onto its back so I could get a clean hit in. I then turned to Clarys.

      "Your compression wasn't too bad, considering I just told you too. Next time, try and make it smaller though, it'll have a lesser chance of hitting me as you get better. Now then, let's get back to it, shall we?"

     "Gods above," Clarys mumbled, shocked by the carnage before us. The village was completely destroyed, and there were bodies littering the ground of varying sizes. "Indeed," I replied, "This wasn't bandits, Ciel was right. This might've been Laquis." Now I just need proper evidence and to find the reason. That nutter wouldn't send her forces to clear a village for fun... probably. "Ho- how do you know it wasn't bandits?" Clarys asked, curious for my reasoning.

     "Well," I started, "There are dead children and women; bandits sell those off to the Eastern Countries for quick profits, also, the well still looks like it works, bandits like to grab all the water and tend to damage it in their haste. Also," I continued as I approached an abused corpse, "this poor guy was tortured by an expert. He was hit in spots that hurt the most but damage his body the least.

      "And as for it being extremists or terrorists," I turned to Clarys, "There's no message here. There is no reason for them to attack a backwater village on the border. In any case, I need to report to the guys Ciel sent here, and inform them." Funnily enough, as soon as I said that, they walked up to us.

      "Are you two the outside help that's supposed to help us find what happened?" The head of the group asked. "Yes we are, and we need to go, Ciel needs to know what happened here," I said urgently. "W-what happened here, sir?" He asked, confused that I was using his boss's first name. "Laquis."