The day before.

“Ooh~ isn’t this nice!”
“Mmm. There’s a lot of greenery too. Faolán will be happy.”
“W-Wait Sid, we need to make sure the owner is alright with him before you call him out!”

Elis desperately chased her friend down the narrow hallway of the house as Hibiki looked around starry-eyed.

“Wow!! It really is different from Japan!”

Her experience with housing structures was extremely limited, as she’d spent the first 17 years of her life within a single room, and even since being freed her only other examples were the modern structures of Helios which all bore a similar design. She had been eagerly studying travel guides since they landed in England, and every passing house in the countryside grabbed her attention - now they were inside one, and her excitement was at its peak.

“Is this a fireplace!? Oh! And these chairs! They’re covered in fabric!?”

For her, it was hard to tell what exactly was an English speciality, and what was just a normal everyday item that she hadn’t seen before, but it was exhilarating nonetheless.

*clunk*

Wang Bao ducked carefully under the doorway, and gently lay down the bags he held. Without a word of complaint, he’d picked up the luggage of all 3 girls who had run off ahead before collecting their things, and carried them inside along with his own.

“Fufu~, you’re very kind to them.”
“...It’s nothing.”

Aoi, who was diligently carrying her own luggage as she should, entered behind him and looked around with a curious smile. She had volunteered to stay in the guest house as well, as it was one of the larger spaces available and the two guardians decided that splitting up would help to cover their bases better.

Unfortunately for Yuuji, that meant no Phoenix officials in the vicarage to keep the order, though he himself felt lucky he wasn’t under the same roof as Aoi for personal reasons he would keep quiet about.

“Girls, don’t run off now~! We still need to be shown our rooms!”

Hearing this, the two lost sheep reluctantly made their way back, while Hibiki kept her gawking to a nearby area within earshot. Sensing this was the best they would get, Aoi smiled at the man whose guest house they would be staying in.

“I’m sorry, they’re just a little too excited. Thank you for your hospitality.”
“...Mmm… ‘s fine.”

He shuffled slowly and mumbled as he spoke. He was an older gentleman, but even though his hair hadn’t yet fully greyed, his face seemed to sag with wrinkles and he held a sad atmosphere about him.

It was his first words since showing them to the building, and while the commotion was happening he had been staring at Hibiki with a puzzled look. There was no outward aggression in his expression, and Aoi herself had argued that they didn’t want to hide Hibiki’s horns and make her feel self-conscious, so she decided to keep an eye on the situation and leave it at that.

“2 ‘pstairs… 2 down… th’ boy… ‘s own room.”

His hands were shaky as he slowly pointed out the places they’d be sleeping. It was difficult to make out what he was saying, but they pieced together that Wang Bao would take a single bedroom upstairs, while the girls and Aoi would each have 2 twin bedrooms to split.

“So girls~, where do you want to stay? Hibiki-chan, shall we room together~?”

Aoi’s soft and melodious voice washed over the three of them, but Hibiki felt a slight chill down her spine at the tone. Yuuji had taught her well - she quickly worked to find any reason she could to get out of the worst-case scenario.

“Uhm-! I was going to ask Elis to room with me? If that’s alright?”
“Heh!?”

Her desperate hail mary caught the girl by surprise, but she quickly saw Hibiki in a pinch and nodded eagerly despite not fully understanding the situation.

“I err-! Yes! That would be nice!”

Her instinctive kindness had saved Hibiki from almost certain doom, and Aoi pouted cutely and puffed up her cheeks.

“Hmm~ I see. Alright then~! Sid, it looks like it will be me and you tonight. Little Faolán is allowed to come out if you want, but only downstairs, and he can’t go further than the garden~!”
“Mmm. I’ll sleep downstairs then.”

It was settled. Wang Bao had already begun moving his things upstairs to his room, but came back down to help Hibiki and Elis who were across the way from him. Sidheag seemed a little upset that her expected roomie Elis had been dragged away, but the two of them had been getting on quite well with Hibiki recently, so she didn’t feel too bad about it all.

“Thank you Elis! I’m sorry it was so sudden!”
“Oh-! It’s no problem Hibiki, let’s make sure to see Sid and Lanlan tonight before we go to bed, they might be a bit lonely without us!”

Once they’d entered their rooms, Hibiki dashed over and embraced her saviour. It was sudden at first, but the girl was soft and pleasant to the touch, and as Hibiki squeezed her gently her fingers sank in like she was hugging a giant marshmallow. She reluctantly let Elis go before any weird thoughts entered her head, but it was a feeling she felt sure she’d become addicted to if they went on any longer.

*knock* *knock*

“Yes?”
“You can come in!”

The knock at the door startled them briefly, but they both turned towards the door as it opened to reveal the owner, who looked between them with some bewilderment.

“You… want that bed..?”

He pointed a wrinkled finger at Hibiki, before gesturing towards the bed she had laid her luggage on. There was a discomforting air in the room as he watched her, but after a moment she nodded her head.

“Name… what is your name?”

He was still mumbling as he spoke, but as his eyes fixed on her he gained some lucidity and vigour in his voice.

“...Hibiki.”
“H-Hi-Hibiki.”

He lowered his trembling hand and blinked at her. As she looked into his eyes, he felt as if he was staring right through her, but the feeling was unnerving nevertheless.

“U-Umm, can we help you, sir?”
“...”

Elis stepped forward to diffuse the situation, coming in between the two of them and breaking his eye line. The man mumbled something incoherent and stepped back from the doorway before heading down the stairs, and out the front door without another word.

Wang Bao stepped out of his room with a curious expression, as Aoi’s face peered up from the bottom landing to see what was going on.

“Girls? Is everything alright?”

Sensing the uneasy mood, her usual playful tone had been replaced with a serious demeanour fit for her position. Elis frowned, and turned to Hibiki momentarily.

“...To be honest Dr Natsumi, the owner makes me feel uncomfortable.”
“...”

Hibiki remained silent, but the smile that normally lined her face had been contorted with concern.

“I see… If he comes back, allow me to handle it. If you see anything out of the ordinary, please let me know immediately.”
“Thank you. I don’t want to seem mean, but I think something was wrong with him. Did he mention what his name was?”

Aoi pondered for a moment, before looking back at the two of them.

“I believe he said it was Mr Miller.”

******

Conrad and Aoi shared uneasy glances with each other as they sat around the pub table. All of the students had now arrived, and with the addition of their guardians and Gale, the investigation briefing had begun.

“Miller, you said?”

At Conrad’s question, Gale nodded her head solemnly.

“And there aren’t any other Millers in the village as far as you know?”
“Unless they’ve arrived recently, it should only be the one.”
“Conrad. This would explain some things.”
“And pose a lot more questions…”

The man rolled his thumb around the palm of his hand. They’d been caught off guard by this new information, and it was very worrying that it had only come from an outsider and not the villagers they were supposed to be assisting.

“Are we able to relocate our guest house group?”
“On this short notice, it’d be almost impossible. Besides, these are all just suspicions at the moment, though that doesn’t mean I’m happy to dismiss it all as a coincidence.”

He sighed and looked out over the students in front of him. Their objective hadn’t changed, and the sooner they were able to eliminate the demon the sooner they could leave. He simply didn’t want to rush into anything before understanding the situation entirely.

“We need to find Mr Miller or Reverend Thomas for that matter. If any of you see either of them, please notify me or Dr Natsumi immediately. As for the teams you will operate in…”

Conrad looked over the students before him and scratched his chin. Three particularly stupid members of his class had taken themselves out for the count, and others he didn’t feel comfortable sending out given the circumstances, so his options were limited.

“It can’t be helped. Those that stayed in the vicarage, please could you search for Reverend Thomas around the village, and keep an eye out for Miller as well. Leona, Valeriya, you two go with Wang Bao to the guest house and see if you can find anyone of note there.”

Those who had been called on nodded silently and looked towards their groupmates.

“As for the rest of you. Hibiki, Elis and Sidheag, you’re to remain here with us for now. I’m sorry, but until we know what’s happening, we’ll be playing it safe. And finally…”

The three remaining students gulped audibly as their hopes to get away unscathed quickly vanished. Mitra and Hema both scanned their surroundings to try and find any sign of escape, but as they looked towards Yuuji he quickly turned away and avoided eye contact.

“I’m not done with you morons yet. You’re staying right here until you sober up, and I’ll think of some appropriate punishment in the meantime. Everyone else, meet back here before 5 pm latest to report back any findings you have. Stay vigilant out there.”