"Are you sure it's best? I hear that the executioner has been speeding up the massacres lately, even coming close and building huge weapons right in our face…" Griar said, him and Milo currently scouring rural areas without many people inhabiting them, Tamaris was still a large country even if now cut off from the outskirts of its territory and mountains.
Still, most of the country still bore inhabitants, especially with the arrival of other intelligent species, expansion of farmlands and number of cattle, still, some areas were still left mostly wild, free of dangerous monsters as Tamaris had secured its lands long ago.
Milo had managed to enlist the young noble to accompany him, Helena would have come with him to visit deserted areas with no one else around, but she was especially busy with training from Rosemary these days, ever since this Loimos undead had come around, everything had seemingly grown ever more hectic, somehow, everyone was training and preparing like tomorrow could be the last.
But Milo was instead worried about the possibility of traitors on the inside, he suspected that some undeads had actually been inside already and managed to go unnoticed, he believed that this was the real identity of Alizée, not a simple criminal organisation, but a nest for the dead.
Griar was not very convinced, but for the sake of not letting Milo go on his own, he was present as well, the two young men were searching every single little abandoned shack and smallest of caves, having found nothing as of yet.
Although Milo's theory was mostly conjectures, it was true that someone from the inside, alive, had rushed out just at the perfect timing to be witnessed, and also at the exact time an undead from a fortress well away from here just happened to be around.
It was suspicious for certain.
"You and Helena, how did it happen exactly?" Milo, who had been expecting a question regarding the situation, turned toward Griar, who was most serious about it.
"Alright… Huh, I don't know actually, I liked her, and she liked me, so it happened naturally, why are you asking?"
"Just- Just a bit curious is all…" Milo narrowed his eyes, stopping in his tracks, the two of them currently standing in a small clearing, the sound of people talking could still be heard in the distance.
"Don't say it aloud! I am supposed to have an arranged marriage, my family and those of my fiance came as refugees to Tamaris, so it is still very much in place, it was just pushed back because of everything that is happening… Can you imagine the dishonour if they learn that I am chasing after another woman?!
Aherm, you think I have a chance though?" resting his hand on the hilt of his sabre, Griar rubbed his chin.
"I don't think you're asking the right person… But, it does seem like she likes having you around, I think, why are we talking about this in the middle of the woods?" he turned away, tilting his head a bit.
"Mmh, perhaps I should just go for it and invite her on a date or something, no, invite her to train with me, yes, that's more covert and perhaps even more intimate, she's always gorgeous when drenched in sw- Did you notice something?" Griar snapped back to reality as he noticed that Milo was focused on something, grasping his blade, he moved up to his fellow.
Just ahead, barely a hundred meters from the nearest village, there was a small, decrepit house standing in a clearing, the grass all around had clearly been cut very recently, the trees had clearly been trimmed too, yet, the house itself was left in a sorry state, the door off its hinges, laying flatly on the ground.
Most of the planks had moved out of place, the floor appeared unsafe to walk on, bloated in place, rat faeces everywhere, a nauseous scent wrapping around the two of them as they stepped closer.
"Perhaps someone is planning on renovating it soon?" Griar emitted a sensical idea, looking around carefully as Milo peeked into the house, which was more akin to a cabin than anything, only encompassing a single room, he covered his nose, the inside was mostly empty, the ceiling was round, as though water wanted to break through, empty, save for a single closet that was in a suspiciously good state.
Griar took the lead, assumed a defensive position, a light blue glow coming from him, extending into a thick line toward the closet.
"No traps, nothing that moves" he said, stepping up to it, paying attention not to fall right through the floorboards, opening the closet up, tensing up for a moment.
Indeed, nothing in there could move and was meant as a trap, it was a rather abject collection of arms, cut in a barbaric fashion at the shoulders, displayed in all their glory, some muscular, some thin, all were covered in some sort of goo.
"Smells a bit like salt…" remarked Milo.
"Are they being preserved? What for? Is this stock for a necromancer or something?" Griar wondered, before shaking his head, discarding the idea, the way they were kept in place was rather singular, the arms had been made to be laid out at their maximum length, carefully stuck onto a most sticky spiderweb.
The way these arms had been butchered was also rather evocative, it gave the two youths the distinct impression that these were being kept around as food rather than material for whatever rituals or spells.
Both noticed that there was a bit of an empty space in there, Griar quickly closed the closet, making sure not to be too abrupt in his swiftness.
Neither said a word, but both understood what was on the other's mind, they made their way out again, hiding amidst the trees beyond the clearing.
Even if this had nothing to do with Alizée or the undeads, this was a rather concerning discovery, few were the people that had the hobby of collecting arms, dousing them in some sort of preservative substance and carefully putting them in place, even classifying them from most muscular to least.
"I swear, if we have freaking cannibals inside while there are murderous corpses outside…" Griar murmured, how could this sort of thing go unnoticed? Something was not right, and the two of them were ready to uncover this.
Waiting without moving for nearly an entire day, they were about to call it quits when a person suddenly came stumbling out of the woods, almost walking right over them, looking like a drunk, it seemed person needed help but they were clearly headed into the cabin.
After that one, another arrived, then another, then two more, three more, a dozen of them, some bringing tools alongside.
They were indeed renovating the house as Griar had initially guessed, except that those people were clearly under some sort of influence, Alizée was mostly known for turning people into mindless servants, their technique seemed rough and damaging to the subject, but it clearly worked well, even when appearing slack and aimless, they were working like ants.
All had come from different directions, so the question was as such: Which one should they follow once they spread out?