Chapter 130: Infiltrated
A few days passed after the meeting with the cloaked figure. Silas had been treated and was well now. He was with Ren, Remu, and Ezra as they went to see Lia.
Today, he had brought a huge chunk of his subordinates, orcs and goblins, lizardmen, everyone that he could bring along while leaving those who still had to work at the settlement, and all for the simple reason of rebuilding Raven Town, at least to a decent level.
The people in Raven Town were still traumatized by what had happened, and so seeing a ton of monsters pop up out of nowhere scared everyone, but they saw Lia with them, and she calmed them. She had become the symbol of peace and hope in the town. Everyone believed that she was the one that saved what was left of the town.
Work went on right away. The orcs hauled large logs of timber along with the wolves, the goblins cut and shaped the beams needed, and made the stone bricks from rocks they had hauled from the mountainside.
Everyone moved with the practiced efficiency that they had shown while working in their own settlement and building their home in the forest.
Inside the sitting room of the manor, Ren sat facing Lia, who still had her sword in her hand. It was the first thing that Ren noticed when they met.
"It’s good to see you again," she said with a soft smile on her face that seemed half practiced and half genuine.
"Same," Ren replied. He paused for a moment and then looked at her. "The attack was not isolated to here alone," he stated.
She nodded in response. "There was news of the attacks happening in other towns as well, but from what the reports had said, it was not as large scale as the one we faced, because when people from the count came to those towns, only ten to twenty people had died from the spiders," she explained.
’That makes no sense. There is no way Ophelia would launch the attack and make the biggest one here. What would be the reason for that?
Unless those people in those towns are now completely spider-infected, and they used the ten to twenty people as the cover-up to make it seem like they suffered, to help foster the idea that they are the real people.
If that’s the case, then it would be just like the cloaked figure said. She is infiltrating the human kingdom and spreading.’
Ren looked at Lia. He gritted his teeth for a few seconds as he thought about telling her. After what seemed like a tough mental battle with himself, he finally spoke.
"That’s not true," he said.
Shock and confusion formed on her face first as she turned to look at him.
"What?" she asked.
"The issue did not end like that. It was not that fewer were sent to those towns. It was because those towns were completely taken over before anyone came," Ren explained. He leaned forward with his elbows pressed against his thighs as he spoke, his hands under his chin.
"The aim of the attack was never to kill everyone, but rather to take down the entire town and replace them. That was the goal." He looked up as he spoke.
"The only reason it was a different case for you was because we came, and you fought back as well. Those towns must have probably been unable to stop the spiders and had the entire town taken over completely." As the last words left his mouth, the look of realization formed on the face of Lia.
"Yo-you are telling me that everyone in those towns right now are spider-infected humans walking around and acting to be humans?" Her shock showed as she spoke.
"That’s a very high possibility. Luna’s eyes are capable of detecting their energy, and so if she sees one of them, she will be able to tell for sure," Ren pointed out and then leaned back into his chair. "If it turns out to be true, then the case has spread far worse than anyone could have expected."
Lia clenched her sword tight until her knuckles turned white. She looked up at Ren.
"Why, why would they do something like this?" she asked, wanting to know the reason why someone would do this.
’Sorry, Lia, that’s where I draw the line on information. I cannot hand you such dangerous information when I am yet to fully understand it myself. You are going to need to be in the dark a bit.’
"That I am not sure of, but whatever it is, it must be grand to require all of this. The scale is massive, and the planning is elaborate.
"I want to head to one or two of these towns that have been infected and see what is happening there. Maybe we might get a better clue as to what is happening.
"This case, I saw it when it started. One of my cubs was the first to be infected, and so I want to see it to the end and stop whatever is happening," Ren explained.
"I’ll come with you," Lia said. "When you head to the town, I’ll come with you. I want to face the reality of what my town would have become if we had not stopped it, and I also want to kill and destroy those spiders and those that are sending them to the humans.
"They all deserve to die."
Her eyes flashed green for a moment as she spoke, and so did the eyes of the sword. Ren noticed that but said nothing. He simply smiled and nodded.
"I see no issues with you coming along, and I know you can handle yourself pretty well. We will hash out the details of everything soon and head there in maybe a few days.
"For now, let’s focus on fixing the town before anybody from your count, or whoever is probably coming, comes."