One month later. In the west side of Terra, Nein swings through the vast desert for his next mission. The scorching sun doesn't slowing him down as he fly above the hot sand.
His next destination is Vastium, the town of wilderness located far in the desert. Elias told him that his client will be the captain of that place. She gave the mission to him because no one dared to travel there alone.
He need one week from Patio to reach the deserts. He swung nonstop at day and rest at night. He swings a bit higher to avoid provocating the sand shark lurking underneath the sand.
He arrives shortly and stop by the distance of Vastium entrance and went by feet to avoid problem. His hood pulled high as he approaching the guards.
"Halt!. State your business!". One guard standby and raise his spear.
Nein immediately raise his hand and stop. The guard begin to approaching him cautiously.
"How do you managed to get here?." The guard ask suspiciously.
The question got him thinking, he can't just say the truth. So instead he pulled out the permit inside his coat that contains Ava, the captain's signature. Upon seeing that, the guard gaze harden before turning around sharply.
"Follow me. The Captain's waiting for you inside." His voice gruff and still suspicious.
Nein relieved and follow. Once he stepped inside, he immediately greeted by the peoples hostile gaze. The tension is clear and make him curious what kind of issue he's dealing with this time.
"May I ask what happened here?. Looks like this town doesn't really accept an outsider." His tone low and curious.
The man refuse to answer making him slightly disappointed. They went deeper inside the town and reaching the most biggest structure than the other, the floor covered with sandstone. Strong pillar made from stone holding the ceiling above.
The guard takes him Infront of a door and step aside to let him enter the room. Nein take a step forward and reaching for the doorknob. Until suddenly.
Stab!!
A blade poking out the door aiming for his head, he manage to avoid by tilting aside. He looks at the grinning guard and sigh heavily before opening the door and see a woman sitting on the table with another dagger in her hand.
"Hahaha, you got reflex. Looks like the file doesn't exaggerate." Ava's intrigued by the man Infront of her.
"A one way to say hello." He says unamused and take the dagger sticking on the closed door.
He walk forward and toss the dagger to the table nearby and taking out the permit before handing it to her. She take it defiantly and grins before hopping off and standing close to him.
"Just call me Ava. The moment you're stepping in this town means you're not someone ordinary. Looking forward to working with you." She reaching out for a handshake.
"Nein. Looking forward to -" he suddenly stunned.
"Why stop?." He demand an explanation at her action.
"Same goes for you." She says with a grin.
Her dagger hovering slightly over his neck while his smoke stopped Infront of her chest forming a sharp spikes. Both stay still for a moment, starring at each other eyes with intensity.
She scoffed and retreat slowly. The smoke dissipating as he eyeing her every movement. She take a seat on the sofa and gesture him to sit across from her. He sigh and sat down.
"Sorry, I just want to test what I read about you. Mercenary tend to boast about themselves right?." She says with her feet on the table.
"I see. So are you convinced enough now.?" He says with slight frustration.
"Likely. Now, let's talk about business. You can ask me anything." She say leaning against the sofa.
He ponders. There's a lot that makes him curious.
"Does Vastium always hostile toward outsider?. I got many despising glare here." He ask his first question
"Not really. While we does not like it when people beyond the sand causing problem here, we only see them as a curious tourist." Her voice casual as she pause.
"Few months ago however, a bunch of people in white clad comes to our town and begin to spouting nonsense such as 'the end is near', 'repent before it's too late ' and all. We thought they might be a bunch of crazy people... until-"
"Some people's disappearing?." Nein cut her sentence.
"...How did you know?." Her suspicious grows.
"The same thing also happened to other places, especially the one where I worked in. I've encountered a similar cases twice now, so I begin to learn about it and found something. I assure you, I have nothing to do with them and only here as the mercenary you hire." He explain himself calmly while keeping eye contact.
Her green meet his red one. She let it slide for now and sigh exasperatedly. She wave her hand to let him continue his questions. He noticed the gesture and asking his second question.
"Just as I mentioned, there's a similarity between the cases. But the reason behind it also differ. Say Ava, have you seen a strange structure outside the town before?" His voice serious.
She ponder a bit and try to remember all the reports her men gave to her. It takes her a while to finally gets up and grab a map of their region before pointing at the rainforest fifteen kilometers away from Vastium.
"My men said they spot a weird movement around the forest but unable to find a trace. It's happened for whole year and nothing happened, since the place's too far, we decided to stop to save our supply." She explain briefly.
He runs his hands through his face and groans frustratingly. It was them again. A cult named Salus sanctum. A group of people worshipping an ancient God named Salus, however, despite the name, everything about them always related to destruction and spreading corruption across the land or at least that what he learned from old books and reports.
"Prepare for the worse. You're up against a bunch of fanatics that doesn't afraid to die for their goals." He sounds tired already and that's caught her attention.
"Hmm?. Was this that serious?." She ask casually.
"Yeah. I can't assure you anything due to my previous conflict with them almost got me killed. I'll help with in the investigation though." He suggests suddenly.
"Why?. Why do you sounds like you care soo much as if you're were born here?." Her tone accusing.
"Peoples lives matter. It's simply because I can't handle someone dies without knowing the reason why. I might be a mercenary, but I also a human." His voice certain and honest.
Seeing his serious expression, she can't help but laugh in disbelief thinking whether this man is naive or simply an idiot. She suddenly toss a badge to the table. A small necklace with a knife tied with her name on the handle. A sign of her approval.
"Then I'll rely on you sir Nein." She says sarcastically.
He grab it and hides it inside his pocket before gets up from his seat.
"Then I'll focused to gathering intel. Just focus on strengthen the security within the town. I'll keep updating on you once I found something new. I'll go now." He says before walking toward the door and exit the room.
She's silent as if trying to figure the man who just leaving her room. There's something wrong with this man, his personality doesn't fit the way he looks and his skills is something she can't comprehend. She smirks and stop thinking as she return to her desk.