The Insider System

Chapter 325: I’ll Carry You

As he was retracing his steps through the mountains to find Hert, Lake decided to give up on passing the time by hunting. There didn't seem to be anything out here that was alive other than a few people so there wasn't a point in looking for small animals when he had something else to focus on to pass the time.

He wanted to spend at least two days out here before he went back to the Temple to make it seem like he had actually tracked someone down so small tasks like these were perfect. He also found the guy he had just met funny since he looked like he had been fatally wounded but still had an upbeat attitude so it was worth keeping someone like that alive.

...

"This is the last mountain before we reach where the carts were when we left. I'm not sure if they will still be in the same place but we'll be able to find them so don't worry." They had been worried about being attacked since they had started their journey back to the carts so it seemed the Temple Head thought the Oracle felt the same but Tiff wasn't so sure.

Since they had met the Oracle Tiff had noticed she seemed calm the entire time and it made Tiff think the Oracle wasn't too worried about what was going on. Tiff found it odd but knowing a bit about what kind of abilities they had she figured there was a chance that being warned in advance whenever you were in danger made you a lot calmer than people who never knew what was about to happen.

Maybe in the future once she was closer to the God of Light he too would feed her information about what was going on near her to help keep her safe. "There they are. It's good they haven't moved because it probably means they haven't been attacked."

As they landed Tiff waited for the Temple Head to set the oracle onto the ground before she got off of her back. "Are we leaving right away?" She knew the situation to get the oracle to safety was urgent but she needed to take a bathroom break before they got into the cart since she hadn't had a chance since they left the Temple.

"We have a few minutes." The Temple Head seemed to understand what she was actually asking and pointed to some rocks nearby while saying this. Tiff wished there was a better place to go but with no plants around a rock was going to have to do. Once she was done she walked to the cart they arrived in and got in to sit in the same place she had last time.

Soon after everyone else got into the cart with the Metal Oracle taking the seat that Lake had been in on the way here. Once they started moving it didn't take long before Henry asked. "So what happened to Lake, he didn't die or anything did he?" Tiff could tell Henry didn't actually think Lake had died by the tone of the question and let the Temple Head explain what had happened.

"Lake continued on alone since we ran into the Metal Oracle and she needed help to escape the mountains." This was probably the shortest answer to this question and therefore lacked any detail so Henry asked a follow-up question. "Why didn't Tiffany go with him? He's still new and this was too important to leave to one person."

She didn't think this was a question that needed to be asked since her running around the mountains was never a great plan to begin with since she was a huge target. The Temple Head wasn't the one to answer though. "I think she didn't want a boy to carry her."

Tiff didn't know what made the oracle say something like this but Tiff refrained from glaring at her like she would have done if someone with less status had said something like this out of nowhere and instead said. "It's true I wouldn't have liked it but I would have let it happen if it was necessary for the mission. The main reason I came with you two is I've already been out for too long."

The last thing Lake needed was a bunch of Demon Worshipers showing up making them turn around before they were able to get to the dagger. Alone he could stay out there for as long as he needed to complete the task. "What do you mean too long? Oh I see you're a Holy Mage."

Tiff wasn't surprised the Oracle had been able to tell once she gave her a good look because it was actually really easy to notice if you had high enough Intelligence or could see mana since They were constantly surrounded by the mana they had painstakingly gathered.

Holy mana was so sparse that you couldn't let it just go back into the environment and regather enough at a moment's notice to cast a spell like you could with other elements. This was probably one of the reasons it was so easy to track them for the Demon Worshipers.

...

Lake had arrived at the camp they had found earlier and was happy to find the guards were still there. He could also see Hert, the guy he had set Detector to look for was alive and sitting near the fire. "Hello again." Lake called out and waited for the people at the camp to be aware of him before he walked out to speak to them.

"Why are you back so soon?" He didn't think it was any of their business what he was doing so he just told them why had come back. "I found one of your guys and he said I should bring a guy named Hert to him as fast as possible because he's cursed."

"What's his name?" Lake hadn't spent much time talking to the guy in the cave so he didn't know. "I don't know, I didn't have time to talk to him. Which one of you is Hurt we need to leave. Come on, I'll carry you there." He had figured they would have been a lot more willing to go but they didn't seem to believe what he was saying for some reason because they stayed quiet after he said all of this.

Feeling like they didn't have time to waste Lake just asked. "What's the problem?"

"We don't believe anyone could have survived the fall and a curse until now. We feel like something bad is going on like you or someone else is lying to draw Hert away." When Lake heard this he had to agree that most people wouldn't still be alive if they looked like the guy in the cave but it had happened. "Well I guess it's up to you. Goodbye."

Lake couldn't think of a way to prove there was someone that needed help to them so he guessed he just had to leave. It was too bad though since he had spent the time coming all the way back to tell them. "Wait, I'm Hert. Please take me to them."

"Hert you can trust him just because he was with the Temple Head of the Light Temple earlier. It's been hours and he could have been turned in that amount of time." Now that Hert had offered to go, Lake knew he had already done enough to convince them so he just ignored everything all the other guards said and told Hert. "Get on my back. I'll be running as fast as I can so you need to hold on."

None of the other guards stopped Hert as he walked to him and got on his back so Lake just ran off in the direction of the cave without even taking any time to talk to Hert one on one to get to know each other or answer any questions the man might have. At this speed they had around an hour before they arrived so they really didn't have time to talk since at any moment the guy in the cave could die from the curse.

...

"There are people on the road ahead of us." Hearing the Oracle's words Tiff wanted to ask what she meant by people since she hadn't called them enemies but she didn't have the chance because Henry confirmed what had just been said. "They're planning to stop us but they haven't said why or said anything to confirm their identities."

"They're Demon Worshipers. The God of Metal just told me." Hearing all of this Tiff looked to the Temple Head to see what she would do. After a second she reached up and tapped the top of the cart to tell him to stop. "You all can stay in the cart. I'll be right back." After the Temple Head said this she stepped out presumably to go deal with the roadblock they had just run into.