Caradoc rushas to aid Ilvan who is on the floor now
"What do you mean you haven't made it to th..."
Caradoc stop in suprise to Fulroth summonning, then ready his shield but doesn't raise it.
"... are you the one who is trying to ruin the festival? Any how, what are you doing befriending a demon? aren't you an exorcist?
Hold it Caradoc, I didn't try to ruin any festival. It's just a really bad coincidence.
You see, I'm not his friend and he is not mine, we're stuck together after I tried to destroy him and this powder by brother gave me only destroyed his body and we're stuck now.
He is still pretty weak because I can't create a body strong enough for him, so you have nothing to worry about.
And no, the circle isn't mine, I don't need it to call Volath and honestly, I have no idea how summoning demon work.
In case the sleeping bugs are still alive I order Volath to take them out.
"So let me get this straight. You are a demon exorcist, who summons a demon to fight for him, who he couldn't exorcise, and has no idea how demon summoning normally works. To me it almost seems like either the Loon exorcists are pushover, or you are lying about your specialties" Dusen said with a suspecting stare
"Well, when you present it that way, it does sound weird, but it's just a series of unfortunate events. I was still learning the arts of demon exorcisism, so I've been using items to help me, and on my fifth mission, that accident happened. At start I thought this is terrible, but as time moved on I realized that in order to fight demons, using a tamed one might not be such a bad idea.
And by the way, don't you underestimate the Loon exorcists, they are the best at their job, it's just that if they would've exorcise Volath I could have died as well in the process. "
Volath begrudgingly obeys Fulroth's order, slamming the unconscious stirges with his dark arms. "Tamed! A tamed demon! The gall! I'm on your side because I have no other choice, Trisnorin, remember that. I'd exorcise you if I could."
Ilvan wakes up with a jolt when Caradoc comes for him, but doesn't seem to register his question.
"Wha... uhm... what? I was asleep? The Saint save me, I had that awful dream about the blood-sucking insects again, Caradoc", he says even as the dwarf confronts Fulroth about his demon. He slowly stands up, but almost falls again when he notices Volath taking care of the remaining stirges.
"Well shove a chicken down my throat, they're real! Wha... uhm, just what kind of fiendish plot is this? What are you trying to do to me, madmen?"
"Hey, calm down, he is not going to hurt you, he is under my command. He is not the one you're looking for. Here if this will make you all feel better"
Fulroth snaps his fingers and Volath disappear
Maximilliano breaks the long, awkward silence.
"...Anyways, I'll be straight with you. Your massive footprints are all mixed up in a plot we're investigating, as my human peer kindly disclosed. It seems you don't recall being at the inn yesterday, despite us all vividly remembering you - might be you were unknowingly puppeted, or your memory has been erased, or perhaps some sort of doppelganger has taken your place."
Maximiliano examines the frightened soldier for a bit, then stares him dead in the eyes.
"Or that you were lying to us," he calmly adds.
Maximiliano turns to Fulroth.
"Tell me you can at least control that thing, half-elf. You don't need any long-forgotten ancient wisdom to know how much it could f*ck our case up. And teach us how to aid you in case you lose said control."
"And Dusen, instead of sowing discord in our group, use your yap to tell us what that engraved circular stone behind you means."
"Do worry about Volath, my word is law to him, he must do everything I tell him"
Fulroth then take everyone a bit farther away from the soldier.
"I don't trust him but I can tell you, if you want to force Volath to disappear you'll need to knock me out. The moment I lose consciousness he will also dispelled"
"I see. I trust our dwarf can see to that, if the need arise."
Maximiliano closely inspects Ilvan's reactions and expressions, clearly making the soldier uncomfortable, but can't read anything other than confusion and fright in him.
"I don't understand, uhm, what do you mean you all saw me at the inn?", he interrupts the conversation on Volath. "You couldn't have, I went to sleep early yesterday, had to conserve energy for trainin'. And with that and those monsters I saw in my dreams suddenly showin' up same time as you, I can't see why you're the ones suspectin' me. I'm sorry, Caradoc and his pals, but I really want you to leave now and stop messin' with me."
To see if he lies to us
"Hey bud, we are not against you, we only want to help this town. If you cooperate with us, we could understand better what happen and see if you maybe got caught in a spell or something.
If you truly have nothing to hide, please stay calm and answer our questions "
"Ilvan! Listen to me! If you really didn't meet me in the tavern..."
Caradoc holds his shoulders
...
"You know why I must investigate, and I'm asking you as a friend. Help us find those reasponsible"
"This is a waste of our time, he is obviously either enchanted by someone or is lying to us. Can't you read his mind or something? It seems to me to be the only way we can get any information out of him."
Dusen looks towards Maximiliano angrily "First of all, watch your tounge, my suspicions are completely warranted, and if I am the only one who finds a demon exorcist that goes around with a demon that he doesn't know how to exorcise in the middle of a shitstorm all about demons suspicions then you are all fools! Secondly, I...."
Dusen catches himself and takes a deep breath "I apologise, that was unbecoming of me. I'll check that stone out"
Dusen moves to the side and investigates the stone, as a small black and white cat jumps out of his bag and starts rubbing itself against a nearby rock.
The soldier breathes in heavily, looking at Caradoc with desperate eyes. He wrinkles his nose when Jack bursts in, but pays him no heed.
"Right, if you're so sure you're the ones fightin' the demons here, I'll help. But y'all keep asking me to cooperate and answer your questions, without askin' any questions. What do you want to know? What's not making' sense from your viewpoint?"
"It seems to be a version of Theobold's wheel that was modified to resemble the symbol of the Order of the Beast Slayers of Saint Kon" Dusen says as he steps away fomr the stone.
"Maybe the book will hold relevent information on the topic"
Dusen takes the book and attempts to read it: