Mamoru stepped forward towards the wounded man, her hands folded neatly in front of her. Her expression however had no hint of pity or remorse, not even disgust from the man’s own emissions. When he asked her a question, Mamoru simply reached out and grabbed him by the neck. “I will be asking the questions here. Who are you, and the rest of these masked men, and where do you come from?” Despite only using only one hand and being of fairly lithe frame, Mamoru had no issues lifting this man up with one arm. “Speak quickly. You’ve harmed a comrade of mine and I have no patience for fools and fanatics.”

The cultist struggled against Mamoru’s grip, his hands desperately trying to get her’s off of his neck. There was a part of him that wanted to reach for the dagger on his belt, but he had the faintest feeling that would get his neck snapped. Quickly. He couldn’t even move his legs from either the shock to his system, or the fact that he might now be a parapalegic. [b]”I-I’ll tell you anything you want! Just don’t kill me! W-We’re followers of Ditronius...and we were looking for random drifters. People nobody would miss. I-I’m from Gronbell,”[/b] he would say, desperate to just not die in this moment.

Followers if Ditronius? Not a name that was familiar to Mamoru. Some sort of local deity perhaps? This truly wasn’t Yggdrasil. This got her very excited: she was practically exploring uncharted territory! However she could not reveal her excitement to the cultist. She was the Maiden of Steel right now, as cold and rigid as the executioner’s blade. 

“I am not from these lands. Those names mean nothing to me. Listen well, scum. You live for as long as you are useful to me. Where are the rest of these cultists, what do they intend to do with these drifters, and where is Gronbell?” As a show of intimidation in case this man’s loyalty proved greater than the fear of his life, suddenly he and Mamoru would appear at the top of the tallest tree nearby. This time Mamoru held him below her, allowing the moon to illuminate her face as he would notice how previously high he was. Even if he had functional legs, a drop from this height will be a painful death. 

The man would scream as he was suddenly atop the tallest tree, flailing about a bit. [b]”A-Alright, I said I’d tell you everything! Just don’t drop me!”[/b] he would say, physically trembling before he would continue. [b]”W-We’re making sacrifices to Ditronus...so we find random country travelers. I-In cities, we use the homeless instead. Our faith is...is all over, in secret corners. Nobody knows where the head church is though, I swear! You can ask any of my friends down there! A-And um...Gronbell is Southwest of here. About sixty miles…”[/b] 

The cultist began trembling again, considering the possibility that now, Mamoru could use his home as collateral. 

“Where are these sacrifices taking place? Vile scum, I’ve half a mind to sacrifice you to my creator myself. Pray to whatever god shall listen that the only thing that saved you is your weakness.” The more she heard this man speak the more Mamoru’s anger build. To exploit the weak and attack the innocent. Even when she was but a minion under her master’s command, they had always sought to hunt greater beast than themselves. They did not pointlessly slaughter the weak even for their own gain. Yet these cultist do so in reverence of a god. He probably doesn’t even get offered fine food and drink. “My patience, much like my grip, grows tired. Speak quickly now.”

[b]”WE TAKE THEM IN THE WOODS AND DO IT! OKAY?”[/b] The cultist would shout, holding onto Mamoru’s hand to try and not get dropped.

Not even a dedicated grounds for these sacrifices? Barely even a cult. At this point Mamoru had enough of this man and quickly crushed his throat. A swift death as she descends back to the ground. As she did so she made sure to loot any items on this man, including his mask and weapons, using his own shirt to cover his face and bind his hands behind his back. Then Mamoru stabbed a Phoenix Feather into his chest. A low level revival item, as long as the target has died within one minute, it would restore them back to life with approximately 8% of their health. It also had the secondary benefits of healing wounds and toxins, so when this man would come to he would find his spine no longer broken and capable of walking. But he would have other problems by that point.

Around this time the goblins showed up, knocking the man out and questioning what they should do with him. Perhaps he could still be useful. Turning to the goblins Mamoru’s expression softened. “Take this one back to your master and let him know we have three prisoners to question. In fact, let us go together, there is much I need to speak to him about which will be important for our lord.” Once the goblins had the cultist secured Mamoru would escort them back to Gromgard. 

“Greetings Gromgard. I apologize for my tardiness. I was caught in a conversation with our new guest here. He’s told me quite a few things of interest. Things which may keep us in these woods for a short while longer. Care to listen?”

[@Rockin Strings]

[hr]

Meanwhile, the Mamoru clone had been looking for Rodias. She had taken careful precaution to avoid directly seeing or being seen by her fellow Chapter masters: they’d surely question the clone about why she wasn’t doing the task that Rodias had assigned them, and she didn’t want to tell them she was actually a copy made specifically to watch over him. Mamoru had no intentions of sharing this sacred duty with anyone else while the real copy had to go do some menial task. Plus, even though she was a clone, she had the originals own memories, thoughts, and feelings. She felt a certain dogged loyalty to Rodias now that she was without her Creator, but at the same time Mamoru wanted to understand. Understand what made the Creators so great. What Mamoru had to do to stand alongside the likes of her Creator as an equal, not and underling.

It was the combined emotions of wanting to protect and serve her master, while also getting stronger. Lazy as she can be, Mamoru still wants to be strong so she can afford to relax instead of constantly worried about the life and wellbeing of herself and her loved ones. She’s always had the Chateau’s walls and the Creators to protect her before, but now it was truly time for Mamoru to learn how to defend herself. And to that end, once she found Rodias she would follow him in silence and from a distance. She didn’t have many skills in stealth, but her sheer agility would hopefully make up for what she lacks in specific skills. It was here that Mamoru showed her restraint as she would follow Rodias to places like Flan’s kitchen and Oz’s forge, and refrain from trying to swipe any snacks or gawk at the constructs and creations. Mamoru had a job to do after all.