The Truth Seekers - Etrian Odyssey: Untold

Chapter 14

Author’s Notes: Sorry for taking so long with this chapter after the cliff-hanger on the previous one. I have to admit that I’ve been suffering from that dreaded writer’s block (and lack of inspiration) for some time. Hopefully writing this chapter will help me get back into the swing of things.

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Jarrett stood with his weapon resting on his back on the outskirts of town. Before him were the steps descending into the very first floor of the labyrinth. There was only one way and one way out of the labyrinth. Mira and her guild were to walk up those stairs at any second.

They had absolute no idea what was about to happen.

Confronting them was going to be easy. Confronting them to make them confess to what they were doing was also going to be easy. Confronting them without allowing them to resort to physical violence, however, wasn’t going to be easy. Jarrett had seen how the Sirens were more than willing to lash out with their weapons and with a group of only four, they were formable.

Jarrett wasn’t worried about his safety. With his anger slowly bubbling beneath the surface, they won’t be able to get even close to him. He was worried about the safety of the Etria’s soldiers that were hiding in the shadows of the forest surrounding the town. He thought it would be best that way. Mira was very manipulative. Bursting into tears to win the sympathy of the soldiers wouldn’t be beneath her.

No, Jarrett had to make it appear as though he was confronting them alone.

Several minutes of waiting, Jarrett could hear the familiar sounds of a guild making their way back into town. And he immediately recognizes the voices. Four of them. Distinct and feminine. Laughing and talking amongst themselves.

They had the image of carefree innocence.

But Jarrett knew better.

Cold, calculating killers. Acting as if everything was right in the world while explorers were dying one by one was a cold kind of callousness. It was hard for him to fathom.

The first one to spy him was the pink-haired protector, Momo. A scowl immediately made its way onto her face and she reached for her weapon. Upon doing so, the others pulled to a stop and caused them, too, to become tense. Mira frowned and moved to the back of the group, using the other three girls as shields.

“Tch. What do you want?” Momo asked him harshly. “Here to harass poor Mira again?”

Jarrett spared only a second to regard Momo with a blank look, ignoring her accusation, before turning his full attention to Mira. “That’s quite a lot of bronzite you’re collecting, Mira. What do you plan to do with it?”

“Why, sell it of course,” Mira answered quickly, instinctively fluttering her eyes at him innocently. It was obviously a lie as Shilleka had told him that Mira had never, ever sold her anything, let alone any stones.

“We have every right to mine for bronzite as you do,” pink-haired dark-hunter Jackie stated with annoyance in her voice. “We are explorers, after all.”

Jarrett folded his arms over her chest. “So, what are you planning to do with it?”

“Didn't we answer that already?” Jackie hissed at him, bristling wildly.

Jarrett ignored the other members of the Sirens, instead keeping his full attention on Mira. She was the mastermind behind everything. He was fairly certain that while the Sirens had full knowledge of what Mira was doing; they were just the accessories.

“Bronzite isn’t a gemstone,” Jarrett said.

Mira’s innocent facade faded subtly and a wrinkle appeared in her brow. “It can be mined, right?”