Chapter 43: Sinner
Reinhard, Marie, and Joseph rushed to the unconscious Inquisitors.
Marie dropped to her knees and began shaking them urgently. "Lloyd, Bruno, Kyle, Jessie, and Suzy! You guys need to wake up!"
Reinhard blinked in surprise. "You know them?"
Joseph nodded. "They’re in our year as well. I knew they got assigned an expedition before us, but I didn’t think it would be like this..."
"Who is who?" Reinhard asked, studying the five figures slumped against the wall.
Joseph chuckled. "From left to right, in the order Marie called out their names."
Reinhard raised an eyebrow before laughing lightly as Joseph shrugged. He didn’t expect for Marie to name them so accurately, usually in situations like these he saw people randomly calling them out.
The Inquisitors began stirring, groaning as consciousness returned to them.
Lloyd the first young man with brown hair that fell across his forehead and brown eyes that blinked groggily before muttering. "Is that you, Marie and Joseph? Did they send you to find us?" His uniform was rumpled and stained with the brass buttons dulled from days without care.
Then Jessie a girl with blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail and sharp blue eyes let out a groan. "I wish you’d come a lot sooner."
The second blonde girl, Suzy, had green eyes and shorter blond hair cut to shoulder length. "Don’t be like that, Jessie. I’m sure they had to wait for the two-week missing period before mounting a search."
Marie nodded while working to untie their bindings and asking in concern. "What happened to you all?"
Kyle the young man with black hair and bright violet eyes spoke up with a horse voice. "We fell unconscious from the screaming of an odd beast. Didn’t you see it when you entered?"
"We killed it." Joseph says softly while Reinhard and Marie nod their heads.
Bruno the second brown-haired young man with green eyes and a more stocky build sighed with relief. "That’s good news, then. We don’t need to worry about falling unconscious during our escape."
"Don’t you need to finish your mission here?" Joseph asked. "Or did you complete it before coming down?"
Lloyd pushed himself more upright and wincing. "Our mission was to investigate rumors of a Star Jewel in the area, but we found no sign of it."
Reinhard tilted his head. "Did the Principal specifically ask you to search for it?"
Lloyd and Kyle nodded while the three others tried pushing themselves up but immediately fell back against the wall, their legs unable to support their weight.
Marie giggled. "Take your time. You five haven’t used your legs in a while."
Jessie pouted, her blue eyes flashing with irritation. "It’s because we were captured by that crazy bastard."
Reinhard’s eyes narrowed. "Where is he right now?"
Suzy frowned as her green eyes showed worry. "We don’t know, but he usually comes near midnight."
Kyle’s violet eyes darkened. "We need to leave before he arrives. That bastard is crazy and disgusting."
Bruno nodded heavily. "Always showing us his creepy art room."
Marie blinked. "You mean the room we passed through with the Phantasm Beast corpses was his work?"
Lloyd nodded with a grimace and him closing his eyes. "When we first came down, we saw that horrible sight... We left it alone because we planned to report it to the Information Institution after finishing exploring. But then we knocked unconscious from that beast and woke up tied here. Then that man kept bringing us upstairs to look at his ’work’ every day."
Jessie frowned, glancing at the townspeople still bound and unconscious throughout the chamber. "He also captured these people... And he-"
Footsteps echoed through the tunnel, leading Jessie to fall silent and the others’ expressions to change cutting off her words.
Reinhard, Marie, and Joseph immediately summoned their Beast Spirits.
Just as an iron crate came hurtling through the chamber entrance. Zenuken flashed in Reinhard’s grip, chopping down to split the projectile in half. The two pieces were smashed to the ground by Marie’s Longinus spear and Joseph’s Arondight lance.
Reinhard then narrowed his eyes at the figure emerging from the shadows, walking causally toward them.
The man wore a white coat that hung open over a black vest and dark trousers that had embroidered patterns. He had dark hair that framed a face that would have been handsome if not for the unsettling quality of his expression.
A smile that suggested he found something amusing that others couldn’t perceive.
The man smiled at them warmly. "What a lovely bunch of guests I have, right on time for the grand debut of my new masterpiece."
Reinhard’s eyes narrowed. "Are you Phineas?"
The man’s silver eyes widened slightly before he clapped his hands together in delight. "So, you all do know me! And looking at the disgust on your faces, you seem familiar with my previous work?"
"What was the point of the mannequins in the theater and the wax figures in the art room?" Marie demanded.
Phineas laughed before clapping his hand with a smirk. "So, you three are familiar with my work! Wonderful! That means I don’t need to explain much, having a show full of fans always makes things go smoothly."
"How do you know who he is?" Jessie asked, her voice tight with confusion.
Joseph kept his eyes on Phineas while answering. "We contacted the Information Institution. They confirmed the culprit behind the Phantasm Beast displays was most likely Phineas of the Sinners."
Lloyd, Bruno, Kyle, Jessie, and Suzy’s eyes widened in disbelief, their bodies trembling as the full implications sank in.
Mimir spoke from Reinhard’s shoulder. "He is a Third-Class Inquisitor at D Tier and Beast Spirit is Arachne. Be careful of his threats, or you’ll be controlled by him."
Joseph blinks in surprise as he says. "It can even tell the Beast Spirit..."
Marie’s eyes lit up with a grin. "Our crow is awesome like that! At any rate we at least know Phineas really isn’t that strong."
"But he is a Tier D, is this something you guys can handle?" Jessie asked in worry, leading Reinhard to shrug his shoulders.
"No point in worrying about it now. We just have to come up with a way to win." Reinhard says, leading the others to nod their head.
Phineas chuckled. "Or we don’t fight? You see I am pretty weak and harmless, really! Still, it’s a surprise you can identify my Beast Spirit... Oh well, why don’t we put away our Beast Spirits and-"
Marie interrupted by hurling her crimson-gold spear forward. The weapon shot through the chamber, closing distance rapidly before stopping abruptly right in front of Phineas.
Phineas sighed as he stretched out his hands while his demeanor unchanged. "So there’s no peaceful option?"
Reinhard, Marie, and Joseph exchanged glances before responding in unison. "No."
Phineas shrugged with his white coat shifting with the motion. "Oh well. I just need to knock you three down and then have you attend my show properly."
His hands moved with practiced grace, and golden threads began spreading through the chamber like a spider’s web catching the light.