"I’m Captain Hod of the Holy Inquisition," she said in a direct tone. "I apologize for the abruptness, but I need to ask you a few questions."
Rose didn’t waste a single second responding.
"Oh, of course," she said in a voice so warm and sweet that Mark almost didn’t recognize it. "No problem at all, Captain, my husband and I will answer whatever you need."
’...Husband?’ Mark thought with amusent. ’Well... technically she’s not wrong.’
Then he thought about it a little more.
’Although in that case it would be more accurate to say she’s one of my wives, not that I’m her husband... but I suppose this isn’t the best mont to correct her.’
Hod glanced briefly at Mark and then back at Rose.
"What are you doing in the middle of this forest?" Hod asked, crossing her arms. "This area isn’t exactly a place people stroll through."
Rose brought a hand to her chest with a gesture of exaggerated concern.
"We’re looking for dicinal herbs," she replied in a tone so convincing that Mark almost believed it himself. "My husband has been sick for several days and the normal redies haven’t worked, so a healer from the village told us that so rare herbs grow in this forest that might help him."
As she said that, Rose gave Mark a discreet elbow in the side.
The nudge was subtle, barely a quick tap of her elbow against his ribs, but the ssage was clear.
And then Mark began coughing with a violence that surprised even himself, probably because his throat still rembered perfectly what it had felt like to have a cold just a day ago.
"Excuse ..." Mark said in a deliberately hoarse voice, bringing a hand to his throat. "I’ve been like this for several days now and I’m not getting better..."
He coughed again, this ti adding a couple of wheezes at the end for good asure.
Hod looked at both of them for a couple of seconds.
Her expression didn’t show suspicion exactly, but it didn’t show that she had swallowed the story completely either.
"I understand," Hod said finally, apparently deciding it wasn’t worth pressing further. "I’ll ask you one more question and leave you in peace."
"Whatever you need, Captain," Rose said with that friendly smile that was still disturbingly convincing.
"Have you seen another group of inquisitors pass through here?" the white-haired woman asked. "Approximately seven people, led by a nun with long dark blue hair and green eyes."
Hearing that, Mark felt his entire body tense all at once.
Nun, long dark blue hair, green eyes.
That description was Alice.
These people were looking for Alice.
’They were following us...’ Mark thought.
He was about to deny having seen anyone matching that description when Rose spoke before him.
"Yes, we saw them."
’WHAT?!’
Mark turned his head toward Rose so fast he almost hurt his neck.
But Rose wasn’t looking at him.
Her eyes were fixed on the woman in front of them with that sa expression of false friendliness that hadn’t changed a milliter since the conversation started.
"They passed through here a few hours ago," she continued without blinking. "They were in such a hurry we couldn’t even ask them anything."
’Rose, what the hell are you doing?’
"They looked pretty badly injured," Rose added, lowering her voice slightly in a tone of concern that seed almost real. "The woman leading them had bandages in several places and the others weren’t much better... we were worried when we saw them, but they left before we could offer any help."
Hod, who until that mont had maintained a firm composure, visibly shifted expression at hearing that.
"Where did you see them?"
"We ran into them roughly at the end of this road," Rose said, gesturing vaguely behind them. "Near that old dungeon in the area, but they didn’t stop there, they kept going."
"Which direction?"
"South," Rose said with a shrug. "It seed to us like they were heading toward the city in that direction, probably to get dical attention."
Hod stayed quiet for a second, then moved quickly toward Rose.
In two steps she closed the distance between herself and Rose, took the vampire’s hands in both of hers, and squeezed them firmly.
"Thank you very much," Hod said, looking directly into her eyes with an intensity that left Mark bewildered. "You have no idea how useful this information has been."
Rose, for her part, went completely still.
Mark noticed how the vampire’s shoulders tensed all at once and how her red eyes opened slightly wider than normal.
It was the first ti Mark had ever seen her uncomfortable.
"N-no need to thank , Captain," Rose said with a stiff smile. "We only told you what we saw."
Hod released her hands and turned back toward her horse.
In one motion she mounted up and took the reins firmly.
"Listen up, everyone!" Hod shouted, addressing the other inquisitors. "Alice and her group are heading toward the city to the south, they’re injured but alive. If we move quickly we’ll catch them before they arrive."
"Yes, Captain!" all the inquisitors replied in unison.
Hod pulled the reins to turn her horse, but then stopped.
"Ah... almost forgot," she said, turning her head back.
Hod looked at the youngest inquisitor in the group, the brown-haired one who had woken her that night.
"You — cast a healing spell on this woman’s husband," Hod ordered, nodding toward Mark.
The young inquisitor looked at her with confusion.
"Right now, Captain?" he said in a doubtful tone. "Wouldn’t it be better if I save all my mana for when we find the Grand Inquisitor and her group? If they’re as injured as these two say, I’m going to need all my reserves to—"
"Did I ask for your opinion?" Hod cut him off, looking at him with an expression that made the young man stop talking instantly.
"No, Captain."
"Then shut up and do as you’re told."
"Y-yes, Captain! Right away!"
The young inquisitor extended a hand toward Mark from his horse and closed his eyes for a second.
A soft green light appeared in his palm and a beam of that sa light shot toward Mark, briefly wrapping him in a warm glow that lasted just a couple of seconds before fading.
"Done," the young inquisitor said, lowering his hand. "I cast a detoxification spell, it should be enough to get rid of the cold completely."
Mark felt the effect almost imdiately, and in under three seconds he felt better than he had in days.
"...Thank you," Mark said in a voice that for the first ti in a long while sounded completely clear. "I really appreciate it."
"Don’t ntion it..." the young man replied with a small smile before straightening his reins.
Hod, already ready to leave, looked one last ti at Mark and Rose.
"May the Goddess protect you," she said in a brief but sincere tone.
And without waiting for a response, she pressed her heels into her horse’s sides.
"Move out!"
The inquisitors set off at the sa ti, kicking up dust from the path as they sped away.
The sound of hoofbeats grew fainter, until it disappeared completely.
Mark stood on the path, looking in the direction the inquisitors had gone, without moving.
Rose was still at his side, equally still, with that uncomfortable expression still on her face from when Hod had grabbed her hands.
"And this is exactly why I prefer staying inside the dungeon..."
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