The Distinguished Mr. Rose Chapter 77: Chapter 76: Into the Shaded Woods

Read chapter 77 of The Distinguished Mr. Rose by QuiteTheSlacker on NovelPedia.

Chapter 76: Into the Shaded Woods Fortunately, there were no casualties amongst the expedition. Lucius had already anticipated as much, but the Franks truly were a hardy people. They shrugged off stab wounds and gashes with little more than a splash of alcohol (that fellow who stoked the campfire emerged unharmed, surprisingly, and apologized to Sir Maugris for attacking him), and those more critically injured were tended to by the priests of the Order. The players were also in, relatively, good condition. Those who had succumbed to the hallucinations however found themselves waking with large bruises over their bodies — nothing too serious. Why, one could even call it training for their possible encounter with the Great Evils! Nonetheless, their experience here weighed heavily on their minds. None wished to stay in this unsettling land any longer; and so, after gathering the able-bodied and loading the injured onto the carriages, the expedition immediately departed, determined to reach the Shaded Woods where the Beast Lord resided by the morrow. Firstly, though, they had to prepare. The expedition couldn’t afford a repeat of their sudden madness, not with their numbers temporarily lowered, and so Renaud devised an elaborate system where each member was to accompany another at all times. They would do their duties and march whilst practically attached to the hip; and if they ever felt drowsy, their partner would snap them awake and search for any signs of possession. Whether it be ghosts, specters, or grudges of the dead — the most dangerous foe was one unseen. Renaud did not know what lingered here, and so he prepared for every possible scenario and the necessary procedures to overcome it, no matter how unlikely it seemed. That was all well and good, but one problem… There was no such foe. No curses or ghosts or anything supernatural, otherwise. And thus, Lucius strolled along as carefree as he could possibly be. He was the only one to behave like so. The others grimly marched on, lips twisted into a frown in anticipation of another spiritual attack. They would continue to be this way for the next twelve long hours. While they engaged themselves with that, Lucius was busy sneaking glances at Sir Maugris. The man had a different atmosphere around him and had undergone many changes since the start of their journey. Where before he was bright and personable, the Maugris of now was even gloomier than the sickly Renaud. The man walked slowly with his head turned downward, and every now and then Lucius could hear him mutter something faint: a fearful prayer, an apology, the croaks of one begging to be forgiven. And yet, even greater than his terror of the Lord, was an insatiable hunger to explore his newfound power, the power of godless magic. He explored the depths of his craft when none looked his way and found solace in it, delighted in his ever increasing familiarity. With time Maugris’s awkward spell-weaving grew more natural, more confident, than before his time as a faithful man. And this troubled him. For every advancement came an uncertainty wondering whether this was right or wrong. He shuddered in unease, constantly casting glances at the sky as if he expected to be struck down for his hubris at any moment, but retribution never came: God never descended. Rather than be punished for his sacrilegious study, he was rewarded for it. Maugris seemed to resent this fact. He wished to be proven otherwise, to be brought low like the sinner he was. Why did the Lord allow him to tread this path? He groaned and clutched his head, but an answer never came — not one he wished to hear, at least. No, the only possibilities availed were far too miserable to acknowledge. And so he continued his scholarly pursuit, knowing that his soul had long been forsaken. It was upon the expedition’s final stretch that they finally caught a glimpse of the land their ancestors had considered taboo. Their breaths hushed, and their hearts pounded fierce,