Chương 53

Pauley The two redheads in front of him looked the same to him. Different clothing, sure, but their expression, their hair, their features… each were identical in a way that still gave Pauley the chills sometimes. He prided himself in being a straightforward yet supportive man. He'd sort of known that the "twins" working at the Treetop Inn hadn't been normal, even setting aside their bizarre story of trying to be adventurers.

It was his job to keep an eye on strange people passing through, him and Tobias, and both had picked up on something odd about the girls from the beginning. Not dangerous—they'd seemed genuine in their need for help—but odd. Pauley was starting to wonder if he'd made a mistake in not booting their butts back to Merriweather. The two girls looked apprehensive as he stared at them, so the large man let out a heavy, tired sigh.

"Sorry, you two. Just having thoughts." It wasn't their fault that the stranger had attacked. If anything, from what they'd said, it had been their presence which may well have saved Camilla from a far more sinister trouble. He just couldn't fully dismiss the nagging feeling that this quiet, sleepy village had gotten more strange incidents than usual because of her presence. Superstitious nonsense, he thought.

While Fate could have a hand in this sort of thing, it was much more likely that Ellen—and her many selves—had come to be here because of the strangeness, and not brought it with her. He knew she was a Greylan now, if a young one. He wouldn't put it past them to just show up where needed. Though he could see why Ellen had wanted to keep that a secret.

"I'll talk to Jenson," he muttered.

"He's one of the first ones I told about your… condition. He'd already started to suspect something was off, but I'm not sure he believed my explanation. Would do him good to see a few of you at once."

"Thank you, sir," the two spoke in one voice. Nearly jolted Pauley out of his skin. The one on the left spoke alone, next.

"How are the other villagers taking the news? Much progress?"

"Not that we're trying to rush you," the other reassured easily. The way they alternated really made Pauley's lip twitch. He'd been most familiar with Village Ellen—as they'd called her—and Merchant Ellen, and those two seemed quite different in how they spoke and approached things despite being physically very similar. Hunter Ellen had been even more different, and his brief encounter with her and her… descendants… had shown him her attitude was also very far removed from Village Ellen.

"Do you know what was going on with that man?" The question pulled Pauley out of his thoughts, and he grunted softly.

"No. I'd say nothing like that has happened here before, but I guess we wouldn't know. If you… uh… Village…" He trailed off helplessly.

"Just say you," one of the girls offered.

"Right after we duplicate it's hard to tell us apart from our predecessor," the other agreed.

"Though usually they aren't still around…" Pauley shook his head.

"Right. If you hadn't been there, we'd have never known. It wouldn't have been the first time someone lured a starstruck young girl off… but it hasn't happened that often, and not for many a year." Both of them nodded. In the moment of quiet, Pauley heard shouting outside, and tensed… but the shouting was regular and only mildly angry. He dismissed it as something to do with the workers struggling with a troublesome felled tree or something.

They were competent enough to work without him for a little while, and if it were a real emergency there'd be much more screaming. Belatedly, Pauley realized they'd asked him another question… an important one. He folded his hands together on the table, looking at each girl in turn.

"As for how the others are taking it… I've only told about two dozen so far, but I'm going to have to step it up." Pauley sighed as he thought of that.

"Most at first think I'm not quite right, but I usually point out how redheaded twins out of nowhere is pretty rare, and how busy you would have to be if there were only two of you. The ones who have met more than two of you have backed me up enough that they come around." He adjusted his hat to give himself time to think.

"Most of them aren't sure what to think yet. The dungeon is already turning our lives into a mess, and they aren't sure what to think about you… uh… Merchant buying our land rights. I've been careful to approach the ones I know aren't upset about it, but your affliction or whatever it is isn't something any of us have heard of. Easier to say there's a dragon in the mountain." This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Both of the Ellens sighed heavily, which Pauley found endearing. He had an image to maintain though, and he doubted the two would appreciate pats on the head. He reminded himself that they had been willing to brave that goblin cave. These girls had settled into the villager life, but they had fire in them. Maybe more than even they realized.

"I'm going to have Camilla accidentally let slip something about it, I think. People are going to be asking her about what happened." He scratched the back of his head.

"I'll tell our hunters to be on the lookout and try to pick up the trail, but I don't have much hope. It hasn't snowed since the whole thing happened, but according to you two, you couldn't find his tracks?" Once again, both reacted at the same time with a shrug, but at least this time only one of them spoke.

"We aren't really trackers, but it did look like the footsteps just ended. Maybe some kind of Perk or Ability. Camilla and… me… said he didn't seem to be in his right mind, so that may be the only reason either of them survived. He could be Level 50 for all we know." Pauley doubted that, but he got what they were saying.

"The point is, you'll get a lot of goodwill for helping her out like that, especially when you got hurt. They'll see you as a good kid who has her own problems, and it'll even make sense why you're all the way out here. We'll just leave out your ancestry. I assume you don't want that part mentioned?"

"Please," both said in perfect sync. The Ellen on the right continued talking, though Pauley couldn't tell if they had some sort of signal for which one should talk first. Or even when only one should talk. The whole mess was more and more mysterious.

"Our father didn't just disapprove of our going adventuring," she mumbled.

"He kind of wants to keep a low profile," the other clarified. Pauley nodded slowly.

"I expect he'd get a lot of attention otherwise. I can see why you don't want it known. Uh… I do have to ask though. Did you ever meet him?" He felt awkward asking that, but it wasn't every day he could chat with someone in private who knew the most famous adventurer ever. It was really a shock that people didn't know more about the man's family. Another dual shrug.

"He died when we were really young."

"We met him a few times."

"To us, he was just grandpa."

"A really fun one." It shouldn't have been surprising to Pauley that the legendary figure was, sometimes, just a man. Somehow that didn't reduce his awe, though. He sighed lightly.

"Well, so long as your father won't come here looking." Pauley scratched at the back of his head again.

"He won't."

"He sent our uncle."

"Dad just hates adventurers."

"We'll want to have some success before going back to visit."

"Or I guess let the others have success."

"We aren't doing the adventuring any more." The quick back and forth was giving Pauley a headache, but he grunted. He had to admit that he wanted to help them out, even after all this. Not because they were Greylans, though. Just because it was the most interesting thing that he'd ever seen. Anroll Greylan"And you just left her there?!" Anroll flinched. Somehow, his brother Rance could always get under his skin by tone of voice alone.

Or maybe it was his wife Beatrice, who often held back Rance's worst temper tantrums… currently standing behind him with a glower that showed her full support of her husband's yelling. Spreading his hands, Anroll tried to calm both of them.

"Look, it's winter. I can make the trip pretty easily, but it takes time. Did you want me to drag her across the snow-covered roads or let her stay working in a warm, comfortable inn nestled in the middle of nowhere? She's happy, she's well-fed, and she's around people who care about her. The girl's an adult, you can't just drag her home because you don't approve of her leaving." That made Rance even more furious, but when he clenched his fists Beatrice did step in.

She put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed, forcing him to take a breath and try to relax. At least a little.

"Maybe she is right now, but what if spring comes along and she jumps right back into something foolish?" Rance demanded. That wasn't a bad question. Anroll hated lying to his brother, but the truth would just infuriate him more. He'd hid it around Ellen, but Rance didn't just disapprove of the adventuring lifestyle… he loathed being associated with their mutual father. He still blamed Gabriel Greylan for the death of their mother. Another secret Anroll had to keep.

"Like I said, she's happy where she is," he sighed.

"Honestly, I think she might be having thoughts of becoming an innkeeper or something. I heard she really enjoyed just taking care of guests and keeping the place running. I know you wanted her to be some kind of farmer, Rance… but let's face it, you don't do much farming." His brother winced, but he didn't deny it. He mostly let his workers do all the farming, while he supervised.

He'd not accepted a huge amount of his father's fortune, but even what he'd been given had been enough to set him up for a comfortable life by most standards. Not rich enough that he didn't need to work, but the farm was hardly destitute. Beatrice gave a disapproving look and spoke up.

"She's still young, she could get all kinds of ideas on a whim. We can't know she won't get bored of that." Boredom, Anroll thought, will be the least of her worries.

"I'll be back early spring," he reassured aloud.

"She'd need new equipment and everything, so she'd have to wait until the roads cleared. I'll be back by then to curb any… impulses." He coughed… then frowned.

"Though there's something you should know."

"What now?" Rance groaned.

"I swear, Anroll, if you've put some fool idea into her head…" Anroll lifted his hands up again.

"Hey! None of that. I shouldn't have encouraged her about training, I get that. She's never going to be a solo adventurer, she just doesn't have it in her. But Pops was more than an adventurer. You know that. Ellen has too much of his blood in her, even if she thankfully inherited her mom's side's looks." Rance opened his mouth, shut it, and then sighed. He was never sure how to handle Anroll's remarks like that. His shoulders slumped.

"I'm sort of afraid of that."

"Me too," Anroll admitted.

"It's not being an adventurer you need to worry about."

"It's being a hero," Rance grumbled.