Chương 97: (B2.33)

33) Whisper Ellen Whisper still wasn't enthused about heading back to the village—or to the village for the first time, technically, for her and Stage—but neither did she want to stay in Merriweather alone. It was one of the few times she could remember arguing with another version of herself, too. Maybe it was because she felt less like an Ellen more and more lately, but the brief confrontation with Stage had been tense and stressful. Her own sister-self had argued with her. That hurt. That hurt a lot.

In the end she'd reluctantly agreed to leave the city. Cobbler and Hunter wanted to be on their way, and Stage wanted to be able to catch some of the Spring Festival. Anroll had insisted that staying in town with a possible doppelgänger was a bad idea, and to leave hunting it to those who were more experienced. Every Ellen had a solid and basically bulletproof alibi this time, but next time they might not be so lucky. That was the argument that had won over Whisper.

She was getting much better at the skulking around and such, but if there was an actual copycat out there she was still a lowly Tier 2 in a decent-sized city. Frontier city or not, Merriweather still had a large population of Tier 3 Classes, and Tier 4 were not unheard of. Even in the village, plenty of the villagers had a rough enough life that they'd long ago broken Tier 3. Whisper just wasn't all that experienced yet.

When Cobbler had managed to find a small caravan to hitch a ride with, that had settled the matter for both her and Hunter. They couldn't afford to wait for another, and travel alone for that distance would be dangerous even with their unique abilities. They'd gotten up early and left with a surprisingly affectionate goodbye that still had Whisper wondering about the differences in Ellens. Kaluk had vanished, but Anroll assured her he was investigating the possible culprits of Merchant's murder.

Whisper, for all her play at espionage, simply didn't have the contacts to go that deep, so she had nothing to do. Nothing except go back to Onroc with her sister-self and her Uncle. This had turned out to be more annoying than she'd thought. Unlike Merchant, she didn't have the luxury of riding in a cart. They'd spent most of the funds Merchant had left with them, so while they weren't dirt poor, she and Stage didn't have the funds to buy a cart and horse or donkey.

Uncle Anroll almost certainly could—Gold-ranked adventurers tended to have a nice surplus of cash—but he didn't even offer. Most likely he was used to walking everywhere, or using his own movement-based Abilities to get places faster and safer than a carriage could carry him. Now that he had to keep his pace down to theirs, maybe he was finally considering it, though. Whisper watched as Anroll once again slowed himself down, letting her and Stage catch up to his long-legged stride that ate up the ground so easily.

It was the fifth or sixth time he'd had to do that, and they'd not even hit noon. He hadn't complained, but he'd surely noticed.

"Sorry about this," Stage said cheerfully.

"Neither of us are really set up to be adventurers and travelers I guess. Original Ellen was kind of fit because of the farm and training, but we're just city girls, huh?" Anroll snorted and slowed down more.

"You're both in good condition, stop being lazy," he chastised.

"It's just a two-day walk. I'm surprised nobody has set up a place to handle travelers. The journey must be a little wearing on most." Whisper shrugged, before realizing Anroll wasn't paying enough attention to notice the gesture.

"There's a campsite that's used regularly off the road that we should hit around nightfall, either shortly before or shortly after depending on our pace. It's clear, easily-defended, and has a fire pit all ready. That's all we have. I guess with the increased traffic from the dungeon there might be something popping up." Stage made a face.

"The bandits that Hunter and Cobbler ran into are going to be a bigger problem if traffic keeps up, yeah. I'm surprised there hasn't been more, though. You'd think adventurers would want to line up for the new dungeon."

"They do," Anroll confirmed.

"It was just bad timing when they found out, so a lot of them aren't here yet. There are travel concerns they have to worry about, preparations, tying up previous obligations… things they couldn't always handle over winter. I think in another two weeks you'll start seeing a lot more, and they'll be more rowdy. At least you should have time to enjoy the festival and your birthday before things get real bad." That didn't sound like much fun, but Whisper thought for a moment.

"Are they going to be that bad? After all, Stage here likes to draw attention, and I'm kind of used to working with people now. Or are you just talking about it being bad for Ellens in general?" Anroll laughed, "You won't find it pleasant once the more ambitious ones start showing up! Don't worry about the other uh… Ellens." He stumbled a little saying that, glancing back at the two.

"I'm sure Village will keep things under control. She may look pretty relaxed, but it sounds like she has everything managed there. You two will be the ones dealing with fussy people out in the village. Aren't all the others mostly living in town?" Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

"Last I checked," Whisper agreed.

"But that was ages ago. I've never actually set foot in town, I just have Merchant's memories of it. I know that sounds strange because it was still me, sort of, but I'm a lot different from Merchant. Some of the other Ellens, like Hunter and Scholar, think that what we first do when we're still a new Ellen shapes us a lot more than you think." Stage nodded and skipped up ahead, ending up walking next to Anroll for a few minutes.

"Yep! I'm pretty sure Whisper and I are different because the first thing we did when we woke up was almost kill someone, then went to do some performance and interrogation! It's way different than what Ellens usually do, so we're like… cousins to the rest instead of sisters, almost." The idea that Stage felt the same as her was mildly surprising for Whisper. Sure, Stage was her sister-self, but she'd kept her thoughts of being different quiet. Had Stage noticed, or was she feeling similar doubts?

"I'm not sure how to feel about that," Anroll admitted, even as he ruffled Stage's hair. Stage pouted, but it was the familiar fake-pout of someone who didn't really mind what was being done, even if it was mildly embarrassing.

"I still think of you as my niece, but this whole situation is way beyond my understanding. I'm hoping I can grab a few of you and head out to investigate what Pops did. I've gotten very little real information about it, but I'm pretty sure where it happened, at least." Whisper frowned, but she didn't pry on that matter. She wasn't the type to go traipsing about on an adventure, so she needed to keep her focus on what she was good at.

Unfortunately she wasn't sure how much intrigue there could be in a village of less than two hundred people, so her talents might flounder. Clearly, we need several thousand more Ellens, she thought to herself. The internal joke pulled a wry chuckle from her, but Whisper quieted as Stage slowed down to once again walk beside her, flashing a quick smile. The other Ellen's friendly expression wasn't strange… though Whisper was possibly the only person who could tell whether or not it was genuine.

She was pretty sure, anyway. Stage was pretty good at putting on a show. The name fit.

"Excited to meet the others, finally?" Stage asked with a curious tilt to her head.

"I know they've been told about us, but it's weird. We're meeting most of our other selves for the first time after over a week! I wonder what they're expecting?"

"You know what they're expecting, and I don't think we're it," Whisper replied.

"Maybe you are… but you can just act like what they expect." That was when Stage clapped her on the back with a giggle.

"Why are you worried about it? You don't need the approval of our other selves! None of them were fans of the Adventuring Party, you know… but they were working out fine when we left. Just let the other Ellens be their own Ellens, and we can be ours! We're too good as a team to worry about them, I've got your back, sister!" Whisper gave Stage a light smile.

"Thanks, I appreciate that. I'm probably worrying for nothing, though. We're a pretty friendly and accepting kind of person, normally. Not all of us are like us." She wasn't sure how much she believed that, but Whisper gave Stage an appreciative bump with her elbow. Whether it was genuine or just an attempt to put her worries at ease, Whisper did feel less tense. At least at first, anyway. Unfortunately that idea of friendliness would be put to the test sooner rather than later.

Anroll paused first, about an hour after the conversation had quieted. It was still morning, though noon was approaching fast and everyone's stomach had started to growl. The more experienced adventurer had suggested walking just a little farther, but now he frowned and turned. Whisper heard it a moment later. A faint calling voice, shouting out behind them. The words were not fully clear at first, but when Whisper turned around to squint down the path behind her, she finally made them out.

"Wait up! We want to come with you!" She felt a shiver down her spine as she recognized the familiar voice. She'd heard it quite often, of late… both in her memories and recently. It was unmistakably an Ellen's voice, but the redheaded figure rushing toward them wore an old-looking cloak and a set of clothes Whisper hadn't seen in months. She also carried a spear with her, though it was currently in danger of tangling up the girl's legs.

"That isn't Hunter," Stage muttered.

"Not dressed like Cobbler, either," Whisper agreed.

"Sure looks like one of us, though. Was there a recent split?"

"Maybe, but would Cobbler take up the adventuring life again if she split?" Stage asked, echoing Whisper's doubts.

"I guess we've heard of weirder, like Hunter splitting into Smith, but… that equipment looks familiar." It did look familiar, and Whisper tensed as she realized what it was. Before she could explain, Anroll stepped forward to address the new Ellen as she slowed to a stop. The other redhead had been jogging at a brisk pace to catch up, but didn't seem winded at all… though she definitely still had some practice to do before holding the spear correctly. If anything she held it worse than any new Ellen would.

"What happened?" Anroll asked in a concerned tone.

"Who died? Where did you come from?" The questions sounded a little harsh to Whisper's ears, and she glanced over at her uncle. His hand was gripping his spear tightly, and the way he looked at the new Ellen was with a clench of his jaw. She remembered his mention of doppelgängers… the supposedly extinct monsters that could take on someone's form. Identical girls would make a prime target, but Whisper already guessed who this was.

"Uncle Anroll…" she whispered. The new Ellen tilted her head to the side.

"The four exploring the dungeon died, we think." The lack of certainty came across as odd, only confirming Whisper's suspicions. The newcomer continued, "That's all we could think of. It was good for us though! Now we can finally see what it's like in this place. You're the only ones who know us all the way, so we wanted to follow you!" Stage's eyes widened, but Anroll scowled and opened his mouth to ask for more. Whisper jabbed him in the side with an elbow, eliciting a grunt and a startled look at her.

She hissed her suspicions at him.

"Uncle, I'm pretty sure she's the dungeon."