Doubts

“The shrine priestess is right through this door.” The shrine maiden the group followed said while gesturing towards the door that was in front of them. “Please make sure to be respectful.”

The group nodded in unison, causing the shrine maiden to push open the door. A marvelous courtyard filled with sakura trees entered the view of the group. The path that led to the center had countless shrine maidens littering the path, all bowing their heads as if to welcome them. Sat at the center were 5 chairs, 4 of them facing 1. On the 5th sat a beautiful woman who had long black hair. To her side stood a familiar looking shrine maiden.

“Welcome all of you.” The woman said after she stood up. “Once you all take a seat we’ll begin our discussion.” She explained while smiling a bit.

“First and foremost, thank you all for coming here today.” The shrine priestess thanked the group whilst bowing.

“I-It’s really no problem, we really appreciate you taking the time to meet with us.” Yuuji said as a stiff smile was plastered on his face. Clearly, he was nervous, meanwhile the rest of the group stayed quiet.

“Now now, you don’t have to be so nervous.”

“A-Alright…” Yuuji’s smile became stiffer after seeing the shrine priestess chuckling to herself.

“Anyways… How about we introduce ourselves before we begin?” The shrine priestess said as she sat down.

“My name is Yuuji.” Yuuji introduced himself, before introducing the rest of the party. “This is Amilia…”

“I’m the head shrine priestess Maho, it is a pleasure to meet you all.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too.”

“Now onto the main topic at hand, the report the guards gave said you all found the source of the kidnappings. What makes you so confident that this organization is the source?”

“We got confirmation from one of the people Allen captured.”

“Oh? When we tried to get information from them they wouldn’t budge… How did you get the information?” Maho asked while leaning in.

“Uh…” Yuuji looked at Allen for help but Allen looked away.

“We tortured them. That’s it.” Kazuma suddenly explained.

“Tortured?” Maho narrowed her eyes at Kazuma. “I see… But whom did you torture? Every prisoner you brought in was knocked out. One of them even had a hole in their shoulder.”

“They had to kill him to get the information…” Yuuji explained while looking down, causing Kazuma to nod in agreement.

“... Did you really have to go that far?”

“It was the only way. We threatened them but they wouldn’t budge.”

“...” Maho sighed while covering her face. “...Is there any other way we can get more information?”

“We have everything you need to know.”

“Such as their base of operation? How about their numbers?”

“Yes, we were able to extract that information too.”

“...” Maho looked at Yuuji blankly, she had no words about how far they went.

“Mo- Miss Maho, is everything alright?” The familiar shrine maiden asked after seeing Maho’s reaction.

“...Yes, just surprised.” Maho sighed before continuing. “Since you all have that information then this meeting is nearly over.”

“Wait, please, we have one thing we have a concern we want to talk to you about.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“It’s about one of your shrine maidens…” Yuuji said while scratching the back of his head.

“What do you mean by that?”

“She… is a spy for the organization.”

“From what you’ve told me today, that is the least believable statement you have said.”

“It’s true though! They’re planning to take the key to this nation by using her, then they’re going to send their troops to overthrow everything!”

“Even if you said there was a spy, I still won’t believe it. Every one of the shrine maidens here swore an oath to support this nation through their body and soul.”

“...” Yuuji looked at Maho with his mouth agape.

“Miss Maho, we are telling you the absolute truth.” Amilia popped up. “We met with that one shrine maiden 2 days ago.”

Maho looked at the shrine maiden next to her.

“So, what you’re saying is Miss Sakura is that one spy?” Maho looked at the group. In return Yuuji nodded. “How can you confirm that she is?”

“First, we confirmed her real identity, she is a harbinger of the organization.”

“Harbinger? Wouldn’t they send in someone of lower status?”

“Normally yes, but this case is special.”

Yuuji looked at Allen to explain what the plans were, but he was clearly distracted by 2 big things.

“...”

*BONK*

“Get a hold of yourself!” Kazuma exclaimed in a hushed tone at Allen

“Ow, ow sorry! Um, yes like Yuuji said they normally would, but the thing about her is she’s too strong for anyone to stop her.”

‘What is wrong with these people?’ Maho couldn’t help but think as she saw their antics. ‘Why does she keep staring at me like that?’ Amilia kept glaring at Maho’s assets, jealousy was plastered all over her face.

“I’m sorry about him, he’s a little special.” Kazuma said while pushing Allen's head down. “But as he said, she is too strong for anyone to stop her.”

“Alright, but how can we stop her?”

“Let us handle her. We have a plan that’ll work.” Yuuji explained while looking at Amilia.

‘I would rather not entrust them with anything, '’ Maho thought while rubbing her temple. “For me to trust you, can I request something?”

“Sure.” Yuuji nodded his head as the group expected her to not trust them immediately.

“With the information we got from you, can you support the group we’ll rally to deal with the base of operations?”

“Of course!”

“Thank you, we’ll rally everyone in 6 days so best be prepared.”

After exchanging even more information, the group quickly left the courtyard.

“Mo- Miss Maho, do you honestly believe that Miss Sakura is a spy?” The shrine maiden asked after a bit.

“Mei, you’ve been around Sakura the most, what do you think?”

“I honestly don’t believe it… Miss Sakura works hard around the shrine and she always keeps her word….”

“I see… We can only hope.”

“How is Sakura?”

“Oh, she’s currently resting. She overexerted herself the other day.”

“Overexerted?”

“Yeah, she hasn’t been resting properly.” Mei pointed towards her eyes. “When her mask fell off there were huge bags under her eyes.”

“I see… Make sure she gets the day off tomorrow.”

“Yes mother- I mean Miss Maho!” Mei bowed with an embarrassed expression.

“You don’t have to call me Miss Maho you know? Everyone already knows you’re my daughter.” Maho said while chuckling a bit. “Anyways, let’s go grab some lunch.”