[C-Class Mission] Rumor Has It

He rubbed his temple, staring at her utterly unimpressed. "I don't care if you can defend yourself or not, my point is the only thing stopping you from running away right now are your stilettos," Leo responded, deadpan. "And, for the record, you're only going to get in my way, but since you're obviously set on being a pain in the ass would you please hand me that book?" He extended his hand, a pleasant smile present on his visage although it just barely masked the vexation laced beneath. His curiosity got the best of him in the end, however, and although a part of him wanted nothing more than to throw the text over one shoulder, walk away, and march straight back down to the pavilion to murder all its inhabitants, Leo instead flipped to the first page, scanning for a brief moment before he shut it, glancing up and down the street.

"We should get out of the open; this is not an ideal place to have a literary discussion," he remarked, the hint of a jest present. Not waiting for an answer, Leo ducked into a nearby hut, only the smoldering of embers in a pit and a few unoccupied benches present. He then sat down and began to read, the light far too low for the average sight to pierce any lettering. Of course, he had no issue, and after thumbing through a few pages found a passage of particular interest. Leo promptly held the book toward Veruka and pointed at the paragraph, before frowning, recognizing his mistake. "Right, yeah. This basically says the Circle of Mire, that is the name of the cult I believe, worships some sort of entity or entities who live below. I originally thought that was only a metaphor, but looking at the 'displays of power' they have recounted I think it might be literal."

He paused, delving further into the writing. It was a short tome, for the sect in itself seems rather, well, simpleton. Even in the scant few pages, however, it was evident that the author was at least a bit mad, if not by the subject matter itself then by the inconsistencies present when referencing the being they revered. There was no name given, nor even a true title. Thus, it was impossible for Leo to accurately cross reference the cult with any of the others he had come across before, although he had a few rising suspicions. The last chapter turned out to be most relevant to Veruka, though, and with that Leo began again. "They are not sacrificing you, so to speak. They want to use you as a vessel to give the entity a new life. From the looks of it, they believe in return they will be granted great power, but honestly I think these cultists are delusional. And before you say that's obvious, there is quite clearly something supernatural at play in this region, swamps don't just go around collecting rotten magic."