His heart rate increased when he heard what she said but judging by how calm her demeanour was, he reasoned it couldn't be that bad. He quickly left his desk and followed behind her.

They entered his clinic and Albus looked around. The maid sighed and called over a few maids by the entrance.

She pushed aside a bed and it revealed a trapdoor.

Albus began feeling anxious. ("I know we built it in case we needed discretion from the other maids but I didn't realise it was this bad.")

Avis climbed down and Albus followed her. The maids above promptly closed it. It was only a short climb so it didn't take more than half a minute to get down here.

The underground was much like above but noticeably more cramped in space. While none down here had an issue, someone like Tina would have to crouch slightly. In total, eight women were laying in the beds of the underground. The women had all been changed out of their black garbs and armour. Some of them had burns across their body, one had wood splinters in her body, others were bruised and one even had burns on her chest. Some of the women were so badly injured they had to be left in little more than a panty so their wounds were easily accessible. Albus gritted his teeth as he saw this and turned to Avis.

"Who did this!?" He shouted before covering his mouth. The women inside turned to him briefly before turning their heads from the shame they felt from having their master look at them in their current states.

She blankly stared at her master.

"Before that, based on the amount of potions we have left, in addition to how many we have injured here, it's likely we'll be out of the potion for the next few months. Do you want to give them enough to heal but not fully recover or-"

Albus turned to her with an unhinged look in his eyes. "What the fuck are you asking? I don't care how many we use, just make sure they're all in good shape when you're finished."

"Just confirming. (It's nice to see he hasn't been changed too much by this whole thing.)" She snapped her fingers, and several women taking care of their comrades went to the ladder at the back of the room and climbed out the trap door. "By the way, it was by their requests we held back with the potions. They thought it would be a waste."

"Tch, did I take in a bunch of idiots?"

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Considering you're not much of a thinker yourself, I believe the answer is obvious."

He briefly blew raspberries at her before remembering why he came down here.

"These are all of them, right?" He asked.

"Correct Lord Bradley. Thankfully the others were more successful." She responded.

"Lord Bradley? Just call me Albus." After hearing this was the worst of what happened to the women, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Who the hell did they run into to get sent home like this? Don't tell me they fought with those bastards who attacked us or was it O'Reilly and his gang? Did they leave without any of the tranquillisers?"

"Actually, Lord Bradley…" She seemed somewhat hesitant. Albus felt as if he was going to pass out from contemplating who they ran into. ("Don't tell my uncle screwed us over!?")

"It was Grace,"

He nearly fell to the floor in shock. His eyes bulged like a delinquent learning he had a secret love child. He tried to get words but it just resulted in gibberish. "ShewahnowayohmyGodsthatsimpossinow-"

Although Avis didn't show it she was very much amused by his reaction and held a very faint almost imperceptible smile. That smile soon dissipated when she continued.

"Alongside that red-haired adventurer you hired." Although slight, there was a noticeable venom in her voice when she mentioned him.

Albus got up off the floor and cleared his chest. "And?" He looked serious when he asked which made his resulting shock all the more jarring.

"It was only the two of them, Master Bradley."

He turned around to look at the maids and turned to look back at Avis. He still had a serious and stern expression on his face.

"Those two," he asked.

"Those two." She responded.

"You sure?" his face got closer.

"You can ask everyone here." She responded.

Their noses were now touching. "Them?"

"There was one more there, but he simply used the dart of one of them against herself. She was perfectly fine when she came back. We have no idea who he was or what he wanted."

"So three people did this."

"No, in fact, strangely enough, it seemed he attacked the red-haired adventurer and Grace beforehand."

He could no longer hold his stern face anymore and had his jaw drop to the floor while holding his hands against his face.

After that revelation, and watching the girls get fully healed through the potions, he and Avis returned to the surface, which seemed to be in a commotion.

"What the hell, Avis I thought you were supposed to keep this stuff on the down-low." He commented, annoyed.

She gave him a nasty glare. "Master please don't take that tone up with me unless you feel like hiring a replacement. But I will admit, it was pretty calm when they arrived."

They walked throughout the compound and realised more maids were gathered the closer they got to the entrance. One woman wearing armour approached the duo.

"Lord Bradley, Grace and the adventurer have returned injured."

Albus and Avis shot each other a glance.

"What are you doing? Bring them to the clinic promptly." Albus commanded.

The woman ran back from where she came from.

"Them?" Avis asked.

"Yes, them. Obviously, we'll be using potions on Grace. Whether Tibaut lives or dies tonight depends on what he knows."

("Hoh, he remembered the adventurer's name.") She thought.