Once their eyes met, Reinhardt stood up towering above Priscilla by about twenty centimeters as she wore a serious look on her face.

“Sir Reinhardt.” She began to speak with resolution, her red piercing eyes focused and sharp, he could tell she was not the same woman he met a few days ago. “After I took some time to think, I've come to realize this is becoming something that I cannot handle alone. If my father is indeed inside that dungeon I’ll need any help I can get to save him. So I come before you to request your assistance.” She bowed low. “Please lend me your strength so I may rescue my father.”

“I’ve heard enough, raise your head Dame Priscilla.” He was impressed by her conviction. Despite being a noble, she would go that far in order to save her father, it wasn’t something someone of ill will would do. At that point Priscilla was on edge, not exactly sure what she would hear until she looked straight at his face as he announced. “I swear upon my oath to the goddess of light, I will do my utmost to help you and your cause.”

Hope seemed to shine in her eyes as she heard his words, she couldn’t help but smile.

“Thank you so much sir Reinhardt!” She bowed once again. “Really! Thank you!”

Once she lifted her face she noticed the paladin gesturing to a stone bench on the side of the circle square. They sat about a meter apart, it was then when he asked.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to talk more about him. Your father, what is he to you?”

She glanced down at her fingers, rubbing both of her thumbs against each other.

“He… he is everything to me. I remember for the longest time when he would come home bringing whatever food he could scrap together to feed our family.” She seemed happily nostalgic talking about it. “It wasn’t easy by any means but every day felt… fulfilling.”

“I see, he must be a good man to take care of his family.”

She nodded in agreement.

“I don’t understand what compelled him to go inside that hideous place. But I have to save him- I must.”

She was determined to find him and he could feel it, eyes and spirit burning with passion until a familiar voice came from behind them.

“Rein?”

Looking over his shoulder he noticed Elaine was standing by the store’s entrance with Rionara right beside her now wearing a very different outfit from when she had first met them. Her long silver hair was now tucked inside a dark green cloak with its hood rolled inwards which made it look like a jacket, beneath she wore a simple white shirt which was also tucked in the light brown padded trousers which were held on her hip by one thick belt that carried a few pouches on each of her sides alongside the sheathed dagger and instead of cloth she was now wearing proper high leather boots which covered up her shins.

“Ah, welcome back.” He said while standing up and turning around to face them, his eyes widened in a pleasant surprise when he saw Rionara wearing the new clothing. “I hope you liked Rio.”

She nodded with a faint smile on her face.

“I see you are taking care of her.” Priscilla said as she looked at the girl before turning at him again. “Mind if we continue this conversation at the guild? There shouldn’t be too many people there at this hour.”

He quickly glanced at Elaine who returned his gaze with a quick and short nod.

“No problem. I need to talk to them about this as well.”

“Fine by me.”

The sizable group walked for a brief moment until they reached the warrior’s guild. It was as she had mentioned, the place was practically empty and unlike the adventurer’s guild, they didn’t have a bar which made most drunkards prefer other places to fill their bellies with mead. However there were still tables and a small area for those willing to rent a place inside the main building. Priscilla led them to a corner of the building where there was a stall of food manned by a young man of slick combed back brown hair, hazel eyes and a scruff for a beard.

“Welcome- oh! Hello Pris. Getting the usual?”

“Yeah but make it four.”

“Rare to see you with someone else other than Rhys, let alone in a party.” He had a wide white smile. “Winds are taking a turn for our lass after all.”

“Oh shut it.”

“Now, now, don’t need to get upset. Take a seat and I’ll go prepare your meal.” He looked at Reinhardt, who was also considerably taller than him. “Thank you for looking out for her. Pris here may be a bit slow with the common folk but I assure you she means well.”

“Hector!”

Her embarrassed voice prompted the young man to leave to the back of the stall to prepare their food while wearing an obvious smirk on his face. She sighed in response, taking a seat on the far corner of the cafeteria.

“A friend of yours?” Reinhardt asked as he sat across from her. Elaine sat by his side while Rionara picked the chair against the wall beside Priscilla. “He seemed cheerful, given the current situation of the town.”

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“He’s not from here. He’s a merchant from Akrapocalis, he deals in a variety of goods.”

The elf glanced at Hector who was skillfully working the pans and other tools behind the kitchen counter.

“He seems a bit more competent with cookware than a normal merchant would be.”

“He is, as he likes to say, a hector of all trades.” Priscilla chuckled shortly. “Though I’d say it’s more of a case of making money than pleasing his customers. But enough of him-” She turned to the girl fidgeting on her seat beside her. “Rio, you look absolutely adorable with the new outfit.”

“T-thank you. It was Elaine who picked them.”

Priscilla gave the elf a glance accompanied with a smirk but she simply dismissed it by looking towards the window.

“Well, I’m glad to have found you all.” She supported her upper body with both of her elbows on the table before adjusting herself on the chair. “After our reunion with Rhys’ informant I figured it would be better to take action rather than wait around for the guild to do something since most of the trusted members of this guild scarcely have any experience in dungeon delving.”

“It is a pretty dangerous job.” Reinhardt added. “We just recently started to work on it.”

“It was more because of our debts.” Elaine’s tone carried a certain wariness to it. “Now that we are done with that business I’m not sure we’ll need to go that route for coins.”

Without looking directly at her, Reinhardt turned his head slightly while speaking.

“I’m a man of my word, Dame Priscilla. Even if I must venture alone, my sword is yours.”

“Rein, with all due respect-” Elaine turned at him, now with a clear intention of stopping him. “-we barely met her days ago, you can’t possibly risk life and limb for someone you know so little of.”

“Elaine.” He didn’t raise his voice but it was clear he wasn’t exactly content with her response. “I gave her my word. To go back on it is to shame my goddess.”

“There you go again with your stupid oath…” She muttered under her breath before getting fed up and standing up. “Fine, do whatever you want Rein.”

She stormed off with heavy stomps, which were more like normal footsteps given how light she actually was.

“Wait Elaine-!” He sighed. “You’re always like this…”

Seeing her walk away made Rionara follow her.

“I’m sorry I’ve put you in this situation sir Reinhardt.” Priscilla bit her lower lip slightly. “But I had to ask you as fast as I could, else I-”

“Don’t blame yourself, Dame Priscilla. I… I should’ve spoken with her before about this but you have my word, I will help you find your father.”

His eyes glanced briefly at Rionara while she was hopping off her seat.

“I- I will look for Elaine.”

“Please do Rio.”

Seeing her nod made Reinhardt pat her on the head as she went past him. Priscilla on the other hand was nervous as she intertwined her fingers and started fidgeting her thumbs around.

“I… I just want my father back in one piece. I have this dreadful feeling gnawing in the back of my mind that if I don’t act fast I will lose him forever down in the darkness. I’m sorry to put you in this position sir Reinhardt.”

“No apologies necessary, I should’ve talked about this with her in advance.”

They kept talking as Rionara dashed after Elaine. Coming out of the guild building she noticed the elf in the corner of her vision walking towards the entrance of the dungeon. She wasted no time in chasing after her, only to be blocked by the two armored guards standing by the entrance.

“You’re too young to go in there, little miss.”

One of them said while using the pole of his halberd to block her way.

“Wait a minute… I have seen you before haven’t I?” The other one narrowed his eyes as he took a good long look at her. “You’re-”

“She’s with me.” Elaine put her hand on his shoulder, pulling him slightly back. “She’s not as young as you think she is.”

“Oh. I’m- I’m sorry I didn’t know.”

“Come on Rio. Let’s go.”

Avoiding direct eye contact with the guards, she accompanied her downstairs. The walk was quiet, nothing more than the sounds of their own breathing and footsteps filled the staircase. They reached the bottom before long and were greeted by a gentle orange hued sky, it was devoid of clouds, unlike last time Rionara had come in.

“So, why did you follow me?”

Elaine walked a few steps forward, seeing how the immediate vicinity was free of any monsters as she took a deep breath while looking at the blue sky.

“I…” She stared at her own hands. “I don’t know… it just seemed the right thing to do.”

“Hmph. Rein’s already started to rub off on you.” She took out her silver pocket watch upon opening it she lightly rubbed her right thumb on top of the cracked glass. Both hands were ticking, showing it was just past two in the afternoon. “You know, I wasn’t totally unlike you in my childhood. Being the youngest daughter of the Delaware family was… painful, at best. At worst, it was a curse.”

“...”

Rionara quietly stared at the elf’s slim back as she spoke out loud.

“Day and night we would train to serve, be under the warm blankets of a bed or beside our master in battle, ready to lay down our pitiful lives as we did so. That was until I met him, Reinhardt Lorraine, the prized young master of the family.” She closed the watch and returned it to her pocket. “At first I thought of him as nothing more than a snob lordling, but time and time again he proved me wrong. To him, status, name, fame, all of that meant nothing as long as you had the perseverance to do what needed to be done.” She unsheathed her shortsword, it was a blade of around thirty centimeters that was kept well polished and sharpened to the point where one could see their own reflection in it. “I’m all too ready to lay down my life for him and yet… whenever I see him put his life on the line for the sake of others, my chest tightens in despair. Why go to such lengths for an oath that no longer binds him?”

“Wouldn’t you do the same for him?”

Those words resonated with her as she turned around to face Rionara. Elaine’s eyes were on the brink of tears.

“Nobody would want someone as broken and defiled as I.”

“I… I don’t understand most of the things you and Rein talk about but, I’m sure of one thing, he cherishes you more than anyone, Elaine.”

Her grip on the shortsword tightened before she sheathed the blade back in the scabbard. Deep down she already knew, but the continuous days of fighting for survival had her struggling to accept her master’s decision to help an essentially complete stranger disregarding their now deserved freedom.

“Sometimes I wish we could go back to the way things used to be. But I know that won’t be possible anymore.” She turned to Rionara. “Come on, let’s head back. Thank you for looking out for me, Rio.”