I thought she fell asleep.
Once she stopped crying, I checked on her, expecting her eyes to be closed, but instead, there was a look of resignation.
“You okay?” I tried to look into her green eyes, but even with me in front of them, it was like she was staring off into space.
"They wouldn't…"
It was the only response I could get out of her. I looked over at Justia. "Can you do something?"
The brunette Healer looked resistant, but she came over and put her hand on the other woman's shoulder.
"Gesai." Justia's voice was soothing. "Gesai, look at me."
The older woman looked at her cousin. "Why did they do this to me?"
Justia looked at me, then back at their cousin. "What did they do to you?”
“They pulled me off my team to become a teacher!” The stressed woman started blubbering. "Uncle Farsch told me that it was just temporary. That I was supposed to keep you from fighting the first-floor boss, then I could go out with the next team. That’s why we were making Elite monsters near the boss door.”
I could understand the older woman’s resentment at being made a teacher at such a young age. While most Adventurers were rotated through teaching at the Temple, those were usually the more established Adventurers who did a few weeks in between dungeon runs. For a young Adventurer to be pulled off a team that was currently on a dungeon run, it usually meant that they were being taken off of their team permanently. I gave Justia a questioning look. I wasn’t sure who Uncle Farsch was.
“Farsch Alard. He’s our great-grandfather’s oldest son. He’s the patriarch of the Alard Clinic.”
“Our?” I looked between the two cousins.
“Gesai and I share a grandfather, Ven Alard. My mother left the family and her father stayed.” Justia cast a nervous glance at her cousin.
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“Your mother turned her back on the family!” Gesai countered,
“Like they just did to you?” Oz came to her cousin’s defense. "They refused to pay the ransom for you and left you here.”
“Mom couldn’t stand the way that Uncle Farsch was doing business. She didn’t want to be a part of that.” Justia crossed her arms. "She wanted to do something that would help people, not fund a tyrant that was actively hurting his kin.”
Gesai looked like she might start swinging, but after a moment, her fists relaxed and her shoulders sagged. "What do I do now?”
“Did you honestly not know what they were planning?” I found it hard to believe that she hadn’t been given some hint.
“Do you think I’d be here if I had?” The older redhead stuck her hand in the hole in her shirt for emphasis. "Or that I would have gotten stabbed through the heart.” Her memory of the incident came back a little. "They killed Muns!” She started looking around. "My weapon! What did they do with them?!”
“They took all our weapons, then sealed our crystal bands so we couldn’t take one out if we had any spares.” Justia looked over at me. "Plus, the deal that Mister Vowler made with them is that they won’t harm us if we don’t fight them or try to escape. Once Sipher hits Tier Six, we’ll be released.”
Gesai stared at her cousin for a moment, then looked at each one of us individually. “You honestly think this Bandit will keep his word?” She closed her eyes and rubbed her temple. "Bandits NEVER keep their word. That’s one thing you can count on.” She stood up. "Once that Bandit hits Tier Six, he’s going to be even harder to put down.”
“It’s not like they can storm the bunker.” I pointed at the noise outside the open warehouse doors. "And if they harm Sipher or his team, then the Bandits are supposed to kill us.”
Gesai started walking towards the door. She was still weak, but at least able to move around on her own.
When she got to the door she looked back at us. “Come on.”
I looked at the other students. Ren was already at the cage door, but Jord looked like it would take all of us to pry him out of his corner. Oz and Justia were looking at me for direction and RIx was…
I looked around but didn’t see the redheaded Shooter. She had slipped out at some point and was already exploring the bunker on her own.
“Someone has to stay here with Jord.” I looked at Oz. "Which means you or me.”
The raven-haired woman looked around, I could tell that she was torn about what to do, finally, she decided. "Ren, go with them.” She looked at Justia. "Jus and I will stay here with the Caster and see if we can’t get him out of there.”
The blonde nodded and followed me over to Gesia.
“Let’s see what this place is about.” The older woman stepped out of the warehouse.