"Oh God damn it," Rowan internally swore at the disastrous situation she now found herself in. Of all the times to get caught, now was the worst possible moment. The young woman gritted her teeth, staring into the cold, hardened eyes of the Atlesian Military Officer across the crash site, holding her teammate at gunpoint. Beads of sweat poured down her face.

And rightfully so.

Rowan's dealt with various people throughout her life. But the Atlesian Military was definitely on her 'Do Not Fuck with' list. She's heard stories of their ruthless antics and how they deal with criminals in their kingdom. But now they're in a different kingdom, so there's no telling how much farther they'll go now.

If not for the fact she came to the village with the other students, she wouldn't have hesitated to abandon Zorina. Not that the option wasn't completely off the table. The officer seemed civil enough since Zorina's brains hadn't been scattered on the ground yet. Maybe there was a diplomatic way to get out of this mess.

"Enough of the awkward silence," The Atlesian Officer pressed the barrel of her gun against the back of poor Zorina's head. Her spotted, feline tail swayed slowly behind her. She paid no mind to the girls' frightened whimpers and soft sobs. "I believe I asked you a question. Don't make me repeat it."

"Rowan? What's going on?" Mari asked with a concerned tone.

"It's rude to ask who we are while you've got my partner held at gunpoint." Rowan swallowed a portion of her fear away and took a step forward. If she could get close enough, she could use her Semblance and disarm the woman. Of course, that would escalate the situation, but she had to get that gun away from Zorina. The poor girl looked scared to death.

She'd seen that look far too many times to ignore it now.

"Not another step," The Officer demanded with a scowl. "Unless you want her brains all over the ground."

"No one wants that," Rowan assured the woman and made sure to keep her hands where they could be seen. Since she wasn't able to use her Semblance, that plan immediately got thrown out the window. "My name is Rowan. I'm a student at Haven Academy. That's my teammate, Zorina, you've got there."

The Officer narrowed her eyes, not easing up despite hearing the new information. "Students?" The woman responded with a dubious tone. "What are...students...doing here, messing around a crash site?"

"Curiosity," Rowan didn't skip a beat in lying to the woman. "We're conducting an escorting mission in the village nearby. We heard about the crash site and came to investigate."

"Which resulted in the two of you tampering with the scene and knocking out my guards." The Officer's harsh tone caused the students to tense up. There wasn't a logical explanation either of them could give to soothe the woman's anger.

"Look, we're sorry for the trouble we've caused. Put down the gun, let us go, and we'll never come back here." Rowan suggested.

"I don't think so," The Officer firmly denied the outrageous request. There was no way she planned to let any of these trespassers leave. "You two are going to stay here and tell me everything you know."

Rowan's eyes widened once she felt two gun barrels pressed against her back. That settled it. She wasn't going anywhere.

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Meanwhile, Professor Lilith Hale wandered around the village in search of the village leader's house. She thought she could find it on her own, seeking out the most expensive-looking house in the settlement. But it was hard to differentiate one home from the other. The place was poor, and every house looked the same.

It reached the point where the woman was forced to swallow her pride and ask for direction.

Afterward, she found herself inside the village leader's home. It wasn't hard to get in. One flash of her Professional Huntsmen License, and she was golden.

The man was quite hospitable, offering food and refreshments. It wasn't every day a Huntress would visit his poor village. He wanted to be as accommodating as possible. But Lilith politely refused. It was clear that she was here on business.

"Welcome to my home, Ms. Hale. My name is Reed," Reed politely introduced himself and escorted the Huntress into the living room. The two sat in their respective seats and proceeded with their conversation. "How may I be of service?"

"I'm here because I've finished an escort mission. I delivered two orphans to their foster parents," Lilith calmly explained. "But it's believed that the White Fang is targeting the children."

"Goodness!" Reed gasped.

"We think the White Fang will continue to send soldiers to kidnap the kids. Does your village have any funds to hire Huntsmen for protection?" Lilith asked, despite already knowing the answer. From how poor the village looked on the outside, there was no way the village could afford the services of Huntsmen.

Reed solemnly shook his head with a frown, as the Huntress expected. "We are a poor village. I'm amazed any of our residents had enough funds to adopt one child, let alone two."

"I see," Lilith responded dryly. She didn't say it aloud, but she surmised the eventual downfall of the village. If nothing's done about the potential threat of the White Fang, then it wouldn't be long before the village is wiped off the map.

"Could you tell me the names of the residents?" Reed asked.

"Blane and Prim," The Huntress answered. Her eyebrows raised when a quizzical expression crossed the man's face.

"I'm sorry, but I don't remember any people of those names living here," Reed informed her.

"Are you sure? I know this village is small, but are you certain you know the names of everyone who lives here?" Lilith inquired.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Unless they just moved in today. But all new residents must be approved by me," Reed got up from his seat and retrieved a large book from the shelf. He set the book down on the table and opened it for the Huntress to see. It contained names and photos of the villagers.

Lilith flipped through the pages and frowned when she couldn't spot the faces of Blane and Prim. The woman grabbed her scroll and showed Reed the address given to her. "What are the names of the family that lives here?"

"That would be the Brussels," Reed replied.

"Damn it!" Lilith jumped from her seat and rushed back to the house as fast as she could. She practiced some level of restraint and knocked on the door once she arrived. If she was lucky, she could catch the bastards by surprise. But when about a minute passed with no response, that restraint went right out the window.

The door flew off its hinges with a mighty kick from the Huntress. She barged inside the house and scoured the household for the children. But ultimately turned up nothing--until her search led her down to the basement. There she found a couple, bound and gagged behind the stairs.

"The Brussels, I presume?" Lilith asked. The couple nodded their heads in confirmation, prompting the woman to free them.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" The Brussels flanked the woman, offering their sincerest gratitude for rescuing them.

"We thought we were going to die down here!" Mrs. Brussel said, exasperated.

"Who are you?" Mr. Brussel asked.

"I'm Lilith Hale, a Huntress from Haven Academy." Lilith introduced herself. "I'm the one responsible for delivering the children you adopted."

"Brulee and Maple?! They're here?! Are they safe?!" Mr. Brussel exclaimed.

"We brought them here. But the people that put you down here passed themselves off as you," Lilith explained bitterly. The fact that she was tricked was already bad enough. But having to explain that to the foster parents ate away at her pride and dignity.

She's meant to be a representative of Haven Academy. If word got out about the fiasco, she could probably kiss her career as an instructor goodbye.

"And you just gave them away?!" Mr. Brussel made a mad dash upstairs. He desperately called out for his children, instantly succumbing to his despair upon receiving no answer.

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The aforementioned children followed their new "foster parents," Blane and Prim, through the forest. Shortly after arriving at their new home, they were immediately ordered to gather their stuff and leave. The new family of four were now out on their own, away from the village's safety.

"Of all the Huntresses' to come across, fucking, Lilith Hale?!" Blane angrily exclaimed. It was supposed to be a smooth transaction. Get into the village, posing as a family, take the kids, and then leave. None the wiser to their elaborate scheme.

But with the arrival of Lilith Hale, they had to act fast. That woman's as dangerous as they come. The con-artists wanted to ensure they were miles apart from Lilith before she caught onto their ploy.

"It's going to get dark soon," Prim complained. The group wasn't exactly well-equipped to camp out in the forest. The addition of the twins only made it that much more difficult.

"I know. Let's walk a little bit longer, and then we'll find a place to camp." Blane acknowledged the time of day but pressed forward nonetheless.

"Why are we leaving the village? I thought that was our new home." Maple called out to her new parents. The past few days have been nothing but walking, walking, and more walking. If she'd known she'd become a nomad after adoption, she would've fought harder to stay in the orphanage.

"Be quiet, please, Brulee. The adults are talking," Blane said with a stern tone.

"I'm Maple," Maple corrected.

"Whatever," The man shook his head, not giving a damn about the girl's name.

"Your dad's really stressed out right now." Prim put on her well-practiced, motherly smile. But the twins weren't buying it one bit.

"He's not our dad, and you're not our mom." Brulee rebutted with her usual sass. Veins popped up on the foreheads of the adults, but they practiced self-control and let the remark pass.

Kids do say the darndest things, after all.

"Something's not right," Brulee whispered to her sister.

"I know. They can't seem to tell us apart," Maple agreed.

"That's not what I mean. I think these people are bad guys," Brulee assumed.

"What makes you say that?"

"Look at them. Ms. Lilith rattled them," Brulee pointed to the adults that continued to complain about Lilith's sudden appearance.

"I am too. She's terrifying," Maple shuddered at the thought of Lilith.

"Yeah, but we've got nothing to worry about since we're kids. But they're abandoning their home because of her? Something's up."

Maple took a moment to process all the facts laid out to her by her sister. It certainly didn't make sense to suddenly leave their new house simply because a Huntress delivered them. Plus, their entire demeanor changed after Lilith, and the group left the house.

"You have a point. But what should we do?" asked Maple, looking to her sister for guidance. If their foster parents weren't who they claimed to be, then they were in more danger than they realized.

"We gotta ditch 'em," Brulee smirked, finding a little excitement with the new turn of events. "Head back to the village and find the Huntsmen."

"We've traveled so far already. Do you even know the way back?" Maple wondered.

"How hard can it be? We need to turn around," Brulee said with a shrug of her shoulders. "We'll sneak away when they fall asleep."

"If you're sure..." Maple reluctantly agreed.

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Schwartz heaved a long sigh, staring aimlessly at the ceiling. As ordered by his instructor, he and the other students found a place to stay for the night--an inn run by a lovely couple. The good news, Team ARNC coughed up the money to afford the room. The bad news, they could only afford one room.

Six people crowded the room, but there were only two beds available. It didn't take long for the group to butt heads over who would claim the soft mattresses. The most sensible ones of the group, Cerise, Edward, and Watchet, abstained from the farce and kept to the room's corners. Thanks to them bowing out of the running, division of the beds went somewhat smoothly.

Schwartz took one for himself, while the remainder of Team ARNC, Amani and Nagina, took the second bed.

With their safe place secured for the night, the students didn't have much to do other than wait around for their instructor to return. Most of the group didn't mind the wait, but of course, Schwartz wasn't too keen on the idea. He was getting sick and tired of waiting, counting the spots on the ceiling.

How much longer would it take for Lilith to return?

"This is boring!" Schwartz jumped up from the bed and looked to the door. He didn't quite have a destination in mind, but he sure as hell wanted to leave.

"For once, I'll agree with you," Amani added while Nagina fanned the young woman. "It's odd not to have heard from Professor Hale after so long."

"Do you think something happened?" Watchet inquired. He, too, found it odd about the professor's radio silence. "Not just with the professor, but with Rowan and Zorina as well. Neither of them returned, and it's getting rather late."

"Knowing Zorina, I'm sure she'd prefer to venture out in the dead of night," Schwartz made light of Watchet's concern regarding their teammates. "I'm sure they're off doing...girl stuff, or whatever."

"Yeah, real descriptive," Amani shook her head at her underclassmen. "What kind of leader are you? Showing no sense of urgency to find your missing teammates?"

"They're not missing. Plus, I'm not their goddamn babysitter." Schwartz countered. He shifted his attention to Watchet when he spotted him messing around with a scroll. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to get in touch with either Professor Hale or our teammates. It shouldn't take this long to at least send us a message," Watchet answered.

"You can put your scroll away," Edward called from the other side of the room. He stared out the window and spotted trouble. "It looks like your teammates got themselves arrested."

"Oh shit, really?" Schwartz chuckled and approached the window. Edward stepped aside, letting the young man witness the spectacle of Rowan and Zorina being marched down the street at gunpoint with an Atlesian Military Officer guiding them.