[So, we’re entering Mural Town, where the other 3 bodyguards Mr. Meyers hired should be. Somehow, we didn’t run into any more assassins or thugs for the past 2 days and while that would normally be comforting, it’s not. I’ve been on edge 24/7 ever since feeling that presence during that battle. I haven’t been able to sleep much either, since I know we could come under attack at any time... That’s not to mention my leg which let me just say has me running at less than 100% at the moment. I was able to stop the bleeding though which could count as a plus.]

John sighed, choosing to push his many, many thoughts aside. His leg still hurt of course but after using a wrap that he had in his sack, he was able to tie it up good enough.

As they rode through the town John took in as much information as he could.

There were many children running through several side alleys and open spaces where they were playing ball.

John noticed there were a high number of shops, along with a high number of customers. The shops were so full that some had lines running all the way out into the street.

He thought to himself, [This town is very crowded; must be since it’s so close to Albeide. I mean Albeide is essentially the second capital of the Ruidrid continent, well, besides the actual capital city Sercius.]

John smiled at the sight. The atmosphere felt busy, but John liked that, it reminded him of his own home city...

[Hmm, something’s up though. I think I sense something. Oh, that's it! I’m sensing that same presence I felt the day of my fight with those thugs! Wait, I also sense… bloodlust!]

In that instant, much to Mr. Meyer's surprise John scooped him up into his arms and leapt out of the carriage.

The split second after John had leapt out, the carriage exploded and the horse, which had been calm and regal the whole journey, took off in a panic.

As John landed, he barely had a moment to process what just happened. He looked at where the carriage once was, the only thing remaining being the rider, burnt to a crisp.

A loud shriek suddenly erupted which took his attention away from the body, making him turn left to see the horse running full force down the road.

The horse was running furiously and to John’s horror he could see something a bit ahead in the path the horse was trotting toward. T

he thing in the horse's path was a little girl.

The child was standing in the middle of the road, petrified. People far away from the child screamed for her to move but she was so scared that her feeble attempt to move over only resulted in her falling down on her butt.

[I have to save the child! But wait, that bloodlust I felt right before the explosion was no coincidence. This could’ve been the assailant’s plan. They would know that in order to save the child or anyone else in the horse’s path I’d have to leave Mr. Meyer’s side. Damn, I’m terribly sorry... I just can’t!]

John looked down to avoid seeing the horror about to occur, but right when he did so, a loud boisterous voice called out.

“Don’t be afraid, young one! I’m here to help!”

Right before the horse trampled the little girl a man quickly scooped her up, smoothly sliding out of the horse’s path.

The man had a deep scar on his left cheek along with white spiky hair with black tips.

Even after the man moved the girl out of the horse’s path it continued, charging forward with the same ferocity.

The man then swiftly called out, “Mary!”

At that moment- chains appeared from the ground.

Those chains had appeared under the horse, quickly wrapping around it, effectively holding it in place.

Once the horse was restricted it slowly started to struggle less, calming itself down, now that it couldn’t run rampant anymore.

After the horse had fully settled a woman with bright pink hair and a dagger tattoo on her neck walked over to the man and child, along with the many bystanders who witnessed the event.

He turned towards the pink haired woman, “thanks for the assistance with that, Mary.”

Mary laughed, “It’s no problem I was just doing my job as an adventurer.”

Mary then smiled at the little girl, “Are you hurt sweetie?”

For a moment the little girl just looked at her blankly, still in shock but then Mary gently placed her hand on the little girl's shoulder.

At that gentle act of reassurance her eyes slowly started to water before full blown tears streamed down her face.

She fell into Mary’s arms and started bawling. “Thank you so much, miss! I was so scared!”

She embraced the little girl, “You’re very welcome. But you should be thanking this man behind you," she pointed at the man, "he was the one who swooped into the rescue.”

After a short while, when the little girl could slow the tears enough, she spoke again. Turning towards the man, “Thank you so much sir.”

“No worries, and don’t worry about calling me sir. My name is Ashur.”

He flashed a big smile, giving a thumbs up, “Just call on my name whenever trouble comes. I’ll be sure to come to the rescue.”

The little girl smiled back, “Thanks Ashur. I will!”

After chatting a little more and with a pat on the back the little girl ran off towards a side alley, no doubt to play with the other children.

“Excuse me.”

Ashur and Mary both turned towards the source of the voice.

It was John, along with Mr. Meyers standing a bit behind him.

Ashur smiled and gave a thumbs up, "Oh, do you by chance need help too?”

John looked down, wearing a sad expression, “In a way but that’s not what I wanted to talk about. I just wanted to say sorry.”

Ashur looked at John slightly puzzled, “What would you be sorry for?”

John looked up at him and then back down for a moment before speaking again. “Well, you see. I’m an adventurer and let’s just say I had the opportunity to save the child but didn’t, prioritizing my current mission. Objectively that was correct but if it hadn’t been for you and that lady right behind you, that child’s blood would’ve been on my hands.”

Ashur’s eyes sparkled with understanding, “Oh, would you be here on a bodyguarding job perhaps?”

Stolen story; please report.

John’s expression changed from one of shame to one wariness, preparing for the worst after he gave his answer. “Possibly, why do you ask?”

Ashur smiled seemingly in realization, “The person behind you. That’s your employer, you're Mr. Meyer, right?”

Before John could question who Ashur was and what he would do if Mr. Meyer really was his employer, Mr. Meyer spoke first. “Ah, so you must be the famed Ashur.”

“Huh?” John looked over at Ashur, dumbfounded.

John thought to himself confusedly. [Is this the same Ashur who’s been making waves in the West of Ruidrid? They say he’s the miracle son of the Sun Clan. Wow, I can't believe I'm seeing him in the flesh. I remember hearing rumors a bit ago that he’s on track to become the next S rank Adventurer after Larouge retires.]

Ashur smiled, “You are very right. It’s funny how that worked out. I thought I’d have to look for you but it seems you found me first, my employer.”

***

The 4 of them were now standing in a room. They had traveled to a nearby inn where they continued to hold their conversation in private. Mary was peering out the window, looking out in case of danger while Ashur, John, and Mr. Meyers conversed in the middle of the room.

John nodded in understanding, “I see. So you and Mary here are 2 of the 3 Adventurer’s Mr. Meyer’s hired.”

“Exactly, but there’s one problem.” Ashur said while wearing a frustrated expression.

John perked up, “What's the issue?”

Ashur sighed before looking at Mr. Meyers, then spoke. “Unlike what you see now there were originally 3 of us together here in Mural Town. Me, Mary, and the 3rd adventurer you hired, his name was Loyd.”

Mr. Meyers spoke up, “Let me guess. Something happened to him.”

After hearing those words Mary turned away from the window for a moment, “Something like that. Loyd went off for a moment, saying he’d wait at the entrance to the town to escort you in. But it’s clear by our meeting earlier that he couldn't carry that through, seeing how he wasn't with you two.”

After speaking her piece Mary turned back to look out the window, watching attentively.

“What does that mean though?” John inquired.

Ashur gritted his teeth, “I’m usually the type to stay positive but he’s been gone for a full day so I’m fearing the worst has already happened.”

John looked down with a worried expression, [Could it have been that presence I felt earlier? They definitely felt dangerous, also they might have a strange ability involving combustion. I felt the presence right before the carriage exploded so who knows?]

Mr. Meyers clenched his fists slightly, “Ashur may I ask you a question?”

He nodded, “Of course, Mr. Meyers.”

“How strong would you say he was?”

Ashur looked away in thought for a moment before responding, “Well I know he's B rank adventurer level but I’m sure he’d give most A rankers an issue. We had worked on a couple jobs together in the past so I know of his strength."

“Hmm I see. Well, I trust your judgment. If he was taken out with no one knowing then these assassins are very dangerous.”

“I agree sir.”

Ashur was about to continue but Mary spoke up once more, “May I suggest something Mr. Meyer?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“I’d recommend that we leave this instant.”

Ashur gritted his teeth, “Come on Mary, are you really down to leave one of our own!”

Mary gave him a sympathetic look, “Listen I get where you’re coming from. You and I grew up together so I know you better than most people. You have a strong sense of loyalty to your comrades but in this situation the most responsible decision would be to leave!”

Ashur turned away. It was clear he wanted to say more but maybe he knew that she was right so he offered up no further protest.

She continued, “Don’t forget that the last thing Loyd said was if something happened to prioritize the mission at all costs!”

Ashur sighed, defeated, “You’re right Mary, like always.”

She smiled, “Got that straight. But anyways the decision is up to you of course, Mr. Meyers'. It was simply a suggestion.”

Mr. Meyer nodded, “Right. Your suggestion makes the most sense for our next move; it is unfortunate that we’ll have to continue without Loyd accompanying us though. I believe the best thing we could do is hope and pray that he’s all right.”

The 3 adventurers nodded, all thinking to themselves that they would accomplish their mission no matter what.

--

Loyd jolted awake, instantly raising his guard. He tried to move but couldn’t, he was tied down to what felt like a metal chair.

Loyd had tried waiting at the entrance of Mural Town to wait for his employer Mr. Meyer, but he never reached his destination.

Multiple robed figures appeared suddenly, pushing him back into a dark alley where they proceeded to fight.

He couldn’t accurately say how long their fight lasted but he assumed hours.

Their fight was super tedious.

Feeling like more of a cycle where Loyd would take out one enemy just for another to appear out of nowhere; effectively replacing the last opponent. The last thing he remembered was sensing a strange presence around him, and now he was tied up in this strange place.

“Ow.” Loyd winced as he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck. He assumed the pain was from when he got knocked out.

He couldn’t say for certain, but he believed he was taken down by a blunt weapon, possibly a mace or hammer based on how throbbing the pain felt.

Loyd could also feel the many bruised bones and even cuts that he retained from his lengthy duel.

“Ah, so you’re finally awake.”

Loyd shifted his head to try and look at the direction of the voice only to see a silhouette. He couldn’t fully tell where he was, but he assumed a warehouse of some kind.

The air was dusty and thin, leaving little room to breathe well. It was also extremely dark, not pitch black but it was dark enough to obscure his vision for the most part.

Loyd gritted his teeth, “What do you want!?”

The person chuckled, “You’re a little dumber than I thought, I’d think it's pretty obvious what we want.”

Loyd pondered to himself, [I don't know where I am right now and the person speaking to me has a feminine voice, but it would be unwise to underestimate them by assuming they're a woman. I'm sure I could beat a woman in a fight if we're talking strictly physical. but depending on if they're a gift user that's a whole different ball game. Also, they said “we” which could mean this situation is connected to something bigger like an organization or there could simply be more people in this place that I just can’t see at the moment. Trying to think of all the possibilities is making my head hurt!]

Loyd chuckled, attempting to seem confident. “I guess that was a dumb question. It’s clear you want to kill Mr. Meyer; I was on my way to meet him after all when you stopped me. But you've made one mistake.”

The kidnapper laughed, clearly unconcerned by whatever Loyd had to say.

They responded in a playful tone, "And what would that one mistake happen to be?" The kidnapper started giggling lightly

Loyd smirked, "Ashur is one of the bodyguards Mr. Meyer hired."

The kidnapper who had been giggling so unconcernedly stopped, then there was silence.

[That's an interesting reaction. Was this information unknown to my brand-new friend? Ashur is famous across the West of Ruidrid, he's known as the second strongest man, that's counting leaders of the 4 main houses of Ruidrid. It's been boasted how he fought Prince Westley of the Lukia Alliance to a stalemate, and not because he had no choice but to fight at a stalemate due to Westley's power. It was recorded that Westley could hardly touch him and got brought to his knees after taking one full powered punch.]

"Hahahaha...hahahahahaah!"

Loyd's smirk evaporated as quickly as it appeared.

The laugh that emitted from the kidnapper was maniacal, yet joyful at the same time.

Once they stopped laughing, the kidnapper spoke once more, "Here, let me show you."

A finger snap was heard and on command, candles lit up, illuminating the dark place.

He could finally see his surroundings and his guess was correct; he was in a warehouse. However his slight contentment with analyzing the situation right was completely overshadowed by the sight before him.

"W-what is that?"

Loyd stared straight forward, sweat dripping down his face.

[I-its aura is devilish. I-is it even human!? It's so monstrous looking, with arms as big as a claymore sword; not to mention its long spiky tail.]

"Wh-what is this beast!"

He turned towards the voice from before, now seeing the kidnapper in their full glory.

It was a woman, but she had lizard-like scales all over her. She had tanish skin along with bright red lipstick, she was fairly muscular as well despite being on the shorter end.

She smiled, "You're about to find out, B rank adventurer Floyd Silvers."

In an instant his restraints were snapped, and he was free to move again.

The creature charged at him, and Floyd let out a bloodcurdling scream to pump himself up for what could very well be his last moments.

It opened its mouth to reveal long dagger-like teeth, and leaped at him. Floyd spotted a nearby sword, quickly sliding over to grab it.

He clenched his teeth and gripped the sword tightly, mustering all his strength to release one, ultimate, slash.

"I won't die like this!!!!"

Splat

The girl chuckled, looking at Loyd's now dismembered corpse.

The creature chewed viciously, savoring its hunt with utmost urgency.

"I think we'll have to see how Project A stacks against Ashur ourselves, he he."