The next day came fast, the sun over the horizon when Adrest woke. As usual he had to carefully maneuver around the still sleeping dragon. Making his way downstairs to enjoy a quiet cup of tea with Rose, he was surprised to see Rin already up and dressed for the day in a think black shirt and pants.
Seeing who’d descended the stairs, Rin hopped up excitedly, “Hi Adrest!”
“Uhh, morning Rin. What woke you up so early today?”
“Hehe, I was so excited I just woke up.”
As they greeted each other, Rose was giving Adrest a glare with no anger behind it. Adrest truly had no idea what he’d done wrong this time.
“I’m sorry?”
“That’s all you have to say? Not only are you leaving again so soon, you’re stealing my little Rin too?”
Ahh, that makes sense. “Don’t blame me, that one was all Alissa. Plus we’ll still be over often. You’ll just have one less troublemaker staying up and getting drunk every night.”
Adrest magically turned a single glaring woman into two. Putting his hands up in mock surrender under the weight, Rose snorted and went off to start breakfast for everyone.
As he took a seat beside Rin, Adrest was feeling more exhausted than he should for having gotten up less than a quarter of an hour ago. Rin, a cause of his exhaustion, was giggling to herself as she sipped her tea. He was considering getting a glass of water himself as it wasn’t uncommon for them to wind up behind the bar late at night. However, as if she could read his mind Rose came out from the kitchen with a cup in hand.
She set it down and ran back off to the kitchen before Adrest could get a word out, much to Rin’s amusement. Ignoring her, he took a sip and didn’t think Rose could be that upset since she added exactly the right amount of honey.
Rin’s eyes bounced from her tea, to Adrest, to the stairs, to him. Her fingers were rapping against the cup and Adrest couldn’t take it anymore.
“Something on your mind Rin?”
It was like a dam broke as she excitedly turned to Adrest, “What’s your house like? What do you all usually do? Do you need me to get anything?”
Adrest was still waking up, and trying to keep up with the rapid fire questioning, “Uh, it’s pretty basic but spacious, you’ll have your own room if you’re worried about that. Most days are pretty repetitive, Ali spends the mornings and afternoons teaching Belle and I, and after dinner we’ll usually read or play inside. And don’t worry about a thing Rin, we should have everything you’d want.”
Rin was about to continue questioning Adrest but he interrupted, “I have to go wake Ali up, we can talk more after.”
He walked up the stairs before she could respond and Rin couldn’t help but giggle at how easy it could be to overwhelm the little demon.
After getting the others around and gathering for breakfast, Adrest was relieved to see Rose was mostly back to her normal self. They were out the door soon after, Rin had to stop at the Guildhouse and they would all need to do some last minute shopping.
As they ran from merchant to merchant, inspecting goods and comparing prices, little did they realize they were being observed. As they passed a café, an average man in a button up white top and glasses was reading a spread of articles on the tabletop, just as he had been all day. As the party walked by the window, the man carefully observed from the corners of his eyes.
Taking notes, he made no obvious movements, “Target found. Owners as described, no obvious strength or skills. Caution advised.”
Long after they passed, the man was still sipping his tea and watching the papers. A quarter hour later, shockingly, words appeared by themselves. “Targets observed. New member joined and is following them. From reports, she seems to be from the Adventurer’s Academy. Maximum caution advised on further intelligence gathering.”
The man didn’t let even a trace of shock show. They had been briefed beforehand that the last group sent disappeared, but those guys were so weak they figured a random beast cleared them out before even making contact. Now though, he had a different idea of what happened, if they tried anything in front of one of the freaks from the Academy, it was no wonder they were never heard from.
Calmly, he packed up his various goods and paid his tab. Once outside, he tightened his jacket to shield from the chill, though it wasn’t something that effected him much anymore, his body still remembered what cold should feel like and phantom chills were the worst.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Walking as fast as he could without standing out, he was soon back inside a nondescript building in the wealthier area of town. This time of year, a little over half the houses were kept empty so it was no issue for them to find a suitably located one for use as a hideout.
It was eerily silent once inside, like all noise had been sucked out of the premise. Even as he walked, the man made no noise on the hard stone surface underfoot. Every window was covered with a black paper that kept out all light, in case some curious children tried peeking in.
As he made his way through cold and eerie hallways, he soon found himself in a dining room large enough for 20 people to comfortably eat and socialize. Behind the ornately carved tables taking up nearly half the room was a figure sitting near a fire. It was not possible to make out many details as they wore a heavy black cloak even indoors. The shape was so still as it sat, the man nearly jumped when he heard a wiry and grating voice.
“Our job just got interesting, looks like we’ll be able to squeeze Randier for every bronze they’re worth after this."
Contrary to the excitement in the shape’s voice, the observer was feeling irritated and fearful. He wanted absolutely nothing to do with one of those little freaks. While the group might not be afraid of a Hero that still hasn’t matured, they would still be a pain and they hadn’t prepared for dealing with one this time.
As the man lamented their new troubles, he was forced away from his thoughts. Though he couldn’t see under the black that submerged the cloaked figure's face, he could feel eyes boring into him.
“Don’t look so down. Still the same plan as before as long as we’re careful, and if you’re lucky we won’t even have to deal with that one. Be grateful, this is a good opportunity to earn a nice long break, well over one thousand platinum Trevil will make a nice cut for everyone.”
Knowing he couldn’t go against whatever the monster in front of him wanted regardless, the man let out a breath and nodded.
“Haha that’s the spirit! Now go send word to the others to return. We have our information, there’s no need to risk our cover further.”
Biting his tongue at the fact he’d just returned, and the man could just as easily gather the others right from that chair, he turned around to follow the new orders.
He spread out a blank lambskin paper on an empty table, then wrote as the boss said. Within just minutes more average looking townsfolk appeared stealthily from windows and dark corners. Within just a quarter hour all three dozen of the group were gathered, where they’d stay until ready to launch the attack.
Three days passed peacefully in the sleepy little town. Adrest and Alissa comfortably bored as there was little to do, but still enjoyed the quaintness. Belle was having an absolute blast on their vacation, since returning from the dungeon basically all she'd done was play games with whoever was free and spend time shopping with Adrest or Alissa. Rin was the most busy of the group, she was out from sunrise to set hunting down any straggler monsters, getting on Gerald’s good side as she’d need his help to keep the lie going, and help guide other groups through the dungeon remains. She was going crazy as she was so exhausted, but the thought of complete freedom kept her motivated.
Rin was laying her head on the cool counter, her face flushed from running all day. She was exhausted, but she could finally sit down and relax for an hour or two.
“Big bro Ady, can we go to the bookstore? They said they were getting new ones in soon.”
Adrest looked up from his hand of cards he was playing with Alissa.
“No problem Belle, just let me finish this game and we can head out. You want to go Alissa?”
“I’m fine. I want to chat a bit more with Rose while we’re here. You two have fun though.”
As promised, just a few minutes later the pair were out the door into the fading light. As it was early evening everything was still a dark gray, but it would be pitch black soon.
As the two walked outside, just like she’s seen a dozen times, Rin’s stomach tightened. It was just a twinge but annoying enough she sat up. At first she thought it was simply because she hadn’t eaten since sunrise, but even after having a few of the appetizers Rose had put out while Rin was wallowing on the bar, she still felt it.
As she sat, the feeling got stronger, her limbs were starting to twitch and her heart was pounding in her ears.
Unable to stand it, she abruptly stood up, causing the two women to look over, “I need some fresh air, I’ll be right back.”
Alissa was curious, but didn’t think much about it as she took another sip of wine.
Just ten or so minutes into their trip to the store, Adrest felt the hairs on his neck stand in unison. They were walking down a particularly empty section of town with virtually no one near. He pulled Belle closer to himself, whispering, “If anything happens, go get Ali. Don’t stop, help, or think, just run until you’re back with her. I’ll be right behind you.
Belle’s face went even paler than her usual at the ominous words.
“What do you mea-“
Adrest shoved her to the side as hard as he could, sending the small figure through the air and a dozen meters away, though she stumbled, Belle managed to land on her feet.
The same instant she was sent flying through the air, over twenty men in black cloaks appeared surrounding Adrest and cut off any means of escape. He managed to avoid most blows of the initial blows but still earned a few particularly deep cuts.
Adrest unsheathed his blade and glared daggers at the figures, “Couldn’t wait any longer? You rat bastards are all the same, ganging up to kidnap a little girl. Well, I have news for you. You’re all going to die just as miserably as the first group.”
Adrest didn’t even give the group or its ringleader a chance to retort before he was on them, going for the strongest one first. There was a rapid series of clashes, and sparks lit the abandoned road as he fought with a rage that fueled every move. Adrest was pissed, they had given up on dragging out whomever hired the first group and nearly forgot about it with the other drama. His guard was lowered as they were going to leave tomorrow morning, what dog shit luck.