The dawn of the new light passed and the convoy trekked through the snowy forests and on to the open fields of dead grasses. At the time of high noon, the group was finally greeted with the sight of the capital city from afar. Neversummer was unlike any city they have seen so far in Estalia. One of the key difference was the fact that Neversummer is a seaside city. Grant told them that a lot of the commerce conducted in the city had something to do with the sea—fishing, selling salt, and most importantly tourism. This region was especially beautiful with tourists coming from neighbor kingdoms or domestically. And being a country with an ocean territory, Neversummer's naval force was also stationed here. 

City of Neversummer: https://imgur.com/a/VvBgTG0

 "I must say...Yakana is way more advanced but there is just something mesmerizing in seeing a city like this" Braum muttered. 

"I agree...it's also my first time seeing something like this" Urada also echoed Braum's amazement. 

"Don't get distracted. This is not a vacation. Remember that we should go back to using our codenames from here. Did you guys remember the briefing from before?" Kelvin asked the group.

Earlier, Kelvin had briefed the entire group of the details about The Bodyguards—Toziro and his squad of ten. He went into details about each of their names and known abilities. He also told them of their appearance—albeit from ten years ago. Kelvin especially warned them that their appearance might have had a drastic change so they must keep their guard up. But something truly did help them; the secret documents that Lily, the receptionist of the mercenary guild in Lancester, gave to Braum led them to know of their nicknames and profile. 

"Rob, what of their current location?" Braum asked Kelvin. The latter rummaged through his bag to look for his tablet device. 

"Previously they were all inside the city. Let me see.....huh?" Kelvin trailed off as his eyes went as wide as a drug addict. 

"What's wrong?" Niko asked. 

"T-their location...I can't see it anymore" Kelvin muttered with shock. 

"What!? Do they know we're coming?" Niko said again with surprise visible in his face. 

'Should I? This is getting dangerous' Kelvin thought. His right hand was inside his pocket and his thumb was sitting above the remote button that would detonate the chips inside the heads of The Bodyguards. But Braum's words cut off his thoughts. 

"Perhaps...Don't forget we're dealing with elites here. Do you remember Rendy from the briefing? the tech genius? It's not out of the question that he must have something to do with this...let's enter the city first and find their whereabouts. They are still famous mercenaries so someone must know them."  Braum said calmly. 

"Your Majesty...if this gets dangerous..." Kelvin was worried. Braum was his top priority, not those exiled soldiers. 

"Then we'll fall back. Relax, I know my significance in the upcoming war. But I will also risk some things in order to bring them back." Braum answered. 

The line to enter the city was even longer than Lancester. The group had to wait two hours until it was their turn. But the reception of the guards also surprised them. Although unlike last time, they have credentials with their mercenary guild card, the guards showed a high level of professionalism and politeness missing from those knights back in Lancester. The group went through the security check without any problems. 

"Yeah...that's an issue. A decentralized government like this means that there are inequalities in different things across different regions depending on who the ruler is...let's just say I'm not particularly fond of the current Duke of Lancester as well" Grant said after seeing the group's surprise. 

"So the ruler of Neversummer...the King is a good ruler?" Braum asked. 

"You can say that...He's a wise king sure but he was also born in a peaceful time so he's lucky. The previous king was more of a warmonger but that was decades ago." Grant answered. 

"So why don't you live here? It seems like this region is more prosperous" Braum was curious why Grant stayed in a backwater region like Lancester. 

"Sure it's prosperous...but the people here are also more arrogant and too complacent. Because they live better lives, they make fun of people from other regions like me...calling me country bumpkins and shit. Fuck them. I rather stay somewhere I feel I belong in. " Grant replied. 

And it was true that Neversummer was more prosperous and rich. From the moment they entered the city, they saw that the citizens were all wearing finely-crafted tunics and softer furs to keep them warm. Everyone's faces seemed to be happy and there were no beggars or poor people in sight. The streets also seemed more organized with the absence of trash or human filth filling the sidewalks or random hawkers trying to sell them goods of shady origins. 

'The government here must be doing a good job from my first impression' Braum thought. From nearby in one of the street stalls, he overheard a conversation between a lady with the seller. 

"Did you hear the news ma'am? the rumors were confirmed! Duke Erlington truly kidnapped those missing girls" The street seller said. 

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"I did! It's no surprise really, Duke Erlington is a known womanizer but kidnapping the citizens was truly too much even for him...It's even weirder that he announced it himself at his grand party! The Duke must have felt guilty" The Lady replied. 

"It's truly odd what happened but it's great that the girls are back with their families now. King Leo was also kind enough to give them personal guards to protect them for a while until things die down! I say his coronation was the best thing to happen to Neversummer. But even the King has a hard time punishing nobles...the most he can do was temporarily removing Duke Erlington from the government" The seller said back. 

'So the current King is also beloved by the people...interesting. But the nobles are still a problem huh...typical' Braum thought. He started to approach those two having the conversation. 

"Excuse me, we're foreigners, do you know where the mercenary guild is?...and an inn as well." Braum asked the the seller and the lady. 

"Of course! An inn I recommend for tourists is the one near the port called 'Lady Sea'. You'll get a beautiful view of the sea and there are also discounts for mercenaries and tourists! As for the mercenary guild, you go straight from here for around five hundred meters and turn right, it's the one near the fountain." the seller replied. 

"Thank you. We must get going now" Braum said and left right away with the group to head for the inn first. 

"Say...those people had brown skins...are they from the same place as The Bodyguards? What a noble group they are... nobler than actual nobles definitely..." The Lady said to the seller. 

"Who knows...I'm just happy for any tourists that come here since they are the backbone of Neversummer's economy so I was happy for their presence" The seller gave a big smile.

The group arrived at the inn that was recommended by the seller of the street stall from before. Except, it was more accurate to call it a resort since they got their own little house to stay in, with a breathtaking view of the ocean and the busy port. Even with the discounts, the fees were expensive but they had the money and more importantly, no one in their right minds would refuse the opportunity to stay in such a beautiful resort. The resort also had a special barn to keep any animals that the guests brought. The group left their Vaux Ogruns there. 

"Wow!!!! It's a luxury resort! Thank you, Prince!" Larry, one of the twins spoke with excitement after he entered the house. 

"It's so that you kids can stay here comfortably while we work. But Larry, don't call me Prince here alright? Just call me Zed. This goes to the rest of you as well, got it?" Braum said.

"Got it!" The children spoke at the same time. Except for Rachael, who was quiet and had a deadpan expression until now. 

"Okay, so here are the rules...you kids can play around this house and the resort but you must NOT go outside to the city, got it? We won't play with you guys for a while since we have to work" Braum said with a serious face. 

"Okay!!!" The children complied. 

Grant and the others then gathered outside of the resort, near the street, to plan what to do next. 

"It's a bit of a shame that we came here in winter...it's still beautiful but if you came here during summer time...you wouldn't want to leave," Lisa said.

"We didn't come here for a vacation you imbecile" Grant hit Lisa's head with force. 

"Ow! I'm sorry! I just remembered the last time I came here it was so beautiful and the temperature was just so right. There's a beach near the city that was just extremely beautiful..." Lisa noticed Grant's angry face as she was speaking, "Okay okay I won't speak again" Lisa puffed up in anger and turned the other way. 

"What are you going to do, Grant?" Braum asked. 

"Right. I think I'll check up with Neversummer's branch of the searcher's guild to find more information—both about The Bodyguards and also about the current state of the city. That should help us have a smooth investigation. I think you guys should go to the mercenary guild to find further information about them as well" Grant spoke. 

"Alright. We'll do that. Be safe you two" Braum said goodbye to Grant and Lisa as they left towards the searcher guild. 

"It's too bad that we can't just detect them anymore. Let's go towards the mercenary guild..." a sudden scream interrupted Braum. 

"Kyaaaa! That man stole my medicine! Please! My parents need them!" The voice of a beautiful Estalian girl with blonde hair entered the ears of the group. They saw her pointing towards a hooded man running away. 

"Niko! Give chase!" Braum ordered. Niko nodded and went after the thief. Braum and the group approached the girl. Braum's breath was taken away. This girl was extremely attractive with an innocent, angel-like face. There was something about her looks that made people want to protect her. 

"Are you okay?" Braum asked the girl. 

"Please help my parents! They need medical attention right now!" The girl screamed. 

"Don't worry... I sent one of my men after the thief" Braum said. 

"We don't have time! They're on their last breaths! Please!" The girl pleaded. She then grabbed Braum's leg. 

"...Kaz should be able to find us later. Urada, do we have medicine?" Braum asked. 

"Of course. I'll have to see the parents to see what to treat them with though" Urada replied. She was also acting as the medic in the group. Although so far, there hasn't been any moments where the group had any injuries. 

"I guess it would be better than the medicine of this undeveloped lands...Girl, show us the way to your house" Braum said. 

"Thank you! Thank you! Please come with me!" The girl thanked them and ran as fast she could. She seemed truly frightened for the safety of her parents. She ran surprisingly fast but Braum and the group managed to follow her. 

"Something seems fishy..."Kelvin muttered while running. 

"Cut off your perpetual skepticism with everything, Rob. Someone's life is in danger here." Braum also replied with annoyance.

After running for around five minutes and through narrow alleyways, they arrived in the girl's house. It was a shabby wooden house inside the alleyway in one of the rare areas where poor people live in Neversummer. 

"They're inside! Hurry!" The girl opened the door and the group entered. But what they saw surprised them. 

What they saw was...nothing. There were no beds and no one inside the house. The door behind them closed. 

"Alert! Draw your wea-....*falls unconscious*" Kelvin screamed before falling down. 

(Whoosh)

Before a second even passed, Urada was also brought unconscious. Braum saw the bodies of his squad, it was arrows that struck them. He finally saw a brown-skinned male figure with a short height wielding an arrow with blue lights surrounding the bow. 

"You! What did you do to my friends!" Braum said in anger. Suddenly, he saw a hand going through his chest. 

"What the fuck is this!" Braum panicked. The sight of a human hand going through your chest was truly frightening. The hand raised up towards Braum's neck and started to strangle him.

"Ugh..ugh...ugh...."Braum was having a hard time breathing with the hand in his neck. He started to go unconscious. His final sight was of the girl from before. She removed her previous blonde hair, revealing a violet-black one underneath. She then smiled like an angel.