When the twins descended the stairs. If they found Eric, who was talking to his party, he was probably briefing them on their mission.
When Eric noticed Nirra and Ellie approaching them, he turned towards them and said, "Ellie, Nirra. I was just reminding them of our mission."
Nirra nodded in approval as Eric turned his gaze toward Ellie.
"Thanks to the emergency, we haven't really introduced each other," He said. "So my name is Eric. I'm a swordsman and the leader of this small party," He added, turning towards his party members.
"The big guy there is Gareth. He's our guard," He said as he pointed at him.
"Nice to meet you, little lady," He said with a deep yet oddly safe voice.
"The girl in the robes there is Hildia, our mage," He said as he pointed at said mage.
"Hello," she said in a quiet voice.
"And the elf over there is Shael, our resident archer," He said as he pointed at Shael, who wore a distressed expression. The complete opposite of her demeanor back at Redfield
"What's wrong with her?" Ellie asked.
"She idolized Lady Ameria. In fact, she was the reason why Shael wanted to become an adventurer in the first place, and an archer one at that," Gareth explained with a tinge of pity in his voice.
"I see," Ellie said slowly.
"I'll be fine, Let's just go save Lady Ameria" Shael said as she clutched her bow her expression changing from distressed to determined.
"Well, Nice to meet you all; my name is Ellie, Nirra's twin sister," She said. She then picked up Mofu. The small fox grumbled in annoyance when he was removed from his spot on Nirra's shoulder.
"And this is Mofu, Nirra's spirit companion," She said, and she noticed Mofu's secondary colors turned red as she quickly placed the small fox back on Nirra's shoulder, after which they returned to their silver color.
"Mofu~"
"A Vulpen, interesting" Gareth said as he scratched his chin.
"T-this little guy is a vulpen? H-he looks s-so cute!" Hildia's face brightened up as she saw Mofu on Nirra's shoulder.
"Ahem, Now that's all out of the way, we have to go. Every second we waste is a second where Lady Ameria is being kept somewhere," Gareth said.
"Agreed, Let's go everyone," Nirra added as they exited the guild.
When they left the guild, they started speed walking through the streets and roads with the goal of reaching the slums before nightfall. Unbeknownst to them, however, they were being watched from the rooftops.
Ameria's eyes slowly opened, only to find herself in a dimly lit cell. Cobblestone was beneath her, with only an iron door in front. The walls looked old and had many cracks, along with water dripping from the ceiling. Her arms and legs were chained to the wall, not allowing her to move an inch, and a thick metal collar was attached to her neck and was also chained to the wall. Her body was also filled with scratches from her futile resistance to getting captured.
While she was busy thinking about how she got here. She heard the latches on the iron door in front of her unlock as the door opened, and she saw the familiar sight of Nicholas.
"Nicholas..." she said while she gritted her teeth.
Nicholas stood there wearing his expensive-looking gold armor and carrying his esquiette sword on his hip. He wore the haughtiest smirk one can muster as he entered the room with his hands behind his back.
"How are you doing this fine day, slave?" He said.
Ameria tried to use her mana to conjure a spell. "Wind spear!" She yelled, but nothing came out.
"Did you really think we wouldn't make any provisions for your magical abilities?" He chuckled as he stood in the center of the room.
"Why are you doing this?" She asked slowly because she was a bit exhausted and the pain of the cuts on her body made her tense.
"Oh, it's nothing really. Just an adventurer doing their quest," He answered.
"You know very well that your guild card is getting terminated if the guildmaster hears about this," She said, her teeth still gritted.
"'If' he knew," he said as he stepped closer. "You see, slave, these people offered me something that is more precious than what my father offered me." He stepped closer and kneeled down to meet her at eye level.
"And what is it?" She asked before she winced in pain as the syringe Nicholas was carrying in his hand pierced her skin.
Nicholas pulled the plunger back to fill the container with blood before he pulled it out.
"A whole region to myself—an offer that my father could never give me," He said as he turned his back towards Ameria.
"I'll see around, 'lady' Ameria" he said in a mocking tone before closing the door behind his hut and reapplying the locks.
After Nicholas left, Ameria was left with her own thoughts inside a the dim cell much like the one that the Lord kept her in. She was on the verge of tears, thinking of the dying here, all alone. She then silently wept and her tears dripped down on the cold cobblestone below.
"I'm sorry, dad...." She said under her tears.
She would never forget the words the old guildmaster told her all those years ago. His badly beaten and bleeding body flashed before her mind, and his final words have echoed through her head ever since that fateful night.
"Live on Ameria! My journey ends here; but yours is only the beginning!"
His words still bounced back and forth inside her head. Her tears slowly stopped flowing as she clung onto the hope that was placed in her heart thanks to the old guildmaster.
And hope was coming.
Her eleven ears suddenly picked up a bang, which made her look up. Her heart suddenly filled with hope as she heard the noise of flootsteps going past the cell door in a panicked manner.
"There are no guards outside; they are expecting us," Nirra said as she peeked from the corner of a building onto an old wooden house that looked worse for wear. It looked like it had been neglected for years and was on the verge of collapsing.
"What makes you say that?" Eric said beside her, who was backed up against the wall.
"Did you not see the silhouettes of hooded figures on the rooftops earlier?" Gareth said.
"No, I didn't," Eric replied as he looked at Gareth.
"There goes our element of surprise," Ellie said, almost cursing.
"Let's go; we need to get inside," Ellie said as they all walked to the front door. But when they tried to open it,
"It's locked, which is already a given," Ellie said as she let go of the handle.
"S-so how are we going to get inside?" Hildia said, a bit panicked.
"I don't see other entrances; does anyone know how to lockpick?" Eric asked as he turned his head to look at everyone and see if someone would raise their hand.
"I may have a solution," Nirra said as she pulled out her B25 Superposed.
"An interesting weapon," Gareth commented as he looked at the strange tube Nirra was holding.
"Give me some space," Nirra said as she loaded a buckshot shell into the breech while everyone else gave her the space she asked for. She then stood beside the door with her back against the wall. She then moved her hands so that her shotgun would be in line with the door lock.
When she pulled the trigger, red smoke covered the breech as dozens of medium-sized pellets of lead shot forward with enough energy to blow a hole straight through the lock and door. It was then followed by a rather loud bang.
"Whoa…" Eric said, dumfounded.
"That is a very deadly weapon," Gareth commented with a tinge of sweat dropping from his forehead.
"I-ive never seen anything like it," Hildia said, breathing heavily as she was surprised by the sudden bang.
"That's enough reactions," Ellie said as she opened the door to the house.
"Agreed, let's search the house for any kind of secret entrances that would lead to their little underground area," Nirra said as she kneeled down to let Mofu have a sniff.
When the twins descended the stairs. If they found Eric, who was talking to his party, he was probably briefing them on their mission.
When Eric noticed Nirra and Ellie approaching them, he turned towards them and said, "Ellie, Nirra. I was just reminding them of our mission."
Nirra nodded in approval as Eric turned his gaze toward Ellie.
"Thanks to the emergency, we haven't really introduced each other," He said. "So my name is Eric. I'm a swordsman and the leader of this small party," He added, turning towards his party members.
"The big guy there is Gareth. He's our guard," He said as he pointed at him.
"Nice to meet you, little lady," He said with a deep yet oddly safe voice.
"The girl in the robes there is Hildia, our mage," He said as he pointed at said mage.
"Hello," she said in a quiet voice.
"And the elf over there is Shael, our resident archer," He said as he pointed at Shael, who wore a distressed expression. The complete opposite of her demeanor back at Redfield
"What's wrong with her?" Ellie asked.
"She idolized Lady Ameria. In fact, she was the reason why Shael wanted to become an adventurer in the first place, and an archer one at that," Gareth explained with a tinge of pity in his voice.
"I see," Ellie said slowly.
"I'll be fine, Let's just go save Lady Ameria" Shael said as she clutched her bow her expression changing from distressed to determined.
"Well, Nice to meet you all; my name is Ellie, Nirra's twin sister," She said. She then picked up Mofu. The small fox grumbled in annoyance when he was removed from his spot on Nirra's shoulder.
"And this is Mofu, Nirra's spirit companion," She said, and she noticed Mofu's secondary colors turned red as she quickly placed the small fox back on Nirra's shoulder, after which they returned to their silver color.
"Mofu~"
"A Vulpen, interesting" Gareth said as he scratched his chin.
"T-this little guy is a vulpen? H-he looks s-so cute!" Hildia's face brightened up as she saw Mofu on Nirra's shoulder.
"Ahem, Now that's all out of the way, we have to go. Every second we waste is a second where Lady Ameria is being kept somewhere," Gareth said.
"Agreed, Let's go everyone," Nirra added as they exited the guild.
When they left the guild, they started speed walking through the streets and roads with the goal of reaching the slums before nightfall. Unbeknownst to them, however, they were being watched from the rooftops.
Ameria's eyes slowly opened, only to find herself in a dimly lit cell. Cobblestone was beneath her, with only an iron door in front. The walls looked old and had many cracks, along with water dripping from the ceiling. Her arms and legs were chained to the wall, not allowing her to move an inch, and a thick metal collar was attached to her neck and was also chained to the wall. Her body was also filled with scratches from her futile resistance to getting captured.
While she was busy thinking about how she got here. She heard the latches on the iron door in front of her unlock as the door opened, and she saw the familiar sight of Nicholas.
"Nicholas..." she said while she gritted her teeth.
Nicholas stood there wearing his expensive-looking gold armor and carrying his esquiette sword on his hip. He wore the haughtiest smirk one can muster as he entered the room with his hands behind his back.
"How are you doing this fine day, slave?" He said.
Ameria tried to use her mana to conjure a spell. "Wind spear!" She yelled, but nothing came out.
"Did you really think we wouldn't make any provisions for your magical abilities?" He chuckled as he stood in the center of the room.
"Why are you doing this?" She asked slowly because she was a bit exhausted and the pain of the cuts on her body made her tense.
"Oh, it's nothing really. Just an adventurer doing their quest," He answered.
"You know very well that your guild card is getting terminated if the guildmaster hears about this," She said, her teeth still gritted.
"'If' he knew," he said as he stepped closer. "You see, slave, these people offered me something that is more precious than what my father offered me." He stepped closer and kneeled down to meet her at eye level.
"And what is it?" She asked before she winced in pain as the syringe Nicholas was carrying in his hand pierced her skin.
Nicholas pulled the plunger back to fill the container with blood before he pulled it out.
"A whole region to myself—an offer that my father could never give me," He said as he turned his back towards Ameria.
"I'll see around, 'lady' Ameria" he said in a mocking tone before closing the door behind his hut and reapplying the locks.
After Nicholas left, Ameria was left with her own thoughts inside a the dim cell much like the one that the Lord kept her in. She was on the verge of tears, thinking of the dying here, all alone. She then silently wept and her tears dripped down on the cold cobblestone below.
"I'm sorry, dad...." She said under her tears.
She would never forget the words the old guildmaster told her all those years ago. His badly beaten and bleeding body flashed before her mind, and his final words have echoed through her head ever since that fateful night.
"Live on Ameria! My journey ends here; but yours is only the beginning!"
His words still bounced back and forth inside her head. Her tears slowly stopped flowing as she clung onto the hope that was placed in her heart thanks to the old guildmaster.
And hope was coming.
Her eleven ears suddenly picked up a bang, which made her look up. Her heart suddenly filled with hope as she heard the noise of flootsteps going past the cell door in a panicked manner.
"There are no guards outside; they are expecting us," Nirra said as she peeked from the corner of a building onto an old wooden house that looked worse for wear. It looked like it had been neglected for years and was on the verge of collapsing.
"What makes you say that?" Eric said beside her, who was backed up against the wall.
"Did you not see the silhouettes of hooded figures on the rooftops earlier?" Gareth said.
"No, I didn't," Eric replied as he looked at Gareth.
"There goes our element of surprise," Ellie said, almost cursing.
"Let's go; we need to get inside," Ellie said as they all walked to the front door. But when they tried to open it,
"It's locked, which is already a given," Ellie said as she let go of the handle.
"S-so how are we going to get inside?" Hildia said, a bit panicked.
"I don't see other entrances; does anyone know how to lockpick?" Eric asked as he turned his head to look at everyone and see if someone would raise their hand.
"I may have a solution," Nirra said as she pulled out her B25 Superposed.
"An interesting weapon," Gareth commented as he looked at the strange tube Nirra was holding.
"Give me some space," Nirra said as she loaded a buckshot shell into the breech while everyone else gave her the space she asked for. She then stood beside the door with her back against the wall. She then moved her hands so that her shotgun would be in line with the door lock.
When she pulled the trigger, red smoke covered the breech as dozens of medium-sized pellets of lead shot forward with enough energy to blow a hole straight through the lock and door. It was then followed by a rather loud bang.
"Whoa…" Eric said, dumfounded.
"That is a very deadly weapon," Gareth commented with a tinge of sweat dropping from his forehead.
"I-ive never seen anything like it," Hildia said, breathing heavily as she was surprised by the sudden bang.
"That's enough reactions," Ellie said as she opened the door to the house.
"Agreed, let's search the house for any kind of secret entrances that would lead to their little underground area," Nirra said as she kneeled down to let Mofu have a sniff.
