"Got any ideas on how to find them?" asked Jack
"Of course, how do you think I gained my eagle eye ability," said Rydel. "But first, let's buy some horses. Considering the fact that they went into hiding the moment we discovered them, they must be afraid that someone will be after them. If that's true, we need to find them first."
Glad that he won't need to travel on foot, Jack agreed. When they had left Reinolt City before, they didn't have time to purchase any horses before fleeing through the gate. Having a horse would speed things up.
"Let's resupply and get everything ready to enter the dungeon. We may not have enough time to come back here." Rydel planned for the worst, he always preferred being overly prepared in place of underperforming thanks to lack of supplies or intel.
"Let's head to the stables near the village entrance, there will be plenty of shops along the way offering what we need," said Jack
Finding the basic goods they needed wasn't hard at all. They found plenty of rations, bought more potions and elixirs, some torches, and more. Thanks to the many neighboring shops, they were able to use every shops' nearby competition as a threat to haggle prices, getting everything Jack needed for a total of one gold.
At the stables, they each bought a horse for one gold coin as well, leaving Jack with only a dozen silver to his name. He didn't mind at all though, because he knew had gotten everything he needed for a steal and he'd walk out of the mine with plenty of trading goods.
They quickly saddled up and left the village to the west, heading towards the mountains and the mine in between Baltwood and Reinolt City. The drowsy Bowser slept in one of Jack's saddlebags while Jack followed Rydel's every move. It didn't take long to reach the foot of the mountain as they combed its base.
Rydel caught sight of some distant tracks off of the beaten path and led the way. Jack was right behind him as they climbed the mountain and soon approached a nearby cave. It was almost sunset, but Rydel could still clearly see the tracks that led them there.
"Let's dismount here, we don't want them hearing the horses," said Rydel, hopping down with the reigns in hand. He and Jack both pulled their horses to the side and found a few boulders to tie down the horses. After the horses laid down in wait for their riders to eventually untie their reigns, Bowser leaped onto Jack before he and Rydel crept into the cave.
It was a good thing the Jack had increased his stealth, that way he wasn't so easily detected by the higher leveled clerics in the distance. They approached Drad and Slivia who were sitting around a small fire; they listened to their conversation.
"Why didn't you tell them Drad?" asked Slivia.
"You and I both know what could happen if other's found out about this," answered Drad, showing an ugly frown in the fire's dim light. "You should be thanking me, you were about to say it, weren't you?"
"Well, yeah. They're with the association, why would they fear the Royal Court? If anything, they were our only shot at getting protection." Slivia raised her voice as her temper started to dwindle.
"The association is powerful, but that's mainly outside of the borders. Inside, they can't compete with the Royal Court, no one can," said Drad in disbelief. "It's best for us to just hide and lay low for a while. If we can wait it out long enough, I'm sure everything will be fine."
"How do you know? I'd rather take the little protection I can get from the association then hideaway with a jerk like you."
Drad started to raise his voice. "Oh, so I'm a jerk for saving your life and trying to protect you? Really? We'd probably be dead by now if I didn't wake us up early and get us both out of that inn. Why would you trust those two over me when we've been partying for over a year now?"
"Don't act so innocent Drad. I've known about your perverted tendencies for a while now," stated Slivia, no longer afraid to speak her mind in the heat of the moment. "I've heard some of the stories from the captain, and he already warned me about you."
"Oh? So, you already know about that?" A switch in Drad's brain flipped when Slivia said that, and he revealed a perverse smile. "Are you sure you've heard correctly? The captain would always mix up stories and exaggerated things. I'm just a lover, not a fighter. When I'm able to love women without restraints, I'm able to forget the horrors of being an adventurer and all the death I've witnessed."
"You're sick, you know that?" Slivia folded her arms and leaned back in disgust.
"No, I'm not, you just haven't realized how invigorating it can be to let go and forget about the trauma. How about I show you?" Drad didn't hold back any longer. Sure that his life was being threatened, he no longer let himself be held any inhibitions.
"Get away from me," yelled Slivia as she got up and made a dash for the cave's entrance.
"Hey, get back here! Don't you know you'll die out there? It's too late for those association members to protect you!" barked Drad as he jumped to his feet and reached out to grab Slivia.
"I'm not so sure about that."
The statement coming from the darkness caught both Drad and Slivia off guard. Drad's hesitation gave Rydel a moment to appear and grab hold of Drad's arm. Rydel squeezed harshly and pulled Drad in close as he pinned the cleric to the ground with the arm behind his back.
Writhing in pain, Drad yelled, "Why are you here!? That's impossible!"
"Can it pervert." Jack kicked the immobile Drad in the face, causing only enough damage to bruise Drad's cheek. He turned to Slivia and asked, "Are you okay?"
Shaken with all kinds of emotions, Slivia fell into Jack's chest and let her tears flow. "Thank you! Thank you! I'll tell you everything."
"Don't worry, you're safe now," said Jack as he patted her head with one hand and embraced her with the other. "Just calm down for now; we'll discuss the rest later."
She didn't respond and just let loose even more waterworks into Jack's shirt and cloak. Jack sighed, "Is there any reason we need that trash over there alive? If not, I'd rather we take care of him."
Drad sobered up from his fit of rage and pled, "There's no need to kill me, I know more than her and can even help you guys. We can team up and explore the mine for clues."
"The kid told you to can it." Rydel was tired of Drad's blabbering and flicked a small knife into the back of the cowering cleric's throat. Drad immediately stopped wriggling as his final breath left his lungs. "That's better."
Slivia didn't know how she felt seeing Drad die. He had tried to come after her and was always hitting on her during the year they partied together.
Though he had spent over a year partying and working together with Drad, all that time spent together was overturned in a single instant. She felt relief when she saw Drad grow still and silent.
Soon she stopped shaking and slowly let her breathing return to normal. Then, she remembered that she was being held tenderly against Jack's chest. Peeking up in embarrassment, Slivia inched away from Jack and said, "Thank you."
"Don't mention. Are you feeling better now?" asked Jack.
"Yeah, I feel a lot safer with you guys here and that perv out of the picture," answered Slivia.
"Now, what's this about the Royal Court?" Rydel chimed while he looted the fresh corpse at his feet.
Slivia hesitated to answer but she slowly opened her mouth and said, "In the mine, when we were surrounded by the goblins we noticed something. The high-level goblins were all wielding weapons, and they weren't like the usual ones they can find among some dead adventurers."
"What kind of weapons are we talking about?" asked Jack.
"Lots of different kinds. The only similarity they had was the crest embellished on them all."
"The royal crest, right?" Jack guessed, letting Slivia nod in response. "So, based on what you've seen, the royal court supplied the goblins with weapons and maybe more. Was there any more evidence that you found?"
She shook her head and said, "No, we were too busy trying to escape to look for anything else. We only noticed the weapons when we tried to break free. I don't have any proof, so you'll have to believe me."
"No worries, we believe you. If anything, your story confirms our hunch," Jack joked, trying to lighten the mood. "You're with us now so don't worry about your safety anymore, okay?"
Slivia nodded, happy to hear that and glad to be a little closer to Jack. Jack looked to be around her age and was almost a head taller than her, slightly taller than the average man. She had a feeling that he was different and that he was bound to be great. Her heart fluttered a little, partly from being saved and partly due to that feeling.
"That's pretty big talk for a lv. 3. I'm glad to have such a powerful hero to protect us," laughed Rydel.
"Hey, that's why you're here, I'm just the bait hungry for EXP," clarified Jack, not caring to admit the truth.
Slivia was stunned to hear that Jack was only lv. 3, but even more so to hear him shamelessly admit to it. Her heart softened a little as if she wondered why Jack was so different from all the other adventurers she had met.