The main door was blocked from the other side. Ahk helped the others enter the building by punching the door down before kicking it out of the way. Behind the door was a pile of furniture that had been scattered by Ahk's kick so Eliza climbed over the small pile and prepared her weapon. The entrance hall had two floors and the second floor had a railing that allowed people to look down.
Eliza looked up when she heard a noise and saw two pairs of eyes staring down at her. Those two pairs of eyes were attached to two different people that were balancing a dresser on the railing. Eliza saw the moment they pushed the dresser and dodged out of the way as the dresser came crashing down where she was just standing. There was no immediate way upstairs so Eliza rushed outside and pointed towards one of the windows on the second floor. "Ahk! Lift me up there!"
Ahk lifted Eliza up with her uninjured arm and Eliza jumped through the window, blocking her eyes with the arm that wasn't holding a weapon to prevent any glass from getting in it. The men had already entered the room at the corner of the second floor but Eliza could hear them trying to pile up furniture in front of its door. The door opened inwards so Eliza wasn't able to open it with the furniture in the way. Eliza tried slamming the top of the door with the butt of her weapon but the door was reinforced with metal and she couldn't damage it.
Eliza realized how futile it would be to go through the door and returned to the window that she broke through, trying to see if there was a window she could go through attached to the other room. Eliza tossed her weapon down since it would get in the way and climbed across the outside wall, digging her claws into the brick to get grip while her feet were place on a small ledge that wrapped around the manor. It was dark inside so Eliza could barely see them as they had their weapons--a couple of wooden poles--pointed towards the door.
Eliza punched the window and crawled through it, causing the two men to start panicking. There was a door that led to the balcony opposite from the door that led to the entrance hall and the men rushed towards it. One of the men ran through to the other door on the balcony while the other one tried to hold the door shut. Eliza pulled the balcony door open and kicked the man as he fell forward, causing him to flip over the balcony railing and crash onto something below.
Eliza slammed into the door that the other man ran through, knocking him backwards along with the desk that he was trying to block the door with. "Stop running!" She vaulted over the desk and landed on the man as he was trying to escape, repeatedly slamming his head against the floor until he stopped moving. Eliza kicked him in the side just to make sure he'd stay down before she saw a blanket to tie him up with. The room she was in seemed to be a bedroom. There were five doors including the one that she had just entered from.
Eliza picked the door that was directly across from the balcony door and closest to the window; the door gave a somewhat loud creaking sound as she opened it. Inside of the room was a desk and some chairs that looked pretty comfortable. Around the corner was another door but it was locked. There was no noise coming from inside the room so Eliza decided not to bother with it.
Returning to the bedroom, Eliza decided to open the doors one by one in order. The next two doors were a closet and bathroom. The closet was mostly empty with only some cheap-looking clothes hung up. The final door led into the second floor hallway. A small area with couches and a table was up ahead but there were a few blind spots that she would need to be careful of, including the stairway leading downstairs.
There was a door on her left and slightly down the hall from it was a blind spot to her right. Eliza turned off the light and entered the room, only turning the light back on when the door was closed behind her. It was another bedroom and nobody was inside of it besides her. There was a large bloodstain on the bed that looked old and some of the furniture was destroyed. There was a window in the center of the raised ceiling that allowed light to enter the room.
With that room being no good, Eliza turned off the light again and waited a while for her eyes to adjust before peeking out. Nothing was outside the room so Eliza snuck out and checked out the two doors that were around the corner from the hallway. Still nothing. Another bedroom and bathroom cleared. She had searched half of the second floor and those two men were the only ones that she had seen. It was starting to feel like she was wasting her time.
Eliza decided to take a short break before continuing her search. She just had to keep an eye on the staircase and she would be able to see anybody coming from any direction besides the one she just came from. The other door leading to the half of the house she had explored was blocked and there was nobody else in the rooms on the way. There was one door that was locked but she would hear if anybody came from there. Perhaps one of the enemies would walk by if she waited silently for them to appear.
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"Eliza's not out yet. I'm getting worried about her." It had been several minutes since Eliza entered the manor. Jasmine didn't know what happened after that man came falling from the second floor. He landed on doors that seemed to lead into the basement but they were chained up and Jasmine didn't want to separate the group even further; especially now that Eliza was missing. "Are you all still willing to go in?"
Rumi and Letta talked for a bit before deciding to go in. "If Eliza's in trouble then she might need us. We're not as strong as the rest of you but we can't just sit back and do nothing." Letta's words weren't meant for Alba but she still felt the sting from them. Could she really sit back and do nothing while her friends were in harm's way?
"Wait." Alba stood up and slowly walked over to the group. She really didn't think it was a smart idea to go in but if Rumi and Letta got injured because she wasn't there then she would never be able to forgive herself. It was different when Eliza was with them since she was strong but now they would be going in with just them and Livi. "I'll come with you. You'll need my light in there."
Alba walked up the few steps leading to the entrance hall. There was a door on the right side of the hall and a short path to the back of the manor on the opposite side of the main entrance. The paths directly to the back of the entrance hall and the around the left were blocked by the pile of furniture so she kept to the right and signaled for her friends to follow her. "Should we check the room first?" Alba looked at her friends to see what their answer was.
"We need to find the staircase to get to Eliza. I don't think it'll be through this room." The others agreed with Letta so they decided to avoid the room for now.
Alba led the way around the pile of furniture and peeked around the corner leading to the back of the manor. There was a door at the back of the hall and paths leading in both directions, creating an area with three directions that they'd have to be cautious of. Alba kept close to the wall after turning the corner so that she could get a better view of the hallway leading to the left. She didn't see it from the entrance hall but there was a dim light coming from that direction. It seemed like were more people in the building than the people that Eliza went to chase after. Alba's footsteps were heavy and the plate armor's rattling made a lot of noise which made her even more nervous since she couldn't hear anybody if they were coming.
After reaching the intersection, Alba and Letta each took a corner to look around. Alba didn't see anybody to their right but there was a door at the end of the hallway and it looked like the hall continued further. Further to the right was a staircase leading into the basement but the stairs would be difficult to climb for a dwarf like her. There was a gate blocking entry to the stairs which meant that if anybody was down there then it'd be difficult to sneak up on them. Alba could barely see that there was a stone tile floor with a section a bit further back that was covered with loose dirt.
"This way." Letta was trying to be quiet while calling Alba. Alba turned around and noticed that the light she saw earlier was coming from a stained glass window leading into a room. Turning towards where Letta was looking, Alba saw the stairs leading up. Unlike the stairs leading down, these stairs had a small platform in the middle of them and the stairs themselves were almost half the height. "We should look for Eliza before we search the rest of the place."
Letta took the lead as they went upstairs with Rumi and Livi just behind her. Alba slowly went up backwards so that she could keep an eye out for anybody that might be following them. "Alba, hurry up." Letta called quietly from upstairs.
After reaching the platform, Alba hurried up the rest of the stairs. "Which way should we search first?" Alba looked around and couldn't see any signs of Eliza.
"She was last seen on that side so we should check it first. Livi, stay here and make sure nobody else uses the stairs." Letta was pointing to Alba's right as Alba faced the back of the manor. Before they could check the first room there was a sound behind them; something made of glass had shattered. The group of women silently agreed to change their destination.
Alba approached the room that the crashing sound had come from with her allies just behind her. The frame of the door was broken so Alba only needed to push it open. Alba was trying to peek inside when the door was ripped open and somebody from inside grabbed her, pinning her against the ground. "Ahhhh!"
"That voice... Alba?" Alba opened her eyes and saw Eliza standing over her. "Sorry. I thought you were one of those guys." Eliza helped Alba stand up. "So far I've managed to take out three of them. I don't know why they don't just surrender when they don't know how to fight."
"Maybe they would if you gave them a chance to talk." Alba adjusted her helmet as she looked around the room. "What happened in here? Why is the window broken?"
Eliza looked towards the window. "I saw somebody exiting this room and when they spotted me they rushed back in and locked the door. They didn't give up so I threw them."
"You threw them?" Alba walked to the window and looked down. She couldn't see that well with only the moonlight but it looked like there was a man on the ground below.
Eliza left the room and turned around. "Anyways, there's not much left to check on this floor. Want to help?" Alba felt a bit stupid for thinking that Eliza was in trouble while she was actually doing just fine but decided to follow her anyways. She had already entered the building and there was no good reason to leave now.
The next room they checked out was completely empty so they moved on to the last room at the end of the hallway. "This seems to be the last room on this floor." The door had a window on it but Eliza could barely see what was on the other side of it with such dim light.
Entering the room, Eliza noticed that nobody was in it. There was a table with a few chairs around it in the middle of the room. A board game, cards, and other playthings furnished a shelf in the corner of the room with a door leading out to a balcony next to it.
There was a door leading to the hall directly above the entrance but it was locked. "We're done here. After we search the first floor then we'll leave regardless of whether or not we can find the foreman."
The four women made their way to the staircase. Alba saw Livi standing alone and asked her something. "Livi, did you see anybody besides us?" After Livi shook her head they continued downstairs. The light from the room was no longer on. "We saw a light coming from this window earlier. Let's check it out."
The room was unlocked and sparsely populated bookshelves greeted Eliza as she peeked in. The nearly-empty shelves in the middle of the room couldn't block the view to the door at the back of the library. Eliza found the light that the other women saw earlier; it was a large lamp built into the library wall. There was a switch at the bottom of it that caused the lamp to light up the room when Eliza flipped it.
"Do they really need such a large library with so few books?" Rumi picked up one of the books from the shelf, dust falling from it as she opened it. "The handwriting is sloppy. It looks like a child wrote this." The only books that looked professionally-made were visibly damaged and didn't look like they were worth much.
"They probably sold most of their books. It's not uncommon for the head of a village to sell their valuables when the people go hungry." Letta had experienced such a thing when she was a child before her people were enslaved.
"Enough chatting. Focus on the mission." After they turned on the light there was the sound of something scraping against the floor from the other room. Eliza got close to the door at the other side of the library and tried to listen for any other noises. It was quiet but she could hear the sounds of papers being moved; someone was in there.
Eliza burst through the door and saw an older man rearranging a pile of papers on a desk. Her entrance caused him to get scared and knock some of the papers down onto the floor. "Who are you? Don't you know how to knock? What if you scared me to death?" The old man seemed angry at Eliza which made her confused. Weren't the people in this village supposed to be hostile towards them? He was a bit hostile... but it wasn't in a violent way like the rest of the villagers.
"Sorry. We're the mercenaries here to help the village." Eliza's brain rebooted and she realized that something was wrong with her response. "Wait, do you not know what has been happening outside? Or even what was happening in this building?"
The old man put the papers he picked up onto the desk and turned to Eliza. "If you're talking about all of the noise, I've heard it. It's no longer my job to worry about what happens outside this wing."
The way that he spoke made it sound like it used to be his job. "Just who are you?" The old man didn't seem dangerous but Eliza thought that he was suspicious.
"I'm just the caretaker." He continued to sort through the papers, seemingly looking for something.
"The caretaker? Then do you know where the foreman is?" The caretaker quit looking down at the papers and looked up as if he was thinking about something.
"The foreman? It was either the kitchen or the basement that I last saw him; I can't remember which." Nobody knew where the kitchen was but the basement was easy to find.
"Excuse me. There's a gate blocking the basement. Are you sure that he could be down there?" The gate seemed to be locked when Alba saw it earlier.
"There are multiple sets of keys for the common areas like the basement. Anybody with a set could have gone down there with him." What the caretaker said was reasonable. "If you want, I can let you into the basement if you can't find him in the kitchen. I don't think he'd be anywhere else."
The caretaker was surprisingly cooperative. "You're not going yet? The kitchen is through the dining room. You can get to the dining room through the doors by the entrance."
Eliza and the others left the room, not knowing what to think of the caretaker. "Do any of you think that he's telling the truth?" Rumi didn't fully believe him.
"I don't know but he seems different from the other villagers. I think it's worth looking into his story." Letta didn't trust him either but it was the only lead they had on the foreman's location.
"Then let's go check out the kitchen. If the guy lied then I can just take him down like I did the rest." Eliza knew that she could just solve the problem with violence if he sent them into a trap.
Alba was silently thinking about the caretaker's words. Why was he certain that the foreman would be in the kitchen or the basement? It was odd.
The dining room was a mess. Dirty plates were on the table and bones were left on some of those plates. "How could anybody live like this? It's disgusting." There was a bad smell but Rumi couldn't block her nose with her helmet still on.
The only other door in the dining room was directly to the left from where they entered. Eliza ignored Rumi's complaint about the smell and opened it. It was definitely the kitchen since there was a stove but it looked more like a slaughterhouse. Blood was pooled in the corner of the room on the floor and there were the entrails of an animal on the counter; it was hard to tell what animal they came from.
The smell was even worse in the kitchen; even Eliza was having trouble breathing. She couldn't see anybody but there was a blind spot behind the counter so she decided to enter the kitchen, making sure not to step on any of the blood stains.
On the other side of the counter was the foreman. He was in the kitchen as the caretaker had said he was but the caretaker left out one very important detail. "It's just his head. Where's the rest of his body? These organs? They ate him!?" Eliza felt that she was going to be sick. "We're leaving."
The other women didn't see the foreman's head but they heard what Eliza said and could see the state that the kitchen was in. They hurried out of the manor and reunited with the two women waiting outside for them. "They're cannibals!" Jasmine was taken aback by Eliza's sudden shout. "They ate the foreman!"
That reminded Jasmine of something a villager said earlier. "No real food... so that's why." The mission had become too complicated. "We need to report this to the soldiers. It's best if we leave now but we need proof." Jasmine walked up to the villager that they had captured earlier and pulled the cloth out from his mouth. "You forgot to mention that you and your friends ate the foreman."
He was already stressed out from being tied up for so long and Jasmine's comment didn't help him. "Please don't kill me! I just didn't want to starve. The merchants stopped coming and we had nothing to trade for food. None of us know how to hunt and we couldn't find much to eat in the forest. The only things we could eat were the bodies that the rock lizards left behind in their attacks.
We didn't want to do it but we had no choice."
"The foreman wasn't killed by a lizard. You said it yourself. That Donnell guy supposedly killed him, right? Stop lying to me or I'll leave you tied up for your friends to find." Jasmine was sure that they'd choose to kill him if she left him behind so she thought that it'd be a good threat to use against him.
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The villager agreed to tell the soldiers about the other villagers turning to cannibalism and that Jasmine's group had accomplished the mission. The injured attackers were left behind even though there was a good chance that they'd become food for the rest of the village; there was not enough food to bring them along and the carriage couldn't carry enough of the rock lizards to change that fact. To make sure that the mission was accepted as being complete, their group decided to bring along the dis-attached limb of the giant rock lizard.
The trip back to Adierton took another week and the women weren't as enthusiastic as they were at the beginning of their adventure. Their first mission was a success but they just couldn't think of it as one. The three dwarves agreed that they weren't ready to become mercenaries. Rumi could be seen getting drunk more than usual, Alba started to stay underground, and Letta started practicing with weapons once the knights arrived at the guild.
Ahk would continue to do missions as usual but was disappointed that she didn't face any large monsters in the three months that passed. Eliza became more disgusted by humans after the events in Ironside but continued to follow Jasmine on any missions she took. Livi began learning the written language so that she could communicate with the others more easily. As for Jasmine, she found it difficult to fall asleep without holding Gren at night. Her thoughts kept going back to the village and to the people that she had killed. She didn't open up to Gren and tried to pretend that nothing was wrong but Gren could tell that something inside of her changed after their first deployment.