Ah, what is this sheer feeling of happiness? This rushing sensation of excitement and anticipation due to this silly and absurd game that we have just made?
If I may add, an 'illegal' game at that.
Sharps, I should be tired because of our quest, right? Why do I feel like I am invigorated from seeing all of these stupid faces of my own kin?
Their silly yet happy faces... Expressions that I cannot avoid to mirror as well...
Everyone around in the Guild exploded in cheers when Roy announced that Fae was the victor of the shady game that we just formed out of nowhere. Due to that excitement brought by everyone around her, she shouted in a loud cheer as well as tears finally fell in her crimson eyes.
In any game, genuine or not, there will always be a winner and a loser.
Malthur cried in his side as well but not with the same emotion as Fae's. He aguishly cried in his painful and absolute defeat while shouting unintelligible utterances with his trembling mouth.
Wah. I deeply apologize, I will comfort you later…
"Congratulations, my girl! WAHAHA! I knew that you will be the winner here!"
The Chief of Estocia laughed-heartily while patting his daughter in the back.
"Thank you, Father! I-I cannot believe that… I won!" Fae said while trying her best not to burst into tears.
"Well then? This cute creature is yours now so take good care of it, alright? Agh… and take it to the Infantry branch later so that we can register her…"
Fae looked passionately at Bintii when she heard the words of Chief and gingerly placed her hands to the head of the creature that she just triumphed for. When Bintii willingly bent over even further, as if she wants to be patted even more, Fae wailed in tears.
"WAHHHH!!! My first pet!!!"
Awww. What a touching moment.
"She is yours now. So take care of her, okay?" when he was done in his announcing duties, Roy congratulated her sister while smiling.
Now… I think it is my turn to console the other person who is crying unrestrainedly.
I went to the direction of the bawling Malthur and tried to cheer him up from his defeat…
A defeat that he clearly experienced from the hands of a little girl.
When he finally calmed down, he weakly turned his emotions into me:
"*sniff* This is your fault! If it weren't for you, I will still be taking care of Bintii happily! Because of you, she was taken away from me!!! S-Stupid smitha!!!"
He tried to pounce at me but due to his trembling body that he still feels from his crying earlier, he failed to catch me.
"I know. I am in the wrong. I am sorry. I had no idea that you are already connected to her in just a short span of time so I thought that you are just joking with us!" I said while still trying to make him feel better.
"Are you jesting? You thought that I was just acting for all of those instances that I practically felt happy every time that she was in my arms?! Are you blind? Huh?!"
Wah. He looks terribly wasted. I really feel bad for him. It makes me feel like I am the antagonist of his story now…
"I know, I apologize. Please, forgive me. I will make it up to you in the other days so stop doing…this." I said with a tone of pity.
I was still trying to give him my comfort when suddenly…
"Arf! Arf!"
Bintii ran towards the direction of Malthur while crying her excited bark into him. In the creature's back, an image of a crimson-haired girl can be seen, smiling sweetly in his opposite direction. Bintii wagged her tail in front of Malthur while trying to lick his foot that was still lying in the floor. In his confusion, Malthur got over his depression in an instant and confusedly asked:
"B-Bintii? What are you doing over here? I was the loser, right? That little girl won you over so you should go to her now!"
"Arff!!! Arff!!!"
"What are you…?"
The little creature forced her petite body to the lap of Malthur and happily sat into it while vigorously wagging her tail. Due to the unexpected scenario that he is experiencing right now, Malthur wore an expression of befuddlement and remained mum in his sitting position. While being stunned from his confusion, Fae moved towards his direction and happily said while smiling:
"Thank you for letting me have her, Sir Malthur! I will cherish her with my life!"
She said those words with a tinge of hope and childish joy. While saying them so, she offered her hand to help him stand.
In response to the kindness that he was offered to, Malthur firstly stared at Fae's smiling face, then finally broke into a regained smile.
"AH, I guess I have no choice. I cannot afford to say 'no' to a girl like you…"
The Guild once again broke in a loud cheer and noise as they watched a touching scene unfold in front of them. Some of them were crying, others were hugging each other, and few of them drank merrily while shouting alongside with the applause of the majority.
Truly, it was a spectacle of emotions.
It was as if, we won in a national Adamthryst tournament…
While the incessant cheering was still going, Malthur, from the looks of it, is now fine and with a heavy sigh from his smiling face, he kissed the wings of Bintii and finally gave her to Fae.
"Take good care of her…" he uttered resolutely.
"I will, sir!"
The two of them finally smiled together as the Guild applauded them in their display of sportsmanship.
(I will use that term even if the 'game' is not even a sport.)
Suddenly, with a loud bang emerging from the gates of the Guild, two figures stood menacingly on it causing the instant silence of everyone inside of the building.
The cheering went in a complete halt; everyone froze in fear as if they were found in doing an illegal act and became nervous about it. All of their heads turned in the direction of the two persons standing in the gate and shuddered in sheer terror…
It was the Grandseer of Estocia, together with my Pops.
We are done for.
When he realized that the Grandseer is in the gates, Chief shuddered in his body as well but managed to keep his nervousness normally. He heaved for a lots of air and loudly announced:
"EVERYONE! BACK TO WORK!!!"
***
"Do you expect me to be swayed by your childish tricks huh, Arsonstel? What came into you by doing that irresponsible act inside of the Guild? Are you even in the sane state of being the Chief of this city? Ha? Answer me!!!"
"I am… terribly sorry, Grandseer.
We were beaten up to a pulp from the endless sermon of the Grandseer. The three of us Myrmidons lined up to the table together with the Chief and we are currently in the position of repentance from being irresponsible inside of the Guild.
Creating noise, disrupting the public services of the association, causing disturbance to the nearby Swordsfolk…
Not to mention, that illegal 'game' that we just started on the fly…
Certainly, we are in the fault here no matter what angle you see from it.
"Do not give me an insincere apology if you cannot change your ways from it! Agh. You always do the irresponsible things in the times of grave hysteria! You should present a good example for the swordsfolk in the face of the looming threat in the city!" she further fumed in front of the Chief.
Oh. That is right.
We still have the danger from being attacked by the Effese.
Why did we forget about that?
Few days ago, Pops defeated the figure named Effese that attempted to threaten the swordsfolk around the city when we were doing the ceremonial rites of the festival. His victory was expected due to his combat prowess and ways in handling his gigantic sword and with it, he gave us peace momentarily.
Indeed. Momentarily.
From the words of my Pops, the body that he destroyed from their fight was merely a chrysalis that keeps its original state. If there was a being that contains a collection of dark emotions such malice and change, the original form of Effese shall take its body and possess it for its own.
Ah… I see.
I may have forgotten it due to our quest in the village and the fun that we had right now from the 'game'...
But the Effese is still very much alive and it is about time that it will resurrect once again. I cannot imagine its newfound powers once it will come back and challenge us but, as a Myrmidon of the city, we now have the duty to combat this looming threat for our safety.
"I am very well aware of my actions and I repent from them. That is why, I am imploring to you, do not drag the Myrmidons to this! I told you before, we just made a way to decide on who will be the taker of this rare creature and in the end, it was my daughter!!! Seriously Grandseer, I cannot just stay being silent knowing that my dear daughter won in a game! I am a parent after all!!!"
While begging for her mercy, Chief started being happy again when he talked about the victory of Fae…
*STONK*
Ah, I missed that sound…
"YAHHHH!!! IT HURTS!"
"Be silent! This is not the time to tell me of your nonsensical achievements as a parent! How can you sound so proud if you are failing in your duties as a Chief?!"
Wah. Look at them bicker that way. It looks like they are mother and son in their interactions.
We were chastised by her for half an hour until we cannot bear it anymore and we promised to never do that ever again. The Grandseer finally calmed down due to our sincere apology and Pops took over from her interrogation. We talked about the incident, the nature of the monster, and the illegal 'game'.
"Seriously kid, you will return back to the city in that state? I taught you to be mindful of the situations and be responsible about it, didn't I? And here I was, bragging to the Grandseer that you will be the responsible one to the three of you but I was wrong!!!"
It was now Pops' turn to chastise me.
Also… what? You were bragging me to Granny? Huh?
"I am sorry, Pops… I was about to refrain them for doing these silly ideas but… I was caught in my emotions." I said with a tune of apology.
"HA? Are you jesting all of us, smitha? You are the one who started that silly game, remember?"
In my side, Malthur angrily roared to me with contempt.
Ah. Right.
The culprit was me.
I almost forgot.
"I know… I am sorry."
That was the only thing that I managed to utter from the realization that I was the one who started all of these…
Hearing me from my sudden confession, Pops' sighed in disappointment and said:
"Truly, I am disappointed from your actions Tori… I hope that you will reflect from what you have done because you will be given a penalty…"
"Wait, What???"
"WAHHH!!! Yes! HAHAHAHA!~"
Amidst my shock from hearing that I have received my first-ever offense in this city, Malthur guffawed ridiculously in my face.
"Indeed! A penalty! You will be given a week's worth of public sanitation around this city! Given that I am also an officer to this Guild, I have the power to give you this punishment…" Pops said in front of me, seriousness is visible in his face.
"WAHAHAHAHA! That is right! You deserve this, smitha!!!"
Hoi. Stop it! I know, I deserve it so I will not complain anymore!
Also, aren't you in the same stature as I am right now? You also have a penalty with you!
While Malthur was laughing merrily, I only managed to sigh and palely replied:
"I understand, Pops… I accept it."
"AHAHAHA! Serves you right-"
*SMACK*
I finally smacked his head when he didn't stop in teasing me.
The two of us bickered in front of Pops when he said something:
"Oh? Aren't you two getting close to each other?"
Both Malthur and I stopped from our relentless flailing and looked at Pops with a face of revolt and in unison, we both said loudly:
"NO WE ARE NOT!!!"
"Eh? Is that so? Majority of people fall in love due to events like this. Look, even Malthur called you in a different naming already! What was it again? 'Smitha'?"
"Pops!!! Do not encourage this git here!!!" I angrily said.
"Oh, look at you! You also call him in a different name! Calling each other in nicknames, huh? That is the start of a blooming relationship right there!" he said while still keeping his straight face.
Seriously, are you even trying to tease me right now?
"Well in any case, that penalty is final and I really do hope that you will reflect in your actions. Got it, kid?"
"Y-Yes…"
Pops turned in Malthur's direction and said:
"How about you, Gilcram's kid?"
"I-I understand… sir."
"Excellent! Now I came here to…wait a moment… where is Roy?"
Pops was about to say something when he realized that Roy was not here.
Indeed? Where is Roy?
"Ah! My son helped my daughter in registering the small creature that she won in the game earlier! So do not worry, I will just tell him that he will have the penalty also-…"
Chief overheard our conversation and gave us an answer. He was about to complete his statement when he was once again received a smack from the Grandseer.
"Listen to me when I am talking to you! Do not even dare to give your ear to another people when I am lecturing you about your failures!"
Granny was irate than ever when she realized that Chief was not even listening to her words.
Ah, so does that mean he slipped away from the Grandseer just to help Fae on her way to the Infantry branch for registration for Bintii?
That is cheating!!!
Eh, no matter. He will come with us anyway…
"I am sorry Pops, what were you saying?"
I asked Pops about his words when he was cut off by Chief.
"Ah right. The Grandseer and I have come here when the sentry from the gates told us that you finally returned from your quest. We have been looking for the three of you from the past days since we wanted to introduce you from a person here that is being kept by the Guild."
"A person… kept by the Guild?" I parroted his words.
"Indeed. Now, the topic concerning your first quest will be set aside from now… We will talk about that when we reached home, Tori but now, I will let you talk to 'her'…" Pops seriously said.
Oh right. We haven't told them yet about the nature of our first quest. I can almost imagine their reaction when they knew that our first quest was done for the service of the Swordless folk.
But… concerning about now, who is 'her'?
Malthur and I exchanged looks of confusion when Pops continued his words:
"If you remember, when I defeated the Effese from the festival, there was a cohort of it that was caught by the Grandseer with the aid of her sword. She was detained by the Guildsmen and was interrogated for a lot of days. After a lot of probing and series of investigations, we found out that she was just possessed by another entity that we do not know…alike to the entity of the Effese that was possessing a corpse."
Wah. That is a scary thing to hear about.
Hearing his words, I expressed my concern:
"Are you sure about this Pops? Is she safe to talk to? I mean, she was a cohort of that terrifying girl, after all."
"It is fine, kid. She is powerless now. The woman may still be undergoing trials and serious interrogations, but I guarantee you, she is safe." Pops reassured us.
"What is the point of making us talk with this person, sir?"
In his serious side, Malthur suddenly inquired.
Huh. That is right. Pops said that the woman already experienced a lot of interrogations and cases so what is the point of conversing with her?
"Ah, that is a good question. You would think that from all of those trials, the Guild can already extract a lot of information for her… but there is a problem." Pops replied.
"What is the problem?" Malthur said back.
"The majority of the Guildsmen that attempted to ask her were all adults and as a result, she wouldn't say a word. She will just stare at them with a smile and remain silent for the rest of the time."
Ah, the silent type, eh?
"That is the reason why I want you to talk to her. She may at least respond to the two you since from her looks, her age is the same as the both of you." Pops said with a hopeful look.
"Is she cute?"
Out of nowhere, not having an idea from the seriousness of the situation, this Mal-git blurted out a question.
I felt an urge to hit him again.
Hearing that ridiculous question, Pops smiled to Malthur and said:
"Why don't you see her to find it out?"
From Pops footsteps after saying a word from Grandseer, we followed him from the path under the establishments of the Guild up to its lower chambers.
Indeed. This guild has lower chambers.
It is a place where the Guild puts all of their secret documents and findings from all of the Guildsmen's quests. Furthermore, for dangerous cases, it is also the place where they detain various criminals.
Such criminal is a person that we are about to meet.
We stopped in a special-looking cell where a rare-looking door was blocking it. The metal door was made out of a white mineral that may have been made from a Floursparite. These minerals are widely used for protection and armor due to its sturdiness and endurance against force. Furthermore, these metals are efficient for absorbing vibrations from outside forces so doors that are made out of it are nearly indestructible.
"She is resting here. Remember, be friendly to her and ask her about the nature of this Effese, got it? I will just wait you here…"
Pops instructed us while finally unlocking the door.
We stepped forward in the dark environment of the cell and when the door was closed in our back, the lights suddenly flickered and illuminated the contents of the entire room. We closed our eyes due to the sudden glare that entered in our eyes.
When we slowly opened them, we laid our eyes in a sight of a stunningly-gorgeous woman.
The woman, who was sitting gently on a single chair of the cell, smiled gently at us.
She opened her red lips and happily said with a calm tone:
"Greetings! It is a fine weather, is it not?"
Her face smiled resolutely in front us when I stared at her overall image.
Her head is pleasing to see as it is shaped in a semblance of a heart. Her straight, silvery-white hair is extremely long for a normal girl as it almost touches her slim and white legs. There are other strands of her hair that are tinged in black which creates a unique visual for her head. Her gentle and deep-set eyes that are tinged in amber squints momentarily as she is waiting for our reply. Her aforementioned red lips are smiling as she wonders off of our image as well in a bubbly manner. She moved around with her slender and elegant body when she finally approached us.
All in all, she was beautiful.
While staring at her, I tried to wake some sense into Malthur as he was lost into reality while looking at her.
Ah, he is at it again.
I elbowed at him when he whimpered a bit.
The woman, now finally in our front without us noticing, reinforced her smile and gently said:
"Are you two alright?"
Pops, I thought this Guild was having a hard time in communicating to this woman?
She did not only acted kind and friendly towards us, but she also started the conversation!
I coughed a bit to recompose myself and said:
"Ahh… we are the Myrmidons of this city and we just wanted to talk with you, if it is alright…"
When she heard my request, the woman suddenly jumped in her posture and with a drastic change in her gentle appearance earlier, she rejoiced in a childish manner while still wearing a sweet smile.
"Really? You will talk with me??? Yayyy!!! This is a pure bliss! You have no idea how lonely I was down here!!! Come! Sit here with me in the table!!!"
She invited us in a gleeful manner as if we are her guest, and we are currently in her large mansion. Realistically, no we are not. We are in a prison cell.
Seeing her act like an innocent lady, it made me wonder if she is really an actual criminal for her to be imprisoned like this.
We sat in a wooden table in the right side of the cell and while feeling the untidiness of the room from all of the dust of the floor, we did not completely mind it so that we cannot pose any rude implications towards the kindness and hospitality of the woman. She hurriedly got a small pitcher of water and poured it to our respective tin cups. She started her introduction when we finally took a sip of the water.
"My name is Libra. I came from a faraway village of Swordsfolk in the south of the capital of Ea. I am a simple swordsmith and gave my humble services from my hometown by taking care of their sword-related problems. It is rather funny thinking that after being oblivious from my memories in the past years, I still remember those memories of my past… hehe."
The woman named Libra laughed with a feminine poise while giving us a background of her past.
She already gave us her name without any probing coming from us.
"Ahck!"
Out of nowhere, while Libra was laughing cutely, Malthur made a weird sound.
Hoi. Stop doing that! You will get yourself into trouble.
Libra tilted her head when she also heard that ridiculous sound and asked Malthur:
"Mister, I just noticed it by now, but is it perhaps that are you feeling nervous?"
She said so while staring at Malthur and moving her face near him.
When the gap of their faces is rather narrow, Malthur squirmed a bit in his body- his face now completely red, and said while stuttering:
"N-No!!! N-Not at all! It is just… it's just…"
"Hmmm? It is just… what, mister?" she continued her question.
"It is just… you are extremely beautiful."
He said that.
Those were his words that are unrestrained, unfiltered, and pure from his mouth.
When she heard his reply, Libra smiled innocently and reached for the right hand of Malthur that is resting in the table. She waved them vigorously while cheerfully saying:
"Ah! That was the first time that someone complimented me like that! Hah! I feel over the clouds, right now~! Thank you, mister… uh."
Libra stopped in her sentence when she didn't know the name of this blushing git beside me.
"Ah! How silly of us! My name is Astoria. You can just call me Tori, if you want. This boy beside me is Malthur. We should have given our names to you when you properly introduced us here so I apologize… also, it is a pleasure to meet you!" I said normally to her.
She abruptly dropped the sweating hands of Malthur and made a gesture with her own hands while saying:
"No! Do not feel bad about that!!! It is rather normal to act like that if you are talking with a prisoner like me! Hehe… the feeling is mutual, Tori and Malthur! The pleasure is willfully mine!"
Looking her act like this, is she really needed to be here in the cell?
She looks and behaves completely normal!
I know that she was with the dark group of that little girl but come on!
How can you detain a person who is overly sweet and kind in her behavior?
I ignored the trembling Malthur beside me and I noticed something on her introduction.
That is right! Now is the time to ask my first question!
"Libra… you said something about being oblivious in your memories. What do you mean by that?" I asked with a curiosity on every words of my query.
Libra stopped smiling when she heard me and just kept looking at me.
After some moment, she wore a lonesome smile.
"Oh. About that. That is right, Tori. I went clueless about my past memories when I was caught here in the city. After a couple of days, my memories went back."
She sighed a bit before continuing:
"To answer your question, I became oblivious of my overall self, even my past, when… that little girl abducted me and took me away from my village..."
...
We were silent upon hearing her statement.
She was… abducted?