"It's been three days. I think that's enough stalling now. The phial should be full. It's time I run back to the manor and grab it and my sword," Andrew says to himself while he's limbering up in his claustrophobic room. He's done nothing but mull over his plans on what he'll do once he encounters Sigmund.
Drew has decided to break out today because it's the day that Sigmund arrives at Aspen and that a ceremony for his arrival is being held today. With the guards' attention on the ceremony, he would have the opening he needs to make a dashing escape.
But Drew now has to worry about running into Sigmund, and he can only imagine what kind of exchange will take place once their eyes lock.
"No getting cold feet now, Drew. 'Sides, he's not the only one I need to watch out for." An image of Erize comes to his mind as he walks towards the reinforced locked door to his room.
Taking a deep breath, Drew steels himself to take the first step by breaking down the door in front of him. He plans to make a dead sprint the moment he breaks out his room and figure out the rest as he goes.
Drew reels his arm back to punch the door off its hinges, and he looks like he can do it judging by how sharp and confident his expression is. Moreover, Drew himself is particularly built and by simply cocking his arm, his shirt stretches as though it's about to tear from his muscles.
But, just as Drew's fist is about to meet the reinforced door, it opens to show Basil tightly embracing something around his arms. Drew somehow manages to stop before his fist could connect to the young squire's head, who is now shaking so much that a gentle breeze could knock him down.
"I, -I, -Is that how you normally greet someone who's here to help you?" The squire asks while shaking like a chihuahua on caffeine.
Drew grabs Basil and pulls him into the room, out of sight of any guards that may see Basil's strange behavior. Drew even finds it strange that out of all the people to break him out, it's Basil who's here with him.
The lad, who's a foot shorter than Drew, is wearing his trainee clothes that only has the leather pauldron with the coat-of-arms of Aspen stitched onto it. Basil also has an arming sword hanging on his hip and Drew's sheathed executioner's sword in his embrace. It's poorly covered by a beige curtain.
"S, -So, I was thinking since you were able to fight off that archdemon and live to make her part of your harem, you can easily push through a few guards, right?" Basil wants to reaffirm his image of Drew's strength since he believes that since he's from the capital and that he's an anti-mage, he can easily handle a bunch of knights without a problem.
Drew, without answering Basil's question, stares at the lad with a puzzled look on his face. He doesn't understand why he of all people would be here and not somebody else like Hagurd who has more authority. That thought then lets other dark ideas worm into Drew's mind, causing dread to fill his lungs.
"What're you doing here? Why isn't Hagurd here? How are the others?" Drew didn't hesitate to bombard the squire all the questions that his mind did not want to have an answer to.
Before Basil could even answer Drew, he sees the distressed look on the lad's face that he's been making all this time that Drew did not notice until now.
"C, -Captain is going to get executed today. With Lucifia, Melissa, a, -and- … -Aranea." Basil's mouth trembles as he gives Drew the shortest answer he could give as, if it was any longer, he would not be able to hold back the tears.
Basil wants to ask for Drew's help, that's the reason he's here right now, that's why he's risking his everything to get Drew out of the barracks. He knows that he doesn't have the strength to save everyone, and that frustrates the young squire that his pained look is mixed with self-hate.
But Andrew doesn't understand the reason behind Basil���s anguished look. He thinks that the squire is only feeling guilt for not doing anything and it's not entirely wrong.
'Why didn't you do anything then? If you care about them so much why didn't you do anything?' Andrew wants to shout those very words floating in his mind to Basil, but he realizes quickly that he's no different.
"P, -Please help them! Please help the captain and Aranea as well!" Basil cries out holding up Drew's sword for him.
"Why are you doing this? You do realize that by helping me, a criminal, you'd be charged right? Plus, you're asking me to save a witch. You know what that means right?" As Andrew reaches for his sword, Basil clutches onto it.
"That doesn't matter right now! I don't care if I become a criminal by helping you! I don't care if I become labeled as a witch-sympathizer!
C, -Captain and Aranea were the two closest people in my life! Captain made me into his squire because he believed in me and Aranea- … -she's the only friend I got, I don't want to lose her!" the lad explodes into a loud tirade of raw emotions. For someone so small and feeble to let out something so powerful that it leaves him overwhelmed, it makes Drew see Basil in a new light.
Even though he's weak and he knows that he's weak and can't do anything about it, the look Basil has in his eyes shows that he doesn't plan to stay where he is.
"You're seriously something you know that? Making things difficult for me, but you know I'm starting to like you a bit more Basil." Drew scratches the back of his head and begins to hear the loud clatter of boots running across the stone floor. Basil quickly realizes that the guards are upon them and are rushing their way to the door.
Panic sets in for Basil while Drew smiles a cheery grin as he faces the door.
"W, -W, -What're we going to do!?" Basil screams as his eyes glued themselves to the door.
The clamor of footsteps grows deafeningly loud for Basil and he feels like he's about to faint from terror alone.
Like before, Andrew takes a deep breath but this time he takes one in as he hears the guards shouting from the hallway.
"What's going on in there!?" One of the guards shouts but as he knocks on the door once and tries to grab the knob to open the door, Andrew on the other side of it grins and kicks the reinforced door off its hinges.
The guard lies unconscious with the door on top of them. The rest of the guards who are waiting in the hallway sees Andrew walking out the door. He's holding Basil like a sack of potatoes in his right arm and wielding his executioner's sword with his left.
Drew sees a hallway filled with guards and flashes them a cheeky smirk as his sword billows out his notorious cerulean flames.
As if he's lost his mind, Andrew runs towards the hallway and with a swing of his sword, a howling torrent of dark blue flames swallows up the guards before him.
Drew then runs into the blue inferno and Basil sees that the guards are now stuck onto the wall by ice.
Heading down the stairs, Drew and Basil find it odd that they didn't run into any guards, but as the two of them reach the barracks' main hall they see a single row of knights blocking the exit by wielding tower shields.
"Oh-oh~ are you planning to break out because your pretty cerenian witch girlfriend is in danger? Unfortunately, I'm here to keep you from doing that." Sarissa comes forward to face Drew, his halberd reflecting Drew's irritated look brought on by Sarissa's smug.
"You need to work on your insults Sari, they're leaving you winded," Andrew taunts the halberd-user while looking at him grimly with his dark blue eyes.
That alone somehow gets on Sarissa's nerves and he's about ready to throw down if not for Caron suddenly butting in to grab Sarissa's arm.
"Oi, I saw that look in your eyes. Don't kill him, it's not for us to decide his fate," Caron says trying to keep Sarissa's bloodlust in check. "Sorry about that Drew, but-"
"-Orders are orders. I know Caron and you know it's fine for Sari to have a short-fuse~ Since it's that time of the month for him." Andrew smiles cheekily as Sarissa charges towards him.
"That's it! YOU'RE DEAD," He roars out while bringing down his halberd on Andrew.
Drew throws Basil aside to safety and blocks Sarissa's halberd swing by holding his black sword up with both hands, with one on the handle and the other pressed against the flat-end of his blade.
"Seriously, this is why you're always behind Erize!" Another taunt leaves Drew's mouth as he throws up Sarissa's halberd and kicks his fellow knight in the chest, sending him back a few feet.
"What was the last ranking again in our Order? You're fourth, Erize is third, Cecil's second, and who's first again? Oh right." The dark blue flames billowing out Drew's sword recedes and he rolls ups his right sleeve to show the runes that he painted on himself. They snake around his arm and begin to glow the same eerie blue color as his flames.
"Me," Drew says reaffirming Sarissa of their position in rank.