"Any reason you're following us?" I asked while sprinting towards where I heard the explosion come from.
"To make sure that martial artist and mage are alright." The merchant responded bluntly.
I rolled my eyes at his answer and continued running until I arrived at the site which was covered in debris. I looked around for a moment but didn't see anyone. A muffled cry suddenly shot out from the debris to my left.
The merchant managed to get to the muffled crying before I could even move my legs. By flicking his pointer finger upwards, the debris slowly moved upwards and landed next to him.
"Are you okay?" Emma suddenly ran past me and towards the girl who looked much younger than her.
"I-I'm fine… but those people the pirates took need to be saved." The girl said, pointing towards the cliff side.
"I don't see John and the others anywhere so I'm guessing that they were the ones taken away." I said, getting ready to take off running.
Right as I was about to move, I felt someone grab the back of my shirt. I turned around and saw Emma shaking her head.
"We can't just run in there without a plan. Let me come up with something first." Emma suggested.
"You're right. I'm sorry about that. So what should we do then?" I asked.
"We need information first. Thankfully there's someone who supposedly knows this town like the back of their hand." An expression I had never seen before crossed Emma's face.
Although she didn't turn her head completely, I knew she was talking about the merchant that was still tending to the child. I could see the merchant shiver for a moment.
Emma suddenly got up and walked towards the merchant who had now finally gotten the child to run away.
"I already know what you want so you don't need to ask. Those pirates are called the Metalbeard Pirates and have been causing chaos for the past four years." The merchant explained.
"Four years? How had nobody found their hideout yet?" I asked.
"I don't know. The general area is known but that's it. It wouldn't surprise me if they were using some kind of illusion magic to hide the entrance." The merchant continued.
I stopped to think for a moment. If it was an illusion all I had to do was come into contact with it and it would break. With that, an idea suddenly popped into my head.
"I think I know how to find the entrance."
"That's great. I'm not going with you though." The merchant said, attempting to walk away.