Smiling, she turned and started leading us along. My mind was still on Kyrina, Nemicoramus, and the fight they had just had. Was Victoria, ok? This world dragged me in before I could do anything or check on her, but I remembered something about that world pausing.
I hoped that was the case as we turned another corner to walk out on the town's edge where a farmers field lay. I looked out to see many rows of potatoes that were ripe with weeds. I was up in front with Sasha and Mikota looking at the farm, and then I looked at Sasha with questions in my eye.
"He says he will pay good money, so don't look at me like that. You two get this done, and I will make sure there is a treat for you guys," Sasha patted Mikota and me on the heads before continuing towards the farmhouse.
"What does she mean by, you two?" Mikota asked as we both turned around.
Jill and Maxine were gone, missing in action. If this were a manga, there would be chalk lines and question marks where they stood only moments before. The smell of hard work must have made them disappear.
Both of us sighed, turning around and walking towards the house after Sasha. We caught up as she was talking to the human farmer about us helping him. The man gave us a quick look over and passed us each a pair of gloves that fit perfectly.
Sasha waved us off as the farmer grunted and waved his hand to follow him. That was his form of communication all day. As the farmer showed us what needed picking and gave us pails to put our weeds, we got to work. Mikota and I worked on the rows together, one on either side, not talking very much.
Mikota was in love with Jill and rarely gave others any of her attention. Even now, I could see in Mikota's eye's that she was picking weeds on autopilot, daydreaming about Jill. Memories started to pour into my mind again, and I began to remember how we had found Mikota.
Sasha and I had been outside the town we had stopped at, taking on a request. It was from the local lumberjacks to get rid of some giant centipedes in a nearby forest. Jill was in the market at the time, and she overheard some women talking about a snake girl. She had heard the Duke used the snake girl's Dark magic to execute the people he didn't like, whether they had committed a crime or not.
Jill being the person she was, disguised herself as a maid and infiltrated the Duke's manor where Mikota was rumored to stay. Jill found and talked to her, explaining who she was and that she had friends that could help get her away. Later that night, Jill met us back at the inn, and when she walked in, she noticed us in the corner.
"Over here!" Sasha called out, waving.
Both of us still had some green ichor from the bugs we had slain, and Jill looked hesitant to come near us. The rest of the people frequenting the inn gave our corner a wide birth as well when passing. The innkeeper was still getting water heated for each of us to soak and get cleaned, so he allowed us to sit in the corner and eat in light of our appearance.
"Did you two roll in the carcass after you killed them?"
"No, Sasha had said there were only five of them, except there was more than that, right, Sasha? You just forgot to tell me about the other twelve reported, right?"
Sasha shoveled food into her mouth with fervor and refused to make eye contact with me, keeping her face to her plate, only coming up for air and drink. I scoffed at her and turned back to Jill.
"What were you up to that got you out so late? Did you find the Dark user we heard about in the town back? Nevermind, don't answer that right now. I had your tub drawn as well, so you can join us, and we all can have some privacy there."
Jill nodded and took the furthest seat from us as we finished our food and drinks. Soon, a Dwarf by Rudnick's name showed us to a room with three one and a half meter deep tubs. There was also a two-meter tall standing blind that we each used to strip down into towels.
We each slid into the water wearing the towels, only taking them out after sinking deep into the wooden tubs. Each one of us let out relaxed sighs and soaked for a bit in silence. Finally, Jill spoke up and told us about the girl and how she had found her.
"You snuck into the Duke's house while impersonating a maid? Are you crazy?"
"Oh, don't go acting high and mighty just because the stupid idea wasn't your's this time. When I heard about what the Duke was making that poor girl do," Jill's voice bubbled as she slipped under the water in frustration.
She wasn't wrong. I usually was the one doing the stupid thing and getting all of us into trouble. I looked over at Sasha, but she just smirked at me and slid under the water. I had this coming, scales of balance and all.
Both girls came up from the water, and we tried to figure out a couple of different plans, none of them I liked. First was for me to piss the Baron off and then kill him and take over this tower, but that conflicted with our end goal. The next was for us all to put on maid costumes, sneak in and take her out in a rolled-up carpet.
I took the cloth from the side of the tub and dipped it in the water. I pulled it up and over my face as the girls talked more about different ideas. After a while, the girls got out, and I decided to soak for a longer.
I thought I had heard them leave, but suddenly, I felt a smooth, cool body slide into the tub with me. I tried to take off the cloth on my face, but the distinct feeling of Jills scaled hand stopped me. I felt her lips on my neck, and my hand fell away. When her lips reached my ear, she whispered, "what's the rush?"
In the morning, we settled on trying to break out this Mikota, but the Duke would still be a problem. Even if we got away, he would always come after us. So our real problem was how to kill the Duke and get away with it or figure out another way. We all we at a loss until I smacked my hand to my head.
Of course!
"Who are we going to rescue?"
"Ummm, her name is Mikota," Jill told me straight-faced.
"No, No, No, I mean, who is she to the Duke?"
The girls both stopped for a second, and it hit them about at the same time.
"Do you think she would do it?" Sasha asked Jill.
"Better question. Can the Dark user do it? Or is there a safeguard in place to prevent that from happening? What do you know, Jill?"
"She never had any marking or brands, but I'm not sure what to be looking for," Jill replied.
"I guess we will have to go with it. It's not like we can leave our new Dark user there."
With that, we headed into the sewer that led under the Duke's home. Sasha had created balls of light to allow us to see, but the smell alone was bad enough. Seeing the refuse that we waded through made it worse.
"Ugh, this smell," Sasha complain through her arm as Jill led us.
I could see all of her eyes watering from the disgusting smell, so I asked. "How far do we have left to go, Jill?"
It had already been forty-five minutes, and the water in these sewer aqueducts was starting to get higher the deeper we went. I felt especially bad for Sasha. I would have to help bathe and clean up her fur or be forced to wake up beside this smell. No matter where we fell asleep, I always needed to put on the heavy chainmail Sasha's father had given me because she still woke up next to me, claws digging into the metal rings.
"The tunnel to the Kitchen area is just ahead. Everyone knows the plan, right?"
Oh yes, Sasha and I knew our jobs. Live bait, it was our job to make a scene in the castle to distract the guards. Then we had to lead them away while Jill sneaked off in the other direction. This way, the two of us would distract the Duke long enough that he shouldn't be able to pick up their tracks and follow them.
"The plan seems good, but how will we meet up?" I grubbled
"You two will have to come to find us, but you should wait a month or two before coming to try. I will leave bread crumbs for you to follow."
There was no point in talking about it further at that point. Jill had made her mind up, and Sasha and I were just following her orders. Somehow this is how it always went if Jill wanted something, come hell or high water, she would conscript anyone close, to achieve it. We just happened to be the unlucky two that were closest.
After climbing up a crumbling ladder laid into the tunnel wall, we pushed through a trap door and into a dark cellar. Instantly we could smell food being prepared for the Duke's lunch, and we knew we had come to the right place. Quietly pulled ourselves up, and Jill hugged us both before changing into a maids outfit she had stored in here yesterday.
"Everyone ready?"