Sayuri and Homura had now informed Hoshi of what was happening in the city. After they had done eating Homura once again lead Hoshi and Sayuri somewhere, but this time the place they were heading to was a little bit more secretive than a restaurant in plain sight. Homura was taking them to the guild that rebelled against the king and the city itself - Burning Flower.
Burning Flower's base was on the outskirts of town. While the center of the city was beautiful and filled with wealth and happiness, the outer ring of the city were the slums. They were dark, dangerous and a place for outlaws and no laws at all. While in a place like the slums you may expect guards to monitor the area to stop crime, in reality, the city had basically given up on it and shunned it to the side, leaving all people in the area in danger and giving the inhabitants of the slums no chance of escaping them. But at the same time, since there were no guards, a rebellious group such as Burning Flower could gather and plan their next move.
And so Hoshi and the twins entered the slums. They truly were what you would expect - cast in shadow, filled with drunk and broken people, and a place of high crime. This truly was a place of no hope for anyone living there. The team kept walking as people yelled at the three, nicely dressed, people of high importance.
"You shits gave up on us real easy didn't you?!" a drunken old man came rushing towards them. He attempted to attack the weakest looking of the group - Sayuri but was quickly taken care of by a swift hit to the neck by Homura, who looked unfazed and used to this sort of ordeal.
Homura looked down at the old man, who was knocked out cold, and sighed. "Let's keep moving."
And so they did. They encountered several dangerous people who were all quickly stopped by Homura in the least physical manner. After walking through almost the entirety of the outskirts they stopped in front of a run-down looking building. The building was not very welcoming. It sat on the very edge of the town, by the wall, with shattered windows and a door that would not fully close, no matter how hard you tried. "We're here."
With that Hoshi, Homura and Sayuri entered the building.
The inside of the house looked much better than the outside. The walls and floor were all a nice caramel color, with candles lighting up the house. In the left corner of the relatively small room was a bar, behind which was a young man with light brown hair and green eyes, wearing some sort of uniform. Behind him were several drinks and by the bar were several people drinking something, probably alcohol. It was clear - this was a bar.
A bar? Hoshi wondered, Wasn't Homura taking us to the base of the rebellious guild?
Hoshi opened his mouth to ask Homura what was happening but was cut off by the man at the bar calling out to them.
"Hi, Homura!" the young man said as he waved to them.
"Hi, Ontaru!" Homura responded, "We'll just head to the back."
"Sure," the young man, now known to Hoshi as Ontaru responded, "who's the guy with you."
"Oh," Homura replied, "this is Hoshi. We're thinking of recruiting him."
"I see," Ontaru replied as he got back to the people he was serving and poured them another glass of their drink.
Homura then proceeded to walk past the bar and through the hallway at the back of the room. After walking through it they entered a storage room with shelves stocked with food and drinks. They did not stop as they walked past it and entered another hallway with a wooden door at the end. As the three got closer Homura put his hand in his pocket searching for something and as they neared the door he took out a silver key. He put it in the lock turned it, unlocking and opening the door, revealing what lied beyond it.
Beyond the door was a room larger than the bar or the storage rooms combined. Inside, the tan walls were plastered with maps, signs, and photos of people, locations, lists, and weapons. There were several tables in the room covered with books and weapons along with writing material. On the far side of the room appeared to be a sort of blacksmithing station with weapons, hammers, and anvil.
In the center of the room was a circular table, with what Hoshi assumed was a model of the city. What was more interesting than that tho, was who was sitting at the table.
In total, sitting at the table, there were eleven people all dressed differently, but wearing a crest somewhere on the outfit. The crest was of a white and pink lotus flower engulfed by red and orange flame.
As the three entered the room all attention was brought to them.
"Homura, you made it." an older looking man at the far side of the table said to the blond young man as he stroked his greying beard.
"Indeed, Tokaruth, " Homura swiftly responded, "and I have brought a new recruit. Meet - Hoshi Satoh, the slayer of Aicre."
"Pardon." the man, Tokaruth, responded, "Do my ears deceive me, or did you just say... slayer of... Aicre?"
"Yes. He saved Sayuri by doing so. It seems to have been quite the feat."
"Homura this is no time to play around." a half-elf, dark-skinned, woman, looking to be in her early twenty's with red hair and orange eyes and slightly elven ears stood up and shouted, "This is the time to be serious."
"Roya, I am speaking the truth," Homura replied.
"If you want proof, I am your proof!" Sayuri finally spoke up, "the fact that I'm still alive is proof enough. Not to mention I saw the remains of the dragon!"
"S-so..." the woman, known as Roya, stuttered as she spoke, "It's... It's true?"
"It is and having him on our side will be a huge advantage." the Sayuri responded as her brother nodded.
"So it is..." Tokaruth spoke, "Well then... Come sit."
Hoshi, Sayuri, and Homura went forward and sat at the table.
"So... that old cucumber's finally dead, huh" a young man, looking to be eighteen or so was the next to speak. He had icy-blue hair, spiking forward, looking similar to ice shards. He had pale skin and light blue eyes the same color as ice along with sharp ears. He was wearing a sort of blue tank top with white highlights and short black sleeves. He was wearing baggy shorts with bandages around them and his legs, with sandles. "I met him a few times and all of them - I came close to death. To think somebody killed him is... a surprise to say the least."
"It truly is." By the amount, he was speaking and by his placement, it was clear that Tokaruth was some sort of elder in the guild. "So... How did you do it."
"To be honest," Hoshi spoke for the first time, since he arrived, "I'm not entirely sure. To be perfectly honest - I blacked out at the beginning of the battle due to some sort of rage."
"I see." the elder responded.
"It is true that he did poses some sort of evil, rage-inducing magic." the ice elf said.
"But what is strange to me," Hoshi had begun to add to the discussion, "is the fact that the glow of Aicre's angered eyes flew the same as those of the enraged half-orc we met in the city."
"Is that so?" Tokaruth responded.
"Indeed." Hoshi nodded as he spoke, "It worries me quite a bit, yet I am not sure exactly what it means. It's actually what I am hoping to find out by helping you."
"Well, if that is the case, it sounds like finding out what it means would be helpful to us too." a hooded man dressed in all black with highlights of dark purple spoke.
He then took off his hood revealing the face underneath. He had short black hair with purple highlights and his eyes were a vibrant purple. "The names Inei. Anyway, Toka tell 'im the plan."
"I told you not to call me that," Tokaruth responded, "but I guess it would be about time to reveal our plan, but first -everyone should introduce themselves. I am Tokaruth, the guild's elder."
"I'm Roya." the red-haired woman said, "I'm a half-elf warrior and my specialty is close combat."
"As you know I'm Inei." the young man clad in black said, "I'm a demi-human dark mage and I mostly specialize in stealth and assassinations."
"The name's Kwon." the spiky ice haired boy continued, "I'm a demi-human ice mage and I specialize in defense."
"H-hi..." the next to speak was a girl, who looked younger than the rest, maybe as old as Hoshi, with dark brown hair, green eyes, a green robe, elf ears, and a chunky chinchilla like an animal in her lap, "My name's... Cecilia... I'm an elf spirit mage and this is Yatoru my spirit."
"I'm Arisu." said a girl with neck length dark blue hair with bangs and a single diamond-like earing with sea-blue eyes, "I'm a chroma water sorceress, who specializes in all categories."
A bit egoistic, but OK. Hoshi thought.
"I'm Fumiko." a girl, with flowing blond hair and brown eyes, clad in light white armor said, "I'm a paladin in training and I do whatever is necessary."
"I'm Kontaru, " a dwarf, with a big brown bushie beard and orange eyes said, "the Guild's blacksmith and all-around weapons expert."
"And last but not least," a younger-looking girl, with fox ears and orange-brown hair and caramel-colored eyes said, "I'm Erika, a kitsune mage."
Everyone had now formally introduced themselves, but Hoshi had a question.
"Not to be rude or anything, " Hoshi began, "but aren't you a little young to be joining us on such a dangerous quest, Erika?"
"Oh, I see." the girl in question responded, "I get that a lot. Our race's women rarely grow much. Those who do are considered goddesses, but we mostly don't grow a lot after the age of 12. I'm much older than you would expect."
"I see," Hoshi replied, So this is a common manga and light novel situation, huh.
"Well," Tokaruth spoke, "now that you know everyone I can explain the plan."
And so Tokaruth explained, that for the past few weeks Inei had been scouting out the castle since he can move through the shadows. From the intel, he gave them they've been figuring out how they could enter the palace and find out what's happening with the help of the twins. They figured that, instead of a large fuss, it would be a stealth mission and they would sneak in through the back gates, take out the guards there and move up the castle. The castle has several stories - four in total and the king as well as the council rest on the top one, while the rest of the layers are protected by high ranking guards known as the Phoenixes Supreme Guardians. Each story has one to six Supreme Guardians with varying power levels. The first level has a total of six Supreme Guardians, although they are rookies, disposable pawns to the King. They should be the weakest ones, as the higher, you go the stronger they get. The second story has four Supreme Guardians, the third has three Supreme Guardians and the King's layer has two - the strongest of the bunch, outranking all the lower level Supreme Guardians, not to mention the King is also trained in combat.
"That's the plan." Tokaruth then finished.
"I see..." Hoshi responded, "but who are you sending in?"
"Excellent question." the elder responded and began to explain more.
He explained that Homura would be in front, as he is the strongest of the bunch. Behind them will be Kwon and Fumiko for defense. The third layer will consist of Sayuri, Erika, and Arisu, for healing and long-range attacks.
"Of course that was our formation before you joined." Tokaruth added, "Now that you're here you'll be in the front with Homura. You are our best."
"Sounds good," Hoshi said as he looked to Homura, and they both nodded.
But right after the plan was disclosed, through the locked, wooden door, someone burst through. It was a white knight with a crest - two swords in the shape of a cross in a diamond. After the first came three more knights.
This was certainly trouble for Burning Flower.