"You little devil! You're the one who killed her, aren't you?" Helen inquired, her gaze fixed on Oliver as he disembarked from the ship, seemingly unaffected by her accusation.
He simply met her gaze and grinned, a clear admission that he had indeed done something of that sort while Helen just sighed at his behaviour.
Helen, as his trainer and a close confidant, was well aware of the dangerous capabilities of the man before her. After all, he had received training from none other than the infamous Lady Bloodborne herself. However, witnessing the cruel and heartless manner in which he took lives, even Helen found it difficult to reconcile such brutality with the person she once knew.
"Thanks for covering for me! Even though she is a criminal, I can't just go around killing people especially because I'm one of them now," Oliver expressed his appreciation to Helen. Before they could delve further into their conversation, both of them noticed a massive wall in the distance, far from the dock where they had landed.
It was an interesting sight to see as Oliver expected to see a depressing island with no proper buildings when he imagined what Havoc Bay would look like, but at that time he didn't know beyond that wall lay the most brutal place that had the reputation for housing the most vicious criminals in the history.
"Ohh~ things haven't changed that much, I used to come here a lot when I was with your mother since we had to drop the criminals and give supplies to the guards on this island," Helen said looking at the gigantic wall in front of her reminiscing about the past.
For a moment, she forgot about her duty as she had a good feeling of nostalgia, but then she was forced back into reality and realised this was anything but good.
"Oliver..." She looked at the other two girls while muttering Oliver's name under her breath, who was being accompanied by the guards and saw how they were on the verge of crying.
They proceeded on foot from the dock since there were no carriages or companions available. However, the distance wasn't considerable, mainly due to the necessity of placing cannons near the sea. This precaution was taken to guard against potential attacks from pirates or other hostile parties. The location, resembling more of a fortress than a mere gateway to Havoc Bay, bestowed significant authority upon Helen as the commander of the Imperial army.
On their way, many of the soldiers, as well as guards, bowed their heads, showing respect towards Commander Helen, while they curiously observed the new prisoners. Most of them noticed the strange surprise they got since it was rare to see a man on this island. Even the cooks and cleaners were women, as none of the men were able to survive on this island for the past few decades.
Helen walking next to Oliver stopped near the huge metal gate in front of them, which looked like the entrance to a prison and talked with the guards. They quickly identified who she was and ran to meet the main commander of the fortress.
As Helen stood there, her gaze fixed on the gate, she exuded an air of authority and determination. The mission was crucial, and Helen was keen on ensuring its smooth execution and also she had a special request toward her friend, which came out because of her personal feelings.
Moments passed, and the tension grew as the gate remained closed. Then, suddenly, with a creaking sound, a small gate swung open next to the massive giant gate, revealing another woman with brown hair wearing clothes that looked like they belonged to a knight standing on the other side. The sight brought a smile to Helen's face as she recognized her old friend from military training, Captain Serena Reed.
"Serena! It's been too long," Helen exclaimed, warmly embracing her friend. "I never expected to see a familiar face here, I thought you would be too engrossed in your alcohol to come and meet me."
Captain Serena returned the embrace with equal enthusiasm. "Helen, I can say the same for you. What brings you to my neck of the woods? Well, I can already guess looking at you."
"We're on a transfer mission," Helen replied, gesturing to the group of soldiers behind her. "We need to transport some prisoners to Havoc Bay."
Serena nodded, understanding the seriousness of the task. "Well, with you in charge, I'm sure everything will go smoothly. Come, let's talk more inside. I'll arrange the prisoner transfer and then catch up properly. We don't have high-quality alcohol that you like, but we got some good stuff here,"
The two friends laughed and chatted as they walked together into the fortress. The soldiers followed, ready to carry out their orders under the capable leadership of Commander Helen. Within the walls of the formidable stronghold, the alliance of these two strong and skilled women promised to make Havoc Bay even more secure, ensuring that the prisoners would be held under watchful eyes until their fate was decided.
As Selena's gaze wandered around the crowd, her eyes unexpectedly locked onto a particular figure. There, amidst the prisoners and soldiers, stood Oliver, right next to Helen. Her heart skipped a beat as she noticed his hands, bound by cuffs, and the truth dawned on her: he was also a prisoner, just like others.
Helen noticed her look and she knew Serena was confused, so she decided to get straight into the topic without any diversion as she wanted to confirm Oliver's safety.
"I wanted to talk about him, so let's go inside, I have a favour I want to ask from you," Helen said and asked Oliver to wait and ordered her underlings to look after the prisoners.
Inside the fortress, Helen led Selena to a private chamber where they could speak without interruption. The two friends sat down, and Helen's serious expression revealed the urgency of the matter at hand.
"Selena, I need your help," Helen began, her voice firm but tinged with concern.
"Is it regarding that boy? I noticed you gave special attention to him. Don't tell me you fell in love with a criminal?" Serena asked with her eyes squinted, but Helen quickly shook her head showing that wasn't the case.
"He is Oliver Bloodborne, sounds familiar right? He is the one and only son of our teacher Lady Bloodborne," Helen said with respect showing how much she valued her time with Victoria Bloodborne.
Victoria was almost like a public worship figure for most of the girls in the army, as she stood as the symbol of braveness and skills of the army. Helen was lucky enough to train under her since Victoria personally invited her to the training, but the same cannot be said for most of the girls.
So in her military days, most of the girls were jealous of Helen and tried to sabotage her skills and reputation but for some reason, every time she got caught in something, Victoria always came to help her like she was taking care of her own daughter.
"Oh! Is that so? I heard some news, but I didn't think the empress would really banish him," Serena paused for a minute like she was thinking about something, and then she suddenly looked at her friend.
"So what do you want me to do?"
"Please take care of him, you're the only person I can trust in this land," Helen said without any hesitation. She was willing to pay any amount of money for Oliver's sake simply because of her adoration for the Bloodborne family.
"Havoc Bay is filled with vicious criminals and thieves, I don't want Oliver to experience anything like that,"
Serena suddenly nodded her head like she was agreeing with her words.
"You're right, he is a man after all, Don't worry, I will look after him, people won't notice anything if I do it sneakily," Serena said and got up from her seat and walked toward the exit, as she wanted to quickly finish this prisoner transfer.
It was almost like she wanted Helen out of this island for some reason, but Helen had no idea about this as she was happy about being able to gain some support.
"I'm glad, I'm really glad, I will make sure you won't regret this decision in future," Both of them were walking back to the place, where the prisoners were supposed to be and Helen decided to leave Oliver in Serena's hands since she believed that would be the best case.
"Helen, I think you should go back, I need to put prisoners in their cells before the night time, so I need some time," Helen trusted Serena's words and believed that she genuinely wanted to take care of Oliver in a discreet manner. She gave one last reassuring smile to Oliver, silently conveying that everything would be fine, and turned to leave.
"Alright, Serena, if you say so. I'll head back now. Thank you for handling this. I'll see you soon," Helen said, grateful for the support she had received.
Serena nodded, her expression seeming a little too composed as she watched Helen walk away. She knew they wouldn't be seeing each other for at least a few more months because they knew sending prisoners to Havoc Bay was not something that happened often.
As soon as Helen was out of earshot, Serena turned to her deputy captain and issued her true orders in a hushed voice.
"Take the prisoners to the Havoc Bay area as planned, but make sure that man is separated from the rest." And suddenly she got even closer to her deputy and whispered something to her ear, which caused her to giggle.
"As you order, Captain," She suddenly bowed her head and ran into the crowd, while Serena observed Oliver from far away while licking her lips showing that things won't calm down anytime soon.