In shock at seeing the blonde-haired elf in front of him, Victor unconsciously loosened the thief's collar, and the confused boy hurried away and disappeared into the shadows of the alley.
"Wanda...?"
The girl's jaw dropped and her heart raced. "Dad?" She asked as if trying to confirm that what she was seeing in front of her was real and not a dream.
"Why did you disappear? Why didn't you report that you were alive and so close to home? I could have..."
Before Victor could finish his string of questions, which was his way of showing affection and concern, he was wrapped in Wanda's arms, shutting him up immediately. Victor was a cold person who was used to disguising his feelings with rationality, but Wanda was the opposite.
Wanda's warm embrace enveloped Victor like a wave of relief. He felt the softness of his daughter's hair touching his face as she squeezed him tightly. His trembling hands reached up and wrapped around her too.
"I'm so happy to see you. You have no idea how much." She murmured in a warm tone.
Victor was still trying to assimilate the unexpected reunion with his daughter. Despite this, the old hunter could hardly contain the emotion bubbling up in his chest.
Finally, he managed to articulate a few words between sighs. "I heard you might be dead, Wanda. A messenger from Athína came to the tavern door to report you missing." Victor's voice was full of emotion.
Wanda pulled away slightly, still keeping her hands on her father's shoulders, and her blue eyes searched his dark ones. "I'm sorry... I... I didn't want to involve you in the problems I'm facing right now."
Victor's eyes narrowed, with an expression of concern naturally taking over his rugged face. "Problems? What happened, Wanda?"
Before Wanda could answer, she realized that some of the people passing through the street had begun to notice the two of them.
"Let me explain later, Dad. For now, it's risky for us to be exposed here." She cast a meaningful glance in the direction of the dark path down the narrow alleyway.
Victor nodded, realizing what she meant by that look. "All right, but tell me what happened while we were walking."
The two of them set off down the narrow alleyway between two buildings in Crooked Alley, leaving the grilled meat stall completely behind and entering the shadows of the rest of Kozáni's underground.
Wanda's voice broke the silence that hung between them seconds later. "Dad, you said a messenger came to the house?"
"Yes, he asked me to sign some papers because you've been missing for a long time. Now, can you explain to me what's going on?"
Wanda took a deep breath. "I didn't want you to get involved in this, but I can't hide it any longer. I was sent by my guild to investigate a Baron in Kilkís. It seemed like a routine mission, but things turned dark."
Victor frowned but continued to follow Wanda. "What did you find out?"
"That baron was involved in a major human trafficking scheme. However, the scheme was much bigger than I could have imagined. They were taking people from Kozáni and selling them as slaves in Kilkís and beyond. That's why I'm here, I want to find the source of the whole scam and nip it in the bud."
Victor's expression hardened, and he clenched his fist.
"That's exactly why I couldn't come home even for a quick visit." She stopped walking and looked at her father with a melancholy countenance. "If the main source of this inhuman trade is in Kozáni, I knew that if I went to Serenity, I'd be involving you and the others in it. But now with Athína sending messengers to you..."
Victor let some air out through his nose, realizing that this was her way of apologizing. "Don't worry about me. Now that I'm here, I know I'm already involved, so I want to help. Let's take these bastards down."
Wanda's eyes widened and sparkled. Having a Hunter mission with her father was something she had always dreamed of. So she looked at him with a faint smile, and teary eyes and, a little emotional, said:
"Yes, Dad, let's go!"
They continued walking even further away from the Crooked Alley.
"I hear you're working with a thief called Robe. Is that true?" Victor asked as they climbed a flight of stairs.
She laughed a little nervously, looking away. "Well, if even you already know about it, it means we don't have much time, but in short, yes, I'm working with Robe. He raided the palace of the city's duke a few months ago and saw a lot of things wrong, including slaves of all kinds. We believe that Duke Olyno himself must actively participate in illegal slave auctions, so we need to wait for the right opportunity to infiltrate one of these auctions and find out everything."
Victor frowned. "And why exactly is this thief helping you?"
"Robe is a good guy, Dad. He cares about the poor and that's why he gives away everything he steals. He wants to put an end to Olyno as much as I want to put an end to this human trafficking network."
Wanda's words were enough for Victor. "If you trust him, then so do I."
Then, a short time later, using a parallel exit from Crooked Alley, they returned to the open air of Kozáni. The ground in the area they left was still dirt, which meant they were still in the suburbs. Walking through those streets, they came to a kind of improvised hideout that Wanda and Robe were using. The place was a wooden shed, with its weathered wooden exterior and broken windows, literally at the back of the city, where the walls ended. This shed was surrounded by stone walls, and overgrown with vines, and the structure itself didn't look like it would stand for long, perhaps that's why it was abandoned.
"This place looks like it's seen better days," commented Victor, examining the faded walls.
Wanda smiled and took the chains off the rusty gate. "Robe doesn't care much about appearance. He prefers discretion, and this hideout is serving that purpose very well so far."
Wanda glanced back before opening one of the gates, making sure there was no one around, and then they entered.
"You know, Dad, I think you'll be fine with Robe."
"Really? Why do you think that?"
"Well, Robe is a bit like you, or rather, like when you were young." Wanda said as she walked towards the gate. "He likes to tell stories like you, but he's a bit more skeptical and..."
As Wanda spoke and her hand moved towards the front door handle, she abruptly stopped talking. Her gaze went blank and her nostrils flared.
Victor noticed the sudden stop. "What is it, Wanda? What happened?"
She raised a hand, asking for silence. Her senses were trying to understand the odor her nostrils were picking up. The silence stretched on for a few moments, only broken by the crunch of the shed's own wood creaking in the wind.
"Blood." she whispered and then she slowly opened the door to the entrance, revealing a vast hall filled with darkness.
"Blood?" Victor sniffed harder, but felt nothing.
The interior of the shed was a mixture of shadows and faint light that flooded in through the gaps in the wooden boards that covered the windows. The tiled floor, although worn by time, slightly reflected the light coming in. Looking more closely, it was possible to notice that wooden tables and chairs were arranged in disarray around the hall, as if the place had once been a tavern or bar, but was now just a remnant of the past.
"Wait here, Dad. I'm going to check what's wrong. It could be dangerous." she whispered, fixing her eyes on his for a brief moment, seeking comfort in their mutual trust.
Victor agreed with a firm look. "Be careful, Wanda. I'll be here waiting."
Wanda quietly made her way inside. Because of the smell, she was attentive and it was noticeable in her serious countenance. As she approached the focus of the metallic odor, which she could see almost like a trailing cloud in the darkness, it became clear that the smell of blood wasn't the only one in the air. The odor of mold and dust was mixed in, creating a dense atmosphere.
Amongst the round, unordered tables in the lobby, she spotted first a boot and then a lone leg, missing the rest of its body. An ordinary person would have let out a sigh at such a sight and turned away immediately, but Wanda was a Hunter, so she carried on. Following a little further, she found a trail of blood and the body of a man on the ground. The man was dressed in rags, his remaining limbs arranged in a disjointed manner, as if he had crawled on the ground before dying.
Wanda swallowed and knelt down beside the body. It was Robe, the man who had been her partner until that moment. Her hands traveled over the cold surface of his skin, looking for signs of life. The skin was cold, but the body wasn't swollen, which meant it hadn't been more than a few minutes since he was killed.
Something was very wrong there. Wanda left Robe for just a few minutes to go and check out some information in Crooked Alley.
At the same time, outside, Victor waited patiently. The distant sound of urban noise and the squawking of the rooster on the shed roof were the only constant noises. Worry weighed heavily on his chest, but he trusted in his daughter's ability and courage. Suddenly, however, every hair on Victor's body stood on end, and the same happened to Wanda.
Victor immediately turned towards the door and shouted:
"Wanda!"
However, at that moment the shed door slammed shut with absurd force, causing a dry thud.
Wanda obviously heard her father's scream and the bang of the door closing. As she stood up, footsteps echoed from the darkest corner of the room, delicate but loud footsteps and a figure revealed itself, stepping out of the darkness.